Comments on: Aradia: I’m a traditional style dancer

By: Dina

Dina — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:46:33 +0000

yes Aradia please give us some SOOON!
beginner or taksim or shimmy drills.. anything!

PLEEEEEEEAAAAASE!

By: Tami

Tami — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:45:55 +0000

I have no other dance training. Just bellydance. I would get so frustrated with classes that had lots of fancy footwork from jazz and whatever else. Always tripping over myself. Heck I tripped over myself in aerobics classes! And the dance terminology, forget it!

By: Shaia Fahrid

Shaia Fahrid — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:21:29 +0000

I am hosting Aradia in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 30 of this year, and I was very excited to read her interview, as I have not had the privilege of meeting her in person yet! I am very much a traditionalist myself, and loved to read about her passion for the roots of Raks Sharki. I am heavily trained in ballet and jazz, and sometimes have difficulty getting that Egyptian feel — I wonder if this is the reason. In ways I have found those dance forms to be very useful (such as knowing the general dance terminology often used by Western teachers), but agree that one dance form tends to creep into the next. My first belly dance teacher was always telling me to “leave my Salsa hips at home” — I had already begun teaching Salsa back then. I also get concerned that so many newer dancers at this time seem to have no interest in how the dance evolved; I feel that in order to “fuse”, you have to understand what you are fusing!

I am very exciting about Aradia’s new DVD — I thoroughly enjoyed the first one, and how useful and entertaining it was to compare the three styles of Middle Eastern dance.

Shaia Fahrid

By: Mala

Mala — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:10:13 +0000

Are you listening, Aradia? Now you just have to hurry up with them videos. Taqsim first!

By: Nadira Jamal

Nadira Jamal — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:37:28 +0000

Yay!!! More Aradia!!! And yay, dance geeks!!!
(Too many exclamation points, I know, but I am excited!)

By: Dina

Dina — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:03:06 +0000

oh and this border collie is a cutie!!!

By: Dina

Dina — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:27:09 +0000

“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”

I so agree – I would love to have yet another beginner instructional by this wonderful teacher ))

As for the look which ballet or jazz creates:
I also agree with Aradia. In Arabic dancers (particularly Lebanese) the jazz influence shows way too much.
And many 70s Egyptian dancers were overly “ballet”ish.

Who knows, maybe what many Arabs criticize in American trained dancers as “unauthentic” is precisely the Western dance instruction many have taken at an early age.

Thanks so much for another great interview Mala!
Such a delight to read as always.
And thanks Aradia for telling us these good news on your upcoming series!!! Cant wait for it!!!
Any idea when the first dvd will be released?