What Belly Dance Style are you?

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Permalink Reply by Evi on February 6, 2008 at 4:38pm

Hi Frankie,

I know I already wrote on your profile wall, but to make a beginning here for everybody else to post :)
I'm almost embarassed that I was the person starting this group, as I just started bellydancing (Well, you can't really call it *dancing* yet) some days ago. However, I've been thinking of it for several YEARS!
I finally got myself a DVD (from my birthday/Xmas money) from amazon, so I'm learning with "Instructional Bellydance with Jillina" at the moment. It's quite good, in my opinion, although I'm not sure how long it will take me to do the combinations, let alone the choreography at the end. Still struggling with the very basic techniques :)
Especially the shoulder shimmy gives me problems. I'm pretty well stretched/flexible in general (I do some yoga), but my shoulders have been a "weak point" for years - they're a constant source of deep "myogelosis" (sorry, not sure if that's the correct term, I'm not a native speaker, obviously)...
Not sure what attracted me to bellydancing in the first place, but I already totally LOVE it.
I never had very strong feelings for my body (I didn't really hate it, but didn't love it either... more like a T shirt or something :) ), but bellydancing kind of arises love for it and I feel so.... hard to describe, really. I feel it sort of "awakens" something inside me, a side that didn't come to the surface a lot before...

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Permalink Reply by Frankie on February 6, 2008 at 6:10pm

Hehe, has anyone here also practiced kundalini yoga? I think there are inherent similarities between the two. In kundalini you are essentially awakening the energy sitting at the base of your spine, and you do that through these movements that are almost identical to bellydance-so I think thats why you feel such an amazing joy and love for your body-your literally awakening that serpent energy sitting dormant inside of you that just WANTS to come out and dance.

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Permalink Reply by Vie on February 7, 2008 at 5:58pm

Hi there,

I've been dancing 8 years, and I do primarily Egyptian and Lebanese style Raqs Sharqi. I've been a professional for about 5 years. I got into it because I always loved it and wanted to learn how. Now, I've studied with some of the top dancers from the US, and a few from Egypt.

It is my passion :) you are all so lucky to have found it, and I am lucky to have found such a great group of raw bellydancers! What could be better?! Happy shimmies to you all!!

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Permalink Reply by pocketina on February 10, 2008 at 9:52pm

Hi ! I'm new to this group, so this is my intro,too, I guess!
I've been dancing, for fun really, for the last 6-7 years or so. (It took the first 3 to get the hang of belly rolls, which is ridiculous, but there it is...ballet really stiffened up my midsection!) I started out with some generic cabaret-style classes, but almost immediately got into American Tribal, Bharat Natyam (Indian dance), and some Persian/Uzbek folk style stuff, because I really love it. I took a lot of classes in the SCA and privately at an Indian dance school, and now I just try to keep limber with Rachel Brice's and Suhaila's DVDs, as my job keeps me insanely busy.
I can't remember what got me started, but I've been in dance classes since I was 5 or so, but it was all ballet and modern until I learned the stuff I'm into now.

The raw diet has helped with my energy levels, so I'm hoping to get a regular practice going again. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Frankie on February 12, 2008 at 9:47am

Hey Pocketina! YES Rachel Brice and Suhaila! Best videos ever! Do you practice your suhaila squats a lot or do the glute squeezes? At some point I think I was glute sqeezing all day, even while driving my car and sometimes I'd practice bellyrolls in between, hehe.

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Permalink Reply by Evi on February 12, 2008 at 2:11pm

Aahh! What is it that I could be practising secretly during a boring lecture or while sitting in a bus? Tell me!! :D

I searched for Rachel Brice DVDs (Suhaila also, but not as thouroughly because you said her's are more advanced, what I'm definitely not ;) ), but couldn't find anything except one for "Arms and Posture" and one called "Yoga isolations" (which sounds tempting, really), both from the US - that means higher shipping costs plus I'm not sure if I can use them here because of the format?? Could it be that she's only known in the US and her DVDs didn't make it over here? :( Or could anybody maybe name some of her videos, so that I could search that name rather than "Rachel Brice" (dunno if that helps).
Booohoo. I want her DVD(s), if everybody is so crazy about them! :)

