::more than somewhat::

Like many other learners, I love Aradia’s dancing on her single (so far) DVD, Oriental Dance. Elegant, beautiful and a totally accomplished dancer, she also has a dazzling warm smile, in addition to looking so good. Unfortunately, I only get to see her on video. So that’s what I asked her about first:

Why did you decide to give a sampling of 3 different belly dance style rather than say, a choreography in one of the styles? Wouldn’t sticking to one style have made them more usable by learners?
I wanted to expose dancers to the different styles, because there are very few DVDs out that teach the various influences from the different regions of the Middle East. It began as more of a Turkish style dancer in 1977, that was our influence at that time, I studied Egyptian folklore, but was not familiar with Egyptian Oriental until later. As I was exposed to Egyptian and Lebanese dancers, I began to change my dance style and reinvent my dance.

In the future I will release other DVDs with choreographies, but I wanted my first DVD to reflect what I have always felt important as a Westerner doing Middle Eastern dance… that we should be well rounded in Oriental dance, and able to perform with an Egyptian band at one venue, and a Turkish band at another.

So, what will your forthcoming DVDs include?
I plan to do a full series of DVD’s with a wide range of topics and choreographies and combinations.

Beginner Technique
Drum Solo/Shimmy Drills
Veil/double veil
Raqs Sharqi choreography
Vintage Turkish 1970′s era
Assaya
Taqsim

I totally look forward to that! For me, especially the Taqsim. Are you having fun with Combination Nation? What will be your contribution to that DVD?
I am enjoying working with Michelle, she is so relaxed and easy! My contribution will be an “Aradia Stylized” combination incorporating some modern Egyptian moves, along with some more vintage Sohair Zaki moves I learned back in the early 80′s.

Why do you feel you need to make a basics DVD though? Isn’t the market absolutely saturated with beginner DVDs?
I‘m so often asked if I have a beginner video, I just feel that should be part of my series, something for everyone. Sometimes women want to study with you specifically, so it would be nice to have when I’m approached at Marrakech by customers!

Any upcoming TV or movie appearances?
None scheduled at this time!

How did you happen to choose your stage name?
I started dancing when I was 7 years old, the girls I danced with in my class, we all chose names for each other… we changed mine 3x before we settled on Aradia

Looking back, would you have wanted to be anything other than a belly dancer?
No, I put myself through college  dancing, I received my BA in Pre Med Biology and English, and Masters studies in Nutritional Herbology, I was going to go to med school and become an MD, I changed my mind my senior year, I didn’t have the passion to see it through, all I wanted to do was dance, and college was interfering!

My Mom, Serene, is an Oriental dancer,which is how I got into this profession, I’m a 2nd generation belly dancer. My Mom
still teaches and performs, and we wear each others costumes, which is great!

What were some of the most important things to you when you were learning to dance?
Learning to feel the music, and being able to improv were my most valuable tools. When I was old enough to work the nightclubs, we mainly had live music, so being flexible and able to adapt to the show for that night was very important!!

How important is authenticity to you?
I am a traditional style dancer, so I prefer the authenticity, mainly because it’s what drew me to this dance, and I feel it’s important for us to retain the roots of this dance as it evolves and changes. I am a folklore geek, so I love seeing how the Sharqi style has evolved out of the folklore.

I do believe that art must continue to grow or die, which is where fusion has come into the dance scene, I enjoy watching a lot of it, but other than veil and double veil, I haven’t felt the urge to fuse, this may change down the road. I love Flamenco and Indian dances, so who knows!!

You opted not to take up ballet or jazz because this would adulterate your belly dancing. In what way do you think that would have happened? Don’t these genres add rather than take away?
At  the time I was 7 years old, tried a 6 week session in ballet and did not like it one bit. Later I was thankful that I didn’t study heavily in western influenced dances for the simple reason that it’s hard to keep  ballet or jazz training from showing through in the Oriental styles.

When I watch a dancer I don’t want the first thing that pops into my head to be, “Wow, she’s had a lot of ballet/jazz/hula” or whatever, I want to see the Middle Eastern flavors and movement vocabulary.

I’m not against studying other dance forms at all.

I studied Flamenco for a year, I had been an Oriental dancer for about 17 years by then, and I remember I couldn’t get the “Arabic” look out of my dancing to look like a real Flamenco dancer, I would have had to work very hard to separate the two, so I’m thankful that my only training is in Oriental and I don’t have that struggle.

I don’t think that you need other dance forms, like ballet or jazz to be a good at belly dance, you simply need more belly dance!! I wouldn’t tell a ballerina to study country/western line dancing to improve her ballet. All dance is good for coordination, balance etc, I just don’t think it’s a prerequisite to become a good Middle Eastern Dancer! This is just my opinion from observing belly dancers from all walks of life for the last 32 years.

Tell me something about your troupe.
Aradia and The Ra Dancers was formed in 2007, I wasn’t even looking to own a dance company, but it was requested that I provide 9 dancers with choreography for a show, it worked out so well that we decided to keep going. Since then we have been booked at Universities where I was lecturing, hotels in Vegas, shows all over the US, and the USO Tour wants us to go to Iraq and Afghanistan to perform for the troops!
I’m very proud of my girls, they are great dancers and work hard!

]What do you love doing to relax?
Most of my time is spent dancing, or working as the assistant in my boyfriends comedy hypnosis show. It’s great to get paid to laugh! My boyfriend is a licensed clinical hypnotherapist, but has worked as a Comedy Hypnotist for 13 years. He is part of a show Hypnosis Unleashed, that has been at Planet Hollywood for the past year. They have now signed a contract with the Tropicana Hotel in Vegas. Aside from his theater show, he goes on tour and performs at comedy clubs and casino’s around the country, that’s where I come in, I work in his road shows when I’m not on my own tour.

And I totally cannot resist putting in a photo of Aradia’s Border Collie, Amber. She also has a beautiful smile!

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