When is it lying?

In a dancer's bio, she often lists the teachers she has studied under in the past, particularly if they are "big names," to give others a sense of what style she is, how much knowledge she has, and how much time she has put into her bellydance education.  Of course, the general public, reading a bio, will not know (or likely care) who the dancer has studied with, but other dancers will.  And the general public will like to see that a dancer has a broad dance background, even if they don't have any clue who the particular teachers are.

But my question is this - when does a teacher "qualify" to be listed on a dancer's bio? In other words, how long/often do you need to take classes or private lessons with a teacher before you can put them in your bio as someone you've "studied under"? 

In my own bio,  I only list two teachers by name, because those are the only two teachers who I have spent a significant amount of time with.  I studied with my first teacher, Amira Mor, for two years.  I danced in her company, I was in her DVDs, and she was basically my first and only intro to bellydance for quite a while.  I studied with my second teacher, Alyne, for much less time, but her impact on my dance and my style is just a great, if not more so, than Amira's.  I was with Alyne for three months, while living in California with my boyfriend/now husband.  I attended classes twice a week and had several private lessons with her. 

I consider these two women my "teachers," worthy of being in my bio as dancers who have trained me and shaped the way I dance.  I've taken lots of workshops over the years, with "big name" dancers like Suhaila, Fathiem, Jillina, Nourhan Sharif, and of course Aradia, whom I host in NYC every year.  But I wouldn't include any of these dancers in my bio, because I haven't actually "studied" under them - in my opinion, one or even two, workshops does NOT equal "studying under."  If the teacher doesn't even know your name, doesn't know your individual needs as a student and doesn't help you on an individual basis, you haven't studied under them.  (Hmm....since I will now be hosting Aradia for the third time this September, maybe she does qualify as someone I've studied under at this point.  I'll have to think about that one!).

That's just my personal opinion.  BUT.....I've seen loads of bios where dancers list basically every "big name" bellydancer as someone they've studied under.  It's clear to other dancers that these dancers have only taken a workshop or two, at most, from these dancers, because it would be impossible to meaningfully study under all of them.  But that's how it's portrayed in the bio; there are no disclaimers given.  I've seen this happen in varying degrees - people who list loads of dancers, as well as people who will list only one or two dancers, but I personally know that those dancers were just in town for one workshop, and that's the "training" that the bio references.

I think it's false advertising to list dancers in your bio unless you have really, meaningfully studied under them. OR, unless you clearly state that your exposure to that dancer was a one-off workshop.  Again, I'm not sure how much impact this all has on the general public, so maybe it doesn't really matter.  But I think it all goes back to professionalism, which relates directly to truth in advertising.  You don't want to create hype around yourself that you can't live up to! 

What do you think?

Oh What a Feeling, When We're Dancin' on the Ceiling...

Well, not the ceiling, exactly. That would be kind of hard. But what about the chairs? Or the tables? Do you dance on them?

Being a born and raised American, I'm not so comfortable with the idea of dancing on the furniture (not to mention the act itself making me uncomfortable - I really loose all sense of balance when at least one foot is not firmly planted on the ground). To me, dancing on chairs and tables (and bars) has always seemed a little, well, raunchy. Exotic dancers, the Coyote Ugly girls...the list could go on, but you get what I'm saying.

But it's different will bellydancers - to some Arabs, anyway. Sometimes, they expect you to dance on their chair. And if they offer you their chair and you don't dance on it, they are actually insulted. When I used to dance with Amira Mor's company, there was a point in every gig when Amira would go around yelling for all of us to get up on the chairs - and so we did, 6 or 7 bellydancers, scattered throughout a restaurant or banquet hall, standing on chairs and shimmying their butts off. It was a sight, I'm sure. I always felt kind of weird doing it, although I have always been treated respectfully by the guests who have graciously given me their chairs.

Tonight was the first time I got on a chair since I left Amira's company. I was at a crazy 70th birthday party - so much fun, kids everywhere, adults dancing with me; it was a blast. Towards the end of the set, one of the kids (a young teenage girl) was just standing on a chair and dancing. And then one of the adults got on a chair. And then another. And then me. I jumped up there with them and they loved it. And I loved it to. It was so much fun, and I'm sure it made for some great pictures.

I think that, with the right crowd, dancing on the furniture can be a fun addition to a show. With the wrong crowd, it can be taken the wrong way, so you need to be careful reading your audience. I think I'll consider doing it more often, when I find the perfect moment, like tonight.

What do you think? Do you dance on chairs or tables? What has been your experience with the reaction of your audience? Any mishaps? Love it, hate it, tell me!

How did you get your start?

A recent thread on bhuz.com got me thinking. How did you get your start in bellydance? What made you take your first class, what made you decide "I want to do this?"

For me, it was almost an accident. A friend and I were going into major dance withdrawal after graduating from college and being finished with the dance team. We were taking various hip hop classes at Broadway Dance Center in Manhattan. One of our favorites was the class on Monday nights, which we never missed. The beginner bellydance class with Amira Mor was immediately after this hip hop class, and we decided to try it out for fun one day. I had always had "fantasies" about being a bellydancer, and had put learning how to bellydance on my "things to do before I die list," so I figured the opportunity was there, and I should take it.

We HATED it! The group was working on a veil choreography, which we later learned was one of the more "advanced" choreographies in Amira's repertoire. We had neither a veil, nor the ability to move our bodies the way some of the students in the class could (don't get me wrong, we weren't the only clueless people in the bunch, but there were certainly girls in the front who appeared to really know what they were doing).

We decided we were done with bellydance. Been there, done that, hated it! That was in October of 2002. We avoided that class at all costs until January, when a friend of my friend decided she wanted to take bellydance. We reluctantly agreed to go with her, so we ended up once again back in Amira's class.

Well, this time we actually enjoyed it. The choreography was more our speed, and we felt a little more comfortable following along. We learned that the group was preparing for a student showcase, and Amira asked us to join. During rehearsals for the showcase, Amira asked us to be in her company, and the rest is history.

So, that's my story, that's how all this craziness began. What's yours?

(By the way, if you have yet to sign up for bhuz.com and participate in the message boards, I highly suggest that you do so. You will be amazed at the wealth of information available from dancers all over the country. Be sure to say hi when you sign up - my handle is (what else??) danielabellydance.)