Bigots Against Belly Dancing

Free speech advocates planned to protest the cancellation of a belly dancing class at a public library, saying it amounted to censorship.

cbs13.com - Free Speech Advocates Protest Public Library

Another sad case of the "powers that be" misunderstanding belly dancing as an art, as well as its popularity.

The Board Chairman Ray Simon, said

"We would have to give equal opportunities for snake charmers and sword swallowers."

which just goes to show the bigotry that surrounds belly dancing just because it originated in the middle east. I hope that sense and open-mindedness win over in the end.

Lisa x

technorati tags:belly+dancing, banning+belly+dancing, bigotry, bellydancing, misunderstanding

Favorite Instructional Belly Dancing DVDs

I'd love to know your favorite instructional belly dancing dvds. I have always felt quite let down by the ones I have bought or rented in the past.

Molly just emailed me and recommended The Goddess Workout with Dolphina (Goddess Life) so I will be checking that one out. I have also just put in an order for a couple of the new dvds from Jillina who is chief choreographer and dancer for the Belly Dance Superstars. I interviewed her recently and not only is she a great dancer she is also an incredibly nice person who chatted with me even though she hadn't eaten yet and was famished!

Post your favorites below by clicking on comments.

Lisa x

technorati tags:belly+dancing, bellydancing, belly+dance, instructional+video, belly+dancing+video, goddess+workout, bellydance+superstars, jillina

Turkish Belly Dancing at Turkish Fest

This year’s Turkish Fest will also include traditional folk dance and belly dance performances. The Turkish market along the riverside will be serving the best Turkish food and drink as well as spices, textiles, arts and crafts, and music to promote Turkey abroad.

English

If you are in London on the 15th and 16th of July, you might want to visit Turkish Fest for some traditional Turkish Belly Dancing.

Lisa x

technorati tags:belly+dancing, belly+dance, bellydancing, turkish+dance, turkish+belly+dancing, turkish+fest, turkish+festival, London

Belly Dancing Tribute to Princess Leia

Sa'id created a special belly dance as a tribute to Leia, which she recently performed in a costume contest where she won first place.

Wired News: The Cult of Leia's Metal Bikini

As a kid I always thought Princess Leia was pretty cool and was happy to be her whenever we played Star Wars (while my brothers argued over who was going to be Luke and who would be Han). It seems I'm not the only one who was and still is a fan...but maybe some people take it a little far. This video is both cool and amusing at the same time!

Enjoy!

Lisa x

technorati tags:belly+dancing, princess+leia, belly+dance, bellydance, tribute, star+wars

American Belly Dance

"American belly dance is used to describe someone who's taken Oriental dance style and changes it. I'm very different. There are two types of belly dancing -- Oriental and Tribal. I've … used influences from both. My arms are very ballet and flamenco -- because the Oriental style is mostly done below the waist, you would not see any arm movements. "

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060618/SCENE05/606180315

An interesting interview here with a young belly dancer about her style of dance and why she moved away from performing a traditional style.


Lisa x

My New Website

If you just can't get enough information on belly dancing, check out my new website and sign up for my newsletter at: http://www.bellydancingsecrets.com.

You can find out loads of stuff on Belly Dancing as well as hear interviews and watch free videos.

Look forward to seeing you there,

Lisa

technorati tags:belly+dancing, belly+dance, bellydance, website, interviews, videos

Another Belly Dancing blog

Also, she's a prefect example of an excellent skinny belly-dancer. Another common question that I was always asked is, do I need to have a bit of a belly to belly dance? The answer is totally, no! You don't have to. There is no specific body type to belly dance. You can be skinny, you can be curvy, pear shaped, apple shaped, ruler shaped, whatever.

a passion for belly dancing: Rachel Brice and body issues.

Here is another blog that I like to read from a belly dancer in Malaysia - I love her insights into belly dancing. And she's right - belly dancing is about celebrating being a woman, whatever shape you are.

Lisa x

technorati tags:belly+dancing, bellydancing, malaysia, blog, body+shape

Nelly Furtado Belly Dancing?

There has been some discussion about Nelly Furtado belly dancing in her new video Promiscuous Girl with Timbaland. I have to say that when I saw the video there was a little hip shaking but nothing I would consider recognisable as belly dancing technique.

In this video on Youtube there is a bit more evidence of an attempt to belly dance near the end. Perhaps she's trying to jump on the Shakira bandwagon?

Lisa x

technorati tags:belly+dancing, nelly+furtado, bellydancing, promiscuous+girl, timbaland

More Shakira and Belly Dancing

"I've been belly-dancing since I was four years old," Shakira, 25, was saying from Miami in an exclusive Canadian newspaper interview with The Sun."And nobody taught me how to do it. So it's something that's in my DNA, that I inherited. But I never got the opportunity to show my skills as a belly-dancer because I never did songs with this kind of Arabic element involved before. It seems that people really felt curious about that aspect."

CANOE -- JAM! Music - Artists - Shakira: Road trip ... she's driving

Further to previous posts about Shakira and her belly dancing roots, I found this interview she did. It still doesn't explain all the influences in her dancing but she does suggest that belly dancing just came naturally.

Lisa x

technorati tags:belly, dancing, bellydance, belly+dance, belly+dancing, shakira