Belly dancing is practised and enjoyed by people around the world, but few realise that the name they lovingly know it by was really just an accident.
Rightfully, Belly Dance should be known as Oriental Dance or Raks Sharqi, "Dance of the East", a collection of similar dance styles that originated in the Near East, Middle East and/or Far East. There are actually more names that could be used depending on the individual styles such as "Baladi" meaning "dance from the country" or the Turkish and Greek name "Oryantal Dansi" meaning "Dance Oriental".
So, where did the name "Belly Dance" come from?
This genre of dance was not properly introduced to the Western World until the 18th century and even then was rarely seen until the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1893, Oriental Dancers performed at the World Exposition in Chicago and caused quite a stir due to cultural attitudes of the time. This was further exacerbated by burlesque performers, who took aspects of the dance and created their own titillating routines that bore no real resemblance to the traditional dances of the East but convinced Westerners that it was a sexual and immoral dance.
In a French review, a similar style of dance was labeled "Danse Du Ventre" or "Dance of the Stomach" which is believed to have quickly developed into the name Belly Dance. Even today that name causes dismay among lovers of Oriental Dance who see it as tainting the origins of the ancient art form.
Belly Dance is not even a good description. Belly Dancing does require movement of the abdominal muscles but is a dance of the whole body, incorporating upper and lower body muscle isolations, graceful arm movements, hip rolls and pelvic tilts.
However unsuitable the name might be, Belly Dance is known and recognised the world over. Instructors may prefer to label their classes "Oriental Dance" or "Raks Sharqi" but the recognition that the name Belly Dance brings will continue to ensure its use, at least in the West, for many years to come.
Electrifying music, foot-tapping dance beats and unlimited masti. When it comes to all this and more, Venom is definitely the place to be iwith the DJs ensuring the revellers enjoy themselves to the hilt. Party-hoppers, who had come dressed to kill, made sure they made most of the music as they hit the dance floor with a vengeance and were seen partying as the night got more and more groovy.
Those who were too tired to hit the dance-floor, decided to relax over drinks and snacks or played billiards. A reveller admitted, “Dancing is a great stressbuster.
Not only do you feel great, but it also helps you lose weight!” Surely, when it comes to de-stressing, it’s always great to dance your blues away. So, dance till you drop!
A Cottonwood resident who has studied and taught dance all over the South County is going back to his roots teaching hip-hop dance at the Cottonwood Community Center. Max Friedman took his very first dance class the center.
The dance teacher said that years ago, he wasn't thrilled with the idea of taking a dance class, but once he did, he didn't' want to stop.
"I always thought dancing was kind of like a girls thing. I thought I was supposed to play football or basketball or something," he said. "But I found I wasn't too bad at it and I enjoyed it, so I kept with it."
Five years later, Friedman is passing on skills to Cottonwood children and teens.
There are currently about five children in the class, and the instructor said there's room for more.
During his Monday class, Friedman teaches hip-hop dance moves and incorporates them into routines. The teacher also makes sure to start the class with stretches, and at the end of class, he gives his students a more-complicated dance move to practice during the week.
One of Friedman's favorite parts about teaching dance is watching his students pick up on the dance moves.
"It reminds me when I first started hip-hop. 'When I would get a move down was like, Yes, I finally got it," Friedman said. "It makes you feel good when you master something like that. I enjoy helping kids get there."
Another reason why the instructor enjoys dance is because it builds self-confidence.
"I've had friends that are really shy, and when they started doing dance they totally came out of their shell," he said.
"If you are out somewhere and people start dancing, you are not just sitting on the side feeling uncomfortable," Friedman said. "Once you get it down, you are no longer scared to get out there."
Hip-hop began not just as a music genre but as a cultural movement. From soundsystems to DJs and repurposed vinyl to graffiti, insurrection and break dance, it attacked the mainstream using a variety of invigorating elements.
But some elements have survived time's arrow better than others. Changes in hip-hop's tastes dealt break dance, better known as breaking, a pretty rough body blow. Especially since the arrival of gangsta rap, which looked upon dancing as something that got in the way of drinking, jacking and mostly wasting everyone's time. Yet breaking survives and, with the thankful resurgence of conscientious hip-hop, is increasing in momentum.
And that velocity makes for some pretty pictures.
