Vivobarefoot, a pioneer in minimalist footwear, proudly announces the release of “Unbound,” a compelling short documentary that challenges conventional beliefs about women’s footwear and its impact on health. This initiative seeks to empower women to reclaim their natural strength and embrace the benefits of barefoot movement. For centuries, societal norms have perpetuated the idea that “beauty is pain,” leading many women to endure discomfort from narrow, pointy, and heeled shoes.

These footwear choices have often been linked to persistent foot problems and broader health issues. “Unbound” delves into this narrative, shedding light on the adverse effects of modern footwear and advocating for a return to natural foot movement.The documentary is a collaboration with visionary filmmaker Becky Hutner, known for “Fashion Reimagined,” and Oscar-nominated producer Melissa Robledo of “Food, Inc.”

It features insights from five women across diverse fields—including medicine, academia, sports, wellness, and indigenous culture—each sharing their holistic health journeys and perspectives on the importance of natural foot health.Among them are, Tati Gabrielle, pictured below.

She advocates for strong feet which connect with the ground and how this has played an important role in her personal wellness (scoliosis, mental health), and in her Martial Arts training, which will be showcased in Mortal Kombat in Fall 2025, her biggest role yet. Others featured in the movie are Radhi Devulkia-Shetty, a plant-based cookbook author and natural health thought leader; Rina Harris, a functional podiatrist; Bonnie Wright, a Hollywood star in her youth (Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter); Arizona Muse — and why off-duty models prefer to be barefoot. 

“Unbound” is not just a film; it’s a movement encouraging women to question what’s ‘normal’ in footwear, reclaim their natural strength, and discover the joy of barefoot movement. By highlighting personal stories and expert opinions, the documentary aims to inspire a shift towards healthier footwear choices and overall well-being. Vivobarefoot invites everyone to watch “Unbound” and join the conversation on women’s footwear liberation.

The documentary is available for viewing on the Vivobarefoot website.

For more information, please visit Vivobarefoot Women’s Barefoot Liberation.

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With a special interest in the Middle East, after studying Arabic and also teaching dance to underprivileged children in Jordan, I was touched when I learned about Joudeh. Then around this time last year, in rehearsals for a modern dance show, I found out that one of the pieces I would perform centered around him. An excerpt from the documentary that introduced Joudeh to the world would play on the screen at the back of the stage. This good fortune moved me; I felt so lucky and eager to embrace his “Dance or die” spirit, to embody his movement, to give his story the spotlight it deserves – this time on a New York City stage.

In his documentary, there was one scene in which Joudeh dances on a barren concrete rooftop. It’s a beautiful day, a minaret and dome of a mosque visible beyond the roof’s border, but one inevitably fears that there isn’t much time before all of the structures pictured will crumble, the dust will block out the sun…

Joudeh ushers in a sense of hope to that roof, though, as he sweeps his leg around, tumbles to the floor but then reaches an outstretched hand to the sky. His movement is big; you can tell that he needs this art as much as it sustains him.

I, too, like to move big, and I know I dance better when I am emotionally charged. In this piece by the company Born Dancing, Inc., called Grey 5 because it was the fifth of a set of pieces dedicated to Syria, collectively called Grey, I started mimicking Joudeh’s movement pattern, dancing with him as I faced the back, looking at him on the screen. Three dancers joined and we danced in canon, and then it was complete accumulation: all six of us were flying and reaching alongside Ahmad Joudeh.

View the video on Facebook here.

The piece ended with pictures of Syrian children affected by the war flashing over the screen, and the dancers reacting to it. I remember that the director, Melissa van Wijk, did not choreograph our reactions; she let us feel the way we felt, and manifest that through movement, whatever it was. I appreciated that freedom awarded us, when usually dance is so exacting.

On the subject of freedom, I would like to give an update on Joudeh’s whereabouts. He is now dancing with the Dutch National Ballet. No doubt his technique and artistry have soared, and his future dance students will be all the more lucky to have him. Last month his first book, an autobiography, called Danza o Muori, Italian for Dance or Die, was published by DeA Planeta Libri. I have to brush up on my Italian, and then I’ll pick up a copy.

