BellyUp's Year of Masters!

It's hard to believe our 2010 year of hosting many of the world's most noteable instructors in the field of bellydance is coming to an end. And another year of planning is in the works for some very exciting new workshops. So stay tuned to BellyUp for more details in the coming months for what's on tap for 2011! During 2010 BellyUp hosted North American dancers such as Aziza, Ranya Renee, Jim Boz and Mira Betz. And from Egypt we were honoured to host my all time dance idol, Egyptian legend Fifi Abdou along with two of today's most popular male dancers Khaled Mahmoud and Mohamed El Hosseny. All we can say is wow! The year has been mind-blowing to say the least. BellyUp students have been so fortunate to be part of the studio that brings this high calibre talent to our bellydance community. To close out 2010, BellyUp is honoured to have Carolena Nericcio and Megha Gavin from FatChanceBellyDance in San Francisco. Carolena Nericcio is the founder and creator...the mother of American Tribal Style dance as we know it. An exciting 2-day workshop is planned with a special curriculum and it sold out months ago! A Gala Show is planned for October 22nd.

As a student of the bellydance art form, taking external workshops in addition to your regular bellydance classes is essential to build your skills and awarenes of other styles, the culture and history of the dance and various types of technique. Not only that, taking outside workshops nourishes your soul as a bellydancer. I live for my intensive vacations where I can get away and study with many wonderfully talented masters and then come back to BellyUp feeling revived and full of a new sense of passion for the dance. New technique and new ways of thinking about old technique, new movements and combinations. choreography, and so much more is taught and shared. My commitment to BellyUp has always been to bring the best of the best to our students in terms of education which is why I sought out leading masters in a variety of dance genres to teach the weekend intensives that we've hosted. We've been so fortunate in that each of these Masters has been generous in their teaching and exceeded our expectations on so many levels.

So next year as you're budgeting for classes, make sure to leave some padding in there for some special outside workshops that will most definitely take your dance to new and exciting heights. You will begin to grow more than you imagined as you learn and develop. You may discover a new niche for yourself, you may find a style or a Master that you wish to continue your study with. Whatever the case you're always in for a great time and a chance to really train hard and focus on your dance intensively.

Stay tuned for more news on BellyUp's coming year of exciting workshops that we'll be hosting! Some very exciting things are planned and news will be released in the months ahead.

Joharah

Moves that drive us nuts!

As students of bellydance we are always learning new moves and growing our skills as dancers and performers. It's important to remember that we all learn differently and our bodies are unique. Some weeks you will take instantly to a new move presented by your teacher while other weeks you'll stumble and feel like a beginner all over again! If you're an eternal student like I am, you will always be stumbling in some way or another trying to grasp more sophisticated technique and movement. If you're not feeling challenged ... there's something wrong. And if you're not making mistakes in class you're not learning. Inevitably you'll find some moves that just drive you crazy and when you find that aspect of your dance that is driving you to the brink of never buying another costume again my advice is to relax and practice that aspect more regularly until it starts to improve. Upping the practice level on moves we love to avoid will bring results for sure. Don't let the move intimidate you...resolve to conquer it in the next month. In some of my classes I often like to take time out with students to address those moves we love to hate. We spend time breaking them down as though we were learning the move or step for the very first time. Everyone gets a chance to offer their challenging move of choice and everyone benefits from a fresh explanation and drills to refine, improve and/or overcome the obstacle that move has presented. So for the next two weeks, pick a move that's been bugging you and practice it every day. It may not even be a move - might be finger cymbals, veil or cane twirling. Commit to nailing it and you will! Happy hip drops, Joharah.

Open House September 11th - Join us!

I love our seasonal open houses. They mark the start of a brand new session at BellyUp that's always full of new material, inspiration, great music and lots of new faces joining our amazing community of student bellydancers. New visitors are always in awe of our gorgeous studio space. There's nothing like it anywhere and they feel the bellydance vibe the moment they step through the door! I'm so proud of our studio - it's beautiful space and all the wonderful people within BellyUp that make it such a special studio with an energy that is hard to beat! We love everything about bellydance and it shows in everything we do! The Fall Open House is open to everyone who would like to try classes at BellyUp and is interested in possibly registering for the Fall session. We have demo classes running from 11am. to 4pm. We start the day with our newest class "Dancer Conditioning & Pilates" - what a killer workout this is. I felt fantastic after taking my first class with Ondyena. Don't miss this one. Valizan is on board to give an American Tribal Style demo class early in the day. I'll be offering a variety of bellydance classes from the Beginner sampler, to Bellydance Combinations & Drum Solo Technique to a Bellydance Choreography class. Sahar will be with us too for a Kids Bellydance class ages 6-13 plus two of her awesome Zumba classes! Check out the schedule of upcoming classes on our web site www.bellyup.ca under Upcoming Attractions. We have a drawing for a class card for the Fall sesssion and lots of great deals if you sign up with a friend or friends. Look forward to seeing you next Saturday! Joharah

