Bring the mystery and enchantment of fire into your solstice and holiday celebrations with friends, family, and special loved ones. Twice-yearly Candle Dance Workshops are held near Summer and Winter Solstices. (The Summer 2009 workshop is closer to Lammas Day, in August.)

To book Alay'nya for a candle dance performance, contact alaynya@alaynya.com.

Alay'nya's Favorite Candle Dance Music Selection

This year and last, my personal favorite for candle dancing is Mosaic (Cut #1) on Sandstorm by Farzad Farhangi. I'm using it for this year's Candle Dance workshops, for both indiviidual and group choreographies. (Just taught a wonderful group of college girls in a weekend workhshop, they're doing a beautiful group piece choreographed to take advantage of multiple entry points in their performance space!)

The pulsing under-rhythm establishes a hypnotic, "altered state" kind of feeling. This is a great piece for more advanced dancers to use for spiraling candle turns. There is a relatively short prologue, and I'm using a very "meditative" entry with a lower-body undulation -- the most sensual walk in the world!

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Alay'nya's Candle Dance Music Selection for Winters, 2003-4, & 2004-5

Elena Lentini taught a wonderful candle dance at her 2001 week-long intensive. The music she used was "Mawkib Ennoor (The Procession of Enlightment, Cut #5)," on the CD Best of Mohammed Abdul Wahab by Hossam Ramszy. Total play length is 7 minutes; 17 seconds.

The first two minutes of this are a solo ney taxim. Elena interpreted this by being totally quiet for the entire time; candles hidden behind her back. This was one of the most powerful examples of "stillness" in dance that I have ever seen - it did introduce a meditative state in us as viewers. (And it has helped me to center when I perform this myself.) Elena said that the imagery that she used in this composition was that of coming out of a long tunnel. This was one of the more masterful dances that I've ever seen.

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Alay'nya's Earliest Candle Dance Music

A beautiful piece for candle dancing is Song of the Pharoahs (Cut #6) on Fire Dance by Omar Farouk Tekbilek. I've used this both for winter solstice dances and for twilight dances in summertime. It is beautiful and mysterious. The long prologue gives you time for a stately and dramatic entry. With a little bit of practice, you will be able to do candle dancing floorwork with this music.

Click here on the image to your left to go to Amazon and to order this CD. You can also download The Song of the Pharoahs (Cut #6) as an MP3 from the Amazon order page!

And another Wonderful Idea for Candle Dance Music

A few years ago, every other belly dancer was using Marco Polo on the CD Book of Secrets. I found it wonderful for a mystically-flavored dance, very subtle and good for improvisation. Delilah has used it for her candle dance (see link to Delilah's description of her performance at a Goth Fest, below).

Click on the image to your left to go to Amazon and order this CD. You can also listen to Marco Polo from the Amazon order pagae!