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