Good thing Touch Me I'm Sick shutterbug Charles Peterson was around to take them. The man whose photos helped document the grunge phenomenon is adding hip-hop to his portfolio with Cypher, out now from New York's powerHouse Books. It shows off what happens when a ring of revisionist breakers forms and sets about defying gravity and the human body's structural integrity.
Peterson used medium format cameras for a larger-than-life feel, and it works. Meanwhile, Jeff Chang's deep introduction, like his other valuable writing, adds the kind of cultural context needed to remind the world that hip-hop is much more than Flava Flav and 50 Cent. Much more, indeed.
MARITONI Rufino-Tordesillas fell in love with ballet at eight years old. It was what would take her all the way to New York.
In 1986, I got a call from my father saying a family friend would be apprenticing in the Big Apple, and asking if she could room in with me. When the apartment’s doorbell rang, I opened the door, saw this girl, and gasped, “Madonna!”
But it wasn’t Madonna. It was Maritoni, attired head-to-toe in the “Like a Virgin” outfit made famous by Madonna.
The sight of a young (just a few years younger than I) die-hard fan was both amusing and ever-so-refreshing.
In New York, off Maritoni went every day to the Neubert Ballet Institute at Carnegie Hall, where she had a scholarship. She studied under Steffan Hoff, a contemporary of Mikhail Baryshnikov at American Ballet Theater.
In 1989, she danced with the Eglevsky Ballet of New York. In 1993, she passed the Royal Academy of Dancing examinations, with honors in the intermediate majors. In 1995, she came home and taught in Philippine Ballet Theater (PBT), where she was school principal from 1998 to 2000.
Her roles as principal dancer for PBT included Cio Cio San in “Madame Butterfly,” Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet,” “Cinderella,” Raymonda in “Andres KKK,” Carmen, Kitri in “Don Quixote,” Odette in “Swan Lake,” and Giselle, to name a few.
Partnered with international guest dancers like Wes Chapman, Parrish Meynard, Timothy Melady and Charles Askegaard, she performed with PBT in the US, Mexico, Japan and Singapore. She also dabbled in musical theater, and was a favorite among local choreographers like Gener Caringal and Edna Vida.
Like in the pursuit of other dreams, there were disappointments. The ballet industry at the time had no support and funding. Excellent dancers did not get substantial salaries and, above all, lacked recognition. Access to the Cultural Center of the Philippines, as far as transportation and affordable tickets were concerned, was difficult.
Seeing classic ballet performances was never a part of school activities, so the industry had no exposure to potentially talented young dancers.
Inner peace
Maritoni hung up her pointes in 2000 and established Danspace, teaching children ages three to 14. (The students of the school are entered into the assessment program of the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet.)
Simultaneously, she discovered Asthanga Yoga. With a certification from the Centered Yoga Institute in Koh Samui, Thailand, she became one of the founders of Yoga Manila.
Because she teaches two to three yoga classes daily, her schedule dictates that her wardrobe exude comfort over fashion. Yoga wear comprises 90 percent of her clothing. Jeans are a staple, with knits or vintage tops, while simple, short shifts allow her the ease she needs.
Maritoni may have had her disappointments in the ballet industry, but she continues to hope, and meanwhile teaches us to center. She believes in focusing on her priorities. As a mother of two, she says her family comes first. She follows an “early to bed, early to rise” regimen, so she can spend valuable time with her kids.
Because Maritoni has been doing, and is doing, what she loves, she has that inner peace we are all striving for. And, just like Madonna, Maritoni will continue to do what she loves, always finding a sense of fulfillment in the process. By Rina Silayan-Go Philippine Daily Inquirer
Spurred by a string of bad news in his personal life, novelist Mikel Jollett turned to writing songs instead of prose for relief, and within months, The Airborne Toxic Event was born. Shaking up standard rock with the addition of viola and trumpet, The Airborne Toxic Event has become a fixture of the L.A. music scene within just two years.In a session with host David Dye, the band weighs in on the media's hefty comparisons between its work and that of artists such as Leonard Cohen. Jollett also explains his songwriting process, noting that it's not too far off from his prior occupation, since he composes songs as short stories.
