Diaries of a Bellydance Addict - Sara Beaman's blog

Moving

2010-08-07T20:36:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone.
I am combining my bellydance thoughts with the thoughts from the rest of my life, and will be blogging at http://romancingtheweird.blogspot.com from now on.
I hope you'll join me there. I just posted a new essay about bellydance!

What is cultural authenticity?

2009-06-16T09:51:00.003-04:00

What is cultural imperialism?

Sociological Images: What counts as Indian Art?

This article brings up many good points and questions. Even though it's not written about bellydance, I think these concepts are important to consider whenever dealing with a "traditional" "cultural" art form.
Also, it has some images of some sweet paintings!

The Next Frontier

2009-06-12T21:09:00.004-04:00

Today was my last day at my full time job. I chose to quit; I wasn't laid off. I decided to leave my position working as an administrative assistant for a large public university for many reasons, but mostly because my schedule was absolutely eating me alive.
Ever since I graduated from college two years ago I have been struggling to adjust to life as a full-time office worker. I have refused to give up the things I love in my life- namely dance, sleeping, and spending time with my husband. Not cutting back on my dance activities has left me with very little free time. I have two formal troupe practices per week, I teach a class on Monday evenings, and I teach practically all day every weekend on Saturdays. As I'm also unwilling to cut back on my rigorous 8-hour-per-night sleep regimen, this leaves me with not a whole lot of time or energy to do things like eat, clean, bathe, cope with life, or other such things like that-- let alone to spend time developing new skills or learning new stuff.
Although I imagine other people may have found my schedule to be perfectly reasonable and nothing to complain about, I spent two years trying my best to make it work to no avail. I know it's not just my personality. I'm not an invalid, and I don't consider myself to be impaired or disabled, but I do have a chronic health condition- Fibromyalgia Syndrome. I cope with my FMS quite well, I think, but it still affects me, and it limits my ability to endure things like working 6 days a week every week and generally not ever having any downtime.
What I'm looking at now is getting my income from two places: tutoring ESL (which I did during college as well, actually), and teaching bellydance classes. I also hope to start living a hardcore frugal lifestyle to make up for lost income. Of course, my husband also has a job.
It's funny. Less than three years ago I thought (and said, often at length) that I would never want to make bellydance my job, and that I would never want to depend on someone else's income to live. Then again, that was before I underwent a spectacularly humbling job search and then actually entered the workforce, first working a really awful temp job for about a month and then finding a job at the university.
While my university job was relatively stable and certainly tolerable, I had no room for advancement (there was virtually no way I could be promoted or get a raise), and no room in my life to work towards greater goals. Even at 24 years of age, I felt the time slipping out of my fingers with each passing month.
Meanwhile, all this time, I've only gotten more and more involved with bellydance- emotionally, intellectually, financially, and physically- and I can't help but feel, especially with teaching, that the more I work at it the better I get at it. Also, I love it. I feel a deep, monogamous sort of love for it. I fully anticipate that I'll be in love with it for the rest of my life.
Interestingly, the more deeply I fall in love with the dance, the less I am worried about ever becoming a well-known dancer. I feel less of the gnawing need for external validation now than ever before. I just want to be good at it. I want to put my best effort into performing, studying, and teaching. I want to see my students grow and flourish. I really hope that now I'll have the time to do all of that to the best of my ability.
I want to try to make a career of it if I can. I'm hoping to finally finish my ACE Group Fitness Instructor certification and then start looking at getting more involved movement arts or fitness training (maybe Pilates? maybe some sort of dance? I haven't decided yet). I want to bring something really vital and holistic to my students and to the community, and I love learning so I'm going to try to train as much as I can afford.
I might always have to have a side job, and that would be fine by me. I also know that this might just completely make my life go to shit. A side job might not be enough. I might still completely run myself into the ground financially and become destitute. If that happens, I suppose I'll have to choose between moving back in with my parents, becoming a hobo for real, or going back to temping. Until then, I'm going to give it my all and hope for the best.

Something to consider:

2009-05-14T12:20:00.002-04:00

A.
that it is possible to have a great deal of respect for both tradition and fusion/innovation. YES. AT THE SAME TIME.

B.
how nice it would be if everyone could at least entertain the above notion.

Recent solo video

2009-05-12T08:35:00.000-04:00

Teaching is Addictive

2009-04-30T12:20:00.005-04:00

I fracking love teaching. It might be my favorite thing about the entire bellydance experience-- as much as I love being in my two/threeish troupes (yay troupes) and performing (and oh believe me I love both of them very much), teaching probably wins.
I've been teaching two ongoing classes in Durham on Saturdays for about a year and a half now. I just went through all my class records and found out just how loyal many of my students have been since the very beginning-- which is to say, SUPER LOYAL. Most of the students who signed up for class in the first session are still around. I don't want to gloat, but I think this is an accomplishment. I like to think these dancers have stayed with me because I'm nice and not an ego freak or whatever, but also because I am always trying to improve my classes and make them more student-centered.
I am lucky enough to be able to start an intermediate class this session because I have enough students that are willing and able to populate it. I wasn't sure this would ever happen, but I am so glad that it did.
I am constantly getting more and more excited about teaching. I am always hunting for resources to make my teaching style and the content of my classes more safe/coherent/helpful/insightful. My students are awesome and have been willing to tolerate this constant experimentation with our class format, which I am super greatful for. They give me good feedback and let me know what works best for them when I ask. Without their input and influence, I don't think I could have progressed as a teacher in the way that I have in the last year. (My students are fantastic, basically.)
I've found that one of the best things that I have ever done for my classes, both for myself as a teacher and for my students, was to start making and keeping really detailed notes. Writing class notes forces me to think more critically about both what I am teaching and how I am presenting the class content. You can't reach everyone, but I want to be able to make my classes accessible for as many people as possible- people with different dance backgrounds (or none whatsoever), different kinds of learners, different ages and fitness levels, whatever. Writing notes (especially beforehand) allows me to evaluate and refine my teaching strategies.
I want to keep my class content constantly evolving. I don't see myself ever having a "format" (not that I am accomplished enough to merit my own format in any case, but maybe I will be after the next few decades if I work at it) because I always want the freedom to make things more ideal. I have the memory of a goldfish, so if I don't write down what I am teaching, I will never remember what I did in previous sessions, let alone be able to go back and wonder what I could have done better.
Keeping notes is a lot of work to begin with, but it's completely, totally, 100% worth it in the end, I swear.
I feel like there is some kind of personal alchemy that happens when people learn how to dance. I can't imagine who I would be if my teachers hadn't opened this world up to me. Until we learn to accept and inhabit our physical selves, we're living as only part of what we really are and discarding the rest. Dance bridges this gap. I love seeing my students begin to be really present and comfortable in their own skin. I am proud and honored to be able to foster this transformation for other people. It gets me through the week at my day job! I'm pretty much always living for Saturdays.
This post isn't supposed to be a plug for my classes. However, if you'd like some of the class infos and deets, it's available on my main website at http://www.sarabeaman.com/classes.html.

Cameratape

2009-01-08T13:07:00.011-05:00

I'm working on something relatively new for me: choreography.
I've spent the majority of my time as a bellydance student and performer (and teacher for that matter) focused on what most of us call "technique": core isolations, shimmies, foot placement patterns, posture, et cetera. I've learned how to string my movements together without weird little hiccups or stops, and I've learned how to keep dancing (and do MANY DIFFERENT moves! wowee!) on the spot, just making it all up, for performance. To some degree, I make up stuff that fits with the music, and it all seems like a good idea to me in the moment. The results, in my opinion, are variable.
Choreographing dances for myself has always been a daunting task. I have only done it twice in the six years I have been performing. Well, two and a half times- once I did a very successful (for me) mix of improv and choreography. That's it. I find that when I sit down to choreograph a song, I get anxious about making each phrase THE BEST IT CAN BE (read: pack as many cool things into it as possible), get analysis paralysis, and usually give up after the first few bars. I know this is not a good way to work- I mean, after all, it's clearly not working. So I'm trying to change my approach.
One thing that I have noticed about nearly all of my favorite dancers is that they must be aware of how their body looks at any given moment since they virtually always are in some sort of lovely position. I'm not just talking about correct posture; I'm referring to an artful placement of the limbs, head and torso that frames and amplifies each movement. This is a quality that, to put it kindly, I am just now trying to cultivate. My goal right now is to create a simple choreography (or two, or more) that takes me from pose to pose without looking forced or artificial and without looking like I'm Vogueing. I'm a big fan of multitasking, and I'd like to try to address my hangups about choreography while hopefully giving myself a better awareness of how I appear to my audience that might also bleed over into improv some time in the future. I hope.
I don't have a digital video camera as such (too poor), but I do have a still camera that takes Youtube-quality video. I set it up in my practice space yesterday (it took me a lot of futzing around to figure out how to angle the camera to capture much of anything in such a small space!) and camerataped myself doing improv and trying out different poses. I made some interesting discoveries.
I noticed some things that I had pretty much anticipated. My posture is not as good as I think it is. My hands do some very unattractive things sometimes. Some of my poses were completely lame and I hope to never do them again. Some were nice but needed work. More importantly than all of that, though, watching the video tweaked my brain in an odd way I hadn't expected.
As soon as I started watching my own sub-optimal, seat-of-the-pants interpretation of the music I was using, I immediately started getting ideas for how I might want to choreograph a dance to the same music. I think watching the video and thinking "Oh, but at this moment I could have done THIS instead!" turned a switch in my brain that made it possible for me to think like a choreographer. Suddenly I wasn't at a loss for ideas, nor was I overwrought with too many options, all excessively complicated and spastic. I came up with some good, solid, simple phrases to begin the choreography.
ALSO. My camera takes AVI "video" files, which are apparently just sequential images with an audio track attached. I can flip through them frame by frame to pick out the best and worst moments in time. It's very compelling!
I'm going to keep working with the camera for poses, but I think I might have found the solution to my choreography problem as well!