Tonight is opening night of Born Dancing, Inc.’s fourth production. Although we will not be showing all of Grey, and that means no Grey 5, there is a duet, Grey 2, that we have pulled to show, and I have the honor of dancing in it. I assume the role of a mother figure as I dance with an 11-year-old named Emily, who represents Syrian refugee children at large. We play, I support her, she supports me, and love is palpable.

This weekend, I bet Ahmad Joudeh is performing, too. Although we won’t be sharing the stage in person or thanks to digital technology, we will still be close: I plan to carry his love of dance in my heart, and that’s as close at it gets.

First photo courtesy of Born Dancing, Inc. Photo of Danza o Muori taken off Ahmad Joudeh’s Instagram page.

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English is my primary language, but even if I didn’t speak some Arabic, Greek and French too, I’d still be multilingual. As a dancer, dance educator and choreographer, I have always believed that I speak the universal language.

Movement is life. As living beings, we move even before making our presence known to the world. But some take the art and sport of movement as their life’s work, and use dance to assert their presence – and sometimes, help others to do so, as well.

Battery Dance, a professional company in downtown New York City, launched its Dancing to Connect programs over a decade ago. With these programs, company members travel abroad to conduct week-long dance workshops for underprivileged and at-risk youth. It very much reminds be of the work I myself did as an intern for the Hayatuna program launched by the Swedish NGO, Spiritus Mundi.

Instead of simply asking the children to watch and copy movement, the educators give the kids their own choreography wands, allowing and asking them to invent their own movement vocabulary. When I worked with the House of the Roses volunteer dance company, also a New York City-based organization, we employed this dance education method, and it proved extremely effective.

In creating their own movement to express emotions, ideas, etc., the children recognized in themselves greater potential and felt more closely tied to the project, more needed.

In Moving Stories, the documentary recently made following Dancing to Connect in Iraq, India, Romania and South Korea, we see the same trends and behaviors: dance stirring joy and awakening creativity in the young participants, and gaining appreciation by both the performers and their communities alike. It is clear that dance truly is a way we can communicate regardless of geographical or linguistic boundaries, and also that art is vital to our collective human culture.

Watch the Moving Stories trailer here.

I love what director, Rob Fruchtman said in an interview: “Dance is both a way in and a way out.” In addition to developing a greater understanding of oneself, dancing provides an outlet through which one can release stresses and emotions normally buried within.

It is so commendable that Battery Dance seeks out areas where there is the greatest need for something as freeing and healing as dance. The communities highlighted in Moving Stories have suffered more than most.

Gender violence, abuse, war and poverty are prevalent in the lives of these children. In India, for example, Dancing to Connect works with young women who have suffered sexual exploitation. In Romania, many of the children are gypsies who were raised in slums.

Working with kids is not always a walk in the park; attention strays, feelings get hurt, manners are lost, tempers flare, etc. Add to that the fact that the target population for these programs has been disproportionately affected by serious issues, and there you have a massive challenge. Battery Dance does not give up, though – another thing to admire.

After going through an intensive week filled with dance, the kids perform for an audience. It is clear, by the time of the shows, that the children have grown individually but also socially. A sense of accomplishment and pride is palpable. New friendships have been forged.

So much good comes out of Dancing to Connect, but a week is fleeting. Battery Dance works to make these programs sustainable by training people affiliated with the performing arts in these international locales under the company’s leaders during the workshops. The hope is that these close to home, native language speaking teams will grow the program, or something resembling it, as life continues, that the week with Battery Dance will not be remembered as a singular rare opportunity but as the start of much more.

The performing arts serve not only as entertainment; they also naturally lend themselves to therapy and act as a launchpad for social change.

As someone who has experienced their power firsthand, I can only hope that they will continue to be shared, and with growing zeal.

I read up on CMRubinWorld about Dancing to Connect. The title of the article there is, “The Global Search for Education: Is Now Our Time to Dance?” To which my answer is: Yes, it has always been our time to dance.

