The Bellydance Blog
Learn, Share and Discover With This Bellydance Blog
Oh Inspiration!
Like many dancers, I am a huge fan of so many talented belly dancers out there who continue to amaze and inspire women like me with their breath taking performances. Some of the ladies and gentleman who have directly inspired me and my style are the following:
*Keep in mind there are MANY more incredibly talented dancers out there, but for the sake of brevity I am limiting the list to my top ten. Here are some of my favorite videos of each. Enjoy*
1. Didem Kinali
2. Sadie
3. Saida
4. Ela Rogers
4. Mohamed Kazafy
5. Mercedes Nieto
6. Randa Kamel
7. Racheal Brice
8. Alla Kushnir
9.Orit
10.Daria Mitskevich
Copycat? Get Over Yourself!
So today I just feel the need to vent. So a few months ago it was brought to my attention that a dancer thought I was copying her content and marketing position….how about no! My content is all mine and I pulled everything from my past flyers and plain old experience (clients asking me the same questions all the time). I had numerous conversations with this dancer actually about all the hot topics I felt were important and was going to write about, and funny that somehow just because my website came out later that somehow I was copying? I don’t think so.
I do admit, there was one line I loved from her faq’s (I even mentioned that to HER and the world on Facebook) which I reworded and expanded to an entire paragraph but that does not mean I am a copycat! To her that was not enough and went bazerk! I can understand if it was copy and paste or obvious paraphrasing but really?
Also many people do not know this about me but I have done hundreds of events such a weddings and what not when i was an event supervisor at a catering company ( I can put a wedding together in my sleep). I am also a big computer nerd by day and know tons about marketing, internet search engines, and plain old business due to my business education from my undergrad as well. That being said, when I started my website guess what…I used my knowledge and all the tips and tricks I knew that worked. All I have to say now is: No…you are not the only person with marketing experience, no you are not the only one who writes about high end entertainment, no…you are not the only one who knows how seo and sem works, no…you are not the only belly dancer who does weddings in Orlando. There are TONS of dancers who do this and this is called using your knowledge, they are in no way copying anyone. We all are striving for similar things and many times our goals overlap.
Competition is normal. It does not have to be a negative thing, and I am the last person in the world to hurt anyone. I know my town, and I know who my target audience has been for the past 6 years. I write from my heart which gets me in trouble at times and I am ok with that. There are tons of overlap in dance and I am sure someone in another continent or even in the U.S does something super similar to what I do. It is a fact of life. That person probably doesn’t even know who I am and it just happened that way, and that is my case.
I cater to performing high end, family friendly entertainment for well to do clients in florida and beyond. That has been my positioning since 2006 and that is how it will stay. So here we go world, that is my position, its out in the open, not a big secret, and nothing new.
Belly Dancing in Orlando Restaurants
There are many belly dancers out there who absolutely refuse to work in restaurants, but I am a firm believer and example of when dancing at a restaurant can go right. I have made a great living dancing in restaurants 3-7 days a week, every week, for the past five years. Many times the horror stories occur due to girls working for low rates, working with owners they hate, or in places that are not safe. While dancing at restaurants has its ups and downs, I have acquired the perfect venues over the years that keep me sharp. I have chosen to perform at my select venues because they have shown that they value my work. These restaurants have taken good care of me and have provided me with some pretty amazing opportunities.
I also find that dancing on a full time basis has really benefited my clients as I am continually improving and practicing my skills, learning to deal with different issues as they arise, and have gained the showmanship it takes to keep an audience going for hours. If I were to perform only once every couple of months I feel it would not allow me to provide my clients with the high standard shows that I promise. In order to deliver, I believe practicing almost every day is key.
Most importantly, I think that it is the duty of all serious belly dancers to show the world how family friendly and tasteful belly dance is and the more of us out there working and setting a good example, the better the end result will be.
Making Belly Dance Costumes…
As many of my friends and supporters know, although I purchase many high end designer costumes, I also make my own line of couture high end belly dance costumes in Orlando, FL. I often host small sewing parties in Orlando during the month to unwind with my fellow crafty friends and get these costumes done for myself and other clients. Here are some fun tips for making your own base.
1. Do not use regular bras! Use the cups only if you need to but please make and attach your own bra and side straps at the very least. This will make your costume top look like a real costume bra rather than lingerae. The bra cups I swear by and use come from a line called Braza. These are water proof, not super hard or too soft, are easy to sew onto and durable! They cost roughly $8.50 and are simply amazing.
