When did you take your first bellydance class?

And did you like it??

 I will be honest - I did NOT!

 My first belly dance class was in 2002, after I graduated college. In fact, my 10 year belly-versary is coming up in November! It was a beginner class at a very famous studio in Manhattan. But the class was working on a not-so-beginner veil choreography, and it was very hard to follow. Add that to my background in Western dance including ballet and hip hop, and I found myself rigidly spazzing my way through the class, a stark contrast to the grace and fluidity of the teachers and the "regular" students.

 I didn't go back for months! In fact, I only reluctantly went back to accompany the friend of a friend who was interested in trying a bellydance class. When I did go back, the class was - thankfully! - working on a much more basic routine which I was able to follow. And they were preparing for a student show! Having been performing on stage since the ripe old age of 2, I jumped on the chance to add "bellydance performance" to list of accomplishments in dance.

I got hooked, of course. And the rest is history!

 With a new season of dance classes about to begin, I am curious to hear of your experiences - how did YOU get your start in belly dance?

Our Fifth Annual Show!

It was amazing!!! The venue, the performances - it honestly could not have been better!


Thank you to all of my students for your hard work, and to the staff at Frank Sinatra School - you helped make the show look better than ever!

Here are some pictures:

How well should you know your music?

In a workshop I attended, Nourhan Sharif said you should listen to a piece of music so much that you are sick of it, and only then are you ready to dance to it. Her point being that you need to know your music well to be able to do it justice with a live, improv performance.

I understand what she is saying but I also see it slightly differently - I have basically the same set that I use for all my basic gigs (birthdays, retirement parties, weddings, etc). Pretty much the same songs, in the same order, unless there is a special request or other reason that I would change things up. Lately, I have been feeling, well, uninspired when I dance to those songs. Kind of like "Ho hum, shimmy, shimmy, pop, turn, turn, turn.....same old, same old" I know them SO well, that they don't get me excited any more - you know, the feeling you get when you hear a song you LOVE and you just need to get up and dance to it right away!

I have found that, lately, my exciting (to me) shows - the ones where I finish feeling like I rocked - are the ones where I am using different music. Maybe a song I don't know very well, because I've only heard it a few times. So it's new to me. Yes, I am probably missing some accents I could be using, or getting slightly off-beat when there is a change in the music that I didn't realize was coming. But I am having more fun, and I feel like it shows. And I think that is pretty darn important.

What do you think? Do you listen to your songs until you hear them in your sleep? Or do you like to change it up frequently?

It's showtime!!

Well, almost....

My yearly student showcase is a little more than one month away. Practices are starting to get longer, and more frequent, and the stress levels are visibly up in class. Everyone is thinking show, show, show.

We have a lot to do and not much time to do it all! All of the students have learned their dances, now it is time to perfect them. Anyone thinking of doing a solo needs to be working on that now as well. Costumes are being bought and made, and tickets will start selling next week.

It's a crazy time of year, but we love it! If we didn't love it, we'd be crazy for doing it again and again!

BDSS - the review!

The Bellydance Superstars returned to NY and performed for a half-empty theater at Westbury Music Fair (now known as Northfork Theater) on Nov. 11. Yes, you heard that right. The place was AT LEAST half empty. And, as the theater is normally a theather in the round, it was already cut in half for this performance, to give the dancers a "backstage." So, technically, they were performing for a theater only 1/4 full....

Why was there such a small crowd there? Surely there are enough bellydancers in the NY area to at least make a decent showing when such a big event comes to town, right? (to their defense, there was a show two days prior in Manhattan, which I did not attend and therefore I don't know how many people were there).

Here's what I think.....

