Ana Dancing in Kuwait

Ana Dancing in Kuwait

Ana Otero (Madrid, Spain)

Ana Otero (Madrid, Spain)

PHD Dance Ethnologist



As long as Ana can remember, dance has always been a part of Ana’s life. At an early age she started studying classical ballet, Flamenco and Spanish Dance in Madrid. Ana Otero later went to University in Miami to study Dance and Literature.











At university she met Miriam Eli and enrolled in her Middle Eastern Dance class at Florida International University. Ana considers Miriam as her soul teacher because not only did she learn the beautiful and complicated technique of this dance from her, but also its history. Miriam also taught her the importance of folklore in the Arab world and introduced her to sufism and Persian Sacred Dances.






After University she went back to Madrid, Spain. She immediately was hired to perform in Poland with the Theatre company Lomvriz. After touring Poland she decided to settle in her home town Madrid and focus on teaching. She taught in Escuela de Baile El Horno in Madrid. In her journey as a dance teacher and choreographer, she taught Flamenco and Middle Eastern Dance. She eventually developed a style wich she called Duendel Dance which was a fusion of Contemporary, Flamenco and Oriental/Gypsy Dance forms. She later met Shokry Mohammed (Egypt) and studied in his Middle Eastern Dance School (Escuela de Danza Oriental Pirámides) for 4 years. There she studied Classical Egyptian, Raqs Sharki, as well as Turkish styles and Persian Sacred Dances. Shokry and Ana began a journey which they called Al Andalus, having Ana a Flamenco backround, both of their passions became to reinvent the dance of Al Andalus, the dance in Spain as danced by the muslims, jews, christians and gypsies living together in perfect harmony. Ana soon became a dancer in his company and performed in Shokry Mohammed's theatrical shows throughout Spain. Her interest in Oriental dance has taken her to Turkey to study Turkish Gypsy Dance and to Cairo.









Ana slowly started working towards her PHD in Dance Ethnology, which she happily finished, and soon realised that inside of her dance studios, her students found a home, they found a comfort, and she started to teach dance on a more spiritual level. Ana believes that through dance not only do we acquire a sense of wholeness and happiness, but we also become more aware of our bodies. She started incorporating a yoga (Ana is a certified yoga instructor) based workout, breathe and movement synchronization exercises and meditation. Soon, her dance class was more than technique and choreography, it became a spiritual awakening for her students and herself.







Ana has lived and taught in Egypt, Kuwait and Dubai. She has learned from many masters from the Arab world and from India.





Flamenco Arabe Workshop Hollywood Florida Agosto 2008






Contemporary Flamenco



Many of Ana's masters: Cristiane Azem, Eva Chacón, Julia Salmerón, Gloria Alba, Tatiana, Mahmoud Reda, Rakia Hassan, Nabil Mabrouk, Fátima Fontes, Myriam Szabo, Souhaila Salimpour, Tito and Ansuya, Bettinal Castano, Manuela Reyes, Belen Maya, Faruk Mustafa, Mona Mustafa, Nasra, Freiz, Sameh el Dessouki, Ashraf Hassan, Chua Alba, Manolete, Judea Maya, Isabel Bayón, Rafael Campallo, Raquel Molina.



Ana and yoga:



Ana Otero received her first certification with Swami Sivananda and lived in the Sivananda Ashram in Zaragoza, Spain, for three months. She later received the European Association of Yoga Degree (3 year degree). Her great Masters in Spain have been Ramiro Calle and Margot Paccuad, and she has studied with many other Masters from the United States and India. She has also taken workshops with different masters around the world. Ana teaches a variety of styles: Hatha, Iyengar,Ashtanga, Jivamukti (a mix of these 3), Vinyasa and Kundalini. She has also created a new yoga philosophy which she calls Kundalini Shakti Dance, which is a fusion of yoga and dance, the main objective being to wake up the Kundalini energy which lies dormant in the base of the spine and to balance out the chakras. This Dance, just as in yoga, is centered in the breathing. Movement and breath synchronizing to create the state of a moving meditation.


