NOTE: Bellydancing is not my day job :)
My first experience with bellydance was in my fourth year at University. We had a recreational dance club where students could volunteer to create choreographies in all types of dance, and other students could sign up to learn them. Then there'd be a recital in February.
I'd signed up to learn Tahitian dance the previous year, and now was choreographing a Tahitian routine. I also signed up to learn other dances just for fun: musical theatre (lip syncing and dancing to a song from Hairspray), hip hop, Indian/Bollywood, and finally, bellydance.
It was a fun experience, but after graduation, thought that my life on stage was over. Time for the real world! I'd spent a year out of the spotlight when my boyfriend and I were driving in Bronte looking for a place to eat. With my eye out, I saw a place I'd never noticed before... a bellydance studio!
I took a trial class a few weeks later. I was hooked, especially after reading that with enough training, I might have the opportunity to perform. After a few months, I told my teacher I was interested in performing, and she told me that she'd had an eye on me because I was progressing so fast. She invited me to be part of the studio's student troupe. A few months and a dozen performances later, she invited me to apprentice, and eventually be a member of, our studio's professional troupe.
stats
- formal traning in Raqs Sharqi began in July 2009
- training continues to advance under the instruction of Joharah at BellyUp BellyDance Studio
- current member of Tarab, BellyUp's professional performance troupe
- further skill development under renowned Egyptian dancers Mohammed El Hosseny, Khaled Mahmoud and the legendary Fifi Abdo
- experience dancing at fundraising events, multicultural festivals, restaurants, private functions such as dinner parties, Jack & Jills, and weddings
- experience teaching beginner to intermediate level bellydance in small groups of 10-15 and studio classes of 20-25
