"So You Think You Can Dance" mini-cap: the season opens with some returning talent

by

Jamie Anderson
http://www.afterellen.com/blog/jamieanderson/so-you-think-you-can-dance-mini-cap-the-season-opens-with-some-returning-talent?&comment=509887

On the first episode of the new season, we’re treated to an overview of the first three seasons with the graceful Sabra winning last year, my man Benji winning the year before and … someone winning the first season. (Was anyone watching that year? I think I was too busy breaking up with my girlfriend. You too?)

All photos by Jamie Horton/FOX

Then we get an summary of the dancers to come with a montage of falling dancers, turning dancers, crying dancers, beautiful contemporary dancers, some breakers, some spinning on the head dancers … you get the idea. After the auditions in Los Angeles and five other cities, a herd of dancers lands in Las Vegas where they audition some more. There will be 20 contestants total, along with host Cat Deeley (who is always there with her glorious smile and we thank the deity of your choice for that), judges Nigel Lythgoe and the squeal-a-minute Mary Murphy. A guest judge fills the third slot, and for this first episode, it was my TV girlfriend Mia Michaels, who will also choreograph some of the pieces in later shows. Not only has she won an Emmy for her work in a previous season, but she’s also choreographed for Madonna and Cirque du Soleil, when she’s not busy spending the night at my house.

The first dancer does a great job … of standing still. Heart’s “Barracuda” is blasting away but she’s not moving a muscle. The music stops and one of the judges asks, “Wrong music?” No, dunderhead, she’s dancing in her mind. The right music – a lovely ballad – starts up and Devin Oshiro does a beautiful job with fluid movements that perfectly match the music. Micheals – I sometimes use her last name, which see likes – says that she’s sensational and if she’s this good now, she’ll be stupid in the finals. (That’s Mia-speak for amazing.) Of course, OShiro gets a ticket to Vegas.

We’re then treated to an Italian dude who charmingly informs Deeley that the difference between American men and Italian men is hair. Italians have lots of it. (Um, TMI.) Deeley doesn’t blink and notes that he must have shaved his chest so of course he puffs it out to show off his sculpted muscles and washboard abs as every gay boy in America faints from the beauty of it. I, however, am not moved. And neither are the judges, exactly. While it’s clear he’s watched Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” one million times, he’s not quite up to the American standard, as dryly noted by the judges. Michaels starts to tell him he won’t be successful in this country but slips and says “sexcessful.” (No, Michaels, that would be Cat Deeley.) Still, they want to give him a chance so he’s told he’ll be participating in the choreography. This is an additional round of auditions for those who don’t get a direct pass to Vegas.

And then Sex is back. No, I don’t mean the hot girl lust going on over on Grey’s Anatomy (admit it, I know you’ve been sneaking peaks while SYTYCD is on), but the guy named Sex, who is not sexy. He comes with his mother, noted as his biggest fan. (More like, his only fan.) He does a pelvis swiveling mess that might pass for dancing if everyone in the room was doing crack. Michaels slips and says he was really good at some point in one of his three auditions. (Quick! Hug her real close and tell her the hallucinations will stop soon!) When she collapses in laughter, we can wipe our brows because we know she’s kidding. I kind feel sorry for the guy as he goes on about the many, many, many years of extensive dance training he has. (Yes, that’s three “many’s”.)

The next contestant, Laura Garcia, is from Tucson, my perfect home town — land of great Mexican food, awesome music and gorgeous mountains. I’m leaning forward, wanting her to smash the competition but regrettably, she’s not yet at a professional level. What is cool, though, is that she’s visually impaired – even needing help to find her starting spot on the stage – and still does a beautiful job. Lythgoe comments that to allow her to the next round would only be patronizing and she nods in agreement. Micheals is sobbing as she tells Garcia how much she appreciates the passion in her work and goes on to say that a dancer close to her recently lost their sight. See, this is why Mia – I’ll use her first name here -- is my TV girlfriend. This isn’t just a show where she can parade her accomplishments. These dancers mean something to her.

Twitch auditioned last year, and he’s back to show us what he’s learned since. Lord have mercy, he’s good – his pops and slides are art. Murphy tells him he’s slick and stupid. (See, she learned that from my girlfriend.) Michaels demonstrates “stank face” which is a good thing. There’s no doubt that Twitch is going to Vegas. Deeley is waiting around the corner for him, casually sitting on a stairway and asks him if he has any news for her. Now I’m dreaming that around every corner is Cat Deeley, asking me for news. How freakin’ beautiful would that be?

