Thread: BDSS

im a teenage belly dancer. ive been dancing for a year and it seems im a natural! i love it so much, and i have been working too, doing childs birthday parties! i also teach a beginners

i have done sword solo and public performances and i just want to keep moving foreward in my dance.

my greatest inspirations are ansuya, suhaila, and rachel brice AND not to mention shakira.

my parents pay a lot of money to send me to a really good private school, and expect me to make something of my educationa nd go to uni. my dream is to move to america, and become a bellydance superstar. its all i want!
how can i possibly make it over there? does anyone know?
how do i become a succesful belly dancer?
should i dance at restaraunts? sign up for fetes and other shows?

i am very tempted to make a dvd and send it off to some of these bellydance superstars.

pleeeeease i just want to share my belly dancing with as many people as possible, and dance on stage!

Where in Aus are you, Tahini? Right now I would concentrate on getting as many lessons from skilled belly dancers and teachers as possible - save your pennies for workshops, and study widely. There are some excellent schools around Australia. Try other dance styles too, if you like. Because you are young, and if you are indeed talented, you will probably be like a sponge and soak up things quickly and well. But the one thing you can't pick up fast is maturity and wisdom. That is something a professional dancer, especially a belly dancer, needs to work on. It's easy to be taken advantage of when you are young and enthusiastic. What you really need is a reliable adult dance mentor who can guide you.

To go to the US to live you will need either to be studying there (which will cost you a lot of money) or specialised job skills that the US market wants. So the chances that you will be able to move there soon, unless your family does, is low.

If you want to be a professional dancer you need business skills as well as dance ability and experience - so you might like to take a business course as part of your post-high school study. And you WILL need something to fall back on - a dancer's life is reliant on her body, and if heaven forbid something befell you and you couldn't dance any more, it would be a lot better to have some other skill you could use to make a crust. There will always be lean times when dance is not enough to pay the bills, so make sure you can do something else as well.

Well said Zumarrad! There is nothing wrong with sending your tape in to the Bellydance Superstars. Jillina's website (Jillina, Bellydance Superstar) has some info as well. If I remember correctly, they want a 3 min recording of you dancing in a professional costume. (I could be wrong, check Jillina's site)

I second Zumarrad's suggestion about taking as many classes as possible with as many instructors as you can. It will help you grow as a dancer.

I started studying bellydance in college, and had plenty of time to dance as well as earn my bachelor's degree in Business Admin. Of course, you could always major in dance!!!!

Another thing. I'm a HUGE BDSS fan, my fav being Jillina. I have to say this though. There are a million and one ways to be successful as a belly dancer, and BDSS is not the only way. Aziza (Aziza) is one of my fav. dancers, and although she has appeared on the BDSS CDs, she is not a troupe member. That said, she's probably as successful, if not more successful, than most of the girls in BDSS!

Starting young - you lucky thing. Ditto above - go to a range of good teachers (there's plenty in Oz), also go to as many workshops as you can from good teachers from overseas. Spend money on classes and workshops before costumes.

I know you said your passion is fusion - but fusion implies you already have at least two dance styles under your belt. Don't waste your talent on laissez faire pretending to be fusion. After just a year you'll still have heaps you can pick up from traditional dancers ,r:;

From what I've heard about the top dancers (any style) they work hard. Several hours a day/5 or 6 days a week of classes and rehearsals - plus cross training. You won't have a lot of time, so you need a good source of alternative income for a few years - don't give up school too soon! There are plenty of dancers out there with a degree and a profession as well. Once you have that under your belt you can concentrate on your dance career.

Tahini,

You are so fortunate that you started dancing at a young age. Well, I am sure you've heard that before! As a young dancer you have such a wonderful opportunity to slowly build your career. Your parents expect you to go to university. That is not a bad thing. You can use your time there to study about middle eastern history, art, literature, and music. You could learn Arabic and continue your dance training. Many universities have belly dance clubs and performing troupes.

The dancers you mentioned as inspirations are very different in style. There are so many wonderful dancers in each of their styles. And your dance education should include watching and studying with as many dancers as possible. Workshops, in addition to your regular classes, are a great way to do this.

Shakira, as you know, is not a dancer but a performing who incorporates some belly dance movements in her stage choreographies.

You asked if you would be able to make it as a professional dancer in the US. If you polled the many wonderful dancers here on Bhuz, I think you would find that most have careers outside of dance. They may be paid to perform and teach, but they are also doctors and attorneys and biologists and historians and journalists and librarians, and parents!