Top photo from Battery Dance website; next photo from The Dance Enthusiast

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When there is nothing left to do, you might as well do something. In Syria, where the war is five years and counting, dancing might be the last thing on anyone’s mind. But for Ahmad Joudeh, it is a priority. Dance is his lifeblood, and he is fueling others with it, too.

Joudeh teaches dance classes to young people, including a large group of orphaned children. The studio must seem like an oasis in the middle of a desert of smashed concrete. While not necessarily a safe haven – really, nowhere in Syria is safe – it is a refuge for the soul.

As a dancer, I know that dance stimulates both the body and the mind. Joudeh teaches, among other styles, ballet – the most exacting genre of dance there exists. For the young students, working on a higher leg extension, to name an example, could be a metaphor for getting past the extreme hardship they face every day.

The inspiring teacher has had a great deal of success in his career as a professional dancer. Most notably, he was a top contestant on Yalla Nor’os, the Pan-Arab version of the show So You Think You Can Dance.

These days, though, he can’t devote as much time to dance as he wants. Survival is not a guarantee, and so he has altered his lifestyle to help ensure it. As it shows him kneading dough in the video above, one of his main responsibilities is to quite literally put bread on the table.

And yet, and yet…he still makes time to teach dance classes. Not only is his teaching a special effort; it is also a huge risk. Joudeh has received several violent threats. One promised to shoot him in the leg, so as to handicap him, if he continued to dance and teach dance.

But with his strength of character, he refuses to be intimidated. “Dance or die” – that’s his motto, written in ink across the back of his neck. If we must fight for what we believe in, then he is a leader in the battle.

“You hear the guns?” He asked the cameraman . “They are shooting us. But they will never kill us.” He knows that he feels the most alive when he dances, and that dance itself can never die.

In the meantime, before something changes for the better or worse in his world, he dances for lost souls – on a rooftop in Damascus, in the streets at the place he once called home, in the rubble of Palmyra – sweeping up shards of glass and debris, and the occasional bullet, with his feet.

Art can come from any emotion, and it can create any emotion: grief, joy, anger, grace. It is clear that the young dancers under Joudeh’s instruction love the opportunity they have to learn something new and express themselves.

They are growing stronger, as dancers and as people, with each class. The electricity cut during filming for the video, right as the kids were talking about never giving up. In the darkness, you can hear their laughter and – unless I imagined it – a “Welcome to Syria!”

Update 2023: Joudeh made his way to safety in Amsterdam with the help of the Dutch National Ballet.

::Ahmad Joudeh

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Dancing is good for you, but the Harlem Shake is a cringe-worthy global phenomenon that’s spawned a thousand epic fails: the YouTube dance craze’s been done underwater, on commercial air flights over the Grand Canyon, and now, by soldiers in the Israeli Defense Force.

“It’s just a sign of the times when you see soldiers dancing and reacting to internet sensations like the Harlem Shake,” says Guy Lerer,  according to the BBC.  Lerer, a presenter on Israeli Channel 10’s program about the internet, The Night Tube, added, “I think the army shouldn’t be embarrassed about that. It shows the world that Israeli kids are like kids everywhere else.”

Military brass apparently don’t agree: they jailed two soldiers (14 days for the organizer and 21 days for his commanding officer who approved it) for their roles in producing the video of their dancing artillery battalion.  Despite a staggering absence of decorum (and dancing skills), the clip’s been well-received by Israeli media and in online comments. Check out the video below. 

Israel isn’t alone is trying to muzzle its soldiers:  American, British and Norwegian armed forces all have examples of their servicemen being inducted into the You Tube Hall of Shame. The above is a cover of  Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe” by US soldiers in Afghanistan is seen below. Can you conjure up John Wayne in camo fatigues shaking his money-maker to a WWII pop tune? These aren’t your grandfather’s soldiers.

But, in Israel, a a nation where most young people between 18 and 21 perform military service, is it possible to shut down their personal participation in virtual communities?  A recent ComScore study reported that Israelis spend longer on social networks than any other users.

As witnessed during the Arab Spring, social media creates a new frontline in regional conflict, with activists from all sides scanning the internet for content that supports their views.  Mainstream use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram make it easy to monitor soldiers’ personal accounts for provocative proofs and indiscretions.

