It's been two weeks since my last post and I felt like I really missed it. Honestly I didn't know blogging would be something I really would be into; remember I have an aversion to technology? Tee-hee!
I was thinking about the theme I would discuss this week and I decided that I would talk about some of my early experiences within the Belly Dance community. There's quite a few. If you read my last blog you'll know the name Amira Iriz. Through her I met a lot of awesome colorful people. Some people might assume that behind the scenes there's a lot of cattiness and sliminess behind the veil but I have been fortunate enough not to see too much of that. I won't say it doesn't happen but I will say its not rampant (if you are a belly dancer or musician and it IS rampant, I suggest you get out of that circle That's not how it's supposed to be). Behind the curtains in student shows, themed showcases, haflas, etc, you'll see belly dancers rehearsing and helping one another. At one show I danced with Amira Iriz at one of Layla Mary's shows in the famed Lafayette Bar and Grill (no one can compare to Dino and Lafayette, no one-punto) and Layla gave me some of her red glitter: "Oh honey, the lights are bright! Here you need some glitter on those lips!" More recently when I performed a show with La Gina and Veldrina at the Ren Faire I received wonderful hospitality and good makeup tips from "my cousin" Veldrina. She's really good with lashes! LOL! And I met them at a Belly Dancers for Charity event led by Leslie Howard. No cattiness, just wonderful women who love their art and represent it well. These wonderful women helped me and also showed support by coming to shows. I feel its important to come to student shows and halfas even if you can't perform in them, just to show support. You can also meet new people and catch up with dancers you haven't seen in a while.
Networking is very important in any business or group. It has been my experience that networking within the Belly Dance community is more old-school than the business world. LinkedIn not necessary! Remember way back when? When you could walk up to a store (in this case a restaurant) and ask if they were hiring (that's how I got a job outside my father's grocery store...might be giving away my age here)? I find that sometimes that's one way to get a gig, meeting up with belly dance colleagues is another great way. If you are a new dancer and wondering how to get started the first thing is to take classes and be proactive. Volunteer for the student shows! Get involved in the organizing of the show! The best way to get yourself out there is to GET YOURSELF OUT THERE. And if you mess up- so what? No one noticed and you can say you meant to do that. ;)
Just yesterday I attended Ranya Renee's show and I thought to myself how great it was to see familiar faces and meet new ones. Life comes full circle.
Till next week; I wish you peace, hugs and happy shimmies,
Nahla <3
Monday, April 22, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Hello everyone!
So this is my first ever blog post- yes, I'm a bit late. Forgive me, I'm not technologically inclined! :)
To briefly introduce myself, I am a belly dancer from the Bronx. I have been belly dancing for 10 years; belly dance is genuinely a part of my soul at this point in my life.
I love this dance and I love my borough; my ultimate goal is to make this dance form more accessible to Bronxites. It is a beautiful dance with a rich and very long history. Belly dance as most know it is ever evolving (the more proper names are Oriental dance or Raqs Sharqi; for the purpose of this blog I use the terms interchangeably). I believe it is a good idea to understand the origins of this dance to understand the cultures it comes from and the context of the dance. After all this is a small world we all live in and getting to know one another can only help us get along better!
I owe a lot of what I learned to Amira Iriz, also a native Bronxite and my Oriental dance mentor. Many people ask me how I got started in this dance, so here goes my story: since my late teens I was interested in belly dance. As a child I loved long flowing dresses, make-up, basically all things feminine and danced at all the family holiday parties! I don't know but maybe after I started walking was when I started dancing. I always gravitated towards music that made me want to move my hips. You can never go wrong with Salsa, Merengue, or Dancehall Reggae to get your hips moving. As a teenager I remember wearing a Halloween costume called "Harem Girl," it was black, purple, blue and gold. It showed my legs and my belly much to the dismay of my best friend's mother. It was my belly dance fantasy. I saw snippets of the performances and the dancers on Univision every-so-often. Some of the news shows or entertainment shows would feature Latina belly dancers. I remember two from Puerto Rico and another I believe was from South America. The Puerto Rican belly dancers appeared on Cristina (also known as the Latina Oprah); they balanced swords on their head and did floor work. Their choreography was so pretty and their costumes sparkled like jewels in the night sky. I was so happy watching them. It was sexy and very classy. The South American dancer was known for her Khaliji dance. She whipped her head around so fast I got dizzy just watching! Her long hair whipped up and down and all around! Her dance was more earthy. There was another belly dancer but I didn't care for her too much. I don't remember where she was from and didn't care to remember because her "speciality" was her breasts. She was a petite woman with z-cup breasts. I honestly thought that was crass and made belly dancers AND women on the whole look sleazy. No one is going to pay attention to her belly dancing-really mama, por favor! We (women and belly dancers) are so much more than our breasts, besides they serve a biological purpose, not aesthetic. Unfortunately, on Latino TV, the unspoken idea is the bigger your breasts are, the more attention you get. And the more attention you get, the more people like you! Needless to say, I don't watch it much except for Univision Noticias, El Gordo Y la Flaca and maybe some family friendly novelas like Una Familia con Suerte (A Lucky Family) when I'm visiting my mother.