A CHANCE to pole dance your way to fitness is now available in Loughborough.Mel Bailey has been pole dancing for two years and decided to start teaching her own class with the help of her sister Emily Sharp.To launch the class Mel had an open day for people to go along and see what it is all about.She said: "I decided to start the class because I had done it as a hobby for about two years and I just said to my husband that I would like to teach."I wanted to start up on my own because I enjoyed it that much."It keeps you quite fit. I have always been sporty and active and I used to do kick boxing and aerobics so I thought I would try something different so that is why I started up pole dancing."I do it more as a fitness thing rather than because I want to work in a bar."It is just a bit of fun."The First Class Fitness and Pole Dance classes take place on Mondays from 7pm to 8.30pm and Saturdays from 10.30am to noon at Unit D1E in Cumberland Trading Estate, Loughborough.Mel added: "Quite a few of my friends suggested that I start a class and they said they would come along and my sister helps me out as well with the teaching."
Wasn't it Friedrich Nietzsche who said he "would believe only in a god that knows how to dance"?
As I am reading your article on pg. 1, "Folklore requires protection: Expert", (Oct. 28) about the World Heritage Cities Conference, it reminds me of these amazing little girls learning traditional Balinese dances at the Agung Rai Museum of Art in Ubud, Bali.
With unstoppable commitment, everyday a group of more than 40 young girls, ages five to 14, attend these free classes for two hours.
Yes, you read it right, free classes! Supported by the museum that provides the best teachers, pays for the salaries, costumes, attires and make up, these classes have been set up by Agung Rai himself as a manifestation of his vision, a unique concept for a museum: keeping the arts alive -- out of the rooms, out of the box -- shaped by the uniqueness of the cultural traditions of Bali.
"Because children are the future", Agung Rai says, educating them and transmitting this heritage to them is essential. Along with dance comes gamelan music, painting, carving and batik classes -- all part of a unique tradition. But support and protection are needed or the classes will come to an abrupt end for lack of funds.
Watch them: Learning and rehearsing timeless gestures, specific movements of the hands, gracefully positioning the head, the eyes -- all movements patiently taught and ritually codified in a meaningful way.
"We pray to Saraswati to bless our dancing," explain the girls who sprinkle each other with holy water at the temple before joining the class. Actually, maybe it's not a bad idea to pray for the World Heritage Conference as well.
Pray that it urgently brings to fruition that "international protection instrument" they keep talking about -- before the gods themselves lose their memory of the steps and the children are left with TV programs only.
NEW YORK - A New York City wax museum says scores of zombies and Michael Jackson impersonators eyed the Guinness World Record for the number of people dancing to the singer's "Thriller" album and beat it. Madame Tussauds New York says 73 fans surrounding its Jackson wax figure did the spooky "Thriller" dance at its Times Square location Thursday. It says the previous record was 62.Thursday's dance celebrated the iconic "Thriller" video's 25th anniversary.The King of Pop didn't attend. But the 13-time Grammy winner says in a statement through his record company he "always thought Halloween and 'Thriller' fit each other like a glove."
My baby loves disco, and salsa, and hip hop, and jazz. You get the picture. My baby loves music!
I'm looking forward to the upcoming Baby Loves Disco dance party at Aubergine in just a few weeks. Sunday, November 9th, you'll find me standing in line with my son on my shoulders, probably already dancing before we even step inside the wonderful night club that's transformed into a daytime paradise for parents and their little ones.
My son's personal favorite is the Hullabaloo Band that appears at BLD to play fun music that both kids and parents will find themselves moving to and singing along with.
If you don't quite get what the big hype is, I encourage you to check it out for yourself.
Aubergine on 4th, typically known for its strong drinks and dress code, turns into a haven for kids and their parents on this special day. The bar area is filled with finger foods and healthy snacks, drinks are served for parents and bubbles, balloons, play tents, books and face-painting are just a few of the activities that are held throughout the three hour event.
And if you're worried about your child getting separated from you, there's no need. When you arrive, you and your child will be given wristbands that share the same number. Your child won't be allowed to go out the front door (the bouncers make sure of it) without their adult.
I highly recommend that you attend a Baby Loves Disco dance party in a city near you. I wouldn't miss it for the world.
Britney Spears reportedly worked overtime at Hollywood's International Dance Studio on Thursday, October 23. As seen on the news photo, Spears donned a green tank top and long black sport pants, creating new moves with her two backing dancers. "We hear rehearsal last night was intense but Brit got inspired when she put on Tucker's hat and she began to totally rock the session," her camp called Team Britney said.