Palestinian activist, Ali Abunimah, a co-founder of the Electronic Intifada website, told BBC, “We look at social media accounts coming out of Palestine/Israel, whether it’s Instagram or Twitter or YouTube. We’re really looking for anything  newsworthy,” he says. “We’ll investigate it and try to find some context.”  International media also trolls for storylines.

“Recently we’re witnessing a growing and expanding phenomenon in which soldiers from all IDF units disseminate through social platforms in which they are active… visual content which is not appropriate to the spirit of the IDF,” stated a memo circulated to IDF commanders.

The IDF clearly understands social forum, using its own Twitter feed and official Facebook page to promote its views and reinforce its image.

“This is a democracy. We cannot ban soldiers or anyone else from using smart phones and mobile devices but we are a military with strict orders,” says head of interactive media, Avital Leibovich. “A soldier is a solider wherever he is. He has to behave within the moral and ethical code of the IDF in his house with his friends, with his colleagues in the military and in social media.”

“I can do whatever I like. Yes, I’m in the army but I’m not a robot or something,” an unnamed young soldier told the BBC.

The Israeli government doesn’t disclose info as to IDF overall size, but estimates by London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies approximate ground forces at over 10o,000 troops, with an additional 500,000 reservists. The Military Balance estimates there were 175,000 soldiers in active service and 430,000 in the reserves in 1998.

However you do the numbers, they translate into an army of personal media that’s impossible to control.  This isn’t Abu Ghraib,  it’s dancing young people.  What  do you think about nations applying “parental controls” to their soldiers’ electronic toys?

The Harlem Shake has caught on in Tunisia and Egypt. See the two videos below.

Harlem Shake Cairo rocks the Brotherhood

Harlem Shake/Gangham Style in Tunisia

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Five years ago Noa Wertheim, Vertigo’s co-artistic director, and her three sisters created the Vertigo Eco Art Village in Israel’s Elah Valley, overlooking the site where Bible says David defeated Goliath. They live with their families in the village, which has composting toilets, solar-heated showers and a water-recycling system. 

Today, the village is also home to a professional dance studio/theater and a sculpture garden. It hosts activities with the goal of ‘fostering artistic creation engaged with the environment,” including educational workshops in practical ecology, agriculture, green technologies, etc., while Vertigo dancers rehearse in a refurbished chicken coop. Their dance philosophy surfs the edges between art and science. Their programs can range from building sustainable wind turbines to studying movement, yoga, Jewish religious philosophy, earth building and classical ballet.

Wertheim’s husband, Adi Sha’al, is also a dancer. They met at the Jerusalem Tamar Dance Company, and together they founded Vertigo in 1992. The company has received several awards from Israel’s Ministry of Culture; most recently Vertigo dancer Rina Wetheim won 2010’s outstanding dancer award.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrfCe-2i7HI]

::The Australian

Image of woman dancing via Shutterstock

Read more about Vertigo, ecology and dance from Israel:
Vertigo Dancers Get Their Groove On in an Eco-Arts Village 
Cooped Up With Vertigo
Celebrate Shavuot at Vertigo Eco-Arts Village, A Great Alternative to All That Cheese

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As a Dance and Anthropology double major and an Arabic minor at Montclair State University, my interests slip right into the mission of Spiritus Mundi, a Swedish NGO that sees the arts as forces in social change and whose chief operations are in the Middle East.

Hayatuna, or “Our Lives” in Arabic, is the name of a project that was launched by the organization this summer in Amman, Jordan and is set to be initiated next in Cairo, Egypt.

Dancing, singing, and songwriting workshops were held several times per week for children from local orphanages at Freeway Dance Studios and Stardust Academy, to expose them to the performing arts and to build their confidence. During my internship with Spiritus Mundi, I helped to facilitate those workshops.

I mainly participated alongside the students, giving the occasional nod of encouragement or gentle reprimand when due.

But when the regular dance pedagogue, Jordanian-Ukrainian Maxeem Ayyad, couldn’t make it to class, I stepped in to teach two hour-long dance classes to children ages 7 to 10.