But I digress- after seeing these dancers my interest piqued some more. I didn't know where to get started but I talked about it often enough that my sister introduced me to this teacher she met at a gym-Amira Iriz! Amira Iriz taught classes in Pelham Bay and then later opened up her own studio in Throggs Neck. I started taking classes in the Throggs Neck studio and since then remain a faithful student! It was there I learned Egyptian Caberet and use of props like swords, canes, zills, veils, etc. She has taught me almost everything I know about Raqs Sharqi- how to put together a show, how to build up the choreography, costume ideas, etc. I was very fortunate to be introduced to Aszmara Sherry, Scott Wilson and the late Dino Barakos of Lafayette Bar and Grill. It was there at Lafayette where I got my start performing in Amira's student shows. I remember the song I performed to- Dania's Leiley and I wore a turquoise blue Turkish costume. I shot out of that side entrance on to the dance floor like a turquoise, sequined, beaded cannon ball! I was so excited!
Since then I have had the pleasure of performing in various venues such Cafe Figaro in Greenwich Village, more recently Teal and Melody in Astoria, Tapas in City Island, Tosca in Throggs Neck, and various other venues. I have taught belly dance as a form of character education for my Master's Thesis in an adolescent shelter in 2009. That experience was absolutely wonderful! Some of my best teaching memories come from there. Currently I teach beginner belly dance in Westchester Yoga Arts in New Rochelle and perform every other friday in Liquid Kitchen, also in New Rochelle.
So now you know a little about me and my art. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed putting this together. There will be more to come and I hope to hear from you soon!
Hugs, happiness, and shimmies,
Nahla
So this is my first ever blog post- yes, I'm a bit late. Forgive me, I'm not technologically inclined! :)
To briefly introduce myself, I am a belly dancer from the Bronx. I have been belly dancing for 10 years; belly dance is genuinely a part of my soul at this point in my life.
I love this dance and I love my borough; my ultimate goal is to make this dance form more accessible to Bronxites. It is a beautiful dance with a rich and very long history. Belly dance as most know it is ever evolving (the more proper names are Oriental dance or Raqs Sharqi; for the purpose of this blog I use the terms interchangeably). I believe it is a good idea to understand the origins of this dance to understand the cultures it comes from and the context of the dance. After all this is a small world we all live in and getting to know one another can only help us get along better!
I owe a lot of what I learned to Amira Iriz, also a native Bronxite and my Oriental dance mentor. Many people ask me how I got started in this dance, so here goes my story: since my late teens I was interested in belly dance. As a child I loved long flowing dresses, make-up, basically all things feminine and danced at all the family holiday parties! I don't know but maybe after I started walking was when I started dancing. I always gravitated towards music that made me want to move my hips. You can never go wrong with Salsa, Merengue, or Dancehall Reggae to get your hips moving. As a teenager I remember wearing a Halloween costume called "Harem Girl," it was black, purple, blue and gold. It showed my legs and my belly much to the dismay of my best friend's mother. It was my belly dance fantasy. I saw snippets of the performances and the dancers on Univision every-so-often. Some of the news shows or entertainment shows would feature Latina belly dancers. I remember two from Puerto Rico and another I believe was from South America. The Puerto Rican belly dancers appeared on Cristina (also known as the Latina Oprah); they balanced swords on their head and did floor work. Their choreography was so pretty and their costumes sparkled like jewels in the night sky. I was so happy watching them. It was sexy and very classy. The South American dancer was known for her Khaliji dance. She whipped her head around so fast I got dizzy just watching! Her long hair whipped up and down and all around! Her dance was more earthy. There was another belly dancer but I didn't care for her too much. I don't remember where she was from and didn't care to remember because her "speciality" was her breasts. She was a petite woman with z-cup breasts. I honestly thought that was crass and made belly dancers AND women on the whole look sleazy. No one is going to pay attention to her belly dancing-really mama, por favor! We (women and belly dancers) are so much more than our breasts, besides they serve a biological purpose, not aesthetic. Unfortunately, on Latino TV, the unspoken idea is the bigger your breasts are, the more attention you get. And the more attention you get, the more people like you! Needless to say, I don't watch it much except for Univision Noticias, El Gordo Y la Flaca and maybe some family friendly novelas like Una Familia con Suerte (A Lucky Family) when I'm visiting my mother.
But I digress- after seeing these dancers my interest piqued some more. I didn't know where to get started but I talked about it often enough that my sister introduced me to this teacher she met at a gym-Amira Iriz! Amira Iriz taught classes in Pelham Bay and then later opened up her own studio in Throggs Neck. I started taking classes in the Throggs Neck studio and since then remain a faithful student! It was there I learned Egyptian Caberet and use of props like swords, canes, zills, veils, etc. She has taught me almost everything I know about Raqs Sharqi- how to put together a show, how to build up the choreography, costume ideas, etc. I was very fortunate to be introduced to Aszmara Sherry, Scott Wilson and the late Dino Barakos of Lafayette Bar and Grill. It was there at Lafayette where I got my start performing in Amira's student shows. I remember the song I performed to- Dania's Leiley and I wore a turquoise blue Turkish costume. I shot out of that side entrance on to the dance floor like a turquoise, sequined, beaded cannon ball! I was so excited!
Since then I have had the pleasure of performing in various venues such Cafe Figaro in Greenwich Village, more recently Teal and Melody in Astoria, Tapas in City Island, Tosca in Throggs Neck, and various other venues. I have taught belly dance as a form of character education for my Master's Thesis in an adolescent shelter in 2009. That experience was absolutely wonderful! Some of my best teaching memories come from there. Currently I teach beginner belly dance in Westchester Yoga Arts in New Rochelle and perform every other friday in Liquid Kitchen, also in New Rochelle.
So now you know a little about me and my art. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed putting this together. There will be more to come and I hope to hear from you soon!
Hugs, happiness, and shimmies,
Nahla
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