2. For straps and the shape you will mount your cups onto to make a bra, use three layers for your base. That seems to be the magic number. Use a light weight denim, a fuseable interfacing, and light weight felt. Combine these and you have yourself the perfect base material to cut into what ever shape you choose. The more layers the less maleable, so you choose.
3. Wire the top of the costume bra base. It will conform to your body better and will not allow for any gaps if done properly.
4. Patience is key. Professional costume bases take time and precision so don’t go into it with a crazy time limit or due date. The first time you make one it won’t be perfect but practice makes perfect and it will eventually come out beautifully.
5. Though shalt use good quality thread! Thread can be expensive but boy does it make a difference! I build my costumes to last not for a performance but for life. Think of this when you shop for materials and you will find the end product will last.
6. When in doubt just ask. I get lot’s of calls from my friends and in turn I have my own friends I ask on the occassional bumps along the road. Better to ask twice and cut once.
7. Bra fit is essential. You can have a $5000 costume that is blinged out and gorgeous, but if the bra is too small or without support it will distort your appearance and be distracting. Get a good fitting and know your measurements.
8. Play to your shape. Whether your a pear, triangle, hourglass, or whatever…know your proportions, know what to accentuate and deaccentuate and have your design make sense for your body types. There are gorgeous costumes out there that I wish I wish I could wear but when your 5’3″, short torsoed, and very muscular, some things just don’t quite work jejeje! Know and love your body type and the rest will come.
9. Yes, I do do custom belly dance costumes here in Orlando and can definitely make a one of a kind creation for you. Just call or email to get the process started.
10. Above all if you love sewing, have fun!
My “Vintage” Photo Surprise!
I love surprises, and I received a pretty sentimental one about a week ago from Rebecca Hagen who owns Blink of an Eye Photographic Arts. We met on Facebook where she had wanted to verify if I had ever belly danced at Taverna Opa Orlando (which I do). You see, she had taken photographs of me and her friends one night back in 2008 while I was performing and was kind enough to send them over. I want to send you the warmest and sincerest thanks Rebecca because these photos really brought back a lot of memories. I moved to Orlando in 2006 and began landing belly dance gigs in 2007. Taverna Opa has been my home here in Orlando since January 2008, and it is here where I have been able to conquer most of my shyness and become the performer I am today. I still continue to work there every week and love it because it is completely different than all my other venues in that it is non-traditional world music and I can do as much fusion as I want. I still cannot believe it sometimes that I will have been dancing at Opa for four years coming this January. It seems like time has flown since I moved to Orlando and I hope to continue to grow, inspire, and have fun in this amazing city.
As you can see from the photograph, I have always had an affinity for Turkish costumes and this blue one was a “re-fab” I did. The veil was one of the first I had ever made and I get so sentimental when I see this photograph because it lets me see how far my sewing has come and how I have grown as an artist and performer. It will be funny to look back at all my photographs five years form now and hopefully think the same. I am still shy in some situations but it is almost night and day from where I was back in 2007.
Let’s Talk Mineral Make-up
To start off, let me just say that make-up and I have never been great friends. I am allergic to just about everything and have eye lids that are extremely sensitive. That being said, after years of searching I think I have found the one line that might actually not harm my skin… Bare Essentials (yes I am late on joining the bandwagon). I have used this a few times now and here is what I have experienced from a dancers perspective:
1. It lasts! I sweat quite a bit and this holds up pretty well. The eye liner could have lasted a little longer, but everything else was fantastic.
2. The particles are big enough (I am using the natural mineral form not pressed format) that they should not enter my pores.
3. My skin texture felt smoother after I took the make up off (that’s a nice bonus).
4. The colors are very vibrant compared to what I had anticipated. They have quite a good range of colors and even metallics! I can’t use the metallics due to my eyelid sensitivity but if you can do it go for it!
5. It felt very light on my skin. I can usually feel the heaviness of the product, but this felt so comfortable and light. It’s perfect for summer gigs.
That being said, I am the type of girly that never wears foundation. I rather go pay the dermatologist to get my skin healthy rather than cover it up, and this is a really great middle ground for in between the stressful times and dermatologist visits. The ifoundation is light enough where I feel my skin can still breathe and be seen. I hope this solves all my allergy and eye lid sensitivity issues and that any other girls out there with crazy reactive skin types try it out like I did. I was skeptical, but am liking the results so far. Hopefully in a few months I can come back and update this with more positive news. Let’s wait and see…
The Divas and Divos
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no….its the oversized ego of a super diva! It is amazing the characters you meet in the entertainment industry and no other character gets my blood boiling more than the divas and divos. It is one thing to be confident and secure of oneself, but to think you are THE most amazing thing in the world and think you are just too good for anyone else is another story. I can personally speak from experience that dealing with the diva(o) leads to negative outcomes. I once had to work with a performer that although this person had limited belly dance experience, thought she was the most amazing thing since sliced bread. Now this did not ruffle my feathers too much at all (I already had met a number of these personalities) but the actions that resulted from that did. This person refused to share the spot light, would give dirty looks to other dancers while they performed their set, would purposely walk the other way in order not to cross paths, purposely would take too long getting ready so the next dancer would have to start late, would give you “tips” that frankly were designed to bring your confidence down.
