Thread: What is your dance biography??

Im a newbie and have miles to go. I was wondering what your dance biogs were...how many teachers?? how long you been dancing for?? styles you have gone through??? etc etc

Im just being nosey hehe

I guess I should of gone first...started in June went to about 6 lessons...had summer break and had to give up for personal and financial reasons....started learning at home again...
love learning drills and tribal dvds

i started formal dance training in 1953.ballet, tap, flaminco.add voice, acting.
started formal middle eastern in 1971.
opened shop in fresno ca. 1975.

I dunno ...

It depends what you mean by dance biography exactly. I'm starting to be an occasional performer at haflas and a keen student of everything and anything about the dance. I'm not really at a stage where I have a biography so to speak but here's where I'm up to.

Circumstances mean that I've moved around a lot between teachers but this has also taught me that its really good to take different classes from different teachers because you can easily get blinkered to an individual instructor's style and approach. Its also taught me that a) not all teachers can teach you certain aspects of the dance and that some are not 'comfortable' teaching students who have gone beyond beginners level and to b) beware of those of the 'Thou Shalt Have No Teacher But Me' persuasion.

I think its fine to take different classes from different teachers as long as you are both up front and tactful about it. Its not ok to spend time in one class loudly and publicly comparing one teacher with another. Nor is it generally acceptable to deliberately go behind someone's back about your attendance at another class.

Its my 7-years belly birthday this coming February.

I'd actually start off a dance biography by mentioning that I have a fairly extensive background in Western music (although belly dance is the first dance I ever learned).

I've had 5 teachers over that period of time, 2 of whom are current and some of whom were much more grounded in a much folkloric style than I currently practice (all grist to the mill).

I've attended a number of workshops, festivals and residential (I've upped my budget and time for this in the last year or so and but I was attending the odd one here and there before that).

I'm a member of NADA and make a concerted effort to keep up with the local dance news and networks in my area.

I work with practice DVDs at home, hire a cheap studio once a week for practice in a space bigger than my tiny kitchen.

I currently attend 2 hours of class a week and I try and get to a once a month workshop.

I always try hard to seek as much advice from other, more experienced dancers as possible. I always make up my own mind about stuff but I never presume that I 'know' something for definite.

I have a long, long ways to go and I'll never be done (but that's part of the attraction).

I started in 2006 taking Bellydance lessons through our rec department with Galatea. Loved it! Eventually went on to level 2 and joined her student troupe, The Desert Wind Dancers in 2007. I competed in the Midwest Bellydance Competition this year in the student category (which was an amazing experience). I love the dance and just want to learn and grow both in my dance and as a person.
I do American Cabaret style but love to watch all styles.

oooo, my bad, ..i have had 3 mid east teachers.

I started dancing in 2002 with the SCA. The was a dancer who taught for free within the SCA. Learned some of the basics and then stopped going due to drama that I didn't want to be around. I continued practicing with DVDs and videos, kind of on and off for prolly 5 years. I just never had the time to get serious. Right after I got married in May, I finally had the time (and the energy) to decide what I wanted to do with dancing. So, since then, I've been taking classes regularly with two different teachers. One is american caberet/ATS and the other one teaches Egyptian and sometimes gothic. My passion is Tribal Fusion but no one teaches it here...so I basically had to learn from videos. I'm finally getting to go to workshops. And I'm starting into becoming professional. Yay!

I started dancing in 1999 and I originally learned mostly American cabaret, and some Egyptian. I studied with that teacher for 2 1/2 -3 years, three days a week and I think I learned EVERY single thing she had to offer. I set out for another teacher because she didn't attend workshops and bad mouthed other instructors, but I couldn't find another teacher in our area, so I started attending workshops.

I stopped dancing all together in 2005 and now I'm an armchair dancer. I am PERFECTLY content just watching others dance. Although, I do hope that I will be able to find another teacher if we EVER move.

I started dancing in Sweden 1999, mostly Egyptian style. The last two years I've also learned other styles and more props; tambourines, multiple veils, Isis wings, sword...

Done a little Turkish style dancing and some Eastern European/Roma Style, but mostly Egyptian though.