Beside posting a picture from her rehearsal session, Team Britney also uploaded several pics of Spears as a child performer. The singer, who will perform the new tracks from her upcoming LP, "Circus", on ABC's "Good Morning America", is seen performing ballet and singing onstage during an event.
Previously, Spears has also been rehearsing for the ITV1's "X Factor" show. Her choreographer, Brian Friedman, told the Mirror, "Britney is at the best she has ever been. She will perform 'Womanizer' on the show and it will be the raunchiest performance 'X Factor' has seen. She's back on top of her game."
Aimed to follow up her 2007 "Blackout" album, "Circus" is Spears' sixth major studio effort which is due for U.S. release on December 2 to coincide with her 27th birthday. Lady GaGa, Keri Hilson, Lil Jon, and Chris Brown are some of the big names who will be lined up as guest stars on the record.
Dance For her new work, The Sublime Is Us, Luciana Achugar had an eye on Dance Theater Workshop—but rather than its main theater, she was drawn to the third-floor studio space. “At first, I wasn’t thinking of performing there—I was mainly thinking of using mirrors,” she says over brunch in Williamsburg. “That’s where my idea came from, and in rehearsal I realized, Why build a set when what I’m actually doing and what my work has been about is the working process? I should just bring the people to the dance studio.”
In the intimate production, to be performed over the next two weeks and allowing only 30 audience members at a time, Achugar uses the mirror as a tool. “I wouldn’t say specifically that the piece is about that, but it’s a big protagonist,” she says. Though Achugar, 38, is reluctant to divulge the particulars of audience placement—in this instance, it’s best to save the surprise for showtime—she acknowledges being fascinated by the relationship between form and content.
“Form reveals itself visually,” she says. “I do look at myself in the mirror when I make work. I’ve always done that, and I know that in contemporary dance, a lot of people don’t. I’m always keeping the eyes of the audience in my mind so when I look in the mirror I can kind of pretend that I’m looking at them. I’m interested in that relationship; it’s not that I’m dancing and people happen to be watching, but that it’s about that gaze. I’m obsessed with that.”
She uses the act of feeling and looking—the sensation of doing something and the image it produces—throughout The Sublime Is Us, in which she dances along with Hilary Clark, Jennifer Kjos, Melanie Maar and Beatrice Wong (the alias of Jmy Leary, who also designs the costumes under the name of Icon). With her new work, Achugar is moving away from the idealist themes she explored in dances like Exhausting Love at Danspace Project and Franny and Zooey, in which the focus was the group as a collective. Now, things are different, and it’s not just because she is four-and-a-half months pregnant (the father is her boyfriend, choreographer and dancer Chase Granoff). Achugar is figuring out how to be a director.
“For one thing, it just happened naturally that I use a lot of symmetry in this piece,” she says. “It’s four dancers and myself, so a lot of what I designed in symmetry I’m not in because I had to be outside in order to design them. It’s not like I’m obviously directing everyone—it’s more subtle, but I am in the piece somewhat as the choreographer. In some ways, I feel like I’m drawing myself out. I am very much a hippie, and I like the utopian idea of us deciding everything together, but I do have a very specific vision. I do like what I want, and I’ve allowed that part of me to come out more.” She laughs. “To make your vision your own, you have to direct. I’ve had to work really hard at that in this piece. I like to be nice and I’m not your typical person where the dancers leave crying—even though I have made the dancers cry. You can’t help it.”
The score by composer and visual artist Michael Mahalchick is a combination of electronic music and instrumentation. “It has that kind of krautrocky, psychedelic feel,” he explains. “It’s going to be a pretty psychedelic soundscape for this show, which is really fun for me. But with the mirror being such a huge part of the show, that seems appropriate.”
In The Sublime Is Us, Achugar draws upon her dancers’ individuality—more than usual, she suspects—with sensual movement in curves and spirals that captures the feeling of unraveling. Yet she also focuses as much on the experiential nature of dance. She remains intrigued by the notion of the double or, as she puts it, the dichotomy of dance serving as both a visual art form and an experiential one.