My focus for today though is on the twist to the story…the divos! Divos are the male counterpart to the diva. I met one recently who gave me and the rest who crossed his path quite a good laugh. This person was a musician hired to do an event. I was the performer hired to perform at the event. A last minute attempt was made by the coordinator to see if we would possibly want to unite our talents for a segment of my performance. I told the coordinator yes (I love dancing to live music) and the coordinator passed on my contact information to this person…..but no email ever came. The day of the event the musician came up to me asking me when we would start. I am sorry, but until that moment I had no idea who the musician was, had never heard a solo from him in order to access his abilities, and if there is one thing about me to know, it’s that I do not do things half way. All musicians are NOT created equal. The divo presumed to grumble to the coordinator and out loud try to ruin the mood. To make a long story short, I went ahead with the show I had designed especially for the occasion and everyone was raving about the performance. In the end, the people he tried to get on his side were so disappointed in his childish behavior and will gladly work with me and not him ever again.
You have to be humble in life. If you are talented that’s fantastic, but no one will want to work with you again if you have a diva(o) attitude. Acting rudely to anyone else “in your way” also makes you have a terrible reputation. This business is about passion, talent, and personality. What goes around comes around and no one is too good to stop learning or being kind to others.
How to spot a Divo/Diva (jajajaja)
1. Listen for the person barking orders
2. Usually eying everyone up and down that crosses their path
3. Always have a pen for potential autographs handy in their costume
4. Are the first to wail when things do not go their way
5. Are the first to give themselves credit when something good happens (it is never the talented team that made it possible, it is their effort only)
Is Everyone a “Professional Belly Dancer” Now a Days?
What is this phenomenon of everyone and their mother calling themselves a “professional” belly dancer now a days? One of the big problems that exist in this industry is that there is no regulation. I realize that as an artist having the freedom to do what I please in my craft is essential, but there needs to be some ground rules in any industry, including belly dance. Costuming and Price definitely come to mind while we are on the topic…but let’s leave that for my next blog post jajaja!
Defining Some Basic Titles:
For now let’s focus on the basic issue of finding and using the appropriate title. There is no shame in calling yourself a novice, up and comer or any other of the terms below. I do not understand why so many dancers are scared to utilize some of these titles. Be honest with where you are. There is nothing wrong with dancing for a year and calling yourself an amateur… that is what the title should be! There is nothing wrong with dancing for a few years and calling yourself an “up and comer”. Here are a few basic terms that describe various skill levels:
-beginner: a person who is beginning something or doing something for the first time-up and coming
-novice: a person who has just started learning or doing something
-amateur: one lacking in experience and competence in an art or science. One who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession
-rising star: a person who is quickly becoming popular, successful, etc.
-professional: relating to a job that requires special education, training, or skill
-expert: having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience
How Much Training Do I Need to Be Considered a Pro?
Knowing the above terms is important as they relate to the next question one must ask themselves, “so how much training is necessary to consider yourself a professional”? This is a tough one, and many dancers never reach the professional level in my opinion. There are some basics I feel should be acknowledged as far as training (these are completely my opinion):
1. At least 4 years of serious, quality training with an actual professional. Can be less or more depending on how hard you train.
2. Training with more than one teacher. You should branch out, explore, question, and create. Everyone has something different to offer.
3. Take a public speaking course of some kind. If you are a professional you must be able to effectively communicate with others from different cultures, and utilizing various platforms.
4. Learn about and study at least some basics about the cultures whose traditions call for belly dancers and study the music. You need to know what you are representing!
Have Showmanship!
While these basics are essential, they are nothing without my last note… “Have showmanship”. I see dancer upon dancer in this business who while they have a pretty face, nice costume, and decent training, are not exactly grabbing the audience’s attention. If you are blessed with good looks, good for you, but that alone will NOT make you a professional! You must engage your audience, portray the emotions evoked form the music, and get the message across. It is not enough to have a caked on smile for a thirty minute show. You need to grasp that attention and make magic with it. It is hard! I struggled with this for soo long because I felt silly for some odd reason, but wow, what a difference this makes. Without this last piece, everything else looks awkward, fake, and just does not give that presentation an audience expects of a professional caliber show.