Another dancer cut last season, Phillip Chbeeb, does some popping and locking that doesn’t look real. I swear he dislocates his shoulders more than once. His bag of tricks elicits many “Wows” and “Oh my gods” from the judges and rightly so. Dude is so going to Vegas.

There’s another montage, this one focused on clothing. We see a dancer in striped socks and baggy red pants, a guy in a tie, a dude in a big feather scarf and a sequin bedecked bellydancer. Bellydancer?! Girl howdy, that’s MY specialty. They show her for one and a half seconds. Although she’s doing some sexy hip accents and has a lovely smile, that’s all we see of her. No fair — they did this in an earlier season: We get a brief shot of a bellydancer, then they zoom off to some head spinning hip hopper. Bellydancers aren’t just one trick ponies, people. (Okay, I’ll get off the soap box. Maybe my TV girlfriend will console me.)

We get a glimpse of the choreography round. Arrogant Italian guy doesn’t make it but Wingfield and Chbeeb do (yay!)

Day two of the LA auditions brings us more of the same. Erika Gee is a pretty blond who calls herself a starving professional dancer. Honey, most professional dancers are starving, unless they’re Madonna. (Um, not that it’s right, I’m just sayin’.) It’s her third try and apparently, the third time’s a charm: Michaels calls her lovely and she’s put through to Vegas.

Contestant Randy Lewis dances like a drunk guy at a late night wedding reception, eliciting an “Ew!” from one of the judges. I concur. His hiney wiggle is cute though.

Next we’re treated to some amazing hip-hop from Victor Kim. His head slides are so good, I’m convinced his spine has detached. He spends a whole lot of time spinning on his hands and – get this – on his freakin’ elbow. We know he’s ending when he walks down the stage steps on his hands and plops down in a chair in the audience. Wow.

Then, there’s the Gold Inferno. Please tell me this is a frat initiation and not a man who’s seriously auditioning. His “jump style” is just that – a lot of twitching and jumping, on one foot, then the other, then both, then … oh, I don’t care. I’m happy he’s wearing a gold mask with a black mesh front so I don’t have to see his eyes. I’ll bet they’re evil in a Chucky kind of way.

Another ballroom couple is next, dancing to a Latin number. You’re know they’re doing well when the camera cuts to Murphy who’s grinning like she’s eaten a box of very good imported chocolate. Ballroom is her specialty so when Murhpy’s happy, we’re happy. It’s even more amazing when you know that Asuka Kondoh, the woman of the pair (her partner is Ricky Sun) has been sick for a few days. Where she gets the energy to dance like that, I don’t know. They must be making some powerful decongestant these days. The couple is sent directly to Vegas, as they should be.

My hopes rise when I realize the next dancer is a soccer player. I may not be a sports fan but babes, I love me some jocks. There are clips of her chasing around a soccer ball and talking about how’s she’s a tomboy. The yum factor rises. I start humming Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby.” Then she talks about wanting to be all girlie. (Okay, okay, I can do this.) Her contemporary dance is quite nice. Murphy screams, “I think she needs to go to Vegas!” We get it, Murphy. Dial it back, Lythgoe needs his hearing. So do the engineers in the control room. So do we.

It’s getting later in the day but still the waiting dancers are going like there’s no end to their batteries. (Where can I buy some of those batteries? I’m tired of recharging my MP3 player.) We see a pastiche of rejected dancers including one long haired beauty who whines that the judges “didn’t like her pants” and that they’re “racist against tall people.” Whatever.

Robert Muraine does some really scary – that’s scary good – twists and contortions that any circus would be happy to have. He must also dislocate his shoulders but his head? How did he do that? He uses his whole body including great facial expressions and HE WRAPS HIS FOOT AROUND HIS SHOULDERS AND UNDER HIS CHIN. It’s all crazy good. He runs up to Lythgoe to get his ticket to Vegas and in the last few feet goes into slow-mo. So does Lythgoe. It’s poetry, man. Who knew an older guy like Lythgoe could move like that? Send him to Vegas! (Oh yeah, he’s a judge so he’s already going.)

Lastly, we get another brief glimpse of the choreography round with Vegas bound people doing their happy dance afterwards. Sadly, Victor Kim doesn’t make it but Ricky Sun and Asuka Kondoh do.

For the next episode they’re going to Salt Lake City and Dallas. Bring it on — as long as Cat Deeley is waiting around the corner with her bullhorn, I’m there.

