What can you expect from my classes?

I am a project manager by day, so you can expect them to be organized.  We will have an adaptable lesson plan, so that you’ll know what to expect each week.  The classtime will be structured with adequate time for stretching, strengthening, learning new techniques and having fun just dancing.

Content-wise, I love hips and shimmies, so the first series of beginner classes will start with all the things we can do with our hips. (It should be called Hip Dance!).  Authentic Arabic music is important to me, and as we learn to dance, we will also learn about the music.

For those who are interested, class time will extend beyond our classroom experience.  I will create an online community  here in my blog where I will share links and videos for discussion.

I have learned to dance from so many of the great teachers in the Boston area, and I attend many workshops.  I will bring this knowledge to you, and share my sources.  I will encourage you to attend workshops appropriate to your level, and tell you about bellydance events going on in the area.  As a class, we will have the option of attending a bellydance performance together.

I will remain agnostic of style, although my specialty is Egyptian, I will tell you about other styles such as  Turkish, Vintage Orientale, or Tribal-Fusion – and if you wish to pursue these further, I can direct you to some of my colleagues who specialize in them. What you will learn in my beginner classes can be applied to most of these styles – every style has shimmies, hip lifts and drops, figure eights – it’s just as a matter of they stylize them.  I have learned to dance from an American Cabaret master in Amira Jamal, from Egyptian-styled teachers Najmat and Seyyide, and I have even been a member of a tribal-fusion troupe with Jemileh Nour.

As far as performance opportunities go, I have really enjoyed creating choreographies for the Ahlam Selene Dance Company, and I could see forming a student troupe to perform a choreography – working together with other area teachers to organize a recital.

For more details on the classes, like dates and signup information, my Teaching page has it all.

The show began with Karim’s “War with Souls” tahtib-inspired piece, and moved on through finger cymbals, riqqs, and a beautiful piece on the Buzuq that spoke of the Egyptian revolution.  He also played a new piece that combined classic Mexican songs with Arabic styling, which made everyone laugh at times (la cucaracha, la bamba, et al).  Interestingly I had just read an article in Aramco World about Arabic architecture and art in Mexico.

It was the perfect first concert, as it wasn’t over-amplified.  We sat in the balcony, first row, and had a perfect view of all the action. Although I know from performing on that same stage, the performers cannot see the audience – but we felt like Karim’s warm smile was beaming right up at us.

Of course, he (my son! not Karim!) got very sleepy and we had to leave at intermission.  And now, I can hear, we’re having a difficult bedtime because he’s very wound up.  But I really loved sharing my favorite music and culture with my family.

• Filmed from the back, facing a mirror, or a 3/4 view where front and side are clear to the viewer.  Alternatively, head-on instruction works well if the instructor mirrors the viewer and cues to match.
• The camera person should not change angles very often, unless it is to zoom in on a particular bit of technique.  Changing the viewing angle confuses the watcher about where the front,  back, and sides are.
• Instructors should NEVER wear black pants against a black background!
• All choreography and combinations should be taught to the music they were intended for.  This should go without saying, but I’ve recently seen DVDs where the combinations for the choreography were practiced with completely irrelevant music and the only chance to dance the combination to the music was in the final runthrough.  For dancers who learn choreography by connecting moves to music (rather than counts), this is infuriating.  And, it just feels wrong when the movement doesn’t match the music.
• After each combination is taught, it’s wonderful if you can practice it immediately and have a chance to run it through from the top – connecting it to the previous.
• It’s awesome when a DVD offers the opportunity to drill through the combinations without having to re-wind, especially a practice-only version so that you can skip the instructions.
• The full choreography should be shown in costume, so that the viewer can understand how the instructor would dance it in performance, including all those little nuances.

And my super-duper wish list – beyond all expectation – would be that the dancer would talk through the music, its changes, its meaning – for an optional viewing before learning the choreography. It could be a voice-over track on the full danced choreography.

This video, produced by Hollywood  Music, exceeds their previous choreography videos in a few ways.  For one, they teach the combinations that make up the choreography to the music that will be used to dance with it.  So, unlike some of their other videos, where you practice combinations to unrelated music, this one has you practice with and without the actual music.  Best of all, they finally added the “from the top” runthrough after each new combination is added.  Without this feature, a dancer – like myself – forgets the first combinations by the time I get a chance to run through it from the top at the end.

Each combination is an opportunity for Sandra to impart knowledge and technique, and she breaks down any new technique first – before teaching the steps.  I do think that more attention needed to be paid to the footwork.  Often it was rushed through.  While it may seem easy to do a grapevine, a grapevine with multiple weight changes and direction changes is difficult to follow. Now, granted, having a small room within which to practice, I find myself running into the furniture so that impeded me a bit.  I would love it if she had had the time to teach footwork first, then isolations added, as I have seen Sandra do on some of  Michelle Joyce’s DVDs.  So many times, a quick turn or weight change was explained quickly or demonstrated without any explanation – whereas a longer time would be spent on how to execute a chest circle or layer on top of a hip movement.  A dancer with a ballet background may have an easier time at it than I.  For me, it is the bellydance movements that require no explanation – but the fancy foot patterns do.