Ok will step down from my soap box now. I leave this now to you dancers.
Children’s Birthday Belly Dance Party!
That being said, what better way to get your little girls birthday party going this summer than to have her and a group of her friends wear hip scarves, dance to fun music, and see a mini show? Children have always been some of my best fans and so I enjoy allowing them an outlet that not only boosts their confidence, but improves their coordination and form of expression.
If your daughter is usually timid, not to worry! In my experience the shy ones usually come around when they see how much fun the others are having and I always pay extra to them as I was once very shy myself as a child and completely understand how they feel.
So what is included in the “Cgildrens Birthday Belly dance Party”? Here is what you and your little ones receive:
– start off with a belly dance mini show where Orlando Professional Bellydancer Jennifer performs a 4-5 minute routine to wow your guests.
– Hipscarves for all your children are provided ( there is an option to purchase them for the group)
-Once all hipscarves are on, your children will begin with a nice stretch and then onto a fun upbeat belly dance class to get those hip belts shaking!
– After about fifteen minutes the children can now show off some of their new moves in a fun dance circle as a finale.
Overall the belly dance package lasts about thirty minutes and your children and guests are not only able to enjoy a professional belly dance show, but to remember this day forever by learning and dancing themselves. If you have any questions by all means visit my CONTACT page or feel free to call me. Have a great summer and hope to shimmy with you soon!
How To Prepare for a Belly Dancer at Your Wedding
Last night I performed at a wonderful Persian/American wedding. I am witing this blog as a thankyou to the many brides I have met who have been as organized, kind, and open as my latest bride was. She is one of the most organized and promt brides I have ever worked with which makes my ability to throw the best show possible much more enjoyable. Being an Orlando belly dancer, I often must travel a long distance to perform at beautiful and historic areas in Florida that I am not familiar with. Some brides are so stressed from planning their weddings that they do not allow ample time to deal with the small details while others handle the stress with a calmer demeanor. It is hugely important to maintain good communication with the bride and make her feel at ease with the entire process of making her entertainment aspirations come true. For brides it is important to trust the professional in return and explain your vision clearly. If you have hired a belly dancer for your wedding there are a few things a dancer needs to know beforehand, and that you should prepare to explain to her in the process.Think of this as a “How-to Prepare for a Belly Dancer at Your Wedding” with Orlando’s Professional Belly Dancer Jennifer. Keep in mind before any detailed plans are made, you must read, discuss, and sign your contract for your desired belly dancer. By doing so, you assure your belly dancer that you are serious about utilizing her/his services.
Things the belly dancer will want to know:
1- Cultural background of you, your groom, and majority or guests
2- Event time-line
3- Who will be the coordinator or main contact person the day of the event?
4- Dance Area (size, material of floor, surrounding environment, etc…)
5- Will there be a D.J.? He will need to test the music before the show to ensure all works properly.
6- Will there be a room to change and safely store belongings?
7. Photos of venue are greatly appreciated
8. Where can the bellydancer park?
9. Wedding theme/colors
10. Any special songs requests or details to add?
While I will go into much more in-depth conversation about the following points with the you these are all questions that will help smoothen out any potential bumps in the road. With weddings customization and communication are key to make sure the entertainment runs in a smooth, professional manner, and in a way that makes sense with the particular time-line of events and environment. For more information on how to Book me to belly dance at your wedding please refer to my Hire page and do not hesitate to CONTACT me with any questions.
What’s With All the Criticism!
What is the one thing that can turn even the most talented and beautiful person to a wretched beast……jealousy. Yes, this is the entertainment business and granted, everyone will always have their own two cents about something or someone, but what is with this whole jealousy issue? Is it that complimenting face to face, dancer to dancer really that rare to some?And if you dislike a particular dance style you saw, why not phrase things a little better? How many times have we gone onto YouTube, watched a clip of a fabulous dancer like Didem, Racheal Brice, Sadie, Dina, Saida, and countless others, and right below a positive comment, see a negative one completely degrading the dancer and his/her style? It is getting ridiculous.
I am sick and tired of this! Yes we are human and will not like the style of every professional belly dancer we come across, but can’t there be a filter to separate completely uneducated and at times idiotic comments? For example, I saw a response the other day of a fabulous video by a famous dancer where the person attacked her for not dancing more like another star. Why is it that so many dancers feel the need to put each other down? There is so much talk about sisterhood, bonds, and support when we all start off, but afterwards many of these so called “supports” end up talking about you behind your back if you don’t fit their mold! Should a book on “how to express your opinions wisely for dummies” be published, because there are too many professionals simply doing nothing but chatting away in the shadows rather than facing their real demons…..