January Mind

2009-01-07T12:03:00.003-05:00

At the beginning of this year I find myself in a peculiar state halfway between my Fibromyalgia brain fog and deep contemplation. I'm oscillating between clarity and haze. The last moments of 2008 gave me some space for introspection that I needed quite badly, and I feel like I'm on the verge of some sort of major change.
2008 was a weird year for me-- just as it was for many others, I'm sure. I got married; the wedding itself was fantastic, but the preparation was inexplicably hellish and exhausting. I went straight from the wedding into an intense entrepreneurship program at UNC's business school-- and I mean straight-- I was doing homework for the program over my ridiculously short honeymoon. Meanwhile, I was working full time, teaching my dance classes, participating in two (sometimes three) dance troupes, and trying to develop myself as a dancer, and I frequently felt extremely frustrated and spent.
Last Spring my cousin Sean Costello died unexpectedly. Sean was a professional blues musician, a songwriter, guitarist and singer. He had been playing pro gigs since he was 16 (or maybe even younger). I could gush mindlessly about how talented and fantastic he was, but to put it succinctly, Sean had a gift. At his funeral my uncle (not Sean's dad, but his uncle as well) got up and gave a very short eulogy. Among other things, he said he was proud of Sean for following his own path, which was sometimes terrible and painful, as the rest of us were too damn scared to do the same.
For a very long time now-- pretty much since I quit design school in 2003-- I have been telling myself that I don't have a path, that I haven't found it yet, but that some day I'll know it when I see it. After graduating for college with a degree that I value but have no idea what to do with, I've been fortunate enough to find a stable job which has gotten me through some rough patches I wouldn't have survived otherwise without begging my parents for cash (and that's totally not my style). I have been trying to keep up with bellydance as my avocation because I love it so desperately. I've been thinking about graduate programs, looking at information online. I've been thinking about what other jobs I might enjoy. I've been trying to tell myself I'll know it when I see it.
I know now I've been lying to myself. I've seen what I want out of life. I know what I want. I've known it for a while. I've been ignoring it because I'm scared to do something I haven't been given permission to do. I'm so used to having to apply for the job, for the program, for the opportunities I want to be included in, because that's what I've done my entire life up until this point.
The rest of my life isn't something I can apply for and it's not something anyone's ever going to invite me to do. No one is going to hold my hand and lead me to my path. No one is going to call my number and tell me it's my turn now. I have to do these things for myself.
I don't want to be cryptic- I hate being unclear. But I think what I'm trying to say is pretty obvious. At the moment it would probably be pretty foolish for me to write my step-by-step life attack plan on the Internet. This post itself is probably foolish, but at least it's vaguely so.
Right now what I need to do is to stop putting the blinders on and to try to critically evaluate each aspect of my life, each little habit, to see what I can jettison and to get ready for whatever changes may come. And, then, just to watch quietly and listen to the tiny part of myself that knows what it's talking about.
So that's my New Year's Resolution.

Shimmy for the Cure Hafla

2008-05-09T14:19:00.003-04:00

Please come out and support Team CarolinaBellydancers!

Wow! New Bellydance Classes!

2008-04-25T14:34:00.001-04:00

GET THE SARA BEAMAN EXPERIENCE. The only classes in the Triangle taught by a friendly, coffee-crazed bellydance technique and history geek who moonlights as both a faux hobo (a fauxbo if you will) and a faux robot (or fauxbot).

Saturday Morning Classes at Triangle Dance Studio in Durham
May 10, 17, 24, June 7 and 21

10AM - CORE - Dynamic Group Improv Skills with Sara and Lynn, our TA for this session!
This session will focus on moves, short combos, formations and transitions for group improvisational dance. For the first time, this class will feature a teaching assistant, which will allow me to give everyone more individual feedback. (Hopefully you find this prospect exciting rather than intimidating-- I know I'm excited about it, at least!) This class is going to be a lot of fun and a great workout. Drop-ins welcome. (1 hour 20 minutes)

11:40AM - FLOW - Fusion Combos-into-Choreography
This choreography class will offer a chance for students in every stage of their bellydance development a chance to learn both a complete choreography and longer moves and combos that can be used elsewhere for both choreography and improv. While all students are welcome, you might feel more comfortable in this class if you already have at least 6 months of bellydance experience under your belt (hipscarf?). Drop-ins are welcome, but if you want to learn (and be able to perform) the entire choreography, you should try to make it to all 5 classes. (1 hour 20 minutes)

Class Rates: $14 for 1 class, $24 for both classes, or $60 for a 6-class pass. (Cash or check only please!)

Location information and class policies are available on my website: www.sarabeaman.com/classes.html .

NEW Monday Evening Classes at Balanced Movement Studio in Carrboro
Part of the Language of Bellydance class series as a partnership with Suzanne

April 28 and May 5, 12, and 19: 7:30-9:00PM, Topic TBA very shortly on my blog and my website. Multi-level; Drop-ins welcome.

Location and Payment Info: Monday classes are held at Balanced Movement Studio in downtown Carrboro. (www.balanced-movement.com) Please note that while everyone is welcome to attend this class, because payment is handled through Balanced Movement, I cannot honor 6-class passes purchased at Saturday classes for admission to these Monday classes. Balanced Movement offers its own pass system, where you can purchase 6 or more classes at once at the rate of $10/class. (There are only 4 classes in this particular session, but you could use your remaining classes for a subsequent Language of Bellydance session.) Alternatively, the drop in rate is $12. Please bring check or cash if you don't already have a pass.

As always, I am available to answer any questions you might have by email at skbeaman@yahoo.com.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day and happy dancing!
Sara

A Quest for Authenticity

2008-03-10T14:23:00.013-04:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about doing a post about my creative work ethic, inspired by similar posts I've read in other blogs and places online. I am always intrigued to hear what other people write about themselves and their creative processes and to find out how my process compares to theirs.
I am currently obsessed with a single theme, a quality I call "heartfelt authenticity". I realized recently that the more performances I see and the more I understand about dance in general, the more I gravitate and respond to dancers who seem to express something "authentic" from within on stage without contrivance, pretension or excessive theatricality. This doesn't require a lot of heavy emotion or onstage "venting"-- although, if this manifested in an unforced, natural way, that would certainly resonate with me. Speaking in terms of facial expression, even just a slight, actual smile conveying real happiness or enjoyment is more than enough. What I see as complete heartfelt authenticity encompasses the whole dancer; not just her face, but each nuance of movement, every gesture and articulation, and, going beyond the physical self, her creative ethic and professional attitude.
We hear a lot in the bellydance community online about what steps, costumes, and gestures are or are not culturally "authentic" within any given context. I understand and appreciate why this discussion is so important. Far too often, poorly educated dancers inaccurately label their dances as coming directly from this country or that ethnic group, while what they are doing bears little to no resemblance to the actual dances of that region, or, at best, is a poor imitation. Similarly, people are too willing to call things "(insert dance style here) fusion" when they haven't studied the dance they are "fusing" with BD on its own for even a minute. As a community and as individuals, I believe we should understand what we are doing and call things what they are, and not perform or support bad folk dances or bad fusion.
In my opinion, cultural authenticity should naturally be of paramount importance if your goal is primarily anthropological. Many of us, however, use dance as a vehicle for self-expression and wouldn't exactly identify ourselves as dance ethnologists. Cultural accuracy is not what I mean by "heartfelt authenticity" at all; in fact, I think the two can compete with each other. Striving to recreate a cultural dance you do not fully understand will only result in awkwardness. As I see it, unless you have observed and studied a folk dance until you have totally internalized it and can express it from your core without pretense, you are better off sticking to modern, "American" (or that of whatever country you hail from), or fusion styles. Why should any dancer be ashamed to call himself fusion? Isn't that far better than a dancer billing himself as, for example, Egyptian, when what he is doing is really just, say, American Cabaret? I would much rather watch a fusion dancer who dances naturally and without calculation than a folk dancer who looks like they are just "going through the motions".
Personally, I know my style is not an anthropologically accurate version of much of anything. I respect and admire dancers who can reproduce dances from another region as if they had been doing them in the womb, but I can't see myself joining their ranks any time soon. I am far too attention-deficit for such an endeavor. I'm stylistically promiscuous; I want to take classes in anything and everything dance-related. I don't like feeling like I need to edit out certain moves in order to fit into a stylistic box. If a movement feels natural and fits with the music, it meets my standards. Lately I find myself drifting away from even thinking about stylistic conventions within the realm of fusion, seeking instead whatever movements spring from within. Of course, I'm still in what I see as the early phase of my dance development. Maybe eventually I'll find one single style to call my home, but until then I will keep seeking, keep trying whatever I can.
I think we risk jeopardizing our creative potential when we allow ourselves to become too concerned with the boundaries between styles. In my opinion, no style within bellydance (or Oriental dance or raqs sharqi or what have you) is sacred. It does not diminish traditional Egyptian dance when people in other countries perform fusion variations thereof. Egyptian dance continues along its own evolutionary path, just as all the other styles change and mutate. Unlike hula, for example, this dance contains no religious meaning, and back in its birthplace, the locals are constantly changing it to fit their taste, so why can't we?
I believe that there is no pure style, no true style, no correct style. Art shouldn't be packaged with a vacuum seal, to be discarded if signs of tampering are present. Art and culture do not exist solely for the anthropologists to coolly and indifferently exhibit; they exist for every one of us to consume and digest, to recreate in our own image.
I do not begrudge anyone their right to believe what they will about the dance, to analyze it and approach it as they see fit. Quite the contrary- I am happy, for example, that there are people out there who have dedicated their dance careers to anthropological study and I feel they are doing the rest of us a great service. What they do is no less useful, in my opinion, than the dancers that relentlessly seek their own creative voice. But, at least to me, it's not any more legitimate to be a dance ethnologist than it is to be any other dancer on a quest for heartfelt authenticity.

