Thread: Intensive bellydance study courses?

Hey everyone - I'd like to improve myself as a teacher (new one), and dancer, and want to make a trip to the US to learn with - well, i'd love to learn with ava fleming or Bozenka to name a couple, but there are too many to mention. Anyway, does anyone knwo where one can do this or if it actually happens? Other than the suhaila method where i know she has lots of courses going on all the time.

Any tips/places i should go?
cheers dears
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There are lots of excellent UK dancers too who are worth getting in touch with to see if they can help develop your dancing.Then you can really study with someone rather than just a very expensive one off. If you want the US style Raks Britannia has the Bellydance superstar workshops, other excellent Us teachers like Ava Flemming and Aziza come to events in the UK like Majma, JOY and the Bellydance Congress. But really there is no substitute for a good regular teacher and mentor and for the price of a trip to the US you could have lots of private classes and travel to someone really good in the UK.

Yes, there are lots of teachers in the UK, but nobody that inspires me in the same way as teachers from accross the sea i'm afraid! I go to Raqs B and congress - but a weekend of workshops is not what i'm looking for, I know i can get those here but there's only so much you can learn in a room full of 50 other dancers. I'm looking for intensive training - not jsut a week, but possibly 3weeks to a month. A short blast of it.
I want to learn from people who take my breath away (at least in some way) when i see them dance. I've not been to JOY though, so i might have to see who they've got next year. Congress is shaping up well too (and thank god its not where it was last year).
I have a friend who is a performer/teahcer here in the UK, and she visits the US fairly regularly to san fransisco (well, once a year), to get intensive study, but she's going for the tribal stuff and i'm not interested in developing that yet.
I would have thought there must be schools over in the states who do this kind of thing...

if you are looking for giudelines or how "intensives" are done, i can help.
we have a hotel that gives us a discount 3 min from our studio.
we make sure tghere is transportation to and from.
4 topics are worked on , and then intergrated into your existing dance vocabulary.
it helps that we are also 3 min from the airport, and 10 min from the train.we always meet the student/dancer.
make sure you are near food and other services in a strange town.

What about something like the Farha Festival tour that Farida Dance are taking to Cairo next year? That's an opportunity to have a weeklong intensive with Egyptian and Egypt-based teachers.

I can see that you would want to go to the US if that's where your main dance inspirations are based. I suppose I'm just more used to people wanting to visit Egypt etc.

Yes, I'd love to go to egypt too!! But i'm not that big of a fan of the modern egyptian style that i've been seeing - ie, it seems there are endless clones of Dina and Randa everywhere. I like their dancing, but I don't want to dance like them you know?
I like the fact the americans tend to (not always obviously) mix it up a bit and take things off at a tangent. I Love and respect this dance, but I am not interested in being 'authentic' as i often hear (my first teacher was very into the soriah hilal school of raqs sharqi here in the UK and I get very bored of that). I want to tip my hat to the people that started this dacne thousands of years ago - but I also want to express myself in my own way. Hence kind of being drawn to the boiling pot of america!
Zamora - where abouts are you?

Originally Posted by zamora

if you are looking for giudelines or how "intensives" are done, i can help.
we have a hotel that gives us a discount 3 min from our studio.
we make sure tghere is transportation to and from.
4 topics are worked on , and then intergrated into your existing dance vocabulary.
it helps that we are also 3 min from the airport, and 10 min from the train.we always meet the student/dancer.
make sure you are near food and other services in a strange town.

Actually zamora - just saw your vid on youtube - what a mover!!! bloody good - I might have to look into your courses!

Zamora, i also like what you say on your site about how you teach the dance - I am also trying to teach people to improvise rather than choreograph. I've always found choreography to feel unnatural as i've always danced (before i ever learnt to dance in a structured way - you know, at a disco or nightclub with friends) adn the music just moves my body. The fact also that you are encouraging people not to dance like you is also great - i get so bored of seeing people who i know who they studied with! i mean i'm sure that will happen to a certain extent - but i don't want my students to all dance like me... i want them to dance like them!

Hadia of Canada.. I hear a lot about.Teacher Training with Hadia - Formation de Professeurs avec Hadia Oh dear I see a course is being held in Bali..Oh dear how much more fun would Manchester be in the rain?
What a shame UK teachers dancers don't inspire. They are very different but if you want an American flavour, I mam sure there are some great instensives there.
Of all the BDSS girls, I like Bozenka the best but then she is probably the most Egyptian of all the Americans I have seen.
I have just watched Lulu Sabongi from Brazil on the VHS I got from Ingrid and she has all the fire anyone could want. Why not pop p to be taught by her at JoY before you swan off Stateside.
The classes there are not allowed to be the size of BDSS and I think all of us who are regular attenders will agree the atmosphere and valu for money is second to none.