-The pressure of being surrounded my younger more energetic up and comers (so they do everything they can to stop them)
-Lacking confidence in themselves so they bring down others who are doing things better
-Are bored with themselves/lives so feel the need to fill up their day with gossip
-Dancers who do not educate themselves about other cultures, customs, styles and look at the world with blinders
-Dancers who want to succeed so badly they will steal ideas, back stab, and claw there way to try and make it rather than work hard at themselves.
All sad, but true, and I have met many of these wretched “professionals” and wondered why? Why do they do this? When a belly dancer like me hears it, I am confident enough not to let it bring me down, but why have to deal/hear these issues all the time? Believe it or not ,I even have haters lurking on my own Facebook jajaja! The things some “professionals” do to try to sabotage another…truly saddening.
Additionally there is the argument of technical ability vs emotionalism. Some dance styles like say egyptian raks sharqi, focus on the intense emotional connection between the dancer and the music/audience, while other genres of belly dance (more contemporary) want to push the limits of physical and creative ability and express themselves in a more technical basis. Why are so many astute dancers putting each other down over something so ridiculous? If one chooses to dance in a more “ooey gooey fashion” let them! If another wants to show off their technical mastery let them! There is no right and wrong, let everyone express themselves the way they see fit!
I personally have been drawn to the technical ability…it brings out my inner joy. It is what makes me me, and not another dancer. I love Dina, and Randa Kamel but that will never be me nor do I strive to clone any other dancer. I want to make my own path and style and like it or not, that is what I will do. The same for any other style dancer, whether tribal, fusion, traditional middle eastern, or etc… Let dancers be dancers and do what makes them unique. I don’t want to fit in any mold and neither do many of my friends, so leave the comments to yourself and have an open mind. It is beautiful what some dancers are doing and the creativity should not be stopped. YouTube can be a very wonderful thing and more professionals should seek to praise each other more on there than make snarky remarks
P.S. This is not all professional belly dancers (I have met some fantastic dancers who keep me sane). I write this for the small percent that ruins it for us all because of their insecurities.
How Orlando Belly Dancer Jennifer Got Here….
Before I knew it ten ten years had passed, I had performed my last show in competitive marching band and was relocating to Orlando Florida to begin college. During those ten years I became the top clarinetist in my band (as well as captain) and had won various awards and tittles for all my hard work and dedication. Upon moving I suddenly felt lost without a band, and none of my friends were there. I decided to attend a salsa class nearby one day to try to keep myself in shape and make new friends. Unfortunately the salsa class was not the level I was hoping for, but I did see a flyer for Belly dance classes in Orlando on the door, and decided to give it a try. A week later I came by and could not believe my eyes when I saw a gorgeous woman at the head of the class teaching everyone to move their bodies in such a confident and unique way. I fell in love with the dance, the music, the cultural traditions and of course the sparkles! I was able to lose myself in dance the way playing clarinet had done, and the strict adherence to technique and regimen (what I had been used to) made me feel like my old self again. One class a week quickly turned into three classes per week, and soon I was helping my teacher run warm-ups, choreographies, and other activities.
Weeks quickly turned to years, and one day my teacher told me of a restaurant in Orlando that was looking to hire belly dancers. I went not knowing what to expect and was hired on the spot! Soon after I doubled my training and decided that I would do whatever it took to become a professional. Years passed, and I was soon dancing at various restaurants, events, and parties, and unofficially started my business. At first it began with just referrals and time and time again I was asked by my clients to post up a website, a video, something! I did not…I had a fear of putting myself out for the world to see (it sounds dumb but it’s true). After a while I slowly began collecting videos of my performances, posted a few photographs, and slowly began breaking down my own barriers.
2010 was the year that changed it all for me. I was invited to perform at some fantastic events and after much urging from family and friends, I gained a tremendous amount of confidence and decided to begin constructing my website. After years of training, hard work, and ups and downs, I felt proud enough about my progeress with belly dance to show my work to the world. Before I knew it, it was 2011 and my website went live.
I now am at the point where so many opportunities keep pouring in and the possibilities are endless. Orlando has provided me with a great life, and the ability to belly dance full time, and meet some amazingly talented people. I cannot wait to see what the future holds, but who knew this band geek from New York would have ever become a Orlando belly dancer who is the face of billboards, in magazines, and performing all around Florida at high end parties and events.
Crazy the way life turns out huh?