Sexy Belly Dancer

Sexy Belly Dancer
Uploaded by XArabian

Belly dancing as art

BELLYDANCE SUPERSTARS
8 tonight
Beckman Auditorium
Caltech
322 S. Michigan Ave.
Pasadena
$20-$30 adults and $10 children
(626) 395-4652 www.events.caltech.edu, www.bellydancesuperstars.com

Chiffon veils and costumes lush with coins and jewels are what usually comes to mind when you think of belly dancing. Some may also think of Barbara Eden in television's "I Dream of Jeanie" or perhaps women shimmying in a Middle Eastern restaurant, but the centuries-old art is much deeper.

"I think that one of my personal missions is not only to entertain people with the shows, but also to educate people about this art form," said Jillina, artistic director and main choreographer for Bellydance Superstars. "There's a lot of misconceptions about it and it's really a beautiful, respectable art form."

Pop music promoter Miles Copeland sponsors the show, which will unfold tonight at Caltech. Copeland originally contacted belly dance teachers and dancers across the United States, asking them for their favorite songs. He whittled down the selections and put out the CD, "Bellydance Superstars" (Mondo Melodia), in 2002. The record release party, complete with dancers performing, sold out the Roxy in Hollywood. This led to a stint with Lalapalooza and other tours followed. Today, the group has found itself performing on the same stages as prestigious ballet companies.

Jillina, who goes by a single name, said she thinks the interest in the troupe's shows is connected with the public's curiosity and interest in the Middle East, especially in this time of war.

"Most of what we see that comes from the Middle East is a very negative image," she said. "I think what's important and interesting for people is to come and see the beautiful side of the culture, the music and the art and another side of the Middle East."

In the beginning, the troupe's dancers were selected by Copeland, who didn't know about their training. Now auditions are held and those who pass second and third tryouts attend an intense weekend with Jillina, during which they are taught a massive selection of choreography.

"It's to see not just how fast they can pick up the choreography or what their training background is, but also to get a feel for their energy, their attitude," Jillina said.

She said she pushes the dancers past their limits, knowing that they won't be able to remember all the choreography. She watches for women who try their best and keep a good attitude. Most importantly, as most belly dancers perform alone, they have to be able to work as team, where they may not be the lead dancer or even a soloist.

The dancers must also be able to adapt to change, as on tour, the stages can be different at every stop and the choreography must be reworked accordingly at the last minute.

The current Bellydance Superstars lineup includes Jillina, as well as Sonia, Rachel Brice, Adore, Petite Jamilla, Sabah, Zoe Jakes, Mardi Love, Jayna, Kami Liddle, Hannah Nour, Colleen, Nathalie and drummer Issam Houshan.

Caltech's show will feature a variety of belly dance styles.

"Belly dance comes from so many different places, there's so many different types of music used in this art form, the costuming, stylization," Jillina said. "We also have some fusion pieces, pieces that are not just belly dance, so we branch out. Expect the unexpected."

Jillina concentrates on the cabaret numbers. Cabaret is the style of belly dance that you will often see in restaurants, where the performers wear jeweled and beaded costumes.

The tribal pieces are choreographed by Rachel Brice and Mardi Love. Tribal style originated in California and the dancers have more of an ethnic look, with costumes often boasting many intricate pieces and trims over a black base.

Jillina also oversees the costuming for the cabaret and troupe selections.

"Sometimes I buy fabric and I'll send it to Egypt to have it made or I'll contact my designer there and have them ship me out something," she said. "I'm pretty particular about what I want, the look, so sometimes I'll send him a sample of what I want or a sketch and cross my fingers and hope it comes back close to what I want."

"The tribal girls, they put all their stuff together themselves," she said. "That's part of what they do, the individual costuming, which is great because it adds so much texture to the show, to the look, to their dance."

Bellydance Superstars are on a tour of the U.S. and Canada, and after that, plan to travel to Italy to make a film. They have scheduled a performance in Casablanca, Morocco, which will be the first time the group performs in the Middle East. The group also hopes to make a stop in Dubai.

"I'm personally excited about it because I come from an Egyptian background and I've been to Egypt so many times," Jillina said. "The music, the culture and the style is all very close to my heart, so I can't wait to show what we've done with their art form, kind of bringing it back to them."

michelle.mills@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2128

Male belly dancing re-emerges in Egypt

Long suppressed for its association with decadence and homosexuality, male belly dancing is once again making a move at respectability in Egypt, Bloomberg reports.

