Dear friends,
It’s been quite an amazing two months of lockdown.  I’ve never been so busy!  I have lots of new web skills to learn and I’ve been going at 150% to create new online classes to bring to you and keep you all dancing.  I am so grateful to EVERYONE out there who has continued to support my work and keep me employed during this unprecedented time.  I hope to give it back to you with rich offerings of music, dance and knowledge.
The easiest way to join us around the world is every Saturday and Sunday at 10 am PDT for gentle community yoga. Class is gentle and combines yoga with other body mechanics techniques and will prepare you for class or for your life. ANYBODY can join …we have ANAR DANA members past and present, men and women, tango dancers in Argentina etc!!! Class is by donation via PayPal on my webpage.  If that doesn’t work for you just contact me!

The ANAR DANA SF Virtual Project has been a total success with women joining from all over the world.  We have finished Unit 1 and this weekend we will be beginning Unit 2 (which goes for two weekends) and we have just decided to add one more virtual Unit on the last two weekends of July.  If you are kicking yourself because you didn’t join you could still join us this weekend if you get in touch with me right away!!!  We have chosen a time in the morning on the West Coast of the USA that makes it possible for people on the East Coast or in South America to join us in the afternoon and people in Europe to join us in the evening.  (If you are farther afield you can join us in the middle of the night if you want!!!)  If you can’t afford regular tuition you can contact me for a variety of funding options…everyone should be able to dance with us!  We are working on the following repertoire: Dances of the Sahraoui people of the West Sahara, Khalegi dances of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Čoček Macedonian Romani dances, dances of the Armenian diaspora in Fresno, CA of the 1950’s, Russian Khorovod songs and dances, Azeri Yalli dances from Nakhchivan and court dances from Bokhara, Uzbekistan.  You can read more about the project here: http://anardanasf.weebly.com

In conjunction with the various ANAR DANA projects and also in collaboration with Pomegranate Garden Dance I am continuing to offer Cultural Talks:
Coming up May 29th Diaspora Armenian Music and Dance in the USA, specifically Fresno of the 1950’s.  I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome a guest speaker Harout Arakelian to join me.
On June 1st I will be doing a Cultural Talk on the Republic of Georgia for Pomegranate Garden Dance.
ANAR DANA Seattle will have two Cultural talks June 5th and 26th.  The first on multi cultural Bosnia and I will be joined by guest speaker Peter Lippman and the second on the Andalusian musical heritage of North Africa.
July 10th will be an Uzbek Cultural Talk (in German) and July 24th I will do one on the Arab States of the Persian Gulf (The Khaleeg)
Natalie Nayun has continued to do an incredible job of curating DAILY dance classes for Central Asian and Persian dance with incredible teachers from around the world in a platform called Pomegranate Garden Dance.  In April I am teaching a weekly class there on Thursdays for Afghani dance and the first week of June I will be offering a week-long intensive on Georgian Mountain Dances. There will be a Cultural Talk in conjunction with that.  You can find the whole calendar here:

Finally I am glad to teach online private lessons or organize a group lesson for a subject that you are interested in.

If you want to work on your basic tango technique or for couples that are isolated together Marcelo Taglioferro and I would be glad to offer virtual Tango coaching. We have been using this time to work on our teaching materials for working with you on musicality and would love to share that with you!
I am so grateful to all of my students and colleagues for their continued support of my work and for the extraordinary display of solidarity that I am seeing around the world.  Thank you all!
Helene
Time zones for your reference:
10 am PDT (UTC-7) West Coast USA =
14:00 ART (UTC-3) in Argentina =
19:00 CEST/MESZ (UTC+2) in Western Europe
CALENDAR
Every Saturday & Sunday
10-10:40 PDT (UTC-7)
Join the international ANAR DANA community for Gentle Community Yoga.
Suggested donation is 5 Euros or dollars, but we know it’s difficult times so donate what you can and I will send you the link to join us! Please let me know which date/s you would like to join us. Men & children are welcome too!!!

DONATE on my website www.helene-eriksen.de

Thursday at 17:00 (5pm) PDT (UST-7)
May 28th, 2020
Afghani dance lessons with Helene Eriksen
Pomegranate Garden Dance 

You can visit the Face book page HERE

to read about the whole project and see the incredible line-up of teachers. You can see the whole schedule and register for my Thursday Afghani classes here: https://www.pomegranategardendance.com

Sat & Sun May 23&24 and 30&31,
10am-1pm PDT (UST-7)
ANAR DANA SF Virtual UNIT 2
It’s not too late to join us for the second session of the new ANAR DANA Project.  After the quarantine if you want to continue, you can join us live in the San Francisco Bay Area in the Fall.  (These 2 weekends are equivalent to weekend II of the live project.)  Class fees include the ANAR DANA Cultural talk on the Armenian Diaspora May 29th, 2020.
Friday, May 29, 10am-12pm PDT (UST-7)
Cultural Talk on Armenian Diaspora Music & Dance
guest speaker Harout Arakelian
Suggested donation is $15 but donate what you can.
DONATE on my website www.helene-eriksen.de

Monday May 1st, 3pm-5pm PDT (UST-7)
Cultural Talk on Georgia 

Pomegranate Garden Dance 

You can visit the Face book page HERE

to read about the whole project and see the incredible line-up of teachers. You can see the whole schedule and register for my Georgian Cultural Talk here:

Tuesday-Friday May 2-5th, 3pm-5pm PDT (UST-7)
Intensive Dance Series on Georgian Mountain Dance

Pomegranate Garden Dance

You can visit the Face book page HERE

to read about the whole project and see the incredible line-up of teachers. You can see the whole schedule and register for my Georgian dance intensive here:

Friday, June 5, 10am-12pm PDT (UST-7)
Cultural Talk on Multicultural Bosnia
guest speaker Peter Lippman 
Suggested donation is $15 but donate what you can.
DONATE on my website www.helene-eriksen.de

Friday, June 26, 10am-12pm PDT (UST-7)
Cultural Talk on the Andalusian Musical Heritage of North Africa
Suggested donation is $15 but donate what you can.
DONATE on my website www.helene-eriksen.de

Sat & Sun July 20&21 and 27&28,
10am-1pm PDT (UST-7)
ANAR DANA SF Virtual UNIT 3
Join us for the first sessions of the new ANAR DANA Project.  After May, if you want to continue, you can join us live in the San Francisco Bay Area in the Fall. (These 2 weekends are equivalent to one supplemental weekend of the live project.)  Class fees include the ANAR DANA Cultural talks on the Arab States of the Persian Gulf  in July 24th, 2020.
Friday, July 24, 10am-12pm PDT (UST-7)
Cultural Talk the Arab States of the Persian Gulf
Suggested donation is $15 but donate what you can.
DONATE on my website www.helene-eriksen.de