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Permalink Reply by Princess Judy on February 20, 2008 at 1:04pm

Hi Evi,

Rachel Brice is a famous tribal fusion bellydancer (which is another style than traditional bellydance, also the style of clothing is different ) and a tremendous dancer. The titles you've mentioned are the 2 instructional dvd's she has made thusfar.
You can find videoclips of her on YouTube.com, watch one here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_pA5CTHQPys
There are other tribal dancers as well, like Sharon Kihara, Ariellah Aflalo, Kami Liddle and Zoe Jakes (and many more). The first two have dvd's as well. You can buy them rather cheap on Amazon.com, search under tribal fusion bellydance. They are region free, so also play in non US dvd players.
Highly recommended!
Also, you can find lots of bellydance tribes on Tribe.net, if you want to learn more about different styles etc.

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Permalink Reply by pocketina on February 12, 2008 at 9:28pm

The glute squeezes ROCK! :-) I have a long commute, so they're perfect for that, while I'm driving.

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Permalink Reply by Megazelle on February 19, 2008 at 2:38pm

Hi All!
I started taking lessons from Cassandra in 1995 after seeing some belly dancers at an art opening. I had never seen the dance before and was totally enchanted by it immediately. I was so lucky to have someone so amazing as Cassandra Shore teaching just down the street. I also studied with Margo Abdo. The style I learned and performed is Egyptian Cabaret. I worked in Middle Eastern restaurants, renn fests and weddings. I love dance of all kinds and have lately been trying out some Rachel Brice dvds (tribal).
Since having kids, I've been away from dance (outside of the home) and have been practicing Bikram yoga.
I'm so glad to be a part of this conversation with all you lovlies !!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Princess Judy on February 20, 2008 at 1:07pm

Hi all,

I'm Judy, from The Netherlands.
I love doing yoga, and sometimes pilates, and am very interested in Tribal Fusion Bellydance.
I take classes in this style once a week, and every once in a while practice with a dvd.
I used to take modern dance classes, flamenco, and more traditional forms of bellydance, and also took workshops in different dance styles, like Indian (Classic & Bollywood) dance and Indonesian Mask dance, just to figure out what I liked most.
Lately, I've lost my dance joy/motivation a little, because of, well, I just have lots of other things I like to do... And am concentrating on my career at the moment.
Hoping to gain more energy through (more) raw foods, and well, who knows what my dance future will look like.
In general, I just like to move... So I'm also very happy just doing yoga.
Hope to 'see' you around!

Judy

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Permalink Reply by Mera Magic Meraa on December 22, 2008 at 3:25am

Hey, I'm not a bellydancer, per se, I do many different types of dance and belly dancing is a style that I use... I also have a bellydancing character that I play in some of my performances... I started belly dancing in high school, I did a week long workshop on tribal and cultural dance and belly dance was one type. Beyond that I've had a few bellydancing friends teach me a bit and I've done some videos, as well as jazz & hip hop dance routines that encorporated belly dancing. As for the type, I know that one of my friends did a more traditional form of what I'm assuming was arabic in nature(I don't really remember what it was called), while my other friend does what I think is called tribal fusion, or something like that... other than that I don't know.

I am a kundalini yogi and I have done some dancing with that, not instructional/choreographed but just randomly mimicking some bhangra & bellydance in a group. At this time I teach a healing dance meditation that mixes different tribal/cultural dance with ecstatic expression and kundalini yoga among other things... it was just something I expanded upon when putting all of my training together with my long-time history in dance and teaching dance. I would love to take a bellydancing class and learn some of the other types I've heard of.

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Permalink Reply by Eden on January 2, 2009 at 6:33pm

I'm an intermediate level American Tribal Style belly dancer. I'm studying with FatChanceBellyDance, and I love them! I got curious about belly dancing about 5 years ago, when I saw the performance by the belly dance class at my performing arts high school. I later got a really good book (I was too shy to sign up for any classes) and learned the basic moves. I was really into Tribal Fusion at that point, and I idolized Rachel Brice. Eventually I signed up with FCBD, and fell in love with ATS. Now I idolize Carolena Nericcio, founder of FCBD and ATS belly dance ;)

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