“Not that I want to make a statement that one is more important than the other,” she says. “But I feel like I’m dealing with that, and asking myself that question I do think I have a reaction against people who only see dance as a visual thing, like you’re watching TV or something. I also feel like I want to be responsible for the fact that it is a visual tool. I’m still in search of finding the meeting of the two. Not that you’re going to be like Martha Graham, because it’s a different time now, but I am interested in dance and movement for a reason, and I’m still looking.”
The NAC kicked off its new all-Canadian dance series Thursday night with a sweet/salty double bill by Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie.Married dancer-choreographers Laurence Lemieux and Bill Coleman have earned their place in the Canadian dance pantheon, with an international reputation for their stunning productions of works by James Kudelka. Successfully based in Montreal for years, Coleman-Lemieux recently opened a new studio and performance space in a former Salvation Army soup kitchen in Toronto, where their two children are enrolled in the National Ballet School. Their newest work, Interiors, is a family affair, with prominent roles for Jimmy Coleman, 12, and his nine-year-old sister Juliette.Set to Schubert's melancholic B flat Major and A minor Piano Sonatas, Interiors is crafted as a triptych showcasing the intimate, delicately shifting dynamics of a loving family. The work opens with the four family members arranged within a large square made up of stacks and piles of letters, papers and books. Each individual character has her or his distinct language of movement: the nervous, watchful mother; the father, who is distracted yet in search of a deeper connection with his wife and children; the boy, poised at that awkward juncture between childish games and teenage disdain; and the girl, blissfully confident as only girls that age can be.The middle section is a strange, powerful duet for Lemieux and Coleman in which they almost never touch. Her children flown, the mother seems lost, manic, punch-drunk. Her partner is in his own world, until he finally notices her anguish and takes her, still fighting and twitching, in his arms. It's a beautiful moment. Unfortunately, the final section is the work's weakest. The two kids monkey about while their parents sleep, and the choreography deteriorates into the shallow and cutesy.From family-friendly to R-rated: the second work on the program is In Camera, an early Kudelka piece from his Toronto Dancemakers days. Although the movement isn't overtly sexual, In Camera is nonetheless about sex, and all the dark, flirty, twisted games people play to have it.The seven dancers slink and sniff around each other; there's a saucy little pas de trois that ends in a sweaty tangle of she, he and she. But Kudelka offers some caution to go along with the lust: in their forlorn, horizontal duet, Lemieux and the formidable Dan Wild convey all the bitter emptiness of the post one-night-stand blues.
Pink Floyd is not often at the top of the list when ice dancers make their music choices. But this season, two of the top teams in the world will use the British rock band's psychedelic stylings to fly in the face of convention.
Yesterday, world champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France won the compulsory dance at Skate America, the first of six Grand Prix events this season, with a Viennese waltz. The pair will unveil their Pink Floyd routine (The Great Gig in the Sky) tomorrow in the free dance.
The other Pink Floyd-based number, by Canadian champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, will remain unseen for a while as Virtue recovers from an injury.
Delobel and Schoenfelder left no doubt as to who won yesterday's event, scoring a strong 38.49 points.
Pink Floyd is not often at the top of the list when ice dancers make their music choices. But this season, two of the top teams in the world will use the British rock band's psychedelic stylings to fly in the face of convention.
Yesterday, world champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France won the compulsory dance at Skate America, the first of six Grand Prix events this season, with a Viennese waltz. The pair will unveil their Pink Floyd routine (The Great Gig in the Sky) tomorrow in the free dance.
The other Pink Floyd-based number, by Canadian champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, will remain unseen for a while as Virtue recovers from an injury.
Delobel and Schoenfelder left no doubt as to who won yesterday's event, scoring a strong 38.49 points.
For many, belly dancing suggests a certain alluring art and recalls a mysterious tradition of ancient history. For Memie Watson, of Beverly, it’s a good part of her life.
A full-time paramedic in Danvers for 20 years and a Justice of the Peace on the weekends, Watson is also the coordinator of the North Shore chapter of the North East Belly Dance Association. Her chapter will present a belly dance performance entitled, “It’s a Great Belly,” at the Northshore Unitarian Universalist Church in Danvers, 323 Locust St., on Sunday, Oct. 26.
Watson, 52, grew up in the area studying ballet, tap, and jazz, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s when the art of belly dance captivated her.
“I was at a party, and I asked the hired dancer, ‘what are you doing?’”