You might consider Yousry Sharif in New York. He does a weeklong in the summers, and BDSS dancers go to it (I know Jillina and Amar Gamal have gone in the past). So in a way, he's a Trainer to the Staahhhrs.

Yousry is Egyptian, but his style is very modern and jazzy, he's not at all afraid of fusion. He teaches choreo and it's a great way to pick up his fabulous artistic musical interpretation and cooool combos. Then you can use that info any way you like.

I don't know how to give you a taste of his style, maybe there's someone on youtube dancing one of his choreos? Picking up one of his choreo videos (taught by his wife Nourhan) would give you a good taste of his style, or watching one of his proteges dance (Nourhan and Virgina come to mind).

Dancers I've known who've gone away to his weeklong have come back better, stronger, more expressive dancers *cough Andrea2 cough*

(my first teacher was very into the soriah hilal school of raqs sharqi here in the UK and I get very bored of that).

Me too! Well, second teacher actually. I appreciate the grounding it gave me but I've moved on a lot since those days.

You wouldn't be the first to have this response. I think a lot of people who have inherited their dance skills from the legacy of Soraya (that's, like, about 75% UK dancers) feel a strong need to break out and go for something completely different.

I found two clips of a dancer performing Yousry's work. You can get a good sense of whether you like his style from these.

I'll post them and then I'll shut up about it, I promise! But if I could get away for a whole week and had the money, this is where I'd go.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKXhzyOoWf8]YouTube - Baladi - Choré de Yousry Sharif - Julie 2008[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkAQ59Zc9Jw]YouTube - Sharki - Choré de Yousry Sharif - Julie 2008[/ame]

Originally Posted by khadiya

Me too! Well, second teacher actually. I appreciate the grounding it gave me but I've moved on a lot since those days.

You wouldn't be the first to have this response. I think a lot of people who have inherited their dance skills from the legacy of Soraya (that's, like, about 75% UK dancers) feel a strong need to break out and go for something completely different.

Ah belong to the 25% having been started off by Kharis. So am I lucky?
Well I do admire the discipline and dedication of RSS and most of those teachers who had that grounding appear to me to have broken free of any straight jackets and certainly have their own dynamics and personalities as they went on to explore further

I'll go check out lulu (bloody brilliant name) on the tube... nice moves!

yeah, I know boz is egyptian, but she's not emulating the dina frenzy which i seem to see on any egyptian vids i see. she also has the most graceful arms. Also I've not seen anyone quite like Ava fleming either, i love her muscular style - i saw her at majma this year and was blown away.

The workshops that happen her ein the uk are great indeed - but they don't go on for very long!

Off the top of my head -

Morroco has a week long intensive both summer and winter

David of Scandinavia and his wife Patricia (both Bhuzzers) have a good training program in San Diego

Jillina is doing her first week long here in LA this winter

Ragia Hassan has started teacher training in Cairo this Dec. Which might be a great grounding.

{{{HUGS}}}

I tell you who i wouldn't mind learning from and thats Tito - his hipwork is AMAZING... and i'm sure some of the reason is his male muscle control.

Not totally taken by Yousry's stuff, didnt' give me chills.
I still really love the tribal fusion girls - but wish there was a way to take that and put it into cabaret y'know? Tribal is still very serious and dry (although i've noticed they are smiling a hell of a lot more these days), and I love the fun aspect of cabaret.
Mira Betz is great, had a workshop with her this year and it was very good - i love her style too as she seems to have merged cabaret with tribal.
It may be that i should go and learn from a fusion teacher - i've no idea!!

Weeklong intensives are coming up with Aziza, Karen Barbee, and Sahra Saeeda: Stellar Advantage :: Bellydance Events and More

Oooh, now i like Aziza and i hear she's a great teacher...

Just wanted to add - so as to upset those brit dancers out there - I've not been inspired by any dancers i've seen so far...

Cassandra does a week-long intensive every year, as well as her dance camps.

Originally Posted by Indubelly

Just wanted to add - so as to upset those brit dancers out there - I've not been inspired by any dancers i've seen so far...