Thoughts about performance

2007-11-15T12:21:00.000-05:00

I was asked by a local student recently if I had any advice for beginning performers. I told her I would think about it and get back to her. By now she probably thinks I've forgotten about it (which admittedly wouldn't be out of character for me) but I've actually been busy letting her relatively simple question snowball into a huge monster of a concept in my head ever since. I thought it might be a good idea to write some of my thoughts down before my brain got too overwhelmed by the onslaught of half-formed ideas I tend to generate.
So now I will be writing some advice for new performers.
Well, before I get to that, I'll throw out some disclaimers. I don't consider myself an expert in this topic. I've only been performing bellydance for some five years (ish) and it's still always new to me each time. And yet, I have a bunch of other performance experience in my past that I've always been able to draw on. I can't remember when the first time I performed in public was. In fact, I'm such a godforsaken shameless ham that you could probably say that I've been performing in some capacity or another since I could move around or speak. So I don't remember what it is like to feel ill at ease with the idea of parading myself around in front of people. Also I am really wordy and I'm sorry if I get boring. OK, end of disclaimers.

It doesn't take long for most of us to realize that technical dance ability and performance ability are two different skill sets. Some people have a strong latent ability for performance, just like some people have strong latent kinesthetic awareness. I think most people will find that they begin strong in one area and weaker in the other. In my opinion, I'm pretty good at performing and I always have been, even when I was less than competent technically.
If you're fortunate enough to be naturally gifted in both areas, good for you, however, latent ability shouldn't be seen as a free pass to awesomeness. Even if you already feel pretty comfortable performing, or think you're a pretty good dancer, you still have room to improve. No one is born phenomenal. I believe in both working on your weak areas and learning how to milk your strengths for all they've got.
Just as you develop technical dance ability by practicing at home, taking classes, practicing at home, and taking some more classes, and then practicing some more, you develop performance ability by performing a lot. This sounds almost stupidly simple, but it's true. So where do you begin?
Some people will not feel comfortable with the idea of getting out in front of a crowd of strangers as their first venture into the world of performing. It seems like it might be more manageable to sit your significant other or members of your family down on the couch and perform for them first. However, I have personally found that it is actually easier to perform in front of a small-to-middlin crowd of random people, as long as they are vaguely interested in bellydance, than it is to perform for two or three people, ESPECIALLY if these people (and their opinions) are really important to you.
I have heard absolute horror stories about new students who decided to perform for their boyfriends (either vanilla performances or otherwise) only to have them exhibit one of the following reactions: confusion, boredom, disappointment, disinterest, or a combination thereof. This sounds like a quick way to start never wanting to bellydance again.
Even if your mini-audience is totally supportive, the immediacy of performing for so few people, especially if you are standing right in front of them, is really awkward and nervewracking. Where do you look? Do you smile or try to look serious? Is it ok to talk to them if you mess up? What do you do if they won't make eye contact with you? Basically, what do you do when they don't know what to do?
Instead, my advice is to seek out student events. More likely than not, the crowd will not be huge, but it won't be so small that you feel like you have to make eye contact with people, for example. The element of relative anonymity should also take away some of the stress.
If your teacher doesn't organize any performance events for students, ask another teacher if you can crash theirs. Most likely, they will be glad to have you. Keep expanding your boundaries. Once you feel pretty comfortable performing at student stuff, see if you can perform at haflas or workshop shows as part of a mixed amateur/professional lineup. Once you feel good about that, and you've built up a repertoire, consider performing at community events for the general public, like festivals. Most people will always feel nervous before and/or while performing, so you'll have to figure out what a tolerable level of nervousness is for you and work with that. You never want to be so scared that you're puking backstage, but you don't want to be so comfortable that you don't at least feel excited to be at the event.
If crowds absolutely freak you out, and you need another starting place, try asking your teacher if she (or he) will watch you perform as an alternative to performing for your family. Consider setting up a private lesson with your instructor for this specific purpose, if that option is available to you. I think this is a good place to start because your teacher is probably very used to watching dancers and will hopefully give you both a lot of encouragement and some helpful constructive criticism.

Okay, so performing all the time aside, what can you do to become a more comfortable performer?
In my opinion, performance skills are in large part psychological. Part of working towards a natural stage presence is negotiating your self-image as a performer, and part of that is figuring out what your goals are. Seriously, this is starting to sound like self-help crap, but it's true. Here are some things to think about.
You need to keep your expectations of yourself realistic in order to stay sane. If you have been taking lessons for six weeks and you want to perform next month and your goal is to be hired on the spot by a scout for the Bellydance Superstars who happens to be lurking at a student hafla, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.
No one starts out perfect. Hell, no one ends up perfect either. So being perfect is a crappy goal.
When thinking about your goals, don't limit yourself to thinking about things like improving your skill level or getting accolades from others. Becoming a professional or a fantastic dancer is a great goal, sure, and it's a goal a lot of people have, but it's also really vague. Try thinking instead about specific qualities you want to instill in your dance. Watch other dancers and figure out what you like about their persona on stage, and what you don't think works so well.
For starters, a helpful goal to have is just to learn how to look comfortable and relaxed on stage, so let's talk about how you might get there.
Even if you normally hate the way you look (which would be terrible), swear to yourself that you will spend the entire day of any given performance telling yourself you are radiantly beautiful, graceful, and absolutely enchanting. Once you have achieved that, try doing it the week of any given performance. Then the month. And eventually, every day of your life. You need to be at least somewhat comfortable with yourself in general in order to appear comfortable on stage-- unless you are an incredible actress, in which case you don't need my advice anyway.
Practice in costume beforehand, and don't wear a costume you don't feel at ease in. If you are getting a migraine from the 10 pounds of jewelry you're wearing attached to your scalp, perhaps you need to rethink your aesthetic a little. Don't wait until you're on stage to figure out you can't lift your arms above shoulder level in the new top you just bought or that your pants are way too long. This sounds pretty obvious but I often forget to do this myself.
Don't be afraid of your audience. They should already be on your side. If you find yourself confronted with an antagonistic audience, even still, don't be afraid of their reactions. Unless people start being offensive or openly hostile, just focus on how much you (hopefully) love what it is that you're doing. Sometimes individuals or entire audiences are "dead" and don't react to a single thing you do and there is nothing to do about it. Just remember that it's not you and it's not your performance that's at fault. Audience reactions don't always accuratly gauge everyone's enthusiasm. I don't know how many times I've performed to a dead crowd and had people rave afterwards.
Don't worry too much about messing up. Don't worry about impressing anyone. Don't worry about being the best dancer at the show. Don't worry about being the worst dancer at the show. Don't worry about costume malfunctions. Don't worry about music malfunctions. Just worry about doing a good job and enjoying yourself. This is hard, but you're not going to be able to do it if you allow yourself to become obsessed with negative thoughts.
If you still find yourself paralyzed with stage fright, there are all kinds of alternative therapies you can use to combat that problem, from mindfulness to aromatherapy to hypnosis. I don't know anything about any of them, so I can't vouch for their efficacy, but if you just can't loosen up it might be something to look into.

