Performance Improvement Workshop in Ipswich July 15

June 19, 2017 at 5:42 am

Performance ImprovementWorkshop For Am/Cab, Fusion,Synthesized and Dance Theatre With Ne-Kajira Jannan of Prima Beladi ™ Dance Education, Henri Lewis, Director, Zahara Belly Dance and with Nerine, of Organically You Yoga Saturday 15th July   3 pm to 5 pm at DanceEast, […]

A Rose by Any Other Name? No, it’s not…

May 16, 2017 at 4:56 pm

Someone said: “People- and that includes audience, students, dancers and teachers- don’t seem to know there are forms of dance being presented or labeled as bellydance that aren’t bellydance at all. Part of it seems to be because teachers and […]

Reading a recent post…

May 16, 2017 at 4:42 pm

Someone suggested that “business” in dance has to take precedence over worrying about clarity and quality in dance, because people need to earn a living. I understand what she was saying, but am going to say this: It does such […]

More Random Thoughts

May 16, 2017 at 4:32 pm

In defense of Fusion, may I say: Fusion is a blend of two or more RELATED dance forms. Has been ever since it was introduced in the 1970s, and it was a blend of raks sharqi and Am/Cab movements. I […]

Thoughts on Dance

May 16, 2017 at 4:00 pm

In a discussion with other long-time teachers, we were sharing our concerns about the growing lack of awareness about the differences between dance forms in our genre, and the quality of teaching and performance craft. Because we have been vocal […]

Those Bothersome Dance Reviews or “Don’t bother me, I just wanna dance”

April 11, 2017 at 5:51 pm

I was discussing the idea of the differences between recitals, haflas and shows with another dancer, and we moved into the difference between the BD dance community and other art forms as related to reviews. The truth is, in MOST […]

Overview of the Site

March 13, 2017 at 4:23 am

For those of our members who are confused about the style of dance he or she are doing, our Defining the Dance section might be of use. Here, you will find detailed definitions of dance styles of forms, and the […]

New Articles in Professional Tools

March 13, 2017 at 3:56 am

Finally got Part One of Costume Concepts up in the Professional Tools for Dancers section. Part One covers basic costume introductions for dancers with some photos to illustrate the content. Part Two will cover hairstyles, make-up and Color and Part […]

Fusion and Synthesized Awareness

March 13, 2017 at 3:47 am

Question for the day: Should a dancer understand something about the culture of dances she is trying to fuse? Should she understand something about originating cultures that inspired other dance forms? Simple answer: Yes. Fusion dance is not fusion until […]

Workshops For Teachers and Teacher-Hopefuls

March 13, 2017 at 3:24 am

Thinking About Teaching? Want New Material to Use in Performance or Classwork? I teach a 4 part Teacher’s Primer workshop series. While I can and do offer movement-specific workshops (see below), most of my focus is on teaching teachers how […]