Soon after, Watson enrolled in classes and has become a “professional student” of belly dance, she insists. For the past five years, she has worked as a belly dance instructor at local studios, as well as North Shore Community College.
“I teach in a non-judgmental environment. Egos have to be checked at the door,” Watson said. Her students have ranged in age from 13 to 72, and she’s even taught one male over the years.
“By the time the elderly women leave, they say, ‘I never knew my body could do that.’ It’s for every age, shape, and size of women and men,” Watson added.
Gail Bernard, 39, of Danvers, shares a similar mantra.
“I was a stay-at-home mom of two after being a professional. I wanted to do something just for me,” she said.
A former environmental scientist, Bernard enrolled in one of Memie Watson’s belly dance classes two and half years ago. There Bernard, or “Ghaleena” (her dancer name), met nine other women with whom she formed the troupe Sisters in Dance, a fusion style group whose members’ ages range from 26 to 53. The group performs “family-style” belly dancing for birthday parties and Girl Scout events.
This past Sunday the Sisters in Dance joined other local belly dance troupes at Jahayra Flores’ Belly Moves studio on Main Street in Peabody to demonstrate the dance for the Danvers Herald before the upcoming event.
Standing in a black robe behind the counter in her studio, Flores explained: “Belly dancing is so captivating and mesmerizing. It makes you feel so beautiful.”
As a self-taught dancer and instructor and a former Certified Nurse Assistant, Flores opened her studio in April 2008 after working out of the basement of her Peabody home for four years.
“When I first started, the idea was to get my younger cousin away from the streets and bad influences,” Flores explained. “And I’ve found that it works.”
“It kind of motivates me, gives me confidence,” said Diana Escoboza, 24, a student of Flores’. Escoboza, who lives in Lynn, performed with her troupe, the Desert Stars, on Sunday, dancing to a Shakira song in an American Cabaret style. The four young women in the troupe wore glittery costumes of blue and white sequins and clutched long colorful scarves.
What it isn’t
But, while these dancers all share a passion for belly dancing, they also recognize the taboos surrounding belly dance — taboos they hope to belie.
Flores explained that people often mistakenly associate the dance with more vulgar forms of dancing.
“It kills what I’m doing when people don’t give it a chance,” Flores said.
“In beginners’ classes, we talk about how belly dancing is so stereotyped. It’s not a sexual dance; it’s sensual,” she explained.
Flores did admit, however, that on more than one occasion, she caught an old man peeking through the windows of her studio while she and her students rehearsed.
“That’s why I bought curtains,” she laughed.
While Memie Watson and Jahayra Flores are more public figures in the local belly dance scene, other dancers still sneak off to rehearsals or retain certain anonymity.
“I’m a professional. I don’t want my professional world knowing about it because I know [belly dancing] is taboo,” said another member of Sisters in Dance, who revealed only her dancer name during the interview.
Ancient history
The Sisters in Dance gathered together in their ornate hand-made costumes on Sunday and talked about their troupe’s strong sisterhood and the history of belly dancing, which can be traced back 5,000 years to ancient Oriental, Indian, and Middle Eastern cultures. Belly dance was originally performed by women for women, as part of an ancient fertility ritual, they explained.
Even more, belly dancing is linked historically to the birthing process, and the dance has helped many of the “Sisters” become mothers. For belly dancers who learned to isolate muscles in the stomach region, “it was easier to undulate and to give birth,” Watson explained.
Today, there are various styles of belly dance, including American Cabaret, Egyptian, Tribal, Gothic, and fusion.
Phoenix Avathar, a dancer for nearly ten years and an instructor originally from Everett, also performed this past Sunday. Avathar explained that while some dances are choreographed, in tribal style there are leaders and followers who rotate roles during the performance. The followers look for cues from the leaders which signal a change in movement.
“It looks like a choreographed dance, but we’re actually improvising,” she said.
Since Avathar just began a new teaching job as a local high school science teacher, she’s waiting to unveil her hobby to her students. In the past, however, she taught at a boarding school in Vermont where she openly shared her passion for belly dancing.
Middle Eastern fears
“My first month of teaching is when 9/11 happened,” Avathar said. She explained that some of the Egyptian students were being harassed.
“So I started this belly dancing group,” she said. “Everyone’s so focused on the terrorism [in Middle Eastern society]. Belly dancing shows there’s beauty.”