Been living in Spain for three years and studied with three different teachers.
I also had workshops with Aida Nour, Khaled Mahmoud, Youssry Sharif, Laila el-Jarad and many well known Scandinavian dancers.

I've also studied tango, salsa, ballroom dancing, jazz dance, line dance, tap dance, Irish dance and flamenco. (At the moment I only dance flamenco and bellydance).

I studied music for many years until dancing took over and was in a theatre group when I was younger.

9 years seems like a long time... but every year I get more and more aware of how much I have left to learn!

-Starting dancing at the ripe old age of 2. Did tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, modern, musical theater all through high school. Competed regionally and nationally

-Went to college and joined the dance team, was captain for 3 of my four years. Did hip-hop and jazz-funk.

-Picked up ME Dance in 2002, after college graduation because I didn't know what else to do with all my "dance background"! Started with Amira Mor and became a member of her pro company after a measly 2 months of classes....

-Realized Amira really wasn't teaching me even a quarter of what I needed to know. Went to California for a summer internship in 2004 and took that time to branch out. I studied for 3 months with Alyne of San Jose, took her classes and private lessons.

-Since 2004, taken tons of workshops with dancers including Suhaila, Fahtiem, Nourhan Sharif, Adriana Lira and others. I teach too many classes now to have time to take any regularly (although I have started taking a weekly ballet class again and I love it!), but I try to get in as many workshops as I can.

I started learning ME dance in college with twice a week lessons taught on campus by Aireen (Egyptian-ish with heavy Lebanese influence), then a new studio opened down the road and Jihan Jamal started offering lessons there and I was totally hooked on Egyptian. I took lessons with Jihan while she was teaching at that studio, and then with a smattering of the other instructors until I graduated. I also took a bit of ballet to improve body line and extension.

I started with workshops at about 3 months in and try to attend as many as are fiscally possible in my preferred style. Unfortunately when we moved to our current location, I moved away from the bustling South FL dance scene to a place where I don't have an option to take weekly lessons and so workshops, DVDs and private lessons while travelling have become my lifeline to growing as a dancer until we move somewhere new.

I had started moving in the "teaching a class" direction in South FL, so I'm currently teaching locally, and I'm trying my best to learn as much as I can and continue to grow so I can help dispel misconceptions of the dance in my current location and hopefully feel like I helped create a self-sustaining dance community by the time we leave.

My bio is here: Galatea~Belly Dance Performances and Classes in Milwaukee Wisconsin

Danced as long as I can remember - untrained for almost 20 years. Then Jazz dance, modern, contemporary about 9 years.

Middle Eastern dance - about 17 years (with a couple of breaks).

Teachers - if you include anything more than a weekend workshop - about 20. If you limit it to at least 40 hours contact time - it drops to 7 - of which 4 are Egyptian born professionals.

--started with Modern & Jazz at age 3 (with a smattering of Duncan and a pinch of Irish step dancing)
--quit dancing at dance school for about 2-3 years during middle school because of cliquishness in high school
--middle school/high school theater jazz in a lot of musical theater (little bit in college too...)
--14 --> present day, belly dance. 3 long/soon-to-be-longterm teachers (she who will not be named, Dalia Carella & Morocco), and various workshops. Mind you, I was in CT for 4 years, where workshops don't tend to come by very often, but that all changes now that I'm in NYC....Year 8 of BD will be a good one :) Primarily Egyptian and Cabaret, with a bit of Rom and other things thrown in
--one year intensive college course of modern/post-modern Theater Dance (Cunningham, Rainer, Tharp, etc)

I took my first bellydance class at age 35, and it was my first dance class (unless you count about 6 months of tap and ballet when I was 7 years old. I don't count that.) It was January, 2000 and my New Years' resolution was to carve out some time for myself and get some exercise.

Just over a year later I performed my first solo in a charity show. Within a year after that I'd joined my teachers' pro troupe and started performing in a local restaurant/club.

I've only had a handful of primary instructors but I attend workshops every chance I get, which is usually 5 or 6 per year and I take some privates when I can.