New Web Site Addition - Student's Practice Kit

Nothing like having a week off from teaching where I can work on some of the things that get pushed aside when the studio is open and I'm busy teaching. I've added a new section to the BellyUp web site designed for the BellyUp student. It's full of practice tips to help you with your at home practice, we'll have video clips of famous bellydancers that you should watch to better understand the dance form, links to good articles for you to read about the dance form, along with music suggestions for bellydancers and much more. I'll include some practice combinations for you to use at home too ... when I get the time I'll even videotape some combinations so you can have me at home dancing with you. This section is not to take the place of your class time. Getting to class regularly is essential for your development as a bellydance student. In class is where technique is broken down. This portion of the web site is only to remind you of what you need to practice and to support your journey into bellydance. Please share with me any suggestions you have for additional things I can cover to help you with your practice. I'd be delighted to include them if they are applicable and will add value to our student's progress. See you soon, Joharah

Words from Ondyena & why she loves BellyUp!

by Ondyena Oshyn Bellydance is a sacred art form of the Divine Feminine. Joharah of BellyUp embodies this beautiful art from the moment you walk into her studio. You'll feel as though you've left the modern world and have entered a magical, mystical, beautiful world rich, sensual and full of energy. I am an energy healer and I have also been a bellydancer from LA to Toronto and I was in awe of the studio as it makes you feel like a goddess. The studio makes you want to move your body no matter what level you are as a dancer. I can say that I have not felt this kind of energy in any studio I've ever visited. Joharah infuses her classes with her own sense of powerful, feminine energy and leads everyone naturally to a love of the dance. It is obvious that she has not only a profound love and respect for this beautiful dance form, but also a deep knowledge of it at every level. Her sense of rhythmic timing is impeccable and in tune with the deepest of Arabic rhythms. And she is able to convey and breakdown technique and all it's subtleties to her students while giving us a workout that is not only fantastic and challenging at a physical level, but also deeply healing at an emotional level. I find myself going into a state of bliss in her classes, remembering my past heritage as a female-dancer-mover of energy and tapping into the power and flow that is the birth right of every woman. There is no doubt that bellydance is deepling healing and empowering for all women. Last week I told Joharah after class "I can't believe that every woman in Oakville isn't here taking classes!". If they could only experience these exhiliarating classes they'd feel amazing about themselves. Every woman would naturally move with joy if she could dance like this ... and Joharah is showing us the way. Visit BellyUp for a FREE trial class anytime. www.bellyup.ca

Student's Choice - A Big Success!

What a fantastic night! I could feel the nerves of the student performers as they arrived at the studio to do their run throughs and I was trying to be calm in speaking with them....I remember only too well the first time performance excitement that makes you feel like you can't remember one bit of your choreography. I was so impressed with everyone's costuming, hair and make-up. It just showed how serious everyone had taken the challenge. From where I was sitting I could also hear the audience whispering about the performances, saying how impressed they were with the variety of genres that were performed. The audience got a fun night of entertainment and creativity. I for one felt really inspired and proud as a teacher to keep giving students more and more training and dance ammunition to get out there again next year! Plus we raised over $300 for the Oakville Humane Society and I'm donating an additional $5 per performer to the fund.

So please, if you were a performer or an audience member, please share with us your experience about our first Student's Choice Awards - write something here on our blog. We're all really interested on what the experience was like for you. What was it was like to put your choreography together then perform it? What did you get out of the experience? We all want to know.

Student's Choice Awards - April 8th

I'm so excited for our upcoming Student's Choice Awards on Thursday April 8th. I created this student event to give our student's an opportunity to create and perform their own choreography. Their fellow dance sisters will be the ones to choose the prize winners. Regardless of whether you win or not, you're all big winners in my books for diving in and taking on this challenge. It's really exciting on so many levels. First of all, I get to spend an evening sitting back and enjoying a show instead of dancing in one! lol. Secondly, I really get an opportunity to see my student's shine. That will be unbelieveably rewarding for me. So far this has been all about me hasn't it? lol. Seriously though, learning a choreography is easy in some ways (though I'm sure alot of student's will disagree with that comment). I pick the music, I put the moves together and they learn it. This time, the student gets to choose their own music and they decide how they want to move to this piece of music. Many important things will be learned in the process for sure and I'm hoping that it will be a huge growth experience for all of those who have bravely decided to enlist in the night's event. The performance is just the finale but the process and commitment these students have had to make started months earlier. If you're not a choreographer, you likely don't just sit down the night before and decide to whip something up. I recognize the time and thought that will have gone into to every choreography to get it ready for performance. I know they've all taken care in selecting music. I encouraged everyone to choose something that resonated with them in some way and moved them. That's essential. I also held a class where we discussed helpful tips on putting together a choreography. As my student's know, I love teaching dance combinations because I think it's a great way for student's to learn how to learn how to transition while working on their technique - also teaching combinations to a variety of styles of music teaches them how to manipulate and stylize movements and steps when they hear different Arabic rhythms and Maqams. It's not just about stringing together a bunch of combinations and hoping that they'll work - the feeling of the steps and movements, gestures, emotions, need to mesh with the music otherwise you're dancing over top of the music. The Awards event also gives students a chance to create a costume or wear one that they've purchased and haven't had a chance to wear yet. And for those students who will be in the audience casting their vote, I hope they get all fired up and inspired to take the plunge at next year's event. You see I'm hoping this will become a BellyUp tradition. Almost like a student's rite of passage. Tickets are on sale. $7 each and friends, family are welcome. All proceeds are going to help the animals of the Oakville Humane Society. Please come out and support our student dancers....let's hear it for the girls!!!