Once you feel comfortable performing, then you can start thinking about other goals, like adding drama, joy, mystery, or emotion into your dance. Or not. Some dancers are happy to simply focus on perfecting their technique and then neutrally presenting it onstage. This is absolutely fine. However, even if you are mostly interested in the technical stuff you should still probably learn to consider your relationship to your audience so that you can find that happy place where you enjoy performing and other people enjoy watching you.
This gets a little hard to explain, but I'm going to make my best attempt.
You should be able to articulate to yourself what you are trying to "do" with each of your performances. Are you trying to share the dance that you love? Are you trying to educate people about a specific style? Are you trying to impress people with your technical skills? Are you trying to get a specific idea or theme across? Are you trying to get people to like you? Are you trying to scare the crap out of people? Perhaps try to isolate one goal for each performance so that you can really focus on it.
For example, sometimes I just want to perform to express love. I am very into love right now. If my goal is that simple, I will literally stand backstage and think about how I love everyone, every single solitary person, in the audience. This is kind of weird, but it makes me happy and relaxed. I could not do this if I simultaneously had the goal of looking incredibly impressive. When I want to do that, I stand backstage and think "yeah yeah, I'm a badass" or something before I go on. My personality is such that I don't find "yeah yeah I'm a badass" too compelling unless I am saying it tongue-in-cheek, so that's what I do.
Just keep focusing on your motivation throughout your entire performance, and as you focus, project that goal towards your audience and engage with them. This means that unless your goal is literally to ignore your audience, you shouldn't do that!! Ignoring your audience does not make you cool, it makes you boring! You don't have to smile the entire time and you don't have to look them in the eye the entire time, in fact you probably shouldn't, because it will seem forced. But you do have to send your energy their way or else you will never be able to draw them in.
This is kind of scary, but the more you do it, the easier it gets. Eventually it starts to be fun. It becomes less scary when you learn to accept that not everyone in the audience is always going to play along with your game, and that is OK. Even if your goal is just to send out rays of love, I swear to God, there will still be people who are like "ew, no love for me, thanks". That's their issue, not yours.
Always remember that you can't expect your audience to do anything for you and frame your goals accordingly. Instead of "I want people to be impressed with me", think "I want to be awesome". Or what have you. In other words, make your goals active, not passive.

There are about a million other things I could talk about here, so maybe I will post some follow-ups at some point in the future. In any case, I am dying to get your feedback, so if I didn't put you to sleep maybe you'd like to leave me a comment?

my new costume design

2007-10-15T13:34:00.000-04:00

I joke because I love.
(inspired by this thread http://forum.orientaldancer.net/games-prizes/3818-new-game-design-your-own-ubdc.html)

New Video

2007-10-11T11:55:00.000-04:00

Me and Nandana! Just some back-to-basics zil improv.
The sound is a little off, but the video is still worth watching I think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6967zYREEY

Some thoughts about shisha embroidery

2007-09-13T13:48:00.000-04:00

Someone on Tribe asked me to explain how to do shisha embroidery, which I didn't do at all in the belt tutorial (I found this other tutorial online and glanced at it briefly before linking to it, hehe... lazy.)
Anyway, here are my thoughts:
The first step is to make a net type thing around the mirror so it can't fall out or move from side to side.
To keep the mirror from slipping around while you are trying to sew it in place, hold it down with the thumb of your non-dominant hand while you hold your base in place with the rest of your hand. Start holding the needle beneath the base fabric. Push the needle up through the base fabric right at the edge of the mirror. Pull the yarn (or embroidery floss) across the middle of the mirror, so that it bisects the mirror a little bit away from the dead center. Hold this part down with your thumb and push the needle back through the base at the very edge of the mirror. Pull the yarn/floss tight. That's one stitch. You want to make stitches to form either a triangle (for smaller mirrors) or a square (for larger mirrors) around the center of the mirror. Don't worry if they are almost in the middle of the mirror, you will pull them back later with your other embroidery. Now stitch a triangle (or square) that goes in the opposite direction from your first one... so if you are using triangles it will end up looking like a Star of David. By this time you can hopefully let go of the mirror because it won't fall out. Now the net is done.
Now you want to open up the net so that you can actually see the mirror. Start with your needle back on the back of the base and push it through to the front right at the edge of the mirror. Thread the needle underneath one of the stitches of the net on top of the mirror and pull the yarn through. Now gently pull the yarn back towards the edge of the mirror and push the needle back through the base perhaps a quarter or half inch from where you started. Repeat around the entire circumference of the mirror. This will leave you with a semi-finished looking edge around the mirror. Some people leave it as is at this step, but I prefer to go back over it once more to make a solid border of embroidery around the mirror.
What I do at this point is backstitch (crossstitch.about.com/od/outl...kst.htm) all around the edge of the mirror to form an anchor for the next step. Then I push the needle through to the front, feed the needle through the backstitch border and down under the shisha net, then over both, then (ever so slightly inching to the side) under both again, then over, etc etc etc. This creates the satin-stitch looking edge that is characteristic of authentic Banjara shisha embroidery.
Once I am done I usually carefully make another backstitch border just to make it look more finished, sometimes in a contrasting color to add interest.

GO NOW

2007-09-12T13:12:00.001-04:00

http://www.sarabeaman.com

Hey, check it out!

2007-08-29T08:43:00.000-04:00

Hellbent & Heartfirst: The Tattoo - a story about a tattoo I designed for my friend and fellow Devoted member, written in her words.
Makes me want to get inked myself, like rrl rrl bad.

My Handmade Belt Story.

2007-08-24T16:55:00.001-04:00

A tale of obsession, neurosis, and simply having way too much time on my hands.

Note: Because I am a kind person, I present you with the option to skip directly to my notes on construction technique, in the case that you don’t want to read my longwinded explanation of how and why the belt came to be.

This was not my first belt. Nor my first fringe belt. I have been dancing for a little over 5 years and making belts nearly just as long—tassel belts, yarn fringe belts, lame fringe belts (much less lame than they sound, mind you), embroidered belt bases, mirrored belt bases, shelled belt bases, feathered belt bases, corset belts and panel belts. (No bedlah belts yet, but give me time.) When I started dancing, there were no vendors in my area who sold any kind of tribal-looking belts, so my first project was to make an embroidered belt base from scratch. I didn’t have any mirrors or even a clear idea of what I wanted it to look like when I was done, and I never finished it.
A few months later I received a mirror belt base purchased off Ebay for Christmas. I set to work making my first ATS-style tassel belt, using a terrible choice of colors that clashed both with my outfit and with the belt base itself, but when it was done I wore it with immense pride.
Well, I wore it with pride for at least one performance or two, before I went to Asheville for a workshop with Ultra Gypsy, where I saw Jill Parker perform in the most beautiful object I had ever seen tied to someone’s hips (you can see a picture of it here http://people.tribe.net/jillparker/photos/2d38eb8e-bcdc-4f02-8dd6-b8d3eb3136ea). I believe this was in 2003.
In any case, I knew I had to have one. Later I found out that this type of belt was made by Mardi Love, who at that time I knew of from videos of Urban Tribal, and that you could (theoretically) purchase them from her (although good luck doing that if you live on the East Coast on a student’s budget), but why would I want to buy something I could make myself? Right?
I only had one belt base I thought would be suitable, which happened to be the base of my tassel belt, so that was promptly disassembled. I went out and bought some beautiful Manos de Uruguay yarn (this time in a coordinating color), chopped the belt I had in half, and affixed ties and yarn fringe. This solution was satisfactory for about a minute and a half—I made the fringe too short, so it looked kind of dorky, and it bore little overall resemblance to Jill’s beautiful belt. I was determined to try again.
I had acquired a leather belt covered in cowry shells from someone on some other occasion (birthday? Christmas?) and now I was eyeing it with a fresh perspective. So, in 2004, I bought some more yarn and some feather trim, hacked up the belt, and embarked on the most hellish handsewing experience of my life, which culminated in this belt http://people.tribe.net/sarabeaman/photos/758d003c-48cc-4355-92f5-15e8d4d4a872, along with some self-inflicted puncture wounds.
This belt was badass, but as soon as I wore it the feathers started falling out. I only wore it twice.
After my ill-advised adventures with the cowry shell belt, I wanted to find a better canvas for my belt bases. In the recesses of my memory I recalled seeing some handmade belts sold at a workshop sometime in my past that were made with some kind of fuzzy, natural-looking material. I wondered if I could figure out what it was, because its softness and fuzziness seemed like the perfect antithesis to that horrible leather.
Now, the yarn shop expedition for my first fringe belt had slowly transformed me into a knitter. The vision of skeins of wool and alpaca and linen and silk and cotton yarn all piled into delicious little heaps in their own wooden cubbies had worked its way into my dreams. I needed a suitable excuse to buy more yarn than I would ever need for just tassels and fringe, so I taught myself to knit. Somewhere in my knitting books I had read about a process called felting, which transforms a knitted woolen object into a fuzzy little length of fabric as the fibers lock together. Perhaps, I surmised, the lovely material I recalled was, in fact, felt. So I knitted up some little squares of Icelandic wool, threw them in the washing machine on the hot cycle for a few hours, and voila—dreamy felt, just like from my vague belt memories.
Handmade felt is the perfect belt backing. It’s got a good amount of friction to it, so it won’t slip down the sides of your silk pantaloons, and you can sew through it with anything the size of a yarn needle or smaller. (Store-bought felt, on the other hand, completely lacks this latter virtue.) This means you can embroider it with worsted-weight yarn, which in turn means you can do shisha mirror embroidery about 3 times faster than you can with embroidery floss.
I made four belts to sell using felt bases and yarn embroidery, all of which are now with happy owners elsewhere in the Southeast. At some point it crossed my mind that I might want to make one to keep for myself, and visions of Jill’s belt danced in my head once more. So one day, on a long car ride, I set to work.