These careers don't interfere with dancing, but help us to have the income to buy costumes, jewelry and shoes; pay massage therapists and personal trainers and physical therapists that we need to keep us healthy and dancing. Our day jobs provide the money for workshops and videos and cds and make it possible for us to plan for retirement, buy houses, educate our kids, and take vacations.

I am not a professional, but I would bet that the professional dancers on Bhuz who make their entire livelihoods from dance could give you a lot of insight into what you should expect and prepare for.

In the meantime don't give up on your education. It is a great gift.

Souzan

Originally Posted by Souzan

Tahini,

You are so fortunate that you started dancing at a young age. Well, I am sure you've heard that before! As a young dancer you have such a wonderful opportunity to slowly build your career. Your parents expect you to go to university. That is not a bad thing. You can use your time there to study about middle eastern history, art, literature, and music. You could learn Arabic and continue your dance training. Many universities have belly dance clubs and performing troupes.


You asked if you would be able to make it as a professional dancer in the US. If you polled the many wonderful dancers here on Bhuz, I think you would find that most have careers outside of dance. They may be paid to perform and teach, but they are also doctors and attorneys and biologists and historians and journalists and librarians, and parents!

These careers don't interfere with dancing, but help us to have the income to buy costumes, jewelry and shoes; pay massage therapists and personal trainers and physical therapists that we need to keep us healthy and dancing. Our day jobs provide the money for workshops and videos and cds and make it possible for us to plan for retirement, buy houses, educate our kids, and take vacations.




In the meantime don't give up on your education. It is a great gift.

Souzan

You'll find that most successful artistes are intelligent people and many of them very academic even if they seem to be emersed in only their art.
They have something to fall back on. I am sure there are dance/music related university courses available to you and an indepth study of the culture and historical background of ME,Turkish etc dance will impress parents you are serious about this dance and determined not to waste your intellectual abilities as well as dancing talent.
On orientaldancer.net, there was an item about a belly dancer teacher who had forged her cv to show she was a graduate so she could teach bellydance at college. Now it may seem silly to need such a background to teach our dance but not for some institutions obviously- they want the academic proof of study.
With an educated background you hold your own with all kinds of people.
I know a lot of people who didn't/couldn't take the chance of higher education do very well: they are just as intelligent and savvy but our world more and more demands pieces of paper: get yours! and carry on dancing!
And look to ME, Turkish and European artistes as well for inspiration!
Good Luck. We look to you youngsters to bring the beauty of bellydance to a wider audience.
PS I have a young friend who is a brilliant Egyptian style dancer of such promise but she is off to university as well as pursuing the dance.

wow thank yous o much everyone for you're advice! i love the idea of studying dance or middle eastern subjects at uni!
i understand i must get a good education, i am probably going to TAFE to do some sort of course so I can form a career over time I jsut ahve no idea of what to do because, campared to belly dance, everything seems so BORING and not worth while at all!

yes I love doing Belly fusion in a teenageers class becuase we get to dance to modern music and anything we like. we mix our shows tradition belyl dance songs, and then throw some fun new ones in (we recently did i cool one to 'man i feel like a woman' by shania twain!) like shakira and lots of other cool songs.

when they say 'Belly Fusion' does it mean a fusion of allt he belly dance styles, or fusion of other dance styles such as ballet and that?
because kashmir said something about it and i have done at least 8/9 years on ballet, jazz, contemporary and tap (among some others).

thanks so much guys i really look up to all of you!
please keep the advice coming i feel like i really need it and im listening to everything you tell me!

Originally Posted by TeenTahini

when they say 'Belly Fusion' does it mean a fusion of allt he belly dance styles, or fusion of other dance styles such as ballet and that?
because kashmir said something about it and i have done at least 8/9 years on ballet, jazz, contemporary and tap (among some others).

Yes, but only a year "belly dance". How much do you know about belly dance? Unless you're doing several classes a week with some powerful teachers (who are your teachers by the way?) I doubt if you've got past the tip of the iceberg. I suspect what you are doing is more jazz to middle eastern music. No problem with that. Just truth in labelling (especially if you're teaching!!!)

I don't want to discourage you, but it's pretty difficult to get into the BDSS. You need tons of training. Do you know who Moria is? Before joining, she trained with Suhaila for 3-9 hours a day for like six months (and she had already been dancing for several years at that point).
I think Rachel Brice is going to be in Australia this January to teach workshops, you should check them out. You could also come to the US during the summer to study dance and take workshops.
I'm at university now. At times I hate it and want to drop out to focus just on dance. But someone once told me that it's more important to put your long term future ahead of your immediate passions. So go to school & get a degree- you'll have plenty of time to dance later if that's what you decide to do with your life.