New Year. New Inspirations.

A new year always marks a time when we can set a few goals for ourselves, look forward to achieving some new things and maybe embarking on a new exciting, journey with a newfound passion. Every year, I make a point of writing down a few personal objectives regarding my dance and how I want to grow within it and areas I wish to explore in addition to my teaching skills so I can continually be improving as an instructor and mentor to others. I find just thinking about these kinds of goals gets me pumped to raise the bar and see how far we can go this year. Those who've been bellydancing for awhile would probably agree with this ... that through the dance they've been able to look inward easier than they did before they discovered bellydancing. The power this dance holds for us on an emotional and spiritual level is astonishing. Maybe some of you newbies have discovered already. And if you haven't, I think you will if you open your hearts to all that bellydance has to offer your mind, your body and your soul. Just let it in, to let all the good stuff come out! Here's to wishing you a joyous year of dancing, discovery and exploration wherever you chooe to take your dance. And remember you always have a place to shimmy with your friends and dance sisters at BellyUp! Happy New Year!

Love Joharah xoxox

Bellydance for Girls & Teens

BellyUp's teen population has grown in the last year which really excites me and we're getting ready to launch our first ever Girls Bellydance program in January for ages 8-13. It often surprises girls and moms alike that in the Middle East there are no bellydance studios. In fact, young girls aren't even formally taught to bellydance. They learn through osmosis from their moms, grandmas, sisters, cousins etc. Just like how all of us learned to dance. Usually by hanging out with our family at festive occasions where there was dancing. We'd simply watch and copy the moves. In the countries where bellydance came from, bellydance is seen as a dance of joy and celebration .. a wholesome social dance. True Egyptian style bellydance is never associated with vulgarity and is based on femininity, grace and charm. Bellydance for many years seems to have been reserved for women but it is truly a fantastic activity for girls and teens for so many reasons. First of all it's fun! Learning to flutter your belly, perform hip shimmies and drops, to fancy footwork and playing the finger cymbals...there's so much variety for girls and it's a great workout too. Bellydance requires strong abs and legs, upper body gets a good challenge, you need stamina and lots of flexibility. Girls love to use the veil and the costuming is so much fun ... even if it's just wearing a coin hip scarf tied around your hips. Bellydance gives a girl a feeling of self-confidence and teaches her how to appreciate and respect her body whatever shape or size it is. I've often found that shy girls find a real home within their bellydance community because it is such an accepting and comfortable place to be and make new friends. Girls get a chance to make a whole set of different friends outside of their school day or other hobbies. And they get to learn a dance form that is pretty unique and special in the Western world. Learning to bellydance also means learning a dance from a foreign country which broadens her awareness of other cultures. There's so much negative news today regarding the Middle East, it's nice that the girls learn to associate this part of the world with the wonderful music these regions have given the world and the joyful, spirited dance that it is. In today's society, girls are bombarded with images of how the media believes they should look ... so much unnecessary pressure and unachieveable images to be a size 2. Girls are starving themselves into a state of malnourishment. Through bellydance, girls and teens are taught to respect, embrace and honour their body and all that makes them unique. Pretty powerful benefits these days! Bellydance can provide a safe haven for young girls that will teach our young women of tomorrow to love her special qualities and the beauty that lies within. And most of all, smile, laugh and dance!