How I made my belt, and how you can make your own.

2007-08-24T16:48:00.000-04:00

First, a note of caution. This belt probably took me around 40 hours to complete, maybe more, and all told cost me somewhere in the vicinity of $250 (of course, I spared no expense). What?! you ask. Why the hell would you make a belt yourself when you could probably buy it for the same amount? Well, you might, if:
a. You are crazy;
b. You have too much time on your hands;
c. You want absolute control over the color or style;
d. You actually enjoy this kind of crap; or
e. All of the above.
If any of these describe you, this is the kind of project for you. If not, maybe try buying one readymade.
(In my case, I love crafting and costuming more than I can even say, and I wanted a brown fringe belt somethin’ fierce.)

Tools
•Knitting needles (probably size 10)
•Washing machine or stationary tub (for felting)
•Large tapestry needle (with an eye big enough to pass worsted weight yarn through)
•Smaller hand-sewing needles
•Beading needles for whatever size of seed beads you plan to use
•Straight pins
•Fabric scissors
•Measuring tape
•Sewing machine (optional)
•Wire brush (optional)
•Seam ripper (if you’re repurposing thrift-store finds like me)

Materials
•2 skeins of Lamb’s Pride Bulky wool yarn (for base felt—if you are not going to use this brand, make sure whatever you are using is wool or alpaca or it will not felt!!!)
•Dish soap (for felting process)
•Various yarns for fringe—thick and thin (I don’t use Colinette, it’s psychotically overpriced and the colorways are really not that great. Try Berocco Hip Hop if you can get it.), rag, ribbon, whatever you like. I like to use a variety of widths and textures.
•A length of ½ inch wide ribbon (probably about 2ft)
•All kinds of crap to use as adornment. In my case I used cowry shells (backs removed), little round dollhouse mirrors (for shisha embroidery), worsted weight yarn (some of which I also used as fringe), seed beads, bugle beads, Ethiopian brass disc beads, and Kuchi coins that I bought already attached to a strip of colorful fabric. I also disemboweled a Kuchi metal belt that I had sitting around unused for its little metal domes, which were conveniently strung along a little piece of ribbon, making for easy sewing. The Kuchi belt also had some awesome metal fringe attached, which I used to decorate my coin bra.
•Beading thread and thread conditioner
•Some kind of fabric to use as ties—I like stretch velvet because it stays tied pretty much no matter what if you put it in a double knot. I couldn’t find velvet I liked much at a fabric store, so I went to the local thrift shop (one of my favorite things to do) and found a pretty hideous stretch velvet minidress in the loveliest shade of chocolate brown you can imagine. What you can’t tell from the picture is that the velvet actually has a subtle cheetah print burnout (yesss). I took a seam ripper to it and used it for my ties.
•Thread that matches both your yarn and your tie fabric.
•A small amount of grabby material for backing. Try a nice crappy non-stretch velvet (thrift store finds are always great for this too), the kind that give me nails-on-a-chalkboard creepies when I run my fingers across it. It doesn’t have to look nice, because no one will see it unless your belt falls off (God forbid). This will protect your embroidery, make your belt more durable, and if your fabric creates enough friction, decrease the chances of slippage. You might want to find something that won’t fray.

Shortcuts
Buy the base premade.
Buy the beaded disks premade (good luck finding 4 matched ones though).
Buy squares of wool roving in your desired color and size to omit the knitting step before felting (they might have these at your local yarn store).
I don’t advise using a different base to save time unless you are not planning on doing shisha mirror embroidery. I find that I make up any time lost in the felting process by using worsted-weight yarn for the shishas rather than embroidery floss. However, if you are just attaching things like beads and cowries, you can use practically any fabric appropriate for hand embroidery for your base to save time.

A. Knitting your Base
1. Learn to knit. http://www.learntoknit.com/instructions_kn.php3 You only need to do garter stitch, so if you can knit a garter stitch rectangle, you’re golden.
2. Figure out how large you want each part of the belt to be. If you want to make a 2 panel belt with a beaded medallion on each side, these are roughly the shapes you will need:

I like to make the front piece slightly shorter (or narrower, depending how you look at it) than the back, because I think it looks more balanced. The rectangular pieces of my belt are about 3 inches wide (ish) and the circular parts are about 3 ½ inches in diameter (ish).
3. Knit the pieces for your base. You will want to make 2 long skinny rectangles (or one very long skinny rectangle to cut in half) and 4 squares (which you will later cut into the circles, but don’t bother trying to knit a circular object, it will only look funky after felting anyway). Keep in mind that the felting process will shrink everything a little, and you will probably need to trim off the uneven edges, so make everything bigger than you will ultimately need it to be by at least ½ an inch.

B. Felting your Base
Using these instructions or whatever method you prefer, felt all your knitted pieces until you can only barely see the individual stitches, and when you pull on the fabric, you can’t see any little holes. This might take a while. I like using soap and lukewarm water in a basin or sink because it ultimately uses less water, but it’s hard work!

C. Turning your Felt from a Gross Matted Mess into a Nice Fuzzy Base
Allow the felt to dry for at least an hour or so (you don’t need to put it in the dryer, just leave it out on an old towel or whatever). If you have a wire brush, you can use this to gently coax out any nasty looking parts and to give the felt a nice fur-like texture. Use the brush gently and judiciously. Next, get a nice sharp pair of fabric scissors and cut out the shapes you would like. Only cut away a bit at a time for the best results. If you hack away with abandon, you might cut too much off and be forced to start over, which would be pretty sad.

D. Decorating your Base
This is by far the most time-consuming step, but also the part where you can really get creative if you want and personalize your design. I started with the beaded medallions; a helpful tutorial on beading technique can be found at this page. You won’t need an embroidery hoop if you are using felt (yay!). I did basically the same thing as in the tutorial, except I put a shisha mirror in the middle of mine, so here is a link to some info on shisha embroidery: Stitch.
In addition to using bead embroidery and shisha mirrors, try affixing cowry shells, coins, ethnic beads, or whatever strikes your fancy using sturdy thread.
You will probably want to leave the ends of your long skinny pieces unadorned, because the medallions will go over top of them and you won’t see them.
EDIT: You can now read my ideas about how to do shisha embroidery in another post.

E. Assembling your Base Pieces
Place the medallions on the ends of your rectangle pieces, overlapping by at least an inch or so. Using backstitch or a similar sturdy stitch on the interior and whipstitch around the edges, firmly attach the medallions to the rectangles so that they will in no way be tempted to wriggle free.

Optional: At this point, you can attach pre-strung coins, a necklace, a belly drape, or what have you to the back of your base to use as a center drape. Use one or many, whatever you like, but attach it before you attach the fringe, or you’ll have a hard time putting it in front of the fringe. You can also put tassels on the sides if you want before or after you add the yarn fringe.

F. Making the Fringe
1. Cut a length of ribbon for each side of your belt, about 4 inches longer than the belt’s actual length.
2. Determine how long you want the fringe to be (this process can be as simple as dangling a measuring tape from your hips to the floor). Erring on the longer side is advised—you can always cut the fringe later if you find it’s too long.
3. Cut lengths of yarn that are twice the length you want the fringe to be, plus a little to be on the safe side.
4. “Fold” each piece of yarn in half, and, using a slipknot, knot the center of each piece around the ribbon. Try starting at the middle and working out. This way you can test the fringe out as you are working, holding it up in front of a mirror to see if the pieces look nice together. Nothing is permanent yet, so if you need to move pieces around, spread them out or scrunch them together, it’s easy.
5. Once you are finished creating the fringe, using straight pins, pin the ribbon onto the back of your belt base. Fold the edges over and pin them down. Now, using whatever stitch you feel comfortable with/accommodates the decoration on the front of the belt, stitch the fringe to your belt, going over the edges multiple times and the center at least twice (you don’t want it to come off, do you?).

G. Making the Ties
This is where a sewing machine really comes in handy. Cut out two lengths of the material you are using for your ties—both a little more than twice as wide as you want your ties to be, and a few inches longer. For each tie, place the right side of the fabric down, wrong side up, and fold a bit of one edge over (at least ¾ inch or so). Sew across this edge with a straight seam. Flip the fabric over (now the right side is facing up). Fold in half (now you can see the wrong side) and sew a straight seam across the free edge to make a tube that is closed at one end. Now you have an inside-out tie. Turn it right side out and sew the unfinished edge to the back of your belt. Repeat for the other side.

H. Attaching the Backing
If you are using fabric that won’t fray, good for you. All you need to do is cut the fabric down to size and sew it on the back of each half of your belt. Otherwise, finish the edges using no-fray solution or by seaming and sew it on. Don’t use Liquid Stitch or whatever—despite what it claims, it will not affix well to felt. I have made this mistake in the past (not on this belt thank God) and regret it deeply.

I. Rock Your Awesome, Awesome New Belt.

You might also want to check out this Bellydance DIY blog for more project ideas!

Upcoming Performances

2007-08-18T08:53:00.000-04:00

NCBellydance.org 6th Anniversary Hafla Saturday September 22, 6:30 to 10:00 PM at the Galaxy Cinema in Cary NC. (more info)
I will be performing at this event as part of Blue Moon Dance Company and as a member of the Devoted Bellydance Collective. This show sounds like it is going to be huge! The proceeds are going to help keep NCBellydance.org up and running, so it's for a good cause too!