Originally Posted by TeenTahini

yes I love doing Belly fusion in a teenageers class becuase we get to dance to modern music and anything we like. we mix our shows tradition belyl dance songs, and then throw some fun new ones in (we recently did i cool one to 'man i feel like a woman' by shania twain!) like shakira and lots of other cool songs.

when they say 'Belly Fusion' does it mean a fusion of allt he belly dance styles, or fusion of other dance styles such as ballet and that?
because kashmir said something about it and i have done at least 8/9 years on ballet, jazz, contemporary and tap (among some others).

thanks so much guys i really look up to all of you!
please keep the advice coming i feel like i really need it and im listening to everything you tell me!

Well, in the middle eastern dance world "fusion" generally means a fusion of middle eastern dance styles. A lot dancers who refer to themselves as "fusion" may be using some of the ATS movement vocabulary and costuming elements but performing solo rather than as a collective. Rachel Brice would be an example. Sometimes dancers will mix American cabaret belly dance elements with ATS elements and call it fusion, either performing solo or with a troupe. This is sometimes referred to as "triberet."

Other fusion examples might be mixing a middle eastern dance style with some other cultural dance. Examples might be Turkish/Rom/Faux Gypsy or an Arabic/Flamenco fusion.

One thing to remember is that middle eastern dance--belly dance--is basically a form of folk dance that varies depending on the part of the middle east where it comes from. And it is also the social dance for those parts of the world too. So regular folks dance it. And since we are borrowing their dance, we need to learn as much as we can about it in a cultural sense and respect its origins and the people and place from which it came.

Ballet has influenced some forms of middle eastern dance as it is performed on the stage mostly because of some professional dancers who also have had ballet training. But the regular folks in Egypt and Lebanon and Turkey who dance in clubs or at parties or just listening to music aren't being influenced by ballet. They are just dancing. The music of the middle east is very, very different from Western music. It is actually an entirely different system with different scales and timing. And the movements of belly dance fit within that musical structure.

I know this sounds rather complicated. But I think most dancers here would agree that you need to understand the dance form and the music before you start fusing it to something else. And that can be a lifetime study.

Souzan

Tahini,

One more thing before I bore you to tears. There is nothing wrong with you and your friends throwing in some BD moves when you dance to music you love. ,r:; A lot of young girls take belly dance classes just to be able to spice up their club dancing.

But it is not belly dance. And it would be a mistake to perform it for the public and call it belly dance. I hope you understand what I am getting at. Belly dance is a whole package--the music, the culture, the emotion, the story, you, the audience. And dancers all over the world work hard to educate the public about it and let them know that it is not a dance about wiggling your hips and shaking you boobs at someone.

Go slow and enjoy the journey every step of the way. I just had my 60th birthday and I learn something new each day. And my dancing improves each day too.

Thats the secret.

Souzan

souzan, thank you so much for that advice no one ahd ever told me about the music side and the imoprtance is it to belly dance.
i understand i have now been dancing for long and it might be too early to say but before this eyar prettym uch i was living in a small town with no belly dancing class. and i used to look it up on youtube and copy the moves. and wen i joined, my teacer said i could join the intermediate to advanced teenager class and i can tell ive just been improving to no end. i belly dance 3 times a week not to mention the two hours or so where i practice every day.

i love the traditional music, and my favourites include the traditional songs, sort of remixed so they sound more modern, but have the same beat and intricacy that cmoe with the traditional one.


bellydonsa28 dont worry u havent discouraged me, u've encouraged me o try even harder. ill try my best to get a lot of exposure and practice and i will keep an eye out for those workshops they sound MAD i keep missing it wen rachel comes to australia.

thank you all soooooo much any more advice i always read every little bit!

sorry for my derro typing i get excited when im writing about belyl dance i type too dfast cos i have a lot to say.

i understand your enthusiasm, and the ladies who've posted are quite accurate, very supportive, and more importantly, REALISTIC

i began dance at age 21, i'm 43 now..............so i know the 'jumping out of the skin' feeling when you find something you love.............

that being said, since you have some support, i agree in finding teachers to study INTENSIVELY with, taking workshops, and more importantly, TAKE THEIR CRITIQUE SERIOUSLY...............any correction, advice, reworking is to help you become the best dancer you can be.............

tho i understand remixes, especially at your age, to make things more 'modern', i also suggest exploring the old classics, like songs by 'oum kalthoum', and even watching videos of the golden age dancers (samia gamal, naima akef, among others) to really understand what it is you study....these are the pioneers, these people suffered and benefited from the dance in a time when it was considered improper, even illegal....the music is very emotional, and when played well, gorgeous..........arab audiences especially react well to the classics which really adds to the performance of it when they sing and emote to your music......