January 9th Open House

Celebrate the New Year with BellyUp on Saturday, January 9, from 11am. to 5pm. with a full day of FREE classes. It's a great way to sample all our fantastic classes and meet our talented instructors. From Egyptian Bellydance with Joharah to American Tribal Style with mighty Valizan, to Eyptian Folklore with Sahar, BellyFit with Kristina, Zumba with Lisa, Marcella & Marina, Ballroom & Latin with Nikki Bergen, Funky Pop Dance Workout with Sahar, and introducing Girls Bellydance for ages 8-13. We've got a hot winter lineup for this long, cold winter ahead so don't sit at home, get up and get on over to BellyUp. Visit our web site for the schedule of classes at the Open House or come and stay with us for the full day and experience everything. Wear something comfortable, bring some water, and a towel...you're bound to break a sweat! And enjoy the beautiful ambiance we've created for dancers and fitness enthusiasts! Tell your friends, bring your mother, daughter, sister, girlfriend and co-workers and get signed up for Winter. We'll have some great deal for new students to BellyUp and incentives for groups of two or more who sign up together. Visit www.bellyup.ca Email info@bellyup.ca or call 905 465 3100. Hope to see you there!

2010 at BellyUp

Another year has blown by and I can hardly believe we're going into our 4th year of business. And they said we were a fad! With so many people who have come through our doors, the many students who are still with us from year one, and the many new women and men who continue to discover our BellyUp goodness, I think it's safe to say we've passed the fad test and God willing, we're here to stay. Just when I thought 2009 was a breakthrough year in terms of all that BellyUp accomplished, the calendar is already full with more firsts to take place in 2010. With a number of international dance artists booked to visit us and share their love of belly dance with our dance community, exciting new class offerings and a fun January 9th open house to kick off the new year, we appreciate you spreading the word and encouraging your friends, co-workers and family members to come join us for a FREE trial class as it's the best way to see what we're all about. Please remember that our classes are ongoing, no registration is required for any particular class time and students can start dancing with us anytime! So here's what's in store for you starting January 2010. January 9th - Open House for Winter Registrations - bring your friends who might be interested in joining BellyUp and let them enjoy free classes with us all day. January 11th - Our Winter Session starts. What's New for Winter? In addition to our regular Level 1 - 4 Bellydance classes, our popular Bellydance Bootcamp, Arabic Drumming with Kevork, American Tribal Style bellydance with Valizan (beginner, intermediate and advanced), Spicey Dance Workout with Sahar, Zumba (Lisa, Marina & Marcella), Saturday Yoga with Liz, Ballroom & Latin (introducing the Tango this winter) with Nikki Bergen, we've added the following: New Classes/Longer Classes - As you know I'm always trying to keep things interesting and exciting for our students and looking for new themes and classes to offer to broaden your bellydance experience. This Winter I look forward to offering longer class times - I've added some 75 & 90 minute intensive classes wherever possible. Drum Solo/Arabic Rhythms Class - We all love to bellydance to drum music, so I've developed a class that will focus entirely on the bellydancer's drum solo, learning about Arabic rhythms, and how to dance with soul and precision to the percussive side of bellydance. Egyptian Folklore - Folklore is the root of all bellydance and we are fortunate to have on our team "Sahar" lead dancer in Troupe Tarab. Sahar has studied Egyptian Folklore for many years and performed with the popular Rhythm of the Nile Folklore troupe in Toronto for 3 years. Sahar will teach our Egyptian Folklore choreography class where students will learn folkloric technique along with a progressive choreography throughout the program. I believe every bellydancer should understand the roots and culture of our dance and folklore is an essential and wonderfully rich piece of the culture that ever bellydancer should experience. Girl's Bellydance (Ages 8-13) - Zaynah from Tarab will be teaching our first Girl's bellydance class and we're very excited about teaching young girls how to dance with elegance and femininity while learning to respect their bodies. Mom's can take the Drum solo class in the adjoining studio with me if they like. Belly Dance Choreography - This Winter each level will be learning a full choreography. Students can use the individual combinations or the entire choreography however they choose. Students at each level will learn technique during the first half of the session and then we will begin to put all the technique together into one amazing choreography. There will be a designated choreography for each level - so no matter which Level you attend and when, you'll be able to keep up with the choreography being taught. BellyUp Hosts Mira Betz - Weekend Intensive BellyUp is thrilled to host the gorgeous, multi-talented, captivating Mira Betz the weekend of March 13/14th at the studio for a weekend intensive. You can check her out on http://www.miramania.com/ and look for her videos on You Tube. Spring Session Starts - March 22nd Summer 2010 BellyUp hosts Mohammed el Hosseny of Egypt - Weekend Intensive Mohammed is in the prime of his dance career and BellyUp is going to enjoy every minute of hosting this extraordinary dance artist, choreographer, teacher/trainer in conjunction with Nourhan Sharif. Visit his site at http://www.elhossenydance.com/ Little Egypt & BellyUp host Madame Fifi Abdo This is the weekend I'll be in heaven, walking on cloud nine with my Egyptian dance idol "Fifi Abdo" in town. Dates and venue still to be announced but this will be a once in a lifetime weekend a bellydancer should not miss! Fifi Abdo is known as one of Egypt's national treasures and I am honoured to be part of organizing her very first trip to Canada. Stay tuned for details. October 2010 - Fat Chance Belly Dance Weekend Intensive American Tribal Style bellydance enthusiasts will have the opportunity to study with Fat Chance Belly Dance director and creator of ATS, Carolena Nerriccio along with Megha Gavin for an entire weekend at BellyUp. They'll be at BellyUp for a weekend intensive, October 23 & 24th, 2010. Registration details to follow. Visit www.fcbd.com

Fifi Abdo - Coming to Toronto!