Bhuz has helped my growth as a dancer more than any of my instructors, though.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Bhuz has helped my growth as a dancer more than any of my instructors, though.

So true!

I studied ballet, tap & jazz from age 5-13. Then, for 3 years, I was in the colour guard of a marching band. We carried cheerleader-style pompoms & marched at the front , performing routines to the music. I was also involved in Drama in high school & was a Drama major for my 1st degree (a BA). It wasn't dance, per se, but it still had movement aspects.

I started studying bellydance when I signed up for a "Basics" class at a local arts centre in Jan. 2004. I took 3 sessions of Basics from 2 different instructors, followed by 2 or 3 sessions of "Beyond Basics." Then, in April 2005, I switched to a studio with my current instructor. She put me in her Intermediate/Advanced class, where I've remained ever since. My first public performance was in June 2005, in the student show for that studio. In this class, we work on folkloric as well as "cabaret" style dances. For instance, we do a version of El Haggalah, & are currently learning Khaleegy.

I've done 4 student shows with that studio, I've danced with my class as guest dancers in several other student shows & workshop shows, we've performed at the Calgary Woman's Show 8 times, & we've danced at a number of festivals, fundraisers, nursing homes, & haflas.

Just over 2 years ago, I also started taking Tribal dance classes. I spent the 1st year in the Beginner 1 & Beginner 2 classes, & last year & this year, I'm in the Int/Adv class & the Improv/Choreo class. So, since Sept. 2006, I've been taking 2-3 classes per week.

I've also attended some mini-workshops with various local instructors, focusing on zills, Rom, shimmies, or "exquisite arms & hands." I went to a big workshop taught by Denise Enan, as well.

I have a small collection of videos, & I have spent a bit of time with those, but I should (& intend to) spend more.

The one thing I don't do that I know I should is attend the big-name workshops. For instance, this weekend, there’s a Tito workshop. Last spring, my tribal instructor brought in Mira Betz. The year before, Zoe was here, & so was Yasmina Ramzy. There are upcoming workshops with Nath Keo & Helene Eriksen. I sometimes feel like I'm missing out, but based on my experience with the Denise Enan workshop, I feel that format is not for me, & I'm better off using the money to take classes or buy videos. For one thing, I don't really retain what I haven't repeated over a few sessions.

Anyway, that's my dance bio so far. I'm starting to think about teaching a beginner class at a dance studio in my neighbourhood--just a daytime class aimed at SAHMs whose kids are in school. (In addition to my B.A., I have a B.Ed., & I teach 2 days per week in an adult upgrading program at a local college. So, I also have a background in learning theory & instructional technique.)

Originally Posted by Shalimah

I was in the colour guard of a marching band.

Lest anyone think this is irrelevant -- being in color guard (flags) did SO much for my daughter's bellydancing!! Gave her elegant posture, a proud head carriage, and a great peripheral-vision for maintaining formation in group dances.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Lest anyone think this is irrelevant -- being in color guard (flags) did SO much for my daughter's bellydancing!! Gave her elegant posture, a proud head carriage, and a great peripheral-vision for maintaining formation in group dances.

I also did color guard in High School. One large flag-- there is a correlation between flags/batons and cane ..g.:

I was aerobics teacher befor bellydance but almost 8 years ago began to stady bellydance and to teach it at the same time and left aerobics at all. My past life in Egypt (1987-1990) and knowledge of arabic help me very much ,r:; Now I have bellydance studio in Odessa, Ukrain (very beautiful town on the Black Sea)
Bellydance opened new ways, friends, impressions in my life ..l;, Not for me only - for everyone who love this art I think...

The one thing I don't do that I know I should is attend the big-name workshops. For instance, this weekend, there’s a Tito workshop. Last spring, my tribal instructor brought in Mira Betz. The year before, Zoe was here, & so was Yasmina Ramzy. There are upcoming workshops with Nath Keo & Helene Eriksen. I sometimes feel like I'm missing out, but based on my experience with the Denise Enan workshop, I feel that format is not for me, & I'm better off using the money to take classes or buy videos. For one thing, I don't really retain what I haven't repeated over a few sessions.

I've gone to some workshops, and I think they're fun, but I also think classes are a better use of my money.