lately, especially in my area, many of us, myself included, are exploring the 'old-school' which has a beauty, charm, and grace that needs to be experienced, in concert with the athleticism and up-beat nature of modern styles..........keep in mind also, what you term 'fusion', in most restaurants has a limited appeal..............on rare occasions, here in dc/va/md, you'll see it at goth club parties, but 'fusion' in restaurants only is appreciated at haflas, so if you're looking at restaurant or stage work, you DO want a strong background in egyptian/turkish/lebanese classic and modern 'cabaret' styling, and that's ALOT of work, but an absolute blast! you'd like it :p

this journey is exploration on so many levels, so study in university (boring or not, it's necessary, especially things like kinesiology, so you can explain how the body executes the movements safely for your future students), the music, the styles, even go the the countries these dances come from, meet the people, watch their festivals, weddings (if you're lucky enuf :p), so you FULLY experience this wonderful adventure................

There are many dancers who are well respected and have advanced degrees in ME studies. Amara, Tamra-Henna, Sahra Sa'eeda and (I think) Morocco to name a few. All of whom make decent livings from their dancing.

But this is an on going, lifetime commitment for them and for many of us. I have been dancing since I was 4 and belly dancing for about 6 years. It's hard work and it is constant.

As for BDSS, yes, it is diffucult to get in. It is demanding. Jillina and Rachel are profectionists. Miles is searching for a look. There are many things which you can't control. for example, You may have the perfect hip drop, but because you are 6' tall, you'd stand out in the chorus line! You get my drift.

As said above, continue to study. Attend lots of workshops. And concerts of ME music. Find out who the different musicians of the past were who were influencial both out of the ME and other places in the world (I think the US tends to claim George Abdo ;-) ) If you have the chance, go to Egypt or Turkey for one of the festivals or tours. There is so much to do. but it is a great adventure.

{{{HUGS}}}

Tahini,

Glad that you are not turned off but what we all have said. Recently there have been some women (at least as far as we know they were women) posting on Bhuz who asked questions and then didn't want to hear the answers they got!

You sound like you are eager to learn.

The music is so important. Unlike some other dance forms, in belly dance we and the music are one. The music is everything. The problem with remixes is that they often strip away the essence of what makes middle eastern music so personal, especially if the mix is being done by a westerner.

On the BDSS CD4 there is a remix of the classic song Enta Omri. That particular song is so emotional. About someone who thought she would never love, had lost love and is celebrating the joy of a love she thought she had lost. There is a sweet joyful sound to it tinged with just a bit of regret and memory of pain. But on the remix the song is completely unrecognizable and all of the emotion of it is gone. And it is emotion that makes Enta Omri unforgetable.

Listen to as much middle eastern music as you can. Two Lebanese pop singers who use full orchestration and have a lot of emotion in their music are Nancy Ajram and Diana Haddad. You can find downloads of their stuff pretty easily. They have upbeat songs, cute songs, and very emotional songs to. They are very modern and popular. I've seen some really cool Arabic music videos of Nancy Ajram that will just break your heart. If you want to listen to modern stuff, that is the kind of things you should look for.

A good site for downloads is Arabic Music,Song,Arabic Movie,Arabic Keyboard,Belly Dance,Video Clip,Arab Music.

And stay away from anything that uses a drum machine or synthesized percussion. You want the real thing!

Souzan

Originally Posted by TeenTahini

my parents pay a lot of money to send me to a really good private school, and expect me to make something of my educationa nd go to uni. my dream is to move to america, and become a bellydance superstar. its all i want!
how can i possibly make it over there? does anyone know?
how do i become a succesful belly dancer?
should i dance at restaraunts? sign up for fetes and other shows?

i am very tempted to make a dvd and send it off to some of these bellydance superstars.

pleeeeease i just want to share my belly dancing with as many people as possible, and dance on stage!

Which part of Australia do you live in? There a few teachers you can go to in Sydney to first reach a professional soloist stage. Terezka is the first to come to mind since she was Kasehi Chai's teacher. Then there is Amera who has worked over 10 years in the middle east. For technique I would recommend Julienne Saad and Jrisi Jusakos.

Originally Posted by HubicRuzz

Which part of Australia do you live in? There a few teachers you can go to in Sydney to first reach a professional soloist stage. Terezka is the first to come to mind since she was Kasehi Chai's teacher. Then there is Amera who has worked over 10 years in the middle east. For technique I would recommend Julienne Saad and Jrisi Jusakos.