BellyUp & Little Egypt Present Fifi Abdo Summer 2010 First time ever to Toronto, Canada

Yes belly dancers and Fifi Abdo fans, you heard it here first. Today, Little Egypt & BellyUp BellyDance announced that we'll be presenting the legendary Fifi Abdo in Toronto, next Summer 2010. I'm so excited I can barely type! Plans are currently underway to give the one and only Fifi Abdo the warmest Canadian welcome she could ever imagine! This is Madame Abdo's first time to Canada...and hopefully not her last!

Little Egypt and BellyUp are planning a weekend belly dance intensive starring Fifi Abdo along with other master instructors from Egypt and around the world. There will be a wonderful variety of workshops to attend and of course the opportunity to study with the "Queen of Cairo" herself is enough to make every die-hard Fifi fan shimmy with delight.

I had the opportunity to meet and study with Madame Abdo in Dallas last year and she was every bit the Fifi Abdo that I had hoped she would be. Fifi on DVD is amazing. But Fifi in person is unequivocally larger than life. She's long been my inspiration and my most favourite Raqs Sharqi idol as I know she has been for so many, many dancers. I found Fifi a wonderfully generous teacher. She is funny and witty and loves to laugh. You quickly see how her charm and presence made her one of Egypt's national treasures. Not to mention her mezmerizing technique. In each workshop you could see how much she enjoyed the fact that so many North Americans women ... and men ... love Raqs Sharqi ... and love her! And she just kept on giving all that she could as she taught us her signature moves. Asking us "More?" and of course we all said "More Fifi, more! ". To which she laughed and happily gave us what we wanted. No wonder she is so adored! I just couldn't take my eyes off her. And those heavenly, heavenly delicious shimmies! Basically time stood still as I watched her dance (and believe me I made sure I was so close to the stage during the workshops I could practically light her cigarette). Her show on the Saturday night was nothing short of viva la Fifi! Amazing! She performed almost non-stop though there were at least 3 or 4 very fast costume changes that one barely noticed. You were just getting over the powerful effects of one performance when she'd enter again ready to blow our minds for yet another. One thing's for sure about Fifi Abdo, the woman knows how to work a room! And that she did. My ears rang with the loud cheers of people on their feet screaming "Fifi Fifi Fifi...." which only got louder once she took center stage. She stood their looking radiant in her cabaret costume, hands on hips and asked the crowd "Do you love me?". And the crowd went insane! I'll never forget that moment. She had us on our feet many times and I was sad the show came to an end. At the end of the workshop weekend Dee Dee held an auction for a life sized Fifi Poster which of course I had to bid on. Well I won the poster and Fifi gave me the biggest hug and autographed it for me in Arabic. I couldn't wait to get back to BellyUp to frame it and hang it in our new location. Fifi now sits in BellyUp's main entrance where I greet her every single day. It is my great honour and priviledge to be part of hosting Fifi's very first time in Canada. To bring Fifi Abdo to my hometown to share the incredible experience I had with her last year with so many other belly dancers in my community is a dream come true and then some.

We'll be announcing more details in the weeks and months to come about the Summer 2010 Fifi Abdo weekend! So please watch this space and our web site for more updates as we have them available. Feel free to email me with any questions at info@bellyup.ca and you can visit both BellyUp and Little Egypt web sites for updates & information regarding weekend details and registration in the coming months ahead. So while Summer 2009 may be quickly coming to and end, you now have big plans to look forward to Summer 2010. And for many of us, it can't get here fast enough!

Art of the Drum Solo with Joe Srouji & BellyUp

Last night was a complete blast. I've been working with Joe Srouji from Layali El Sharq band for some time now and he's not only a talented and gifted drummer, he's also a whole lot of fun to hang out with. Not in the least daunted by 15 sweaty belly dancers, Joe played the Dumbek non-stop as the girls danced away... hardly able to keep their feet moving because they were so in awe of Joe's fingers at work on the Dumbek ... like nothing they'd seen before. Not only that, he gave the girls some great insights into what to look for in terms of rhythmic changes in the music and more. I'm looking forward to working more with Joe and from the many happy emails I received this morning regarding last night's Bootcamp and Choreography classes with myself and Joe...everyone is looking forward to seeing more of Joe Srouji! Thanks Joe from all of us at BellyUp who had such a great time with you yesterday. P.S. You have to look hard for Joe in the pic above. He's in the middle surrounded by belly dancers! Did I mention he said that was the hardest part of his job? lol.