Avathar will be teaching a workshop at Sunday’s at the Northshore Unitarian Church event as well as performing.
“The money [from this event] goes back into the Association to put on more belly dance shows,” Watson explained.
Every chapter of the North East Belly Dance Association also commits to hosting at least one fundraising event a year for a good cause. This upcoming year, Watson’s chapter will raise funds for the Northeast Animal Shelter, and some of the proceeds from the Church’s event will go towards this. She invites the public to support this effort and to enjoy the beauty of this dance first hand.
“By the time the show is over, I hope [the community] has more of an understanding of what belly dancing is all about,” said Watson.
I think salsa has taught me the lesson of responsibility. In break dance, you basically dance solo without having to think of anyone but yourself. But salsa ...” paused Alam as if he had gone into a deep reverie, “... salsa makes you think of the other person”.
Otherwise, the Muar, Johore, native who is the second of eight siblings, would most likely be found hanging out with fellow breakdancer and best friend, Ezhan Azman, 22.
“There is this place in Muar called Tanjung Emas, a favourite area for kite flying with the locals. There is a park and a river there with lots of trees and at a certain spot, you can see the whole town of Muar. This is where the both of us like to go and practice our dance moves,” revealed Alam of his “dating spot” with Ezhan.
And speaking of Muar would make him think of his family too.
“Coming from a family of eight makes us a noisy bunch indeed. Come meal-times, it looks like we are having a house party. Since I am based in Kuala Lumpur now, I do miss them very much and there are times when I would call my parents at 4am because I was feeling homesick,” said Alam.
Meanwhile, for the time being before fame truly catches up with him, you may also find Alam showing off his nifty moves in Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL, at the square in front of Maybank. This is a favourite spot for breakdancers and many are seen to congregate here on weekend nights to see who’s the best of the lot.
And without question, all that dancing will inadvertently make Alam look for food!
“I love fried drumsticks and I get them from KFC. Otherwise, I don’t mind a hot bowl of ‘sup gearbox’ (beef marrow soup). But what I really miss is my mum’s cooking. She makes great asam pedas dishes with ikan keli, ikan pari and ikan patin,” said Alam who was clearly drooling.
Lastly, Alam confessed that sleeping in on Sundays is also one of his favourite things to do. He has been known to wake up at 11am, only to go back to sleep again three hours later!
“I don’t see anything wrong with that as long as there is no work. At times like these, even a ringing phone will not wake me up as the ring tones will just be part of my dreams,” concluded Alam and while one may be mistaken but it does look like he is stilfing a yawn.
But sleep is the nurturer of life and here’s hoping that Alam will wake up to a fresh start to entertain us as the nation’s favourite dancer!
Haslam Abdul Rahman, or Alam, never tires of dance, an activity he indulges in every day.Ask rising breakdance star Haslam Abdul Rahman, who is known as Alam to his fans, what he does on Sundays and the inevitable answer is a no-brainer.“I dance, of course,” replied this So You Think You Can Dance Season 1 champion who is now the star of his own reality show, Alam’s Story, which airs on 8TV every Sunday.With this, the 22-year-old bachelor who is currently taking a break from his hotel and management diploma, revealed his private hangout is the Cintabboy studio in Bandar Mahkota Cheras in Sungai Long, Selangor. This is where he gathers with the Wakaka crew, a b-boy dance outfit to hone his moves and to teach aspiring dancers how to breakdance for free.And when asked why Alam has decided to exempt payment, his promptly replied, “Break dance is about freedom”.This, he insisted, had nothing to do with keeping with the nice guy image. Rather, he pointed out, realistically, that the dance form had its basis in practice and it was up to the individual to look at the moves and then build up enough physical strength to perform the dance. Alam revealed that he himself learned the ropes this way and he guarantees that once the fitness kicks in, the moves will come au naturel.But there is the saying that goes, “One will get tired if served the same menu every day”. In Alam’s case when he thinks he needs a break, it’s time for a few rounds of salsa with his partner, Tengku Noor Fatimah Zaharah Tengku Zaimi Azlan, 27, his dance partner from SYTYCD.“Breakdance is rough, salsa is sexy. I feel that learning how to salsa has put a bit more polish and suaveness into my movements,” affirmed Alam who struck a pose for effect.The couple’s favourite dance spot would be none other that a club at Westin Hotel in Phileo Damansara.