In preparation for the class, I memorized directional Arabic phrases which I thought might come in handy, Stand Up, Sit Down, Look at me, and Listen among them.

Although I did use these phrases and a translator was also provided for the rest, verbal communication was limited.

Still, I managed to lead an activity in which the children themselves created a short dance combination: I sought their input by asking them to demonstrate movement that depicted their favorite sports, and then I helped them to turn that movement into choreography by setting it against sets of eight-count musical phrases.

They were empowered in knowing that they were artists who could contribute in the collaborative creative process for dance, and ultimately, that they were being recognized for their talent and creativity rather than their life circumstances.

If teachers only told students what to do, then there would be no sign of value placed on students’ imagination or intuition.

Teachers and students are both producers and consumers of knowledge; knowledge flows in both directions.

In a greater context, this principle can aid in the sustainability of the Hayatuna – a feeling of empowerment and ownership on the part of the beneficiaries will render the project desirable and worthwhile.

The post Dancing With Hayatuna’s Creativity in Amman, Jordan appeared first on Green Prophet.

Half a century ago, Chubby Checker (ironically) popularized the waist-whittling dance, “The Twist”. Twenty years on, Jennifer Beals’ Flashdance foot-stomping fueled record-breaking sales of leg warmers: required apparatus for burning off surplus 1980’s calories. Micro-shorted Richard Simmons challenged TV audiences to “Sweat to the Oldies”. Suburban strip malls spawned Jazzercise classes.

Americans were not the only ones dancing their way to fitness: Middle Eastern belly-dance and Colombian Zumba hopped onto the scene. The Indian dance sequence that wraps Slumdog Millionaire hatched a zillion imitators on YouTube from tween-age sleepovers to formal wedding parties: the music is infectious and near-impossible to endure without some nerdy head nodding or shoulder popping. A good tune can be more motivating than medical data to get us moving.

Now aspiring dancers in Dubai can log off YouTube and learn fancy footwork straight from a master Bollywood dancer. This summer, Hindi film star Meghna Naidu is establishing a Bollywood dance academy in the United Arab Emirates.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZzn2F3_FL0&feature=related[/youtube]

Naidu is an Indian dancer and actress, whose first major appearance was in a wildly popular 2000 music video for UMI10’s “Kaliyon Ka Chaman”, a remix of Lata Mangeshkar’s 1980’s hit “Thoda Resham Lagta Hai”. Naidu starred in several music videos before moving on to Indian feature films.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fomm0X3tuJY&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLB3AAAB82575368C3[/youtube]

The Dubai-based performer has participated in more than 800 shows around the world in the past decade, and she’s a favorite with Dubai’s Indian community. In addition to her stage career, Naidu is also joint-partner in an event management and promotions company in Dubai. Establishing the academy allows Naidu to introduce Bollywood dancing to a global audience, linking the cultural artform to both fitness and fun.

Who doesn’t want to dance their way to Freida Pinto or Dev Patel slenderness?

The main center will be located in Karama, home to the largest concentration of Indians in the region. She also plans to open a center in Dubai Marina to cater to the expat community.

Classes will target children as young as four to allow instructors to work on dancer coordination, proper balance and technique from the start. Complex dance sequences will then be introduced. Classes will also be customized for adults of all ages, particularly geared to stay-at-home mothers looking for a fun workout.

“Coming from a South Indian background, it was very important for my mom – who is also a classical dancer [Kathakali] – to teach us some form of classical dance. Bharatanatyam was the most common in those days. It really helped me a lot with my postures and my balance for Bollywood dancing”, said Naidu in an interview with The National.

The Academy will officially start in September, the beginning of the Dubai academic year. In the run-up to formal opening, she will also run dance camps throughout July and August.  Ambitions are high: Naidu is also in process of expanding into the USA, aiming to establish a Meghna Naidu Academy in New York possibly in 2013 or the first quarter of 2014.

Check out more detail on the academy website. Bollywood summer camp costs about $250 for a two-week course, which includes 30 hours of dance instruction. Dance classes start at less than $15 per class.

Image from testing / Shutterstock.com

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