Summer Time and the Dancin' is Fun!

Yay...it's summer time which also means vacation time for many. I've always enjoyed getting some time away from the studio to take part in a belly dance retreat...for me that's vacation bliss! Some place I can take off my teacher hat and immerse myself as a student along with other dancers looking for some dancer nourishment and revitalization. In addition to having my work days filled with teaching lots of classes at BellyUp, much of every day is spent researching, practicing and developing my class plans and curriculums, choreographies and teaching concepts for the studio and workshops. So the opportunity to get away and take a variety of Master classes with some of my favourite Egyptian dancers and teachers is heaven to me. Next week I'll be off to Dallas for Little Egypt's version of Ahlan Wa Sahlan festival and I'll be in classes Thursday through Sunday with Aida Nour, Asmahan, Lubna Eman all from Egypt and Zahra Zuhair from the U.S. I can hardly wait! And can hardly wait to get back and share all the cool things I'm sure I'll have learned.

Since many of you might be deciding where to go on summer vacation, it's also a good time to think about where you want to go with your belly dancing. And you have many options. Do you want to join a dance troupe? Perform at a student hafla or next year's student recital. Make your very first costume. Take some private lessons and work on your first solo dance. Work on some areas you want to improve on. Whatever option you choose, it'll require setting some goals and with September around the corner, it's a great time to map out your plan and get ready to dig into achieving your dream. And if you need help in mapping out your direction, you can always speak with me as to the best route to go. We'll take some time to sit down together and discuss where it is you want to go. An assessment of your dance and where it's at is a valuable tool in helping you to make progress. We're our hardest critics so the chance to sit down with your teacher one-on-one and find out what you're doing well and areas you'll want to focus on can really give you the big picture and a workable action plan to help you move forward. Know that whatever you choose to do, you'll do it well, with passion, dignity and pride in your dance and you'll look back this time next summer and reflect on how far you've come in such a short time.

Let Yourself Go!

For beginner bellydancers and often more experienced bellydancers, letting go in your dance is tough to do. We deal with all sorts of inhibitions, self-image issues and fear of failure. Make the choice to give your mind and body permission to let go, even be someone else if it helps you shake off the inner voices that are preventing you from experiencing the joy of learning and the rewards associated with bellydance. Appreciating your curves, accepting your body and the way it moves, feeling how your body enjoys the movements and how much looser it feels to perform a figure 8 than it did 10 weeks ago. Take the leap of faith and know that as you continue your studies in bellydance you will continue to grow in knowledge ... with every step you take ... you're going in the right direction. Let go of your fears and dance with joy and a smile!

Summer Festivals with BellyUp

Summertime at BellyUp always starts out with a busy performance schedule and this summer is busier than ever! Our festival schedule kicked off last week with the Asian Heritage Festival at Bronte's Police Headquarters. BellyUp's Tarab ensemble performed and engaged the crowd with plenty of bellydancing and fun.

Town of Milton Festival

Today Tarab and Maya Fire head to the Town of Milton's street festival to perform at 4pm. The day is looking lovely and not overly breezy for Tarab's chiffon skirts and veils. Always a challenge when performing outdoors. lol.

City of Brantford

Tomorrow we board the BellyUp Hummer aka Zsa Zsa and head to Karima Helou's bellydance showcase for the City of Brantford. She was gracious to invite Tarab and Maya Fire to perform along with a number of other local area dance troupes. And BellyUp's ATS instructor, Valizan will also be performing. How fun to be part of our extended community's bellydance scene. We really love these opportunities to dance and hang out with so many talented artists.

Charity of Hope Event, Oakville Conference Center

Next week Tarab and I head to the Oakville Conference Center along with Middle Eastern band Layali El Sharq to perform several shows at the annual "Charity of Hope" fundraiser for kids. The theme is "Arabian Nights" and with the Layali El Sharq band accompanying us, the night is sure to be a big success. Tarab will engage the guests with their dazzle and one of our students Hayley will do mini-Henna tattoos for the ladies. I have a few sets to dance on stage with the band and we have a few surprises in store for the audience.

Halton Multicultural Day Picnic

Next Friday, we've been invited back to perform for the Halton Multicultural Day Annual picnic. This is a lovely outdoor setting in Bronte's park off Burloak. We're always received so warmly and I know this year the folks will love the show - again a few fun things up our sleeves for the audience to engage them and bring them into the world of bellydance.

Tarboosh Tent Saturday Night Shows

Saturday nights, we continue to perform at Tarboosh Tent at Upper Middle & 8th Line in Oakville and we draw a fun crowd eager to take in a live bellydance show while relaxing and noshing on Nagua's fabulous Middle Eastern fare. I often think about Nagua's Baklava while I'm performing. Makes me undulate and shimmy stronger so I can afford a few calories at the end of the night! lol.