Twilight at the Oasis Sunday September 23, 5:30 to 10:00 PM at Cafe Parizade in Durham. (more info)
Twilight at the Oasis is a benefit dinner for Cornucopia House Cancer Support Center, hosted yearly by local troupe Orientale Expressions. I will be performing as a soloist.

Carrboro Music Festival Sunday September 30, Time and Location TBA (more info)
I will be performing in a spectacular 40 minute set by the Devoted Bellydance Collective. Did I mention this event is FREE? Why yes, it's FREE! So come out and see us!

3-Week Zil Intensive ~ Monday Nights in Carrboro

2007-05-15T15:33:00.000-04:00

Date, Time and Location: May 21, June 4, and June 11- 7:30-9 PM - Balanced Movement Studio in Carrboro
I will be filling in for Suzanne Kennedy during these dates at her Monday night class. The focus of these three weeks will be on zils (a.k.a. finger cymbals)-- how to play them, how to dance with them, and how to incorporate them into Tribal improv. Each session we will learn a different zil pattern and Tribal combination appropriate for using in both improv and choreography.
All levels of dance experience welcome. Please bring water, paper and pencil to take notes, and zils if you own them. A limited number of zils will be available to purchase or borrow.
If you have any questions about this session please feel free to email me at skbeaman@yahoo.com.

CHCYMCA Date Correction!!

2007-03-17T22:37:00.000-04:00

Please note that the starting date for the Y classes has been corrected. The classes will start on Tuesday, March 27. I apologize for any inconvenience! Please contact me at skbeaman@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Upcoming Technique Intensives with Blue Moon Dance Co.

2007-03-12T19:20:00.000-04:00

Saturday, March 17: Blue Moon presents our Upper Body Technique Intensive, 9:30 - 11:30 AM, Academy for the Performing Arts, 1220 Laura Village Road, Apex, NC.
This is an auxilliary location for the Apex Academy for the Performing Arts. It is located in the shopping plaza at the intersection of Rt. 64 and Laura Duncan Road in Apex in the row of shops to the left rear of the center. It is in the same plaza as Taco Bell.

9:00 AM: Doors open for registration

9:30 - 11:30 AM: Whether you are a newcomer to or a seasoned veteran of belly dance, this workshop will be a perfect opportunity to refine your upper body technique so that you can become a more graceful, fluid and powerful dancer. Workshop space is limited to 18 participants in total, so sign up early! We will no longer accept any registrations once we have reached capacity.

Fee: $25 if postmarked by March 13; $30 thereafter. Bring water. Ages 18 and up. Suitable for all levels. No refunds unless event is cancelled.

Saturday, April 21: Blue Moon presents our Lower Body Technique Intensive, 9:30 - 11:30 AM, Academy for the Performing Arts, 1220 Laura Village Road, Apex, NC.

9:00 AM: Doors open for registration

9:30 - 11:30 AM: Whether you are a newcomer to or a seasoned veteran of belly dance, this workshop will be a perfect opportunity to refine your upper body technique so that you can become a more graceful, fluid and powerful dancer. Workshop space is limited to 18 participants in total, so sign up early! We will no longer accept any registrations once we have reached capacity.

Fee: $25 if postmarked by April 13; $30 thereafter. Bring water. Ages 18 and up. Suitable for all levels. No refunds unless event is cancelled.

For registration forms and more information please visit Blue Moon's Classes and Workshops Page, call Sashi at 919-303-6716 or email us at mail@bluemoonbellydance.com.

Spring Class Information

2007-03-12T19:08:00.000-04:00

TRIBAL STYLE BELLYDANCE CHOREOGRAPHY with Sara Beaman
My newest class session will be starting on Tuesday, March 20 and will run uninterrupted for 8 weeks. For this class session, I will be teaching an upbeat choreography based on our Tribal movement vocabulary. This will be a multilevel choreography, so both beginners and experienced students are welcome.
Youths under 16 years old must be accompanied by an adult. Unfortunately, as per the Chapel Hill YMCA's policy, we cannot allow drop-ins for individual sessions of this class. The class fee, set by the YMCA, includes all 8 weeks and is non-negotiable.
Please wear comfortable clothes to this class and bring water. You may choose to dance in socks, dance slippers, or bare feet. If you have any questions about the format or content of the class, please contact Sara at skbeaman@yahoo.com.

WHEN: Tuesdays, 5:50-6:50, March 27th — May 8th
WHERE: B & C Room, Chapel Hill/Carrboro YMCA
COST: $30 YMCA Members / $60 Non-Members

If you are interested please call Evie Benson at 942-5156 at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA.

For more information about this class you can read my More About YMCA Classes post.

Winter Class Dates

2007-01-01T20:29:00.000-05:00

Tribal Style Bellydance Fundamentals with Sara Beaman
When: Tuesdays, 5:50-6:50, January 8th-March 6th (No Class February 27th)
Where: B&C Room, Chapel Hill/Carrboro YMCA
Cost: $30 YMCA Members / $60 Non-Members (No drop-ins)
If you are interested, please call Evie Benson at 942-5156 at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA. If you have any questions please email me directly at skbeaman@yahoo.com.

Robot Raks video

2006-11-06T13:32:00.000-05:00

My robotic duet with my sister, the fabulous Emily, is now available for your viewing pleasure online.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74TXeHBHv6o
You can't see our creepy android smiles (sadly), but our light-up belts sure look pretty sweet.

New Class Dates!

2006-10-29T09:56:00.000-05:00

I am going to be teaching one last session of classes at the Chapel Hill - Carrboro YMCA before the end of 2006! There is less than two weeks before this session will start, so please, if you want to take the class, go ahead and sign up ASAP. (This way I can convince the Y that it is okay for us not to have such long breaks between class sessions.) The new class session will run from November 7 to December 12. Unlike previous classes, there will only be 6 dates in this session. The focus of this session will be learning how to dance effectively with a partner. We will learn how to use cues, transitions, and body language to communicate nonverbally with a partner using Blue Moon Dance Company's improv format. We will also learn some simple combinations and traveling techniques which work excellently for duets. This class will build on material from previous classes but will still be designed so that new students can participate just as well.
More info re: pricing, location, and time is available at the Class Info page.
Please note that after this session of classes the rates will be increasing. This is a decision I made, so you can be mad at me if you want :) but I wanted the price of this class to more accurately reflect the median price of bellydance classes in this area. We bellydancers work hard to establish fair market standards for our class and performance rates. While the Y's price structure was in line with other fitness classes in the area, it was quite a good deal lower than most if not all class prices offered by other BD teachers in the area. I hope that interest in the class will stay up despite the price increase-- in my opinion the new prices are still quite affordable, especially when you consider the amount paid for each session. Again, this change will NOT affect this last 2006 session, but will affect all future sessions.

Durga Tour location change

2006-09-27T20:08:00.000-04:00

Due to space considerations I have had to change the location of the Durga Tour. Our new location will be the Namaste Yoga Center in Cary (their website is http://www.namasteyogacenter.com/). This means that everyone who has already sent in their registration will be able to attend, and I believe we have two spaces left up for grabs. It's very unlikely that we will be able to register people at the door, so if you are still interested and coming and haven't registered yet, it's not too late, but you might want to get your stuff in the mail!
Namaste is a lovely space that is hidden away in a very bland looking corporate center. You may miss it when you come to the workshop if you don't know what to look for. It's in the building right next to the McDonalds and Citgo station at the intersection of High House Road and Cary Parkway (more detailed driving locations to this intersection are available on the Namaste website).
Please email me if you have any questions. (skbeaman@yahoo.com)

Oliver Twist this Friday 9/29

2006-09-23T17:43:00.000-04:00

Come out and see me perform this Friday night at 9:30 and 10:00 PM at Oliver Twist, a cute and stylish tapas lounge/martini bar in North Raleigh. Info about Oliver Twist, including driving directions, is available at http://www.olivertwistlounge.com/.

BMDC Fall Workshops

2006-09-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

Blue Moon Dance Company is happy to announce that we will be presenting two fabulous Fall Workshops: Costuming for Tribal Dance and Rhythm and Motion for Dancers, Saturday, October 7 at The Solution Center, Brighton Hall, 1101 Slater Road, Durham (RTP).

Costuming for Tribal Dance: Wondering what all you can do with that Kuchi necklace you covet? Or how to master those traditional tribal facial tattoos? Are you dying to look like a Belly Dance Superstar without breaking the bank? Then Costuming for Tribal Dance is the workshop for you! We will cover topics such as makeup tips, facial tattoos, costuming on a budget, hair and headdresses, as well as maximizing your costuming mileage. Ideas for traditional to trendy genres of tribal costuming will be featured. (10:30 AM - Noon)

Rhythm and Motion for Dancers: Learn how to recognize musical phrases and analyze both rhythms and melodies for more expressive improv and choreography. Basic rhythms will be reviewed, and concepts such as recognizing the down beat, counting, keeping the tempo, dancing to live music and ideas for structuring your improvisation and choreographies will be included. Applicable for all styles and skill levels of bellydance. And best of all, Blue Moon Dance Company's own musicians will join us during the workshop! (1:00 - 3:00 PM)

Details and registration forms for both workshops are now available at www.bluemoonbellydance.com/classes.html.