Originally Posted by indigostars

I've gone to some workshops, and I think they're fun, but I also think classes are a better use of my money.

Yes. I'd like the networking aspect of it and the chance to learn from the big names is appealing, but I know I'd spend that money and it would go out of my head. I did see some dancers taking notes at Denise Enan, so I guess that's what I'd do if I went to another big workshop, although I'd hate to stop to take notes.

But I have 3 kids, and I already go to 3 classes per week in addition to extra rehearsal time or working on duets with classmates and time spent practicing at home. I can't justify spending more time and money on workshops, given what I feel I'd get out of them.

If I had unlimited time and dollars, or if bellydancing was my career, then I'd certainly go.

I'm still very new to this also!

I took tap and jazz as a child and then studied tap, jazz and ballet in college when I was working on my musical theatre diploma. I always considered myself a singer first, then an actor, then a dancer.

I started taking bellydance classes in June after I did a short bd routine in a musical (Kismet). Since then I've studied with a few different teachers at my studio and am looking forward to taking my first workshop this weekend.

Wow, I was in colorguard too- and even funnier, we had a bellydance teacher come in and teach our colorguard a few moves (I think "snake arms") so that we could do a little nod to bellydancers in one of our shows - the show was themed after a song in Aladdin - the one with the parade in it. We also had "veils", sabers that we tossed, flags, and a couple of other props as we were trying to represent all the different performers in the parade (in the movie Aladdin, if you remember.) Our single male member of colorguard dressed up as the genie.

I didn't really do formal dance before bellydance. I was kicked out of ballet as a kid for being a troublemaker. I loved to dance, but only did it informally. I'm really glad I got the ovaries to take a bellydance class finally in '02 because I wanted to learn it my whole life but always thought I'd be too clumsy or uncoordinated to dance.

I started taking bellydance classes in July 2002. I started performing in 2006, mostly at haflas. I was in two troupes, one gothic, the other somewhat tribal-leaning. Then I decided I wanted to do mostly solo "cabaret" style (in quotes due to the controversy about the name and not specified to one style because for a while I didn't have one particular style.)

I practice a lot - sometimes every day, usually go to about one workshop per month, take 1-2 classes per week. Right now I am on a little break, not going full speed ahead, because I'm trying to get a handle on some other areas of life...but this break has only been for a month so far. I spent the whole summer rehearsing for a competition at the end of August, and immediately afterwards I went to the Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive. So I felt like I needed a little downtime from dance. I hope that my skills don't erode too much - I just don't want to burn out by forcing myself into the studio if I don't want to be there.

As a dancer relatively new to performing, what should I put in my dance biography? So far I have credited the teachers that I've taken from for a year or longer. They are all good teachers, but they aren't the "biggest names" I've taken from. What else goes in?

EDIT: I took dance classes in college, but I'm not sure they have a place in my belly dance biography.

I started dancing at age 19 (2001) I was introduced to belly dance by my best friend. She was a dancer in the sca. I took her classes for a while. I then attended a university where they offered a turkish/egyptian dance class. I jumped on that. Then I moved and got preggo had to take a bit of a learning break but still practiced. I bouced from belly bunnie teacher to belly bunnie teacher for a bit. Took a few workshops and then moved to the dc area for a few months. I found Artemis and fell in love. She could teach me more in 2 hours than I had learned in 2 years. Danced a few gigs with a friend,(in az) and took more work shops. I then moved again to Okinawa Japan (a tiny island south of the mainland) I started my own classes, got flamed on bhuz, had a serious wake up call and really started diving deep into belly dance, history, dance etc. I started taking ballet and yoga classes in May 2008 and have to say that they have been wonderful for my developement. I plan on moving back to the states in 2009 hopefully dc and going from teacher to full time student. I want to eat up everything dc has to offer, and come out being a strong dancer.

Originally Posted by danielabellydance

So true!

I know!! Obviously, you can't really learn actually dance moves through reading posts (at least not without some serious training and knowledge to back you up), but let me tell you I have learned SO much about the culture surrounding the dance that it's unbelievable! Thank you bhuzzers!! ..g.: