About Prima Beladi

Prima Beladi ™ is a dance education system originated and developed by Ne-Kajira Jannan beginning in 1976. Though the training system was originally developed for raks sharqi and American danse orientale, the information is also valid for newer forms of dance derived from AmCab, 1970s tribal and the American Tribal style and variants. Prima Beladi represents the development of a proven dance vocabulary suitable for all alternative dance styles, including fusion and synthesized dance, as well as written works to educate and support teachers and students, workshops and classes, to aid in understanding the written materials and enhance performance and teaching skills.

The site is always a work in progress, as new articles are added frequently. While we provide some indication of articles that are in preparation for publication, there are many more articles coming that have not yet been listed. In the future, we also hope to have guest writers or columnists, as well as adding more sections, to ensure the site remains relevant to performers and teachers of all alternative dance forms and interests.

A membership in Prima Beladi is like attending a school of dance. You will be challenged to think of dance in a different light and be encouraged to develop your own skills to a greater degree. All members will find ways to improve performance, concise information regarding technique and movement vocabulary comprehension and articles to help with the business side of dance and event production, whether large or small. Prima Beladi offers valuable professional information whether you have been dancing twenty years or twenty days.

Prima Beladi is not just about dance movement. It also offers business and marketing suggestions, studio guidelines, lesson plans, professional development planning and more. Importantly, most of the material translates easily to many dance styles. You will find help in developing anchor standards for dance and performance standards for your dance forms as well as class level proficencies. You will also find helpful articles on creating a professional image, how to put on a hafla, recital and stage production, how to work with other instructors, and much more. The movement vocabulary, when shared by other teachers, allows for students to move from one teacher to another without confusion and facilitates ease of integration into a new company.

As a fusion dance style, Prima Beladi integrates foundations of multiple dance forms as well as specialized training in American danse orientale, tribal dance, fusion dance, Tribal Synergy ™, and folkloric dance. Prima Beladi includes the use of zils, veils, floorwork, prop dances, both solo and troupe choreography, thematic production design and dance theatre. Ne-Kajira’s goal has been and remains the advancement of professionalism in the craft of fusion and synthesized dance and its derivative forms as fully certified, adjudicated dance craft and performance arts.

To further this goal, we offer

• The Teacher’s Primer ™, a 4 part series for educators and those considering teaching.
• Professional Tools For Dancers ™, a series of articles suitable for all levels.
• Dance notations for folk dance.
• Choreography for class practice, a collection of choreographic notations for teachers, students, troupes and event performers to be used in conjunction with the Handbook.
• A series of workshops and lectures designed for intensive studies including Dancing Spirit: The Inspiration of Perfection, a series of workshops aimed at perfecting movement technique in targeted areas.
• The Prima Beladi Handbook of Movements For Dance.
• As an added bonus, there are also materials for an original exercise program featuring African dance movements called Afro-cize ™ designed for teachers and studio owners and information on teaching African dance.

Prima Beladi is a site for the dancer, dance instructor and club or stage performer. We are certain you will find it a membership that brings many returns for your investment.

A final word: I am a dance teacher and performer. I am not an artist. Throughout this site you will find links to handouts for students. These feature sketches, many of which I have created to be used in conjunction with live instruction. They are not art but I believe they get the point across. In time, I will replace these sketches with photographs, but for now, the art will have to suffice!

The teaching materials used in this site are copyrighted materials. Do not reproduce without written authorization.

© 1976-2024 Prima Beladi /Ne-Kajira Jannan