Sandra has always been one of my favorite American dancers to watch.  She is graceful, cute, and fairly distinctive in her styling.  While she may not dance just like an Egyptian, she has an Egyptian-influenced style with an American flair that I appreciate.  In this DVD, I finally learned to do some of the beautiful movement combinations I have seen on her performances.

The Helping Hips Gala is unlike many other haflis in New  England, in that, as the name says, it is a gala.  Everyone came dressed up, and purple was the color of the evening, with two ladies in purple silk.  Or perhaps pewter was the color of the evening – such was the color of Aurel’s stunning party dress.  Alizah Afet noted that the shoes alone could make a pictoral for Bellydance New England.

Two live “Egyptian” statues flanked the silent auction, while another side of the room had a substantial bar.  Each table was supplied with Chinese appetizers like crab rangoon (a personal favorite) and chocolates.  The room was packed, with every table filled, and at times it was hard to navigate!  Between the dance performances and the open dancing, I didn’t have much time to circulate.

The dance performances took place on a raised stage, where every dancer could be seen.  For this reason, we got to see some glorious floorwork that otherwise would have been obscured to all but the first row.  The dancer selection showed quite a variety, from American Cabaret to tribal fusion to Egyptian.  While the tribal fusion dancers and the house troupe, Sabaya, danced to CD, the majority of the dancers were dancing with the band – which included Mitch Kaltsunas and Tony Chamoun.  The show was heavy on the Raqs Sharqi, with very little folkloric, with the exception perhaps of Phaedra’s Lebanese cane stylings.  Most dancers had the opportunity to dance to more than one song, and I was relieved that it wasn’t always Oriental + Drum Solo.  Rather, there was significant variety even amongst the same style.  Jemileh performed with veil poi to Enta Omri, and then lit up the stage with Habibi Ya Nour Ya Ein, finishing with the kind of drum solo she has become known for in this area.  Rihanna combined an elegant mergenci with a sword-balancing routine with floorwork to slower music. Unfortunately I missed one of my favorites, Najmat, dance to Ya Bint El Sultan, but I did arrive in the middle of Purvi’s red hot drum solo.

The highlight of the evening was Aurel’s performance, the hostess of this glittering evening.  She came out performing with a cape-veil, something I have never seen before in real life, dancing to one of my favorites – Leilet Hob.  But, even after dancing to the song in its entirety (whereas most people will only do the beginning), she had more to offer.  She sang.  Yes, she sang Habibi Ya Eini like she was a native speaker of Arabic.  There are not too many American bellydancers who can sing, not like that, not in Arabic, and not in tune.  After all, most of us are dancers for a reason – and it isn’t because we have wonderful singing voices.  But Aurel is also the singer for the band “Hip Pocket Orchestra” and has her undergrad in Musical Theater, so it’s no surprise that she can combine entertainment, comedy, song, and dance into a single piece.  That is, after all, one of the reasons we were so happy to have her in Raks Nativity.

My piece this year had the least story and choreography of anything I have done for Raks Spooki in the past.  I decided to use a song that moved me inside, a loose concept of a woman trapped in a (physical or emotional?) glacier, who bit by bit melts it until she is free to express herself.  Rather than choreographing it, I just danced my heart to it.

Beyond my own piece, there was an overall theme of death and rebirth.  Tempest was a standout, evoking 1920s artwork, while using early 20th century American music, and a costume that evoked early American bellydancers.  Her dance, with two pieces of music dovetailing eachother, began with a death and ended with a joyous celebration of new life.  Another duo used their drum and zills to bring each other back to life. Neylan evoked ancient myths of the underworld and return. And I didn’t see them myself, but there was a troupe that was exhibiting true new life – round beautiful pregnant bellies!  So, although we have heard that Raks Spooki IV is the last, I hope that it will find its way to be reborn

I was thrilled by the creativity last night.  Animus and Raks Spooki have really invigorated me creatively and I am so grateful to be surrounded by artists.

I enjoyed being in the audience until I had to go home as it was a Sunday night.  One standout event occurred though. In a moment that reminded me of Manray (Boston’s now defunct goth club), I realized I had lost my money, my cards, and my ID – and an attractive and kind man came to my rescue and bought my drink.  Luckily I found everything – and paid him back – later.  But the kindness he had towards me – it was very meaningful and I haven’t forgotten it.  He didn’t ask anything from me – he just stepped in to save me from embarrassment at the bar.  Thank you, stranger.  Actually, I do remember your name and who you are, but I don’t like to name names of non-performers in blog posts out of respect for their privacy.