If you've seen the show once, you've seen it enough times to last a lifetime. That is, as long as they keep doing the same old thing. What do I mean by this? I've been to BDSS three times (the only time they came to NY and I didn't go, they were here performing a repeat of Raqs Carnivale) and each time it's the same exact format. Aside from last year's "girls on stilts" fiasco, and other little "tricks" thrown in here and there, the show is always the same. You know when you go to see a BDSS show, you are going to see:

• Sonia and Isaam performing a drum solo;
• Isaam doing his "clap to the beat while I spice it up and try to trick you" schtick (it was cute the first time around, but come on now! He even does it in the Folies Bergere dvd, so even if you haven't seen the show live, you know what I mean);
• Jillina performing a drum solo while Isaam and Rachel Brice drum for her, and the Desert Roses will always come out at the end wearing galabeyas, they will all do some crazy zar movements and Jillina will always end on the floor;
• Petite Jemila performing a double or quadruple veil routine which consists mainly of a lot of spinning (you know you have seen something too many times when spinning that much with four veils no longer impresses you) and (for the past two years) two of the Desert Roses will come out and do a whirling dervish thing behind her;
• A not-quite-Polynesian number with Sonia in the lead (at least now they've taken to calling it "bellynesian".....??);
• A dance that just leaves you going "Huh?" (ie: Adore's gymnastics, Dondi's "Marilyn", a new blonde dancer this year doing ballet, etc);
• The group drum solo when one dancer attempts to "battle" Isaam with her finger cymbals (sorry, but no one can hold a candle to Ansuya and really shouldn't even try) and then she and three other dancers each take turns performing solo;
• for the past two years, a reggaeton choreography, obviously choreographed by Jillina, who obviously knows very few "hip hop" steps because it was basically the same dance two years in a row.

It's just, well....boring. It's not that the dancers aren't great dancers - for the most part, they are. And it's not that I don't appreciate the lack of stilts and other in-your-face gimmicks, because I do. I guess I'm just over it?

Everyone I talk to about the show says their first time seeing the BDSS was their favorite. Whether it was last year, two years ago, or this time around. Maybe that's because after the first time, it's all the same?

What do you all think?

Ready to see some stars....

The Bellydance Superstars are coming to town. They'll be performing at the Northfork Theater (formerly Westbury Music Fair) this Sunday at 8:00pm.

It's been a few years since BDSS came to NY with a new show. They were here last year, but were back performing Raqs Carnivale, which they had done (and I had seen) the year before. So, this is their first new show in the area in a while.

I'm excited about going to see BDSS. I'm really hoping for a great show this year. I have to say that, although I love (most of) the dancers of BDSS and I think they are amazing performers, I was very disappointed in Raqs Carnivale. I felt that the focus was more on the razzle dazzle of a big stage show that keeps the general public interested, and less on the actual bellydance. There was much discussion about this show on Bhuz.com at the time, and the general consensus was that BDSS was trying to appeal to a broader audience with the content of their show, but was not reaching a larger audience with their advertising and marketing. Thus, the seats were consistently filled with bellydancers, who were less-than-thrilled with the show that was obviously geared towards the general, non-dancing public.

My feeling was, if I wanted to see samba dancers, I would not go see a bellydance show. If I wanted to see a girl on stilts, I'd go to the circus. I go to BDSS to see some of the best bellydancers in the western world on one stage, and I'd like to see them actually bellydance, please. I don't ask much, do I?

So, I have high hopes for this year's production - that they keep it to what they know how to do, and what they know the audience will enjoy. I'll be sure to post some reviews when it's done!

The show was a success!!

Whew, that was fun! After all the months of hard work and preparation, the show has finally come and gone, and it was GREAT!!

I can't even tell you how many compliments I've gotten from people in the audience. Everyone thought the dances were great, and those who were there last year say that the quality of dancing was even better this year! Audience members noticed the improvement in individual dancers from one year to the next, and thought the group numbers looked more polished and professional than ever before.

I was a nervous wreck for the week leading up to the show - not because I was worried about my students or the dances, but because of all the "behind the scenes" stuff that ultimately fell on my shoulders. I was worried that things wouldn't come together like I'd hoped, and that we wouldn't have a smooth and seamless show that the audience could sit back and enjoy. But, of course, the show could not have gone any more smoothly. Everyone who helped out behind the scenes did a great job with keeping the show moving along like the well-rehearsed production it was.

I am truly happy with the success of the show. I couldn't have asked for a better result, and all the hard work, late nights, and gray hairs (I swear, I've found some, and I blame the stress from this show!!) were worth it.

So, my wonderful students, how do you feel? For those of you who were new to the stage, was performing everything it was cracked up to be? For those of you who were in the show last year, how was this show different? Was it better or worse for you, and why?

And finally, the most important question - are you ready for next year????