BellyUp & Canada Day (Bronte, Burlington & Milton Shows) And before we know it Canada Day will be here and we'll be into July. This Canada Day, Tarab and Maya Fire are excited to spend the entire day entertaining in three shows in three different locations. We're calling it the BellyUp Road Show. We start the day performing at Bronte Harbor's Canada Day festival at 12:30pm. Then we head to the City of Burlington for a 30 minute show at 3pm. Then head home for a bit of a rest and a costume change, and head out to Town of Milton for a 7pm. show. It'll be an exciting and fun day ... and the bbq and pool will be waiting for all the dancers back at my place so they can rest up and have a place to rejuvenate.

And inbetween all these shows, BellyUp's dancers are kept busy being hired to entertain at private garden parties, family celebrations and company events. Never a dull moment and we enjoy every second of it!

Be sure to check out our web site for event updates. http://www.bellyup.ca/

Student Troupe Auditions

Last Wednesday night, a group of enthusiastic BellyUp students participated in our first audition to create a brand new student performance troupe. We started with a one hour choreography class to "Move Your Belly" which the girls loved. They worked so hard, asked good questions and were absolutely focused. After the first hour, we took a break and then got back to work to finish the choreography. I chose this song as it's got a great rhythm...not too fast....not real slow but has a wonderful groove that I thought the girls would enjoy. Plus it's a piece I use in class frequently so I knew they'd be familiar with it. Most of the technique was from the Level 2 vocabulary and I threw in a few new steps that they had to quickly master. OK so there was a bit of fear in the room when I brought those moves out! lol. But they soon nailed the steps, determined to learn. I saw plenty of grace, rockin' undulations, poise, some good stage projection (but I nagged them I wanted still more!). Overall, I was really excited to see some strong potential in this group...ok I'll admit, I was visualizing them in fabulous Sahar Okasha costumes from Egypt. But those of us performers know, it takes alot more than a gorgeous costume to make a good dancer. I really wanted all the girls to have a chance to put their best foot forward (figuratively and literally) so I decided to give them an extra week to practice the choreography and we'll do the videotaping next week. Lou Lou was leaving on vacation so she decided to do her audition right after rehearsal. Now she's on vacation biting her finger nails. lol. We also got a chance to sit and discuss what they could expect from the audition and what life would be like as a troupe member. I emphasized that I consider troupe members to be BellyUp Ambassadors. Our student performers inspire many women to try bellydance and it's important that we're aware of how important our role is in presenting bellydance as an art form and also as a dance form that is accessible to all women of any age, shape and size. That has always been a very important message for me to communicate. Also our student performers must have a passion for this dance form and a hunger to learn all they can about it, its culture, history, the famous dancers and musicians, and importantly the music - because as dancers the two are intertwined completely. Being a troupe dancer, is more than showing up every week for rehearsal and a lot more than just having an opportunity to wear a beautiful costume. We are each responsible for working hard at our craft and improving our technique so that we give this dance form and those who created it the respect it deserves. And as Jim Boz put it, Western dancers must look at this dance through Eastern eyes. Life as a troupe member is busy and there are quite honestly sacrifices that often have to be made. There's at least one long rehearsal each week and more if we're preparing for a show. On top of that, students have to keep up with their own class time which is mandatory as well as at-home practice to rehearse choreography. Each member is responsible for being fully prepared for weekly rehearsals otherwise teammates are let down. And multiple absenteeism is grounds for dismissal. At the end of the day, a troupe is a team. Some people and some dancers work better as soloists. Some people work better as a team. And as part of a team, you need to leave your ego at the door because there's no room for an "all about me" attitude. So troupe life definitely requires commitment and a particular mind set and openess to feedback in order to get better. Those who can make the commitment, will enjoy a sisterhood that's hard to match and a wonderful life experience. Your dance learning curve is quickly accelerated by the additional class time, rehearsals and coaching. You benefit from an enormous amount of dance instruction above and beyond your class time which is at no charge. I've always been willing to invest a great deal of time and passion in developing dancers and helping those who really want to perform and excel at it, do so. In turn I ask for their dedication and commitment to work hard and do their best! Like anything, motivation comes from within, all I can do is help provide the tools and foundation to help you do it well! Some women see bellydancing as a hobby and come and go from the dance. But many and more and more often, women realize that bellydancing is something they cannot do without in their lives...because it's in their blood. As for the audition next week, I'm looking for each girl to simply SELL ME!! To show me what they've got through their enthusiasm, emotion, and attitude in their performance. And you don't have to be a professional to show that you love what you do. Raks Sharqi is a form of entertainment and as dancers that perform, we owe it to our audience to give them more than what they expected to see. Audiences want to be transported to another time, another era, and be entertained if only for a few minutes. BellyUp's mantra has always been dance from the heart and that's what I look for in our troupe members....the ability to smile and have fun and share that with those we're fortunate enough to perform for. So please wish our BellyUp girls the very best of luck next week as they perform their routine for the final audition. I'm so excited to see them dance and shine and look forward to presenting you with what I believe will be a knock-out student troupe in the very near future. A very special thanks to all the girls who participated last week. And I can't wait to see you next Wednesday!

