Dancing to Live (Music)

When I first moved to Boston 5 years ago, I knew that I wanted to continue taking belly dance lessons.  Since I considered belly dance a hobby, I didn''t realize that I would feel as passionate about the art as I do now.  While I don't consider myself a professional yet, I think it's something I'm considering more and more with every new experience.

I've had the pleasure to interact and learn from fabulous dancers, and I look forward to continuing my dance and music education. Through the different teachers, I've been exposed to opportunities that I've never thought I would be a part of.

Well...let me backtrack for a second.

I've done some performing for most of my life - from piano recitals to orchestra and band concerts in high school.  Perhaps because of my being trained classically, I've always been freaked out by improvisation.  Even in jazz band, I was so unsure of my abilities that I didn't think that I could possibly pull off something as musically awesome as some of the old songs I love.

When I was in undergrad, I participated (performed and directed pieces) in the Queer Fashion Show.  I loved that whole experience!  Working with large groups of people and putting together an entertaining peice...oh, then the performance!  I loved it.  But I never performed on my own.  I felt that the people who I performed with were like my backbone, giving me strength to go on through my anxiety.

When I began to belly dance, I anticipated a lot more troupe performances.  When recitals would come around, I would get extremely nervous.  I had to psych myself up, just saying to myself that I've done this before, there's nothing to worry about.  

Four recitals later (in 2008), I gathered enough courage to perform at a casual talent show in Vermont.  It was the first time I had sought out dancing alone for a group.  I was so nervous!  I couldn't even tell you about the massive amounts of butterflies in my stomach and the bullets I was sweating afterwards.  But throughout the weekend, I received so many complements.  People I didn't even know were watching came up to me in the days following my performance, complementing me and asking me about my dance background.  It was an exciting feeling.

(Celebration of Expression, Photo taken by Cat O.)

Later that year, my fellow social workers and friends organized an event that created a safe space for women to express themselves.  One friend read erotic poetry, another friend shared her baking wisdom, and I danced.  It was my first time performing a full routine (though broken into sections) for a live audience.
 
2008 seemed to be the year I finally had enough "belly dance balls."  Prior to the last two shows I wrote about, I was given the chance to dance with the Jewels of Jamal at the Athenian Corner in Lowell, MA.  This time was different.  This time, I danced to live music.  Amira Jamal had been preparing us for this experience through all her classes, encouraging us to dance to songs we weren't familiar with.


 (Athenian Corner, Photo by Albert Ma)


All of her lessons were flooding into my head at that moment.  Don't forget to smile, make sure your hands are "alive," move around the floor.  I'm surprised I didn't fall over from all the thoughts in my head.  In the end, I survived.  I knew that dancing to live music was another goal to add to my list of accomplishments.

Swaying My Hips Right (Coast) to Left (Coast)

Venice Beach, CA

On Thursday, July 30, 2009, I decided to check out a belly dancing event while I was visiting Los Angeles. Since I feel like I've been able to learn a bit more about the belly dancing community in New England, I was curious to compare it with the Los Angeles belly dancing community.

I found Meryem Vani's Showcase on the LARaqs.com website, which is a fabulous website for any belly dancer beginner or advanced. Teachers, costumes, events - it's all there! If you or someone you know in Los Angeles is looking to dip their toes into the world of raqs sharqi, this is a great website to introduce them to! I was very excited to have found that website.

It became suddenly clear to me that one of the major differences between the LA and New England belly dance communities was the size. Los Angeles, being a ginormous city, has the capacity to hold a variety of talented dancers, workshops, and events within its county lines. While Boston (my East Coast home) also has a wide variety of dancers as well, many of the events and workshops are not as easy to reach. As someone dependent on the T or my bicycle, it costs me not only a workshop fee but also a Zipcar membership. Even my Athena's job is an investment if I need to travel far. Strangely, perhaps because of the concept of the "county lines" or because I have more control over the space, things don't seem as far in LA even though I'm much more dependent on a car.

But the Boston/Greater Boston belly dance community extends to both the Massachusetts and New England communities. I think it's great because of how far reaching the community actually is - extending to multiple states! Coming from Los Angeles, I always thought it was pretty neat that folks in Boston could feel some camaraderie with the entire northeast corner of the country. On the other hand, I definitely enjoyed only traveling a little more than 2 miles to the belly dancing event.

The Showcase was located at the Tsunami Coffeehouse Theater in Silverlake, not too far from where I (my parents) live. Unfortunately, I didn't get to check out the actual coffeehouse before they closed, but I have had my eye on that place for a while! Aside from Perhaps on my next visit home, I will check it out during the day time.

I didn't make it in time for the short workshop that Meryem Vani held, but the women that participated told me all about it. One of them found this event through the LARaqs website as I did, and the other woman told us that she was part of the Bellydance Meetup Group, more specifically the Hollywood-East LA Bellydance Meetup Group. To further illustrate the point I made about the space and size, this one section of LA has currently 182 members. The Boston Bellydance Meetup Group currently has 297 members - but certainly, not everyone's address says "Boston." Craaaazy!

Zahir, who is not only part of Meryem Vani's Troupe Zaghareet but also an entertaining MALE belly dancer, was the MC of the event. He introduced about 7 dancers, including himself and another male belly dancer who's name I can't remember at all. That first male dancer was mesmerizing - balancing a tray of candles on his head and moving so slowly, from the floor to standing up.

Completely forgetting myself at the event, the only other name I could remember was Jennelah. To be perfectly honest, she was my personal favorite, perhaps because she was more my style. She had on a beautiful sparkly costume, and maintained her poise even with a slight technological malfunction of the CD player. Most of the belly dancers and groups were great, ranging from beginners to teachers. It made me feel more comfortable about my own performance level, especially since I felt that I could have a more educated opinion about the dancers.

The one woman who spoke to me earlier about being part of the Meetup Group interestingly had a lot of questions about belly dance, from the costumes to the styles of dance. At first I was shocked - because I always feel like everyone else knows WAAAY more than me. It was a good reminder for me, though, that I do know quite a bit more than I give myself credit.

At the end, there was a group dance, where the performers and audience members all got up to dance. For the first time, I didn't even hesitate getting up to dance with my peers, feeling secure in my own knowledge and body. I managed to convince a friend of mine to join me, and she stated after watching all the performances that she was absolutely intrigued by the dance and wanted to learn some of the moves.

Overall, while it was only one event I attended, I am so glad that I did! I'm not really sure what I expected. I've come across some interesting belly dance experiences in Los Angeles - from a class that felt like the teacher was teaching just to watch herself in the mirror to a store owner/teacher saying that he "doesn't teach housewives." I guess I was nervous that it was going to feel snobby and distant. But everyone was so welcoming!

Near the end of my trip, I wanted to spend one more day at the beach, but I also wanted to return to Boston with a new costume item. I hopped onto LARaqs.com before heading out, and found that the Velvet Gypsy was just along the Venice Beach boardwalk! While many of the items were tourist-friendly, there were some fabulous items that caught my eye. It was great to find a store that was exactly where I needed it to be - reducing the amount of time I would waste in traffic.

The day I move back to LA, I will feel secure in knowing that I can easily find and join the belly dance community. Not that I'm planning on moving back any time soon, necessarily. But I do miss my Los Angeles, and it's nice to feel like I still have a home and can make an updated home there.