Ana's yoga classes focus on Mind, Body and Spirit working in unison throughout the practise. Her warm up exercises in class consist of Pranayama Breathing and Kundalini practise to warm up the spine. At the end of each session she places great importance on savasana, relaxation, and offers a reiki message to her students.www.anaoteroyoga.blogspot.com



In addition to my artistic vision of dance and to my artistic needs as a performer, I am now keenly interested in the therapeutic and life-saving powers of dance and I want to help dancers and people in general to “Dance the Dance of Life!” I work with students, not only to improve technique and skill, but to travel into their inner spirit to get to the ‘soul of the dance’ . I use dance to express emotion, have fun, build strength and confidence, to improve physical and emotional health and ultimately, send out positive energy and beauty into the world.





Ana Otero















Emiratos Árabes Unidos 2008























domingo, 26 de diciembre de 2010

Kings Parade in Dubai


Ana Otero and some of her students will be performing at the Kings Parade in Dubai on the 5th of January at 7 pm at Madinat Jumeirah. Come and enjoy a fabulous evening Made in Spain. Please bring your children as it is a Spanish tradition especially for children.

martes, 14 de diciembre de 2010

Ana Otero Flamenco and Oriental Productions and Espanarab

Ana Otero Flamenco and Oriental productions will be participating in the Espanarab launch presentation on December 16, Thursday, at 7,30 pm at The Shelter Dubai in Al Quoz.

There will also be a fashion show taking place by Tirpsy Gypsy. Enjoy a wonderful event of true Spanish and Gypsy Culture.

To reserve your tickets please call: 043473912

lunes, 15 de noviembre de 2010

Yoga Dance Therapy

Yogadance Therapy is a teaching method based on the systematic application of yoga principles in the art of dance, combining a movement-oriented sequence of asanas and purification techniques. It is inspired by world dance traditions and contemporary dance – and is an integrative art form based in the philosophy of Kundalini. The postural patterns are combined with dance to create body-mind awareness and craft movement patterns for therapeutic choreography. Yogadance Therapy is the ultimate body-mind therapy and is open to all.
As stated by Bharata’s Natya Shastra (circa 200 c.e.), the great Indian sacred treatise on dance and drama that contains the complete revelation, these arts were defined as: “The disciplines of contemplation to acquire higher knowledge and attain peace” and “the dance actor was an accomplished yogi expressing his mastery of the performance as in a yogic trance-like state.”
This is evidence that these two arts and disciplines were intimately united in the ancient past. Today, this direct link of yoga and the arts of dance and drama appear to be lost. Nevertheless, dance and drama continue to be potentially highly spiritual arts, even if in the actual existing practice there is almost no evidence of that yogic link.



Dance is par excellence; it is a devotional activity that purifies, as does yoga. You can experience discipline, perseverance through constant practice, repetitive effort and discrimination between the objective phenomenal and the subjective non-manifested spiritual “subtle energy”. I work constantly with the invisible forces, transforming the contrast of duality into unity. As in hatha yoga, one begins with the basics of body mechanics and gradually moves towards the subtler aspects of the art.



Another important similarity between dance and yoga is that it helps with the experience of “stopping the automatisms of the mind – yoga chitta vrittris nirodha.” Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. PYS 1: 2). This is achieved through regular practise to draw the mind away from worldly attractions and back into the focus – “your own nature”. Yogadance is a sublimity of action, penetrating the sacred space of extra-quotidian experience, which means, entering your body and space with spiritual comprehensive awareness and protecting it from the influences of disintegrating forces.




lunes, 9 de agosto de 2010

Granada Workshops




Learn Flamenco in its birth place: the Sacromonte in Granada. For information on workshops in the months of July and August, please contact Ana Otero, spanishmoongypsy@hotmail.com




Flamenco and Oriental Fusion

When Ana Otero was first introduced to Oriental Dance, she knew she had to fuse Flamenco with this magical art form. She has created a specific vocabulary of movement where her main objective is to fuse the 2 dances harmoniously in order to create a new Art Form, which she views in essence what this Art Form looked like in its beginnings...







domingo, 11 de julio de 2010

Introduction to Oriental Dance Workshop and Tribal Dance Workshop



TRIBAL DANCE

Tribal Dance is a unique blend of Flamenco, Middle Eastern, Indian, Gypsy and African dance. It is earthy, spiritual and favours female bonding.

Tribal Dance:
...
This class can be described as an expressive, tribal, celebratory, transformational, and a divine connection with the body! Tribal Dance is a unique opportunity to explore movements that are designed to clear the body of static energy through the use of tribal, Middle Eastern, Flamenco and North African dance styles. These sacred movements are fused into one vivid dance experience.