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - Russia and Korea confirmed themselves as some of the most stylish break-dancers in the world by coming first and second in the coveted B-Boy world championships in London this month.
The East, led by Russia and Korea, has taken break-dance from the West, where it was developed in New York in the late 1970s, and made it their own by adding a distinctly creative Eastern style of spinning and contorting hip-hop dance routines.
At one point in the final, the Russian dancers formed a human ramp to somersault one of their crew high into the air before landing straight into a dance routine, where he grooved on his hands and feet to the sounds of funk music.
"It's part of Asia, part of Europe. It's Russian style," said Maxime Shakhov, known as B-Boy Simpson, who, along with his crew, Top 9, defeated the Taekwondo enhanced dance skills of the Koreans to become the world champions.
But the loudest and most ecstatic shouts of appreciation went to 10-year-old Briton Karam Singh, known as Kid Karam, who spent several minutes concealed in a rucksack on the back of a team mate who went through an entire dance routine before Karam jumped out and went straight into a dance set.
The "Kid" strode up and taunted his Korean opponents, all with toned muscular bodies and towering in front of him, while the 5,000-strong crowd roared with delight and surprise.
But the night belonged to the Russians, who faced down crews from Korea, Japan, Britain, the United States and Europe in what are known as "battles," to win the championships.
Crews stand across the stage from each other and take turns to try and dance better than their opponents, either individually or in synchronized routines, using taunting gestures and mock violence against their rivals.
If you don’t think you’re hip enough to hip-hop, amble on over to the Watertown Fairgrounds YMCA for upcoming workshops.There, master hip-hop instructor Pat-y-o (real name: Patrick Otero) will guide you through the right moves during classes on Nov. 1 and 2.Hip-hop dancing is closely associated with rap music and with the style and fashions of black inner-city residents.Pat-y-o has 14 years of experience in directing, judging and stage-managing with Starbound National Dance Competition and more than 30 years of experience in dance overall. Besides his work in television, movies and sporting events, he is a co-instructor featured in the videos “Off Da Hook” and “Hip-Hop You Don’t Stop.”In August, he headlined the hip-hop master class for Dance Teacher/Dance Spirit Dance Convention in Manhattan. Shereen Daly, owner of In Motion School of Dance in Watertown, attended the conference and asked Pat-y-o if he could come to Watertown.He agreed, and the Fairgrounds YMCA decided to host the workshops. Tammie J. Miller, Fairgrounds YMCA director, said the hip-hop workshops fit in with the YMCA because the agency offers other dance classes. She added it’s also a way for the YMCA to promote the arts and to bring dancers and instructors at the area’s dance studios together.Mrs. Daly said the recent popularity of reality shows with dance themes on network television should create lots of interest for the hip-hop classes.Pat-y-o will offer one workshop a day to junior groups, ages 7-12, and to senior groups, ages 13 and up.“We’re hoping this is going to reach out to not only the dance studios, but to the schools,” said Mrs. Daly.According to answers.com, hip-hop dance originated in New York City among young Hispanic and black men during the late 1960s as part of the hip-hop culture of rap, scratch music and graffiti art. The technique essentially embraces the break-dance and body-popping dance styles.
Brigham Young University's Department of Theater and Media Arts presents its production of the Tony Award-winning play "Dancing at Lughnasa," directed by Stephanie Breinholt. Playwright Brian Friel created the autobiographical play, based around a narrator who is recalling his childhood in a small Irish village in 1936. The production team includes artistic director Janet Swenson, scenic designer Danniey Palliser Wright and costume designer Jananne Meads. When » 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31 through Nov. 15. A matinee show is scheduled for 2 p.m. Nov. 8, There will be no performances Sundays or Mondays. Where » Margetts Theatre, Harris Fine Arts Center at the BYU campus in Provo. Tickets » $15-$10 weeknights and $11 weekends with a BYU or student ID. To purchase tickets call the Fine Arts Ticket office at 801-422-4322 or go to byuarts.com.
Freaks and geeks The Southern Utah University Department of Theatre Arts and Dance presents "The Elephant Man," a play based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, a Victorian-era man with the incurable disease of elephantiasis. Directed by T. Anthony Marotta, the drama portrays the horror of social torture, raising questions about physical normality vs. abnormality. Matt Marberry portrays Merrick.
