Wednesday, December 16, 2009

How I was introduced to Bellydance

One name...Shakira. It's funny, me being raised heavily in religious and RnB music, somehow Shakira's newfound fame in the US attracted me to belly dance. I'm sure most have saw the video, "Whenever, Wherever", but what really made me want to know what belly dancing was about was a video of a performance she did at her album release party. Here it is:


I began watching other videos of what I thought were professional belly dancers and, too be honest, desired the ability to perform like them. It wasn't until years later that I was able to take an actual class in belly dance (Shoutout to the BellyRoom and Lady M! ) It has been six months since I took my first class (I believe I made the half- year mark) and now I'm looking even more into the styles and costumes of the dance. I saw many videos of Lebanese belly dance with the cane (I believe it's the Saidi dance) and the performance by Lotus Niraja was quite impressive. Here is a link to the dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlL-qRb0mgU

Sunday, December 13, 2009

I'm getting the hang of this...

I have been belly dancing for 6 months now and I'm excited. After years of just thinking about doing this style of dance, after being in my first performance, I feel like I'm earning the stripes of being able to be called a "belly dancer"! I will be honest, this new interest of mine is really starting to make my eyes wonder around for jewelry, coin belts, and costumes.

There is this online store http://bellydancestore.biz with "beaucoup" costumes.
I plan to buy my first costume in red, as soon as make enough money to do so. I am going to school for journalism so my pocket are a little empty.