Historically, this show made me reflect on my past experiences with Raks Spooki.  I began performing only about six years ago now, so the first Raks Spooki was one of my first solo experiences.  It was at the Regent Theater in Arlington, and I performed with a veil and floorwork.I can remember having incredible stage fright but Tempest gave me the advice, I believe, to take deep breaths and a few moments to myself before going on stage to get into the mood.  I also performed with Tribal Storm, the tribal troupe I belonged to at that time, and we created a big piece with veils and wings.

Raks Spooki I - 2005

At the next Raks Spooki, I created a performance piece that told the story of a Viking warrior woman, who returns to life to take vengeance for her family’s murder.  It is one of my favorite performances, although I hesitate to call it bellydance.  I studied Old Norse and Medieval Studies in college, and the strong women of Iceland in particular appealed to me.

Photo from my "Vengeance" piece

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In Raks Spooki III, I performed with Snake Dance Theater in a piece we called The Vampire Bride.  It was good campy fun!

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

The Odissi workshop was physically demanding and intense.  Colleena first explained the origins of Odissi dance as a temple dance, that has become a classical dance after it was almost lost during the British occupation of India.  It has been painstakingly reconstructed from the vivid sculptures on temple walls in Orissa.  While some other Indian dance forms are dedicated to Shiva, Odissi is dedicated to an aspect of Vishnu.  For this reason, it has more curved, soft and feminine movements, while Kathak and Bharatnatyam have more masculine movements.  Still, we learned that it would be quite vigorous, as the feet are expected to keep the beat and hold a strong base to the softly swaying upper body.

We began with some yoga-style warmups and Odissi strengthening exercises, including very deep squats.   Then, we worked from a seated position on the delicate rib cage slide with opposing head slide and coordinating eye movements.  Colleena informed us that any movement that looks like a hip slide in Indian dance is actually achieved with a pronounced upper body shift.  Surprisingly, the most difficult movement was to shift the eyes – slowly and deliberately – without flitting about.  In fact, it is one’s control of one’s eyes that indicates the depth of one’s spiritual practices.

We then proceeded to learn two stances, the two most basic of this dance form that can take a lifetime to perfect.  With our feet less than a foot apart, our knees bent, our back straight, arms held parallel to the floor, muscles shaking with the mere effort of holding it -we then added foot stomps, hand gestures, a tilt of the chin, and a ribcage slide.  An Odissi dancer can spend a year just learning this series of movements, but we then explored a second one – forgive me that I can’t spell the names so I have omitted them.  This one involved crossed legs, and a shifted body position.

Finally we ended this class with a simplified prayer to the feminine, in all her aspects – strong, motherly, compassionate.

It has been four days since the workshop, and my thighs still burn!  I was thankful to have prepared with some Indian dance DVDs in advance, because I was familiar with the mudras, but for the most part, all of this was completely new and challenging for me. I  have immense respect for Indian classical dancers; they work as hard as our ballerinas.  On the other hand, I am very grateful that my Egyptian baladi style is easier on my quads.

In the next workshop, we explored Kalbelia Indian dance.  What Colleena had taught herself in ten years from living among the Kalbelia “gypsy” tribespeople of Rajasthan, we learned in two hours.  It is a simple dance, with a lot of personality.  There is one basic step that is not too different from Khaleegy, in that the beat is kept with one foot and the footwork stays fairly constant, while the hands and arms improvisationally express the music. I really enjoyed everything about this class, especially that I had seen the Kalbelia in Udaipur five years ago.  Colleena shared so much about their culture.

In the end I reflected on the interesting fact that I was the sole Egyptian style dancer in the class (assuming that I know most of them in Boston from other workshops and classes).  After all, Kalbelia dance is a folkloric dance much like Nubian or Tunisian.  Colleena has a great respect for the culture, and conveyed it to us. Throughout the class, we used the real music of this culture.  Some traditional Arabic dancers believe that tribal-fusion dancers have no respect for culture and music; yet the class was filled with tribal fusion and ATS dancers.  It just so happened to be an Indian folklore rather than Egyptian folklore class.  On the other hand, I am surprised – if such things appeal to fusion dancers, then why do I not see more of them in Arabic folkloric classes?  Overall, this class made me see the similarities between these two camps that often stand apart.

That said, a girl in the class – from out of town – told me (unknowing of my affection for Arabic music) that she thought Arabic music was boring, “all that dum-tek dum-tek – so few rhythms – I prefer electronic music.”  No stranger to electronic music myself, I almost asked whether she preferred the 4/4 or the 4/4.  No, seriously, electronic music does have different rhythms – witness drum & bass.  But, at any rate, I said “Just playing devil’s advocate, I never get bored of the variety of rhythms in Arabic music, but it’s not just the drum, it’s also the different instruments, the different maqams – I find nothing to be bored with in Arabic music.”   We are lucky, however, in Boston to have live music and so many people who use real Arabic music to dance to.  Our exposure to Arabic music goes beyond the bellydance superstars CDs – therefore, it isn’t boring to us.