Men used to be more reputable than their dancing female colleagues, but the taboo over homosexuality resulted in occasional crackdowns by political and religious authorities. Now male belly dancers have returned to some nightclubs in Cairo (accompanied by prostitution and hashish smoking).

"I just like to dance,'' says Farid Mesbaah, a father of seven who dances in loose black trousers, a waist scart and T-shirt. "It's very sensual. I've been doing it since I was little.''

Tito Seif, a well-known dancer, performs only in the non-revealing galabiyah, a loose caftan.

"I don't believe that a male belly dancer should imitate a woman,'' says Seif, 35. "We should not forget we are men and dance in a manly way.'' (Watch him dance.)

He'll be doing his manly moves elsewhere, however. He's planning to leave Egypt to dance abroad, saying the current crop of male dancers "is giving us a bad reputation."

Posted by Michael Winter at 08:02 PM/ET, January 02, 2008 in Mideast | Permalink

Belly dancing for elderly residents

Publisher: Pam Caulfield
Published: 23/10/2007 - 10:13:48 AM

Edenbridge residents were treated to some belly dancing

A group of older Edenbridge residents experienced some middle eastern delights recently when an expert belly dancer visited them to give them a demonstration of the ancient dance.

The belly dancing session led by experienced belly dancer Lea Smith, took place on Wednesday 3 October at the Edenbridge Centre, and the group enjoyed it so much that they booked a further six sessions in 2008!

Belly dancing is a Middle-Eastern form of dance which can have many benefits such as easing back aches and building self-confidence.

Cllr Felicity Broomby, Sevenoaks District Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for community development, said: "I know the Older Lifestyles Group thoroughly enjoyed this, as it is not everyday you get the chance to take part in something as exciting and different as a belly dancing workshop!

"The group has benefitted from all kinds of activities in the past, such as yoga, drumming and regular exercise classes, but I think this must have been just about the most unusual of the lot, and it goes to prove it is never to late to learn something new!"

The Edenbridge Older Lifestyles Group aims to provide healthy lifestyle information, activities and advice for anyone living in the Edenbridge area over the age of 65.

Due to the success of the group, they have set up their own management committee and have recently gained much needed funds from West Kent Extra and Comic Relief enabling them to continue to enjoy and benefit from sessions such as dancing, craft and the occasional day trip.

The group is totally free and meets every Wednesday at 11.30am in the Edenbridge Centre, Four Elms Road, there is no need to book, you can just turn up on the day.

The group, which has approximately 36 regular members, was set up by Sevenoaks District Council and West Kent Primary Care Trust in partnership with Age Concern in March 2005 following recommendations from the Edenbridge Health Needs Assessment.

Don\'t miss the 24dash.com audio bulletins for the latest news and information - http://www.24dash.com/podcasts

Diallo teaches belly dancing

By JANICE AUSTIN
For The Salinas Californian

Belly dance has been a form of expression for Mariama Diallo for the past 17 years. She loves the way the dance form communicates a woman's life.

"When a woman belly dances, she's expressing her life story through the movement," Diallo said. "I've never met a woman who isn't a beautiful belly dancer."

She teaches belly dance at Gold's Gym on Constitution Boulevard on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. The Saturday morning class is open to community residents whether they have a gym membership or not.

A student of West African drum and dance, Diallo was given her performance name, Mariama, by drummers she worked with during a drum and dance workshop in Senegal. She has formed a dance troupe, Amies Dorée, with her students.

An adventure-seeker, Diallo was a rock climber when she took her first belly dance class.

"I was looking for a dance form that would increase my balance," she said. "A friend told me that in belly dance you dance barefoot and are always relying on the edges of your feet. I stopped climbing and kept dancing."

She trained in Oregon. While living in Switzerland, Diallo taught belly dance.

"In the region I was living, there wasn't another dance teacher," she said. "I started to teach because I needed to dance and I needed to dance with other women. I enjoy the interaction with other women. Belly dance is healthy and empowering for women."

Diallo, 44, shares her home with her husband - an African drummer - mother and cat. She has lived in Salinas for 10 years. She also teaches a muscle-toning class and a spinning class at Gold's Gym.

from
http://thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071024/LIFESTYLE07/710240316/1031

Belly dancers in a tribe of their own

Thursday, October 11, 2007

By Kathleen Ganster

When Maria Hamer's sister took up belly dancing, Ms. Hamer wasn't interested in joining her.

