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Belly Dancer Blog in Denver, Colorado

Denver Belly Dancer

7/12/2018 0 Comments

July 12th, 2018

The Fun Starts Now!
 
Why Hire A Belly Dancer?
A Belly Dancer will add a unique aspect to your party creating a memorable experience for your guests.  The combination of sparkly costumes, beautiful music and captivating moves will make your event stand out from the crowd.  Maela is a professional and has worked with many types of audiences and will cater to your needs to make your Colorado event a success. Belly Dance is a style of dance derived from Egypt, Turkey and other parts of the Middle East. It is an ancient art that started out as a family social dance eventually being brought to the stage, nightclubs, and various other events and celebrations. The dance is distinctive from other types of dance due to its ability to engage the audience. Young or old no age is excluded from the dance. Involving the audience to dance and bringing joy to the celebration is one of the main objectives of the belly dancer.
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6/28/2018 0 Comments

June 28th, 2018

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6/28/2018 0 Comments

June 28th, 2018


 To Tip or Not to Tip?  That is the question….
This is a controversial topic among many dancers in the belly dance community.  This is my perspective/opinion on the topic, take that for what it’s worth as there are many opinions on the subject. There are two main things I consider when deciding what is appropriate.  The experience level of the dancer and the client.
The experience of the dancer is important because accepting tips in itself is a skill to be mastered.  The first time I observed belly dancers accepting body tips was at a restaurant. There were multiple dancers that night and all were at varying degrees of experience. The dancers were taking their turns doing individual sets throughout the night.  The first couple of dancers were not as experienced and the acceptance of tips was unnatural and somewhat clumsy. Belly dancers should be comfortable with a variety of factors before accepting body tips. They should be fully aware of the variety of ways to accept tips, what is appropriate, what is not appropriate and be comfortable with improvisation with audience members.  This can get complicated as some audience members can be aggressive and inappropriate.  It is then up to the dancer to set boundaries in a way that you maintain composure and be clear on how you accept tips.   When feeling uncomfortable with an audience member, I will take the tip in my hand and will often place it in my belt or shoulder strap. I prefer not to place the tip in my bedlah top even when putting the tip on my own body. I feel that this is bit too much especially for a family friendly audience.  I have seen dancers accept tips in their bedlah top.  However, I would not recommend this as this confuses the audience boundaries.  If the audience members are being respectful and understand boundaries, I have no qualms about them tipping on my shoulder strap or belt.  As long as you, the dancer, are perceptive, read your audience, body tipping can be a classy and fun experience for the audience and the dancer.
The audience/client is the next thing to consider when accepting body tips.  It has always been my assumption that most audiences will body tip if they feel comfortable.  However, I have come across a few clients that have specifically requested no body tipping.  This may be due to the type of event, conservative family members, or personal choice.  This can be somewhat tricky as some audience members will not be aware of the client’s requests and may still try to body tip.  As the dancer, you need to set the boundaries and remind audience members in a fun and playful way that tipping is not accepted by “shaking the finger” or bringing a basket for tips.
Remember that tipping can be fun and completely respectful if done correctly, classy, and with experience. It can be a fun way to engage and play with the audience.




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6/19/2018 0 Comments

Exhausted after a show and not ready to take the makeup off....

Denver Belly Dancer
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    How did I get here?

    Well….about 16 years ago I ventured into a belly dance class in Columbus, Ohio with my sister at my side.  I had never really seen a belly dancer before and didn't really know what to expect.  My sister wanted to try something new, exciting and different.  So we both signed up for an 8 week class.  Belly dance was extremely popular at that time and so there was a waiting list and our first class wouldn't start for a few weeks.  This created even more excitement for us!!! 
    The first time we stepped into the class we were all different ages, different levels of self-confidence and all a little nervous to find out what we would be learning in this very new style of dance for us.  Over the next few weeks I struggled with movements that were completely foreign to my body.  But as my teacher would tell us give your body a couple of weeks and your body will began to learn the moves.  After some classes I would be frustrated and want to give up and others I would feel completely empowered to keep moving forward.  One of the things I remember most about these first few weeks was the class introduction to improvising.  We had two instructors at the time.  I remember they picked a random song and began to dance.... Their faces lightened up and they moved with the music with such grace and love that it put me in this complete sense of AWWW.. This is it! This is what I want to learn!  This is what I want to feel! and so it began my journey of belly dance....

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