Cairo, the 2nd January, 2010

Fuel (for artists, for all human beings)

One last feed-back on the incredible 2010!

I re-discovered that the FUEL for artists (and human beings) is loving and being loved.

Without that, dancers will not shine on stage, actors will not shine on the screen, singers will not sing the notes that make audiences thrill and rejoice.

A FULL, LOVING LIFE is the fuel to my creations and, I believe, the food for the soul of every artistic creator.

As Sting says in a beautiful song ("Mad about you"):

"There are no victories in all our histories without love."

I ask no more than PURE FUEL to keep on creating at my best!

Cairo, the 2nd January, 2011

Best of (2010) - PART II

Another group of images that reflect a bit of the ABUNDANCE of JOY that 2010 brought to me.

I can only wish all this abundance will keep multiplying itself in 2011 and never cease to surprise me with God's endless compassion and LOVE.

Love moments with my family, the man I carry in my heart, myself...

Then there's me after the show at the CLOSING GALA of the WORLD ORIENTAL FESTIVAL "AHLAN WA SAHLAN" directed by the amazing Raqia Hassan.

My smile says a lot over here. It not only speaks of success but of having all the love I ever dreamt of in my hands.:)

My first treap to India with my best friend, Margarida, and all the changes it produced in me.

I returned from India as a changed person and, might I proudly add, a brighter one!

Colombia and its lush green, sensual air.

Me and my sister with one of our dogs in Portugal, me and my mum laughing with my silly jokes in one of the most beautiful places in my country (Sintra), all the beautiful things last year showered with...how blessed I am!:)

All the people that contributed for my joy, growth and success in all aspects of my life.

I cannot name them all because they were wayyyyyy too much to name and they all know who they are.

I simply give THANKS and prepare to do MY BEST for 2011.:)

Cairo, the 2nd January, 2011

Last glimpse at the BEST of 2010 (so grateful for ALL)

There would be a thousand images of the happiest moments of my 2010 but here are just a few.

These images reflect moments - some GRANDIOSE and some, apparently, so common and simple - that have made my last year an unforgettable time for various reasons.

When I look at these images, the only thing I can do is SMILE and give THANKS!

Here you can see me on an "embarassing wall of shame" kind of photo, receiving a pedicure before the great show in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While I receive the pedicure, I laugh very hard and drink a typical argentinian kind of tea called "mate".

Then there I am taking my first class of TANGO in...BUENOS AIRES at the home of the lovely dancer and friend, Mayra Huzid. This lesson was the starting point of yet another passion added to my life!

Me and friends at Mayra's home with her puppy "Gina" (now Gina is a grown up lady) and me at the grand stage in an important Buenos Aires theatre with the lovely Mario Kirlis (amazing person and musician!).

Me, performing in my regular shows in Cairo at the NILE MAXIM and another photo with students from Buenos Aires who showered me with appreciation, love and so much passionate comments...I received hundreds of messages from Argentina after I left and I cried of happiness with people's comments on many occasions. I could not believe how amazingly received I was there. I miss Buenos Aires and its people!

If I could show all the images that made my heart beat faster during 2010 I would spend the next days in front of the computer...:)

They bring me hope and extra strenght for the even better that is yet to come, starting from...right NOW!

CAMANÉ "Sei de um Rio"

CAMANE, my favourite portuguese singer.
The same magic of the portuguese guitar, the poetry of the genius FERNANDO PESSOA and the feeling and magic of my NUMBER 1 fado singer.
You gotta love this man!

I do.:)

Ana Moura /**Não hesitava um segundo**/

Portuguese contemporary FADO (the singer is Ana Moura).

The subtle beauty of the portuguese guitar and the deep, amazing emotion of the portuguese language, born to be used in poetry and love.;)

Cairo, the 1st January, 2011

Heart beating again...

I didn't realize my heart was sleeping or, even worse, kind of frozen until you came and I heard it beat again as clear as an african drum.

I didn't realize a human heart could keep on beating and pumping blood throughout the body , keeping all its own functions working properly (just making sure one is breathing and moving) without REALLY being ALIVE.

I didn't realize a heart could die before the whole body dies and yet today I discovered it CAN.

It was only when you arrived that I realized, in a kind of childish innocent surprise, that my heart was ALIVE again, beating like a strong, powerful horse again...smiling again...working from the depth of my soul once more...saving me from the world of the walking dead...

And I danced "Enta Omri" for you and my heart danced with me, once again...only to show me that I had been dancing with a frozen heart...only to show me how it looks like to see my own heart melting from the ice land of sadness and returning to LIFE where all is full of LOVE and PASSION, where all is the REAL ME.

And I REALIZED how different it is to dance with a frozen heart or with a new born heart

(one which has just been awaked again by your warm presence) and how audiences reacted to it and my dance reached their ...you guessed: HEART!

I guess this is - already! - the first thing I have learnt and experienced in 2011.

What a start!

Cairo, the 1st January, 2011

1-1-2011 - GREAT COMBINATION (for ACTION)

I woke up on this new year with a really sick mood towards best wishes (even my own) and list of dreams and goals to achieve.

I also woke up with the great REALIZATION that wishes are not enough to make DREAMS come true if we don't TAKE ACTION. Indeed.

Sure it's beautiful to have all the love in your heart and dream big, wishing others the same blessings we do for ourselves but I can assure you - one of my few certainties in this life - that NOTHING of what you wish for will happen if you don't TAKE ACTUAL STEPS towards what makes you happy. Dreams come true will not land on your lap while you "just wish" very hard for all miracles to happen. It's not ALL in the hands of God, you know...it's a 50%/50% deal, I guess. God waits for us to make the efforts, the ACTIONS in the direction of what we dream of and then he comes along to give us his holy hand but, if you just sit and wait for miracles to happen fallen from the sky, well...you can sit and wait FOREVER and you'll grow old frustrated asking yourself why on earth all those dreams did not come true and blaming it on DESTINY, on GOD's will, on bad luck.

It's the whining club that really gets on my nerves. The "cryers over the spilt milk" of this earth that make me wanna shake them up like puppets to make them wake up. The loosers who prefer to sit and watch life goes by and, then, when they realize nothing of what they wished for REALLY happened, they still sit and cry blaming life for bringing them such bad luck.

In order not to be one of the sad members of this club, all my ACTIONS will go towards the REALIZATION of my DREAMS and I will not make wish lists anymore. I will just move forward, hard work on the way, step by step building what I REALLY wish for.

I will not sit and watch while life passes by...that's for sure.

Well, here's the only wish for this 2011: TAKING THE FIRST STEPS (and second, third and subsequence ones) towards all I wish for.

ACTION plus wishing from the heart...maybe that's the equation for success, REAL success!

Let's try it, shall we?