"I was a punk rock chick. I thought it was kind of hootchy-kootchy," said Ms. Hamer, 31, of Bellevue.

Now, Ms. Hamer, her sister and three other dancers in a troupe called Zafira have been named Troupe of the Year 2007 in the annual Golden Belly Awards.

The awards are given by a magazine called Zaghareet, a Middle Eastern arts and culture publication. Another Pittsburgh group, Khafif Music and Dance, won the Best Kept Secret Award.

The members of Zafira include Ms. Hamer; her sister, Christine Andrews, of the South Side; Olivia Kissel, of Highland Park; and Ms. Hamer's other sister, Jen Imashev, of Neville Island, who performs periodically. Tamara Nelson lives in Santa Cruz, Calif., but is still involved with the group.

"We call her our honorary member because she lives so far away. But she performs with us when she can and through her, we have been able to book events in California," Ms. Hamer said.

Ms. Hamer started dancing in the early '90s after she learned that her sister's teacher had a tribal influence to her dancing, combining, as the troupe's Web site describes, "contemporary and ethnic dance that blurs the boundary between old and new."

"I started dancing and really got into it," Ms. Hamer said. "I was kind of like this tribal goddess from another planet. I drew facial tattoos and everything."

Ms. Kissel got involved after she met Mrs. Andrews.

"I thought it would be like 'I dream of Jeannie' when I first heard of belly dancing," Ms. Kissel said, but Christine said, 'No, it is much different.' I really trusted her, so I gave it a try."

When the women decided to dance as a group around 1996, they initially belonged to a troupe called Ghawazee. They formed their own troupe, Zafira, and began doing performances in 2000.

"Zafira means victorious," Ms. Hamer said.

Now, the troupe is so busy that it is booked all but one weekend through the end of the year.

Members of Zafira and Khafif belong to the Society for Creative Anachronism Inc., an international organization that preserves and re-creates life in pre-17th century Europe.

"They wear clothing of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance era and our dancing fits right in," Ms. Hamer said of the society.

Her husband, Angus Douglass, is a fighter in a medieval group in the society.

Ms. Kissel and Ms. Hamer teach belly dancing, and Ms. Kissel also has started performing with her 16-year-old daughter, Fawn, who attends the High School for Creative and Performing Arts and won an award through Scholastic Books for an article she wrote about belly dancing. Ms. Hamer has a 3-year-old son, Kai Douglass.

The troupe just returned from performing last weekend in Arizona, and Ms. Hamer and Ms. Kissel are planning an event called Fusion on Saturday.

"It is a daylong event with dance workshops and then an evening performance," Ms. Hamer said.

Both women describe their belly dancing as still maintaining the "tribal" influence.

"We love dancing together," Ms. Hamer said. "For us, it is less about being sexy and performing but more about enjoying the company of other dancers and dancing with them."

For more information about Zafira and its events, visit www.zafiradance.com.

First published on October 11, 2007 at 8:51 am

Kathleen Ganster is a freelance writer.
from
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07284/824470-57.stm

wonderful belly dancing

"Funkaerobics," Belly Dancing Get Beaver Hills Fest Shaking

belly%20dancer.jpg

Nicole Allan Photo

"You want every extra bit of flesh to be shaking around!" Amanda "Muneerah" Hilton shouted over her shoulder, wiggling her hips. "American culture tells you that's bad, but in belly dancing, it's good!" A group of disciples imitated her actions, learning how to do "snake arms" -- raise your arm from elbow to wrist to fingers and then let it drop -- at a wellness festival hosted by business owners in the Edge of the Wood plaza on Whalley.

The festival Sunday afternoon was organized by Mubarakah Ibrahim, owner of Balance Fitness and nine-year resident of Beaver Hills. "I keep seeing on the news lots of negative reports about Beaver Hills," Ibrahim said, explaining why she decided to organize the festival. One day, while driving past Norton Parkway, she'd seen an Orthodox Jew talking to a black couple and an Asian man, and she thought: "This is what New Haven is all about."