Mmm- she isn't very forthcoming with her teachers - or even whereabouts in Australia she is. I suspect most of her learning has been by watching YouTube.

I would certainly agree with your suggestions in Sydney (not that I'm familar with Julienne Saad - but the others are top notch so I'll take as read that she is too ..g.: ) - and then there's the Faha Tour next year.

Originally Posted by kashmir

Mmm- she isn't very forthcoming with her teachers - or even whereabouts in Australia she is. I suspect most of her learning has been by watching YouTube.

I would certainly agree with your suggestions in Sydney (not that I'm familar with Julienne Saad - but the others are top notch so I'll take as read that she is too ..g.: ) - and then there's the Faha Tour next year.

Julienne was a teacher at Terezka's studio for the advanced students and branched out on her own a few months ago.

lol sorry i ahvent told u where im from but im from eastern australia, haha i havent learnt mainly off youtube either. i do three classes a week and sometimes long sunday rehearsals for performances and i also teach one beginners class.

i started gettin interested in bally dancing from shakira. i KNOW she's not a proper dancer or anything but she inspired me then i looked it up on youtube and found out about it more then joined a class.

i keep an eye out for workshops and im finding out about the rachel brice one coming next january someone said! im excited about having xmas holidays to practice and make video's to put on youtube so people can give me tips!

Hi TeenTahini,

On top of all the excellent advice given above - you asked whether you should get out and perform in restaurants, etc, to gain experience. My opinion is, at your age, it would be far better to perform within the bellydance community and 'safer' environments (eg: at student recitals, with your class at the local festival, for your friend's birthday, etc) and not in public places.

As all the professional dancers on this board can attest, dancing is only one part of the skills you need for a successful gig. Other skills you need include negotiation (dealing with payments, and situations such as restaurant managers unwilling to part with their money) and crowd handling.

You need to be old enough to know what to do when a drunken slob gets too close. At 17, I would have been quite freaked out by this. At 35 I have enough experience with drunken slobs to know how to diffuse the situation with humour, or when to simply stop performing and leave. And even before that, you need to have enough life experience so that you know how to suss out a potentially dodgy gig, and avoid such situations.

Most restaurant and party work is fine and audiences are usually wonderful, but there can be difficult moments that could really turn you off, if you get out there too early and have trouble handling them. That would be such a shame.

So by all means, look for performance opportunities where you can develop your craft, but stick to 'safe' learning environments for a little while, and bring along your mother when you start dancing in public gigs!

And I will add to the general message that education is good. Education can have a really useful role within a bellydance related career. It will help you write an impressive CV or put together a promo package to get a dance related job. It will help you write up contracts, manage your accounts, record your student details and develop marketing materials - extremely useful if you decide to teach. Etc etc. No education is ever a waste!

By the way, keep an eye on: 18th Sydney Middle Eastern Dance Festival for the Sydney Middle Eastern Dance Festival next year. You'll be in bellydance workshop heaven!

And finally (sorry, long-winded!), you don't need to move to Amerca to be a glamorous, successful dancer. There's quite a bit of work in the bigger cities in Australia, and some of our top dancers are every bit as good as those 'superstars'!

There's quite a bit of work in the bigger cities in Australia, and some of our top dancers are every bit as good as those 'superstars'!

I concur. If you end up moving to Sydney or Melbourne, in particular, you'll be in gig heaven as well as teacher heaven. There are some excellent working dancers in those places, so it's competitive (which is good for a talented professional dancer with drive) but I gather there's also lots of good work - but you do need to get a bit older and more experienced first!

I agree with the others that you should definitely go to university. Perhaps you can go to a university in the states? You can be a dance major in college, and as other people pointed out, you could also study Arabic and perhaps study abroad in Egypt combining the language with dance study. It's also useful to have a backup career. Most of the bellydancers I know have another successful career as scientists, business people, software engineers. Perhaps it is because I live in a big city where many people work in academia or technology, but that's what I've seen. I like having a regular job because it gives my body a break, gives me something else to excel in (what if I broke my leg or something? I still have a job), and also it lets me spend as much as I want on costumes, videos, and dance classes.

For a professional bellydancer, it seems to me that getting some education in business would be very useful, especially the marketing stuff. And maybe also accounting to keep track of the money coming in/out. Knowing how to organize your work is very helpful when running events like haflis, running a dance studio, etc.

There's an article on my web site that talks about belly dance as a possible career option. It's here: Belly Dancing: A Good Career Option?

You may like to get yourself along to this workshop in Sydney in January

http://www.bhuz.com/forum/bhuz-meet-...musicians.html