Is that a typo or are you being deliberately unpleasant?

LOL - of course it is a typo!! I mean tto say 'so as NOT to upset' other dancers in the UK as i can see it might upset some that i've said i don't get inspired by the ones i've seen!! And just because i'm not inspired to learn with some, doesn't mean I don't love what they do. Does that make sense?

I know there seems to be some kind of theme on here for unpleasantness, but I'm CERTAINLY NOT one of those types of people.

As it happens Emma - I saw you dance at congress (in the red dress) in the glamorous bognor regis and I think you should have won that competition - the wrong person won!

Originally Posted by Indubelly

LOL - of course it is a typo!! I mean tto say 'so as NOT to upset' other dancers in the UK as i can see it might upset some that i've said i don't get inspired by the ones i've seen!! And just because i'm not inspired to learn with some, doesn't mean I don't love what they do. Does that make sense?

I know there seems to be some kind of theme on here for unpleasantness, but I'm CERTAINLY NOT one of those types of people.

As it happens Emma - I saw you dance at congress (in the red dress) in the glamorous bognor regis and I think you should have won that competition - the wrong person won!

The clarification is much appreciated!

It's sweet of you to say that, but the right dancer won, she was a delight to watch.

shameless self promotion, oh, and project we have been sitting on and is now finally ready enough to share:

RAKS - Razia Artemisia Khalida Summerschool 2009

there are also other summer schools in europe, maybe not all quite the same as a trip to the us, but i've been inspired by them

- leyla youvana's festival in duisburg is basically a week long with ava fleming and aziza this year!!!. its in two weeks, i dont know if there are places still, but she has people of this calibre for a whole week every year! Bauchtänzerin Leyla Jouvana. i'm teaching aworkshop there this year too, it's a very very very good festival
- alain kholy in bonn is intersting if you want to learn egyptian folklore
- though i've never been, JWAAD's summer school

that's if you want more than a weekend
and i second Joy: it's a wonderfull festival, not too expensive, friendly, super well organiser. i'm not a fun of huge stuff (the congress, raks B), joy has the big names, but not the huuuuge amount of workshop participants. iwas tired after, not exhausted ;-)

Please don't think that if you go to one of the festivals in Egypt you will only get authentic Egyptian style dance. People teach at those festivals from all over the world, and you can learn a lot. You are close to Egypt and I do recommend you take advantage of that. You will be surprised at how affordable it is to attend the festivals and the variety of the classes being taught. Festivals are a great way to study under many great dancers and choreographers, and to get a feel for what different people do, so you can take from them in a more intensive way later if you chose. It is also a great way to meet other dancers and network, and heck they are just a blast!!
As far as studying dance in the US I have taken from everybody listed here so far. I do like Suhaila, she trains your body to move, Jillina, has some good combos, Cassandra Shore, very Egyptian style, but has some great choreographies. But if you really want to become a polished dancer I would highly recommend David, he is in San Diego, California, and his website is The Ethnic Dance Academy He has trained many award-winning dancers, is very knowledgeable in many forms of dance, and is a great person to hang out with. I also do like Bozenka and like her style, she is in the other part of the US, Florida, and her website is Welcome to Bozenka's World
Good-luck, I myself am off the Egypt in 2 days to the festival there.

Jasmin Jahlal in Chicago has an intensive, which I heard good things about.

Rakkasah always has a week of classes before the festival.

For those who are more into Turkish style, Folktours is a long weekend well worth attending.

One more option which you may want to think about if you love BDSS, they are having an intensive training in France this month. It may have already started.

{{{HUGS}}}

Originally Posted by tahiradancer

One more option which you may want to think about if you love BDSS, they are having an intensive training in France this month. It may have already started.

{{{HUGS}}}

last week, it just finished (i didnt go, but we hosted the BDSS just before this event)

Originally Posted by Emma

The clarification is much appreciated!

It's sweet of you to say that, but the right dancer won, she was a delight to watch.

Well, I enjoyed your dance more - loads of character and expression which I found missing in the winner...

as with all art - its pretty objective!

Dudettes, very helpful thank you all!

I WISH i was going to leyla jouvana's thing... too late though and i can't go as i'm teaching for the next six weeks. I am thinking hopefully to go somewhere next summer when im' not teaching. I want to really improve as I have a LONG way to go (well, i feel i'll always be learning personally), and want to be able to give my students the best of me that I can.
Thanks for the info though - some interesting sounding things there from dancers i've never heard of too!
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