Ibrahim is proud of the diversity of her neighborhood and wants to share it with Greater New Haven. "I don't want people to be scared to come to Beaver Hills," she said. So she teamed with the owners of Edge of the Woods, Shang Hai Chinese restaurant, Sylvan Cleaners, Custom Tees, and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service to organize a community-building event in their shared parking lot.

kids%20dancing.jpg

Edge of the Woods provided fresh apple cider, fruit, and a big basket of chocolate chip cookies, while Shang Hai set out a sampling of some of its more popular items, including fried balls of dough known to customers as the traditional Chinese delicacy of sugar donuts. Sylvan, Custom Tees, and Jackson Hewitt together provided a table full of crayons and paper for the kids, and Balance Fitness blasted music for the belly dance class as well as a "Funkaerobics" demonstration.

masterson%20and%20smuts.jpg

Sheila Masterson, director of Whalley Avenue Special Services District, introduced Rob Smuts, City Hall's chief administrative officer, at the kick-off of the afternoon event. "It's great to see a positive business like [Balance Fitness] opening up on Whalley. I live a couple of blocks up on Whalley so I really appreciate it," Smuts said. Balance has been around for almost two years now; Ibrahim's presence adds frequent jolts of energy to the area. Edge of the Woods owner Peter Dodge described her as "a high energy girl," and Masterson called her "dynamite."

(Click here to read a previous Independent article about Ibrahim.)

Ibrahim hopes to bring business opportunity and visibility to the Whalley neighborhood, a goal Masterson shares. When she moved to the area in 1996, Masterson explained, there were 11 foreclosed properties on Whalley, all of which have since been developed. "I've seen huge positive change in the neighborhood," she attested.

Asked about the area's recent crime-ridden reputation --click here to read about community policing controversies in response to an upswing in crime -- Masterson made eye contact and said, "You want to know something? I live up the street half a mile. I've worked in this district for 11 years. I've worked in New Haven since 1979, and I've never once had a problem."

City officials are responding to these developments -- and Whalley's old reputation as a dingy strip of auto repair shops and fast food drive-throughs -- with targeted marketing efforts to attract new business and make the area more walkable with events like Sunday's festival.

Thought quiet at first, the festival attracted a crowd of about 40 as the day wore on. Mothers belly danced, business owners chatted, and kids dashed about with crayons and balloons and handfuls of cookies.

salwa.jpg

Ibrahim's children (her daughter, Salwa, is pictured) clutched as many cookies and sugar donuts as they could hold. Their mother firmly instructed them to wait a few more hours. An observant Muslim family, the Ibrahims are currently fasting for Ramadan. "We'll have a big feast with all this food at 6:30 on the dot," Ibrahim said.

By injecting music and food and dancing and laughter into her diverse business environment, Ibrahim hopes to create waves of change throughout Beaver Hills. "Crime is just the absence of opportunity," she stated firmly, "and bad is just the absence of good."

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/10/beaver_hills_fe.php

Sadie Belly Dance

sweet belly dance preformed by Arabs

Habibi Ya Ainy-Fatima Serin

Belly dancer will shake to ... Led Zeppelin?

Chester — Sarah and the Kashmir Dancers will perform with Swan Song, a Led Zepplin/Bad Company tribute band, on Friday, Sept. 28, at Bodles Opera House in Chester.

Many of Led Zeppelin songs have a Middle Eastern influence and rhythms. Hossam Ramzy, an Egyptian and percussionist, accompanied Led Zeppelin on some of their albums.

Sarah Bell of Sarah and the Kashmir Dancers is director of the Caravan Dancers. She teaches dance classes and performs in Orange, Dutchess, and Westchester counties. She has taught and given lectures on the history of Middle Eastern Dance and Culture at Orange Community College, Dutchess Community College, Marist College, Ulster Community College, Ulster Boces, and Vassar College.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $15. Food and a cash bar will be available. The show starts at 8:30 p.m.

For more information call 469-4595 or visit www.bodles.com.

Belly dancing skills stay sharp

Jane Copeland teaches four levels of Oriental Dance, also known as Raks-as-Sharqi in Arabic and belly dance in Western countries.

Its movements are thousands of years old and based on traditional folk dance. Although Copeland has been teaching for more than 34 years, her enthusiasm still spills over to her students.

Belly dancing, she says, helps women become more aware and accepting of their bodies, and builds confidence that translates to other areas of life.

Staff Photographer

Zarifa (Jane Copeland) has been a belly dancer and teacher for over 34 years. She teaches 4 levels of Orental Dance (Raks-as-Sharqi in Arabic) that is called belly dance in the United States and other western countries.

Video: Jane Copeland dances

best belly dance preformed by a kid

Best Belly dance with an indian song

shakira bellydance

Belly Dancing Finale Demonstration

Heather Belly Dancing at the 2007 Winter Wonderland Dance

Tito belly dancer