Thread: finding a good teacher/inspiration

Hi,

I am based in India and there isnt any choice of teachers here!
I learnt partly from DVDs and from some foreign teachers who pass by
I am in my mid-thirties and often get frustrated that more than a year has elapsed since I started to learn and yet I feel I havent really made much headway

Id like to perform and I feel there is oppurtunity here since few women bellydance here

I am seriously considering
1 Either periodic taking class with some teachers abroad
2. Relocating to another country (I could with my corporate professional background) so to pursue this dance

Option 1
Taking periodic class - being Indian i cannot afford to go to a London or US since I think thats expensive .. are there options which could work out cheaper for me. How about Egypt?

Option 2
Relocating -which countries / cities should have on my shortlist. (Am ruling out US and many parts of Europe since I wont get a job easily) Am thinking UK, Dubai (Dubai is easier to get a job)... However is there is enough belly dance schools or teachers in Dubai?
Can I work fulltime and pursue bellydance to start performing in a year or so? (I mean are there evening classes etc?)

Id really love some inputs .. I feel very low knowing how much I want to dance but there is a limit to learning in a lonesome with a DVD!!
I am looking for some inspiration, some fine teachers!

Thanks

shira has listings for teachers in india

Find Belly Dancing Teachers and Performers in Asia and the Pacific Rim! Belly Dance Lessons and Dancers! Search for Belly Dancers!

good luck on your search!

When you say you want to perform, do you mean you want to be in an occasional show? Be the sort of working dancer who performs regularly at restaurant and party gigs? Travel around the world teaching workshops and headlining shows? Generally speaking, dancers in the first two categories don't relocate to study intensively. The ones who want to be preeminent professionals do, because they are making it their priority career in life, not their hobby. The expense and disruption of your "normal" life to pursue dance training abroad isn't for the average hobbyist or low- to mid-level pro.

Are you sure there are no teachers in your area? Lots of time, teachers are hiding in plain sight. If you don't have regular performance opportunities in public venues like restaurants or cultural fairs in your area, the dance community can be below the radar. Also, older teachers who do not perform any longer may teach quietly out of their homes, and if you don't know where to look, it can be difficult to find them. I would make sure I had exhausted every possibility before pulling up stakes and moving to another part of the world.

As far as I know, there are few places in the Middle East to study the dance outside of Egypt, and the Gulf is definitely not a peak destination for students. There is a segment of Egypt's tourist economy that has evolved to cater specifically to foreign dance students, but everywhere else, the dance is seen as a pursuit that is neither academic nor admirable. There are a few pro jobs for foreign dancers there, but the competition is fierce and the process of sorting the legitimate ones from the bad and dangerous ones is not to be taken lightly.

I don't mean to be discouraging, but a year of in-person classes isn't usually sufficient to be seeking performance jobs at non-Arab parties outside of the Middle East, much less beating a dancer who has been studying ME dance for ten years (and may have had a lifetime of other dance training before it) out of a job at a top hotel in the Emirates. Being in your mid thirties is getting a late start, and that will count against you, too. Locating to somewhere that has a large hobbyist population is probably your best option, because it will give you more opportunities to take classes and perform. It will also give you a better sense of whether you have the potential to be competitive at a higher level, and you can always relocate to somewhere else and pursue things more aggressively if it looks like that is a realistic possibility for you.

Originally Posted by indiana

Option 1
Taking periodic class - being Indian i cannot afford to go to a London or US since I think thats expensive .. are there options which could work out cheaper for me. How about Egypt?

Option 2
Relocating -which countries / cities should have on my shortlist. (Am ruling out US and many parts of Europe since I wont get a job easily) Am thinking UK, Dubai (Dubai is easier to get a job)... However is there is enough belly dance schools or teachers in Dubai?
Can I work fulltime and pursue bellydance to start performing in a year or so? (I mean are there evening classes etc?)

1 - Have you considered Australia? There are some excellent dancers there and also some great teachers take workshops there - eg Aida Nour is in Brisbane for 4 days start of July Winter Warmup Home Page

2 - I don't think there is a big range of belly dance teachers (if any) in Dubai. (Even in Cairo I recently heard a belly dance teacher was passing as a yoga instructor to avoid unpleasantness with the landlord and neighbours)

As to your long term goals. Sorry, please take a reality check. Performing in an amateur hafla or student show? A year is about right. Professionally performing - no.

In a year if you have talent, a commercial body and face and work hard - as in taking classes for 6 days a week with good teachers - maybe in the West. But unlikely in the Middle East where you will be up against dancers with over 10 years experience and a good understanding of the music.

The other side is contracts. They don't fall off trees and require some local knowledge of what needs to be done and how to avoid being ripped off. And do you speak Arabic?