From a Fellow Dancer's View Point- About Chris!

Chris - Her story by fellow dance sister.

I have danced with Chris in Valizan’s class at BellyUp for at least 3 years now. When she came into our class, intermediate from the beginners class she was probably wondering what she had gotten herself in to. We were a loud and boisterous group and she often took a spot at the back of the class. As the years passed, saw her at the drill houses, workshops and even a pantaloon workshop as she explored and dabbled in the ATS world. This past year I feel that I have taken the time to get to know her better and her mantra seems to have been- I can never remember the moves we have been taught from one class to the next. Well, I can attest that while we all have that problem, her memory is much improved! She now often takes the lead spot while we dance in class and passes from one move to the next with a secret smile on her face- Yeah, I can do this…and you had better be following your leader! I have just had the pleasure of doing a duet with her at the BellyUp Student Recital and feel honoured for being her partner. Having found out that there was a song she fell in love with, I had approached her to see if she would be interested in doing a duet at the recital. She said sure. As this is an improvisational form of dance, I felt that whatever happens on that night, happens. But over the weeks of practicing with Chris, she came in one night and just blew me away. She was bang on the phrases of the song, passed lead and took it back seamlessly, crossovers and even threw in some moves that I never even thought of. The night of the show I was full of anticipation to get out there and dance with her as I so knew that she was going to do fantastic and so impress our fellow dancers. Which she of course did! So from coming from the back of the class, to leading a duet where you cannot hide behind another dancer, you have come a long way baby! Sherry

The Husband of a Bellydancer Story.

Ok, so it is not what you were thinking. My beautiful found her way to belly dance a few years ago. Initially it was Egyptian style that caught her eye. Then one day, she fell in love with the movement, costumes and adornments of American Tribal Style. She was hooked. She signed up for the classes at Belly Up under the guidance of the Mighty Valizan. My journey really begins there. Her transformation has been nothing short of enlightening. Her grace and self confidence have flourished in those classes. Not only through the life filled with dance, but the bonds that have grown with Valizan and the others in the classes, studio and indeed the entire belly dance community. I have been dragged into this life with her, although not unwillingly. She has been the core of my support these many years, giving my support to her and dance has been a thrill ride. Through this, we have both developed a very strong friendship that lives on outside of the dance world. All of this is fostered in the studio. Joharah has created such a beautiful home for these women to relish in each others common love. Everyone is welcome, everyone is encouraged. All of us are blessed by this new found family. John Hobbs Husband of a Belly Dancer

Cindy - My Journey into Bellydance

My journey began while looking for something to help alleviate the stress caused by a very rough period of time in my life. I also wanted to restore some quality time with my daughter. I tried going to a local all women's gym which had somewhat helped but I got bored. I tried yoga and pilates but still nothing was settling my mind. I saw an ad in the local paper offering bellydance classes My daughter and I bravely signed up and wonder of wonders it was the most amazing thing I have ever done! I finally found the ability to concentrate on something other than the bad things that were going on. I started to feel alive and come out of my shell I had been hiding in. I started to interact with others again. I spread my wings and flew! My daughter humoured me and danced alongside me (I think she knew I needed someone to hold my hand) for a little while but felt she needed to move on in another direction. One of the biggest things I've learned is that its okay to be any size or shape, and feel good about it! I've also discovered that the music can take me away to a magical place that helps me escape the reality of day to day doldrums and it's a healthy thing to do! Sure, problems continue to come and go but I now I feel better equipped to discern what's worth worrying about and what I can let go.

Marlee's Journey in Bellydance

Belly dancing has become my identity. It's my creative outlet, my life's passion. And, as with any passion, mine as been kept alive through new challenges, the quest for self improvement, and inspiration from my teacher and fellow dancers. When I joined Bellyup I was not a total beginner. I had had some experience in my twenties and again in my mid-fifties. But, when I reflect on what has transpired in the past three years, I am in awe! Back then I was really feeling the limits of my age. I was afraid to over-exert myself in case of injury. I thought my back was too fragile to handle deep hip circles. Three-point turns terrified me, and "cute" or "sexy" moves made me feel as if I looked ridiculous! Over time, with Joharah's encouragement and my own determination, I have become the dancer that never in a million years I imagined I could be! And it's not about the quality or calibre of my dancing --- it's all about the growth and improvement. It's been gradual and subtle, but the improvement is what continues to amaze me. I'm no longer fearful of new challenges that seem beyond my capabilities. I'm even starting to "let loose" on the dancefloor! Dancing is what keeps my spirit alive. Attending classes, and practicing and performing with my equally passionate dance "sisters" has enriched my life beyond words. Turn the music on and the smile on my face says it all! Marlee

Share Your Bellydance Story with Us!

BellyUp wants to feature the stories of your journey into bellydance. Whether you’re a beginner, an advanced student or somewhere in between, if you have a story to share with us about what bellydance means to you, or has done for you please share it ! Your story is guaranteed to inspire others and we love to hear them! We’ll be featuring your story on our BellyUp Blog and our web site. And if you have a photo of yourself that we can use please share that too and we can include it with your story. Email to info@bellyup.ca We look forward to hearing from you.

Summer is an awesome season to learn a new art form. Come learn Bellydance at a one-of-a-kind studio that is dedicated to teaching it and celebrating it as an art form! Classes for all levels. Check out the link below for what's happening at BellyUp this Summer! http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Countdown-to-Summer-Bellydance-Classes--Start-July-4th-.html?soid=1102010861709&aid=4VooWCPvoaY

You Never Forget Your First Time!