Be sure to also check out our website for our Fall class schedules and other upcoming events- such as Haflaween 3D: Resistance is Futile, which is selling out quickly!

Breaking News!!

2006-09-06T12:40:00.000-04:00

I am happy to announce that I will be hosting Tempest and Ariellah of The Durga Tour for their stop in NC on Wednesday, October 11. The Durga Tour is the first Gothic, Sacred and Experimental belly dance tour of the US! During their stay, Tempest and Ariellah will be sharing their unique dance styles with us in a two-hour workshop. More details to come as we work out the time, location, and topic.
Both Tempest and Ariellah were recently featured on the DVD "Gothic Bellydance: The Darker Side of Fusion" released by World Dance New York. Tempest is a pioneer of the Gothic style of Bellydance, the designer of the ubiquitous Corset Belt, and will soon be featured on her own instructional DVD, "Belly Dance for Beautiful Freaks". Ariellah was a founding member of The Indigo, Rachel Brice's dance company, in 2002, and currently dances with dance partner Suzan Revah in their company Noor Belly Dance.
For more about Tempest: http://www.darklydramatic.com
For more about Ariellah: http://www.ariellah.com
If you are interested in taking this workshop please contact me (skbeaman@yahoo.com) to reserve a spot and for registration info. Please also feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this workshop or the Durga Tour.

Upcoming performances- just added!

2006-08-13T14:11:00.000-04:00

Saturday, September 9th: World of Dance VI Show with Zhaleh Fereshteh, Diva of Shimmies Sara will be performing with Blue Moon Dance Company at this event in Charlotte, NC hosted by Yasmine and the Magic Hips Dancers. Doors open at 6:00 pm, show starts at 6:30pm. This event is located at the Pease Auditorium in CPCC Central Campus. For more information, please visit the Magic Hips website.

Saturday, September 16th: Twilight at the Oasis Benefit Show (7:30 pm) Sara will be performing both as a member of Blue Moon Dance Company and as a soloist at the "Twilight at the Oasis" Middle Eastern Dinner/Dance Show, to benefit Cornucopia House Cancer Support Center. This event is at Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (Garrett Road) in Durham, NC.

Fall Classes at the Chapel Hill YMCA

2006-08-13T13:56:00.000-04:00

The fall session of classes at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA will be starting on Tuesday, September 5. The classes will run from 5:50 to 6:50 PM for a series of eight sessions total.
For more information about the class format, see my class information page.
Both students who took the first session and new students are equally welcome to attend. Two moves from the last session (Arabic and basic shimmies) will be reviewed, and we will continue to work on isolations, but all other class content will be new.
Please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email with any questions. (skbeaman@yahoo.com)

Special Class, August 7

2006-07-31T14:42:00.000-04:00

I will be filling in for Suzanne at Balanced Movement for one class while she is on vacation. This hour and a half class will start at 7:30 PM. Both drop-ins and Suzanne's regular students are welcome; the drop-in fee is $12.
This class will focus on musicality and rhythm in Tribal Style. We will learn to recognize phrases in several traditional bellydance rhythms, how to pick up the down beat and keep in time with the music, and ideas for improvising to atypical or arhythmic music, such as slow taqsim. Students who own zils should bring them along, they might pick up some new zil patterns as a bonus!
Directions to Balanced Movement Studio are available at their website.
If you have any questions, please email me at skbeaman@yahoo.com.

Upcoming workshop with Blue Moon Dance Company

2006-06-14T14:28:00.000-04:00

Sara's note: Come out to this workshop and learn my new combo "The Octopus"!!

Saturday, June 24: Blue Moon presents our Summer Workshop: Bellydancing with a Partner: Improv Techniques and Slow Combos, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM, Academy for the Performing Arts, 115 Commerce Street, Apex, NC.

9:30 AM: Doors open for registration and shopping

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM: This dynamic and information-packed workshop will focus on teaching tips and techniques for dancing with a partner both in improvisation and choreography. Several slow combinations that can be done with or without a partner will be featured, as well as how to incorporate the use of props in many of these moves. These combinations will be suitable for both cabaret and tribal style bellydance. Don't worry if you don't have a partner- the combos are suitable for individual dancers too.

Fee: $30 if postmarked by June 17; $35 thereafter. Bring water. Ages 18 and up. No refunds unless event is cancelled. Workshop space is limited, so sign up early!

For a registration form, please visit Blue Moon's classes website.

Darbukastani Independence Days

2006-05-14T11:50:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be at Spirithaven Farm for Darbukastani Independence Days (June 3-5) this year. I'm looking forward to the workshops with Zafira! Hopefully it won't be too hot. My fabulous sister and I will probably be performing some sort of dance at the hafla, perhaps the new North African influenced choreography we're working on. I am hoping it won't rain the entire time/have a plague of locusts like last time I was there. I am putting positive thoughts out to the universe.
For more info about DID visit the Touch the Earth website.

New Event

2006-05-01T21:27:00.000-04:00

Friday, May 12: Oliver Twist I will be performing two sets at Oliver Twist in North Raleigh starting at 9:30 PM. No cover charge. For more information about Oliver Twist visit their website at http://www.olivertwistlounge.com.

Sharon Kihara has raided my closet.

2006-04-30T23:35:00.000-04:00

I'm just sayin' is all.

Show Tunes hafla!

2006-04-23T21:31:00.000-04:00

I had a great time at our Show Tunes hafla last night! Everyone who performed did a wonderful job and we ended up selling out of tickets! Yay! Najila has already posted some photos from the event at her gallery, which are lovely as always. I have also uploaded a streaming video of my solo performance to "El Tango de Roxanne" at YouTube.
Thank you to everyone who performed or came to watch! I hope everyone had as great a time as I did.

Two new future events posted...

2006-04-18T13:38:00.000-04:00

April 28: NC State College of Design Studio Crawl North Carolina State University School of Design, NCSU Campus, Raleigh, 9PM
Blue Moon will be performing, along with our musicians, at the Studio Crawl, an annual event highlighting the skills and talents of NCSU Design students.

July 15: Evening at the Casbah! Triangle Dance Studio, 2603 S. Miami Boulevard, Durham, Doors open at 7:30 PM.
Come join us for scintillating performances of tribal fusion belly dance featuring lively improvisation, intricate choreographies, phenomenal live music, red hot energy and boundless enthusiasm. After the performance, audience members are welcome to join in the dancing and drumming! Light refreshments will be served. Admission is $10. For directions to the venue, please contact us at mail@bluemoonbellydance.com.

Just a reminder....

2006-04-16T17:46:00.000-04:00

Blue Moon Dance Company's Show Tunes hafla is next Saturday! Doors open at 7PM. More info is available on the website! We are going to have many FABULOUS performances by several local dancers and troupes, including many of those listed in my Links section. I will be performing an interpretative solo (which sounds slightly lame... but hopefully is not) and in Blue Moon's ultra-top-secret big finale piece. Do not miss this event!!

Oliver Twist this weekend!

2006-04-05T13:58:00.000-04:00

This Friday and Saturday night I will be performing at Oliver Twist in Raleigh. Each night will feature two sets at or around 9:30 and 10 PM. For more information including driving directions, please visit the Oliver Twist website at http://www.olivertwistlounge.com.

Links of the Week, March 21

2006-03-22T14:01:00.000-05:00

History and Culture
Jas' Middle Eastern Rhythms Page This site is extremely informative and an excellent resource for anyone who would like to learn about traditional Middle Eastern rhythms. It's presented in a Q and A format. You may want to read all of the questions from the beginning, but if you want to get right into the rhythms section, scroll down to the "So I want to learn some rhythms, where do we start?" question. The most helpful thing about this site is that for those of us who can't read ME drumming notation (which is not the same as sheet music), audio files are provided so that you can hear all of the different rhythms. Many of the rhythms include both simple and complex variations for you to listen to. (so cool!!) For anyone interested in pursuing bellydance, rhythm knowledge is an invaluable skill, and the earlier you start listening to the different rhythms the better!

Troupes and Performers
Rachel Brice and the Indigo The Indigo, directed by Rachel Brice, is a tribal fusion troupe which tours the US as part of the Bellydance Superstars, which is currently the most successful professional bellydance company in the world. While the bellydance community has mixed feelings regarding the Superstars-- some people feel it's too commercial, or not an accurate representation of the dance form-- no one can deny that Rachel and her troupe are all excellent dancers, and their performance style is a huge influence on the tribal dance scene as a whole. I have met Rachel in person, and in addition to being an amazing performer, she is unbelievably sweet and a great source of positive energy.

Devyani Dance Company Devyani is a pure American Tribal Style troupe based in Birmingham, Alabama. Their director, Megha Gavin, is a protege of Carolena Nericchio, the 'mother' of American Tribal Style. I absolutely love watching Devyani perform because they really exemplify the beauty and power of this dance form. Their site features videos of their recent performances with examples of both group improv and tribal style choreography.