BellyUp in Belly Dance Magazine's June Issue

We're excited to announce that BellyUp and our dance troupes will be featured in the June issue of Belly Dance Magazine. BDM's publisher contacted us regarding the proposed feature and we couldn't have been more thrilled. What an honour to be featured in this prestigious and gorgeous magazine devoted entirely to all things Raks Sharqi. Tarab, Ma'ya Fire and Zanubiyah will be covered in the feature with editorial and photos of our hard working and dedicated troupe members. Belly Dance Magazine is published out of California but covers Middle Eastern Dance and Music, events, news and performers internationally. You can visit their web site at http://www.bellydancemag.com/ to get more information on how to subscribe.

Jim Boz is Boss!

When I first saw Jim Boz perform I was a simply a gah gah over him. I had never seen Raks Sharki performed so gracefully and soulfully by a man. I'd seen men perform Orientale before, but Jim just had that extra something that I couldn't take my eyes off of. As a bellydancer I see alot of performers and it generally only takes a few seconds to make an impression on me. When Jim takes center stage...you know it...and he leaves you wanting more. You can't wait to see what will happen next. His playful side with the audience is totally endearing and fun to watch how he melts the audience with his charm and sense of humour. He's confident but not cocky and full of himself. He's flirtatious but doesn't push the limits too much. He's a little bit of this, a little bit of that and it's his own personal style and recipe that has spelled success for this gifted performer. Jim likes to tell the story of how he got into bellydancing. Basically his friends dared him to go to a bellydance class. He took the dare, attended a class or two, are loved it. And so began his journey and over 15 years later Jim is now a worldwide performer, entertainer and teacher travelling the globe sharing his love and his perspectives on Orientale Dance. He's also a musician which is why he has this amazing ear and appreciation for Middle Eastern music. Part of his workshop at BellyUp focused helping students develop an ear for this very particular and different music that most North Americans are completely unfamiliar with. He taught us how to listen to the various layers of the music and how to dissect the music and dance to different aspects of it, then put it all back together again and dance it completely from the heart. I eat this stuff up because to me bellydancing is all out dancing from the soul...more so than right foot here, left foot there kind of stuff. At the end of the day, no choreography is going to make you feel the soul of Arabic music unless you really love it. And for some it's an acquired taste and you have to spend time learning to love it. I feel lucky, that for me, it was as though I'd heard this music, danced this music, maybe even played it all in another life. When I relocated BellyUp to our new location, I wanted a spectacular grand opening. Afterall this was my dream studio and I wanted a dream night that everyone could share in. I called Jim and asked him if he'd be available that weekend for my opening...he said he would be honored to be part of it. I was so flattered! Then I wanted a live band....and Layali Al Sharq was booked to be part of the night too. During the grand opening weekend, Jim and I started to talk about bringing him here to teach a weekend workshop. He fell in love with BellyUp and the people here, and we booked a date and planned the content for the weekend. The months rolled by fast, and voila he was here again in six months. Now I'm working with Jim to plan his next weekend and talking about what creative format we can offer next. He's a gifted, generous, warm and inspiring teacher. I hope that next time more of our students will take part. We had so many fantastic dancers and teachers attend. I thank them all for taking time out of their busy schedules to spend this weekend at BellyUp with Jim Boz.

Dancing with a Superstar!

When I found out Bozenka was coming to Toronto for 3 days to teach I couldn't pick up the phone fast enough to register myself a spot in her 3-day intensive. I had taken her workshops at last year's IBCC and loved her dance and teaching style. Bozenka has toured with Bellydance Superstars and is an international performer and teacher with a bellydance studio in Miami Beach. She was trained by Tamlyn Dallal of Miami. She is as beautiful in person as she is on stage. Not to mention she's as sweet as can be. Her inner beauty radiates. She's one of the most soulful and graceful bellydancers I've ever seen. I always learn so much at intensives like this and love soaking up all the great insights. I couldn't get enough of her unbelieveable arm and hand work, seamless transitions, intricate hip work and musicality. She told us she used to be a musician - ah ha...that's the reason for her ability to identify nuances of the music that are so subtle one could easily miss them. Now I'm chomping at the bit to get back to the studio to practice what I learned and share it with all my wonderful students. You always know it's been a valuable intensive when you're sorry to see it end and sorry to say goodbye to the instructor who's given you so much. Thank you Bozenka!! Joharah That's Sahar and I. We were joking with Bozenka that we were going to make her into a BellyUp sandwich with Bozenka filling. She's a doll.