Baladi workshop with Serena and Hossam Ramzy

Yesterday I attended a workshop on Egyptian baladi with Hossam and Serena Ramzy. The workshop was very interesting as it was not so much about the movements, although Serena explained some shimming technique, but mainly about the culture that generated the Egyptian baladi style.

What was interesting was especially the fact that Hossam Ramzy broke down for us the structure of a baladi piece. He explained how it starts slowly with a taqsim, to then develop towards a question and answer part between the drummer and the other musicians, thus alternating melody and rhythm. The rhythm then goes faster and faster, until the fallahy is played and then after the music slows down again.

Understanding this structure is very useful for improvising to baladi, because the dancer will know what to expect. Hossam and Serena also gave us some tips on drum solo improvisations and rules that drummers and dancers adhere to when improvising a drum solo, in order to communicate effectively with each other. Overall the workshop was interesting and I gathered some useful information, that have changed the way I will be listening to baladi pieces from now on.



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How belly dance can help beat the ‘winter blues’

With Christmas and New Year festivities already behind us, and spring still a way ahead, February may seem a grey month for those of us living in the Northern hemisphere. I hate winter, but I find that hobbies, such as belly dancing, help me keep busy and in a good mood during the coldest month.

My regular belly dance practice and teaching oriental dance every week are things that help me stay active and positive. It is sometimes hard to motivate myself, especially on the coldest days, but it is always worth the effort. Belly dancing is known to provide several health benefits, for the body as well as for the mind. Just like every other form of physical exercise, practising belly dance causes the release of endorphins. In addition to this, the social aspect of dance helps improve people’s mood. This is also the subject of a relatively new discipline, called Dance Therapy, which I find fascinating.

Do you also find that belly dancing improves your mood and joy of living? Please feel free to send comments with your experiences.



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A belly dancer’s New Year resolutions – January 2010

Welcome to my first belly dance blog for 2010. As a belly dancing enthusiast, my plan for the New Year includes some resolutions to do with my favourite dance form.

My first resolution to do with belly dance is of course to practise more and if possible attend private lessons with some famous belly dancers. Also, I would like to go to Egypt at some point if finances and time allow.
I also would like to try and perform more often and also try and listen to more Arabic music to see if I can discover new tracks I like. I would like to attend more events and workshops and, finally, I would like to really learn how to play sagat properly. This is not easy as it requires a lot of practice and I do not want to upset my neighbours with the noise…however, the sound of zils can be muffled somehow. It would be great to play finger cymbals freely, but playing them muzzled is better then nothing. If I ever move to a detached house, then, who knows, I may be able to let myself go!

I wonder what other belly dancers’ resolutions for 2010 are. Please feel free to send me your comments!


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Workshop with Sadie, American bellydancer, in September 2009.

During the International Belly dance Congress in Frimley, UK, in September 2009, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop with Sadie. Sadie is a well known American bellydancer, who is famous for her impeccable technique and perfect isolations.

I attended one of Sadie’s workshops on isolation technique and drills and I have to say that hers was one of the toughest belly dance workshops I have ever attended. Sadie made us focus on upper body and lower body drills, combined with footwork at the same time. Some drills were easier than others, but after repeating drills for about three hours, we could really feel that our muscles had worked! The fact that some drills were carried out in addition to travelling steps around the room (i.e. chest lifts while doing Arabic walk), it meant that Sadie’s workshop was challenging for the mind as well as for the body.

During the International Belly dance Congress Sadie performed on one of the evenings. Sadie’s performance was great, technically perfect and you can tell she is a very skilled dancer who has worked and still works hard to achieve that level of fitness. Sadie has made some instructional DVDs, which I am thinking of buying in the future.

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Christmas presents for belly dancers.

We are just over two weeks away from Christmas and, if you have not yet bought a present for your belly dancing friend, partner, wife, mother, relative and you need some ideas, here is a brief list of items they will like.

· Belly dancing items of clothing, such as costumes, hip scarves, belly dance tops and skirts.
· Accessories and props, i.e. swords, zils, veils, canes or jewellery such as anklets.
· Belly dance resources, such as DVDs, Arabic music CDs or books on bellydance.
· You could even pay for them to attend a workshop or you could pay for tickets and go with them to a show or an hafla. They will appreciate it.

As you can see there are a lot of presents you could get for a belly dancer, in addition to the greatest present of all, which is your support and appreciation for their art!


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Khaled Mahmoud - Male Belly Dancers

Khaled Mahmoud is arguably one of the top male belly dancers in the world and based in London, he holds a number of workshops each year. His classes tend to be excellent and I highly recommend signing up for one of his events if you can.

He normally teaches Egyptian folk style as well as raqs sharqi. You can find his latest workshops on World Belly Dance Events.

Below - an introduction to Khaled Mahmoud:

New belly dance events on worldbellydance.com

This is just a short post to highlight some new events that have been added to the events page on worldbellydance.com. On the events page you will be able to find belly dance related events, such as haflas, workshop, festivals, shows and more taking place all over the world.

For November 2009 there are events such as the Flying Carpet Party in London (UK); the Pyramid Awards in Edinburgh; Ahmet Ogren Turkish Dance Workshop in the Netherlands and more. If you like to plan much earlier in advance, there are already events advertised for 2010, such as Incanto D’Oriente (Italy), Majma (UK) and Tribal Massive (USA) in March, or the 8th Annual Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive and Festival (USA) in September 2010.

New events will be added shortly and more are being added all the time; also, you can add your own belly dance event, show or workshop for free by filling the form on worldbellydance.com. All you need to provide is original text (not copied from an existing website) with about 150 words, including the event’s location, time and various details. So, if you are interested in attending belly dance events click here, or here to add your own event.

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2009 International Belly Dance Congress in Frimley, UK

Last weekend, I attended the second International Belly Dance Congress in Frimley, UK, organised by Josephine Wise, Kay Taylor and Charlotte Desorgher. I attended several workshops, for a total of 8 hours dancing every day for 2 and half days, and at the end I was exhausted but happy!

This year’s teachers and performers included amazing dancers such as Randa Kamel and Khaled Mahmoud from Egypt, Sadie and Anasma from the US, Leyla Jouvana and her husband Roland from Germany, Nawarra who performed traditional Moroccan dances and many more great belly dancers from the UK and abroad. On top of this great line up, Kay Taylor managed to persuade the legendary Fifi Abdo to come to the Congress (this was Fifi’s first time performing and teaching in Europe).

Two years ago the International Belly Dance Congress
was held in Butlins, but many people did not like the venue, so this year it was held in the Lakeside Complex. Personally, I preferred the rooms where the workshops took place this year, but in Butlins I liked the fact that accommodation was cheaper and included breakfast and a buffet dinner. Overall, I liked the food in Butlins and the range of choice (it was good value for money). The Lakeside resort instead, food wise was not great and the service was very slow. What is your opinion? Please feel free to comment, as I would like to hear other belly dancers’ points of view.

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