Tribal Dance encourages you to break through boundaries and explore the sensual and primitive nature of freedom in movement and offers you a deeper, richer body knowledge and sense of liberating movement in space. The student will move on his or her feet, barefoot and deeply rooted, while in direct connection to Earth and sacred self.



lunes, 21 de junio de 2010

Oriental Flamenco Workshop in Madrid, Spain



July 18 in Madrid, Spain
11:00 - 15:00

Ana Otero will be teaching a choreography of Oriental Flamenco (Flamenco and Oriental Dance Fusion).

For more information, please contact Ana: 693520306

miércoles, 16 de junio de 2010

Gypsy Passion. Kuwait. Drum Solo with Waleed.

This was actually improvised!!!!!! That same day of the show we just started having fun on the stage and I said, hey, let's do this in the show!!!!!!! Elena, the light technician kind of freaked out since all of the lighting scheme was already organised......had a great time with you Waleed.....


Gypsy Passion. Kuwait. Romance de la Luna Luna, Lorca.

This dance was an interpretation of Lorca's Poem, Romance of the Moon Moon.....


Gypsy Passion. Kuwait.

Gypsy Passion. Kuwait.

Gypsy Passion. Kuwait.

Gypsy Passion. Kuwait.

Gypsy Passion. Kuwait.

martes, 1 de junio de 2010

Gypsy Passion is Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gypsy Passion

Dancer Choreographer: Ana Otero
Guitarists: Hasan Abdal - Yousef Al-Naqi
Percussionist: Waleed Al Jarrash
Actress: Ana Mosteller

Gypsy Passion is a journey that takes us to the heart of Flamenco. Flamenco is an individualistic, yet structured folk art from Spain. The song, dance and guitar are blended together by the passionate rhythms of southern Spain which is flamenco's geographical birthplace. Gypsies say that Flamenco is in the blood, but Spain’s most famous poet and writer Fredrico Garcia Lorca, called flamenco one of the most gigantic inventions of the Spanish people. The tragic lyrics and tones of flamenco clearly reflect the sufferings and passionate emotions of the different cultures that blended and came to be what the Iberian Peninsula is today.

Gypsy Passion incorporates music, dance and the poetry of Federico García Lorca to create a dream like state which takes us into de soul of the emotions expressed in flamenco: love, pain, death, passion, desire and longing.

Please reserve your tickets on-line and you can pay at the door once you have reserved tickets.

www.theklt.com

The Theatre is in Ahmadi. There is a map you can print out from the web page.

For any questions please contact Ana Otero: 65038399

spanishmoongypsy@hotmail.com

www.anaoterodance.blogspot.com

miércoles, 5 de mayo de 2010

Gypsy Passion. Kuwait.

Arab Times writes about Gypsy Passion

Ana Otero's Gypsy Passion received a great review by the Arab Times, Kuwait!!!

http://arabtimesonline.com/Portals/0/PDF_Files/pdf10/may/04/27.pdf

miércoles, 7 de abril de 2010

Gypsy Passion in Kuwait

Gypsy Passion

Dancer Choreographer: Ana Otero
Guitarists: Hasan Abdal - Yousef Al-naqi
Actress: Ana Mosteller

Gypsy Passion is a journey that takes us to the heart of Flamenco. Flamenco is an individualistic, yet structured folk art from Spain. The song, dance and guitar are blended together by the passionate rhythms of southern Spain which is flamenco's geographical birthplace. Gypsies say that Flamenco is in the blood, but Spain’s most famous poet and writer Fredrico Garcia Lorca, called flamenco one of the most gigantic inventions of the Spanish people. The tragic lyrics and tones of flamenco clearly reflect the sufferings and passionate emotions of the different cultures that blended and came to be what the Iberian Peninsula is today.

Gypsy Passion incorporates music, dance and the poetry of Federico García Lorca to create a dream like state which takes us into de soul of the emotions expressed in flamenco: love, pain, death, passion, desire and longing.

Please reserve your tickets on-line and you can pay at the door once you have reserved tickets.

www.theklt.com

The Theatre is in Ahmadi. There is a map you can print out from the web page.

For any questions please contact Ana Otero: 65038399

spanishmoongypsy@hotmail.com

www.anaoterodance.blogspot.com