Like most bellydance students they never forget their very first performance. Maybe it was a student recital or a friend's birthday party. No matter where it was it'll always be an important milestone in your life. I'll certainly never forget my first few times performing even though they are pretty blurry memories mainly due to nerves. As much as I was dying to perform when the event was 2 months away, by the day of the event my performance nerves (they weren't just jitters) were so bad I felt as though my legs were like rubber bands. Once I was performing though I didn't feel a thing and had a great time. I enjoyed performing and still do, it just took alot to get me out there. I'd go through days and days of anxiety and the day of the show I'd think "what have I got myself into" all day long. The aftermath of the performance was usually several days of beating myself up for what I didn't do or what I could have done better. Thank God those days are over and I'm alot more relaxed and happy about performing. What I realized is that I'm way too hard on myself and it took a long time to give myself kudos for doing what I was doing. Remember it takes guts and hutzpah to get all costumed up and get up on stage solo or with a troupe not to mention the dedication and commitment of time you'll devote to learning and rehearsing your choreography. So give yourself alot of credit for each time you perform. Look at every performance as training for future performances. Get your teacher to give you a few pointers on what to work on for next time but take it constructively not personally. Remember the more opportunity you have to perform, the more you'll learn. If you are a junior dance student interested in performing offer to escort a lead dancer at your studio so you can see how she handles the client, the audience and watch her performance. You'll learn a lot and she'll appreciate some extra help at her gig and the support. I'll never forget the areas that my teacher pointed out to me to improve nor the important insights I gained from more experienced dancers when I was apprencticing. To calm my nerves before going on, I do a good warmup. Sometimes I don't have space to warm up at the venue so I'll spend time at home doing some stretching especially for my lower back, legs and upper body before I leave for the show. Nerves tighten up the body so a warm up is really important. I want my shimmy to be in good form by show time and if my legs are all full of nerves that's not going to help me power up my shimmy when I need it most. While I'm waiting to go on stage I spend that time shimmying, doing figure 8's, circles and undulations to keep myself stretched and warm. I also spend time on my own just to collect my thoughts, have a few moments to reflect inwardly and do some breathwork. I need my focus and attention on the performance, my music and my audience. I also never, ever watch the performer ahead of me either. I used to and then ended up comparing my performance to hers and worrying if I would do as well. Remember your performance will be what it is because of who you are. You will not dance the way the girl in front of you will or the one that follows you. So just go out and do your personal best for you. That's what matters most. And that's the biggest thing I've learned out of many years of performing. If I can say that I gave it my best then I'm happy with that. And if I made some of my audience smile and get up and dance with me along the way then all the nerves were worth it! Joharah

BellyUp Raising Money for Egyptian Society of Mercy to Animals

Get ready for Friday, April 29th when BellyUp hosts an International Dance Day Celebration at our studio here in Oakville. We are raising money and awareness for EMSA and we'd like you to join us for a night of dance, friends, food, prizes and more with guest star Jim Boz from San Diego, Cassandra Fox and others plus BellyUp's very own Tarab Dancers, Tribe Maya Fire and Joharah performing. Tickets are on sale now at BellyUp. $30 per person.

Plus Sized Women's Bellydance Event

Curvey Divas Unite Friday, February 25th, 7:30-9:30pm. $22 in advance. $30 at the door. Tickets on sales through BellyUp. Bellydance is made for plus sized women and we've created an event to introduce the curvacious diva to the feminine, beautiful, empowering world of bellydance. Join us for this fun event. Click here for details.

BellyUp Fundraising Event for Egyptian Society of Mercy for Animals

Join us April 29th/International Dance Day at BellyUp for a gala Fundraising evening. Click here for more information.

New Year of Bellydance

Our new year of belly dance is well underway at BellyUp. Something about spending cold winter nights in the warmth of BellyUp's exotic studio environment that just makes the winter doldrums disappear week by week. Winter is certainly not my favourite time of year...I'm a big fan of summer so for me keeping myself busy with new challenges and creative projects is the best way to get through the cold days and nights. My thoughts of snow certainly disappear every day I enter BellyUp and teaching is of course my favourite thing to do. New students full of excitement fill the studio with so much enthusiasm. And it's so exciting and rewarding to see how my beginners of last year are now inspiration for the new students entering our bellydance programs. I spend lots of time listening to new music I've bought from Egypt and developing new choreographies for our troupes and our classes, and thinking up new and creative class plans for our ever growing student population. In addition, plans for new master workshops such as Faten Salama of Egypt in March and the amazing Nourhan Sharif of NYC are great events for all of us to prepare for and look forward to. I always enjoy our Open Houses that launch or new season of dance. Our January open house was a huge hit. Everyone was really charged up to get back to dancing after a long holiday season. People tell me that BellyUp's Open Houses are the best! Great energy fills the house always and everyone feels so at home ... they always say they don't want to leave. We just love what we do so much at BellyUp and it shows. This is more than just a dance studio ... it's a community of passionate people who come together to share their love of this art form. And if you're a newbie and have never experienced belly dance before you're sure to catch the fever or at the very least be somewhat captivated by what we love about this dance form. So as we move through 2011 with plenty of exciting experiences to share together we also have the highlight at year end of travelling to Cairo again for the Nile Group Festival . As I walk through the studio each evening I hear students talking about the propsect of attending and making plans for the big journey. There's quite a build up to travelling to Egypt and the anticipation is almost as exhiliarating at the trip itself. This year I'm looking forward to more new students exploring the land of Oriental dance together and returning with many from the previous year. More info on that to come. Joharah

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!