Links of the Week, March 14

2006-03-14T14:06:00.000-05:00

History and Culture
The Many Faces of Tribal Belly Dance by Sharon Moore
This is not an article but rather a sort of online presentation. While it's still under construction, it provides concise and accurate information about the different traditional dances from around the world that influence tribal bellydance.

Troupes and Performers
Awalim Dance Company Awalim, directed by Z'iah Ali, is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Awalim is noteworthy for their beautiful choreographies and the skill of their dancers both as part of the troupe and as soloists. Their style is a great example of what many people refer to as "East Coast Tribal", which, in contrast to "pure" American Tribal Style, places a greater emphasis on choreography while still maintaining most of the other Tribal Style aesthetic elements. Awalim and Z'iah recently were the hosts of TribalCon 2006, which is quickly growing to be one of the most popular Tribal events on the East Coast.

Sashi Sashi is the reason I bellydance! Once I saw her very first performance with Blue Moon I knew I had to start taking classes myself. She is an inspiration to me. She's also the most awesome mom in the world! Sashi teaches class in both Cary and Chapel Hill throughout the week and performs regularly as a member of Blue Moon. She also vends all kinds of different bellydance necessities as Blue Fusion Inc.
Nandana Nandana, also a principal member of Blue Moon Dance Company, was my first bellydance instructor, and I still take classes from her fairly often. Her instruction has been a huge influence on my personal style. She teaches all over the Triangle area. Any student really interested in developing their Tribal technique should look in to taking her intermediate level classes once they have the prerequisite experience. Nandana also vends beautiful costumes and tribal jewelry, which are available on her site and at various regional events.
Sashi and Nandana also teach basic level classes as a team on Monday nights and basic level two/advanced beginner classes on Wednesday nights at the Cary YMCA.

Dancing while blind

2006-03-12T10:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I performed at a student hafla in Raleigh. This being a relatively low-key performance for me, I didn't look in a mirror to check my makeup before going onstage. I was wearing my glasses to see the performances before our class (Nandana's intermediate skirt choreography class <3) went on, and, of course, I forgot to remove them. (Major faux pas.) I didn't even realize they were still on my face until I looked out at the audience (all of 10 feet away from us) and thought, "Wow, I can see everyone really well! OH CRAP! MY GLASSES!" Actually, it felt great. I could really connect with the audience and see how they were responding to the dance in a way I haven't been able to for a while.
I don't wear contacts because I am afraid of sticking something in my eye. (I know, how childish.) My vision without glasses is bad but not awful, but I think it's enough to detract from my performances and it seems to be getting worse over time. At TribalCon, I couldn't see faces in the audience at all. While performing, I concentrate almost entirely on the music and so it's hard for me to hear verbal feedback from the audience unless everyone is yelling at once, so without faces on your audience it's hard not to wonder "am I doing okay? I can't tell!" I took my glasses off in my car before my first class at the YMCA last week and I couldn't see the faces of my students in the second row! I thought one student was glaring at me a few times, and she wasn't. How embarrassing. I won't do that again.
I'm sure some people would rather not see their audience so they can 'trance out' as they dance-- I guess these dancers are more internal than I am. I think my visual alienation from the audience translates into unease which then translates into nervousness (also known as the LAST thing you want to project to your audience). An audience member at TribalCon told me I looked nervous. (nooo!) I'm sure I did, because I was totally disoriented!! No contacts no glasses might work at Blue Moon haflas at the Solution Center where my audience is a yard away from me, but it's not cutting it anymore for stage shows. So, I guess, in addition to all of the multiple hundreds of dollars I've been spending on costumes, music, instruction, and transportation lately, I need to get myself some contacts to stick in my eyes.
Oh, how we suffer for our art.

Links of the Week, March 7

2006-03-06T23:06:00.000-05:00

For each coming week I will try to provide a link to a site about bellydance history, and links to sites for both well-known and slightly lesser-known performers and troupes. I am doing this as a learning resource for my students, as well as any other visitors to the site. If you have a link you think would be appropriate to feature, please email me! (skbeaman@yahoo.com)

History and Culture
"A History of American Tribal Style BellyDance", written by Rina Orellana Rall, former co-director of FatChance BellyDance
This article discusses the history of bellydance in the United States and the evolution of American Tribal Style in a respectful and accurate manner. A great place to start for anyone interested in the dance and its origins.

Troupes and Performers
Gypsy Caravan One of the oldest and best-known Tribal troupes in the US, Gypsy Caravan is directed by Paulette Rees-Denis, whose blog you can also read on Tribe.net. The Gypsy Caravan musicians are amazing, and their CDs are probably my favorite out of my entire bellydance music collection.

Mandara A world fusion dance troupe based out of southwestern Virginia, Mandara is directed by Jennifer Spieden, who, in addition to being an excellent dancer and teacher, is also one of the kindest people I know in the East Coast dance community. Mandara and Jennifer were recently featured instructors and perfomers at TribalCon 2006 in Atlanta.

More about the YMCA Classes

2006-02-28T12:56:00.000-05:00

What will I learn from this class?

This class will cover the following elements of Tribal Style Bellydance:
- Correct dance posture-- how to create a beautiful silhouette in your dance and prevent injury
- Basic muscular isolations and movements universal to all styles of bellydance (e.g. chest and hip slides, undulations, shimmies, circles, vertical and horizontal figure 8s, et cetera)
- ATS and Tribal Fusion moves and combinations incorporating the basic isolations, which can be translated directly to both solo and group improvisation
- Cues and transitions for group improvisation
- Drills and exercises to use for home practice
In addition, information about the history and aesthetics of the dance form will be available on this website for students and non-students alike to read.
Unfortunately, I cannot currently include zil instruction in the class, as I do not have zils for the students and the sessions are just too short (only an hour long). However, I would be happy to answer any questions students have about zilling, and students who have their own zills should feel free to bring them to class to use during drills.
What do I need to bring/wear to class?

Please bring water, a pencil and a notebook for writing notes, and, if you like, a scarf or belt to wear around your hips. Please come to class dressed in comfortable clothing-- something you might wear to a yoga or pilates class. You may choose to bare your stomach or leave it covered up, whichever makes you feel more comfortable. Be ready to dance in bare feet-- if you'd rather not, then bring dance slippers or socks, but we will not dance in shoes. If you have zils, you may bring them to use during instruction time. If you have any other props you would like to learn to use (e.g. swords), I would be happy to schedule a private lesson or lessons with you to show you how to use it, or direct you a class specific to props, but we will not be using props during class time.
Will this class help me lose weight?

If practiced every day for a sufficient amount of time, bellydance can be an effective way to tone muscle, and if combined with a nutritious and reasonable diet, may help some students lose weight. This class will be designed to give those students who would like to develop their skills outside of class some great ways to start. Realistically, no kind of dance will significantly contribute to weight loss if only practiced once a week for an hour (the length and frequency of our class).

More importantly, bellydance is extremely body-positive and will help any participant develop strength, flexibility and grace and re-establish a relationship of respect with their body. People (both men and women) of all body types can participate in this dance form and be valued equally for their skills as a dancer. Bellydance has even been used to rehabilitate victims of sexual abuse and eating disorders by dance therapists, so consider how it could make you feel about your own body!
How is Tribal Style different than "normal" bellydance?

The Tribal aesthetic as we know it today was pioneered by Jamila Salimpour and her troupe Bal Anat in the late 1960s and later brought together and re-imagined in the form of American Tribal Style by Carolina Nericchio and her troupe FatChanceBellyDance. Any audience member can typically immediately recognize the differences between the Tribal aesthetic and that of other bellydance styles. American Tribal Style dancers usually wear no seed beads or sequins in their costuming, preferring coins, tassels, textiles from Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and heavy silver jewelry from various Asian and North African cultures as means of adornment. Many ATS dancers also wear full turbans covered in flowers, headdresses, and pendants.
Costuming aesthetics are not the only way in which Tribal is different than Cabaret, Folkloric or Egyptian styles of bellydance. Tribal moves and combinations are designed to be used in a group of dancers for improvisation. Each dancer learns how to recognize what the leader of the group will do next based on both explicit cues (hand signals, etc), body language, and intuition. While these moves and combinations can be used for solo performances as well as choreography they were developed by groups such as FatChanceBellyDance and Gypsy Caravan with group improv in mind. Many people describe Tribal dancing as "earthy" or "grounded" because it is usually performed on flat feet rather than on the toes or in high heels and features fewer floaty-flirty movements.
Many dancers do not adhere strictly to the conventions of American Tribal Style, performing an amalgam of that style with other forms of bellydance, as well as other regional styles, such as Indian Classical, Flamenco, and recently Thai and other East Asian dances. This dance form is usually known as Tribal Fusion or World Fusion bellydance. Usually, costuming in these styles is a more pared-down version of the ATS costume-- coin bra and pantaloons or flared pants with a mirror or textile work belt, no turban, less jewelry-- but sometimes is equally ornate in its own sense, as is The Indigo's costuming.

For more information on the distinctions between different kinds of bellydance, you can read Shira's article at http://www.shira.net/styles.htm
What if I don't want to perform improv/do improv in class?

Many people are intimidated by the idea of performing group or solo improvisation. Personally, I feel it is an invaluable skill for any dancer, regardless of style. All of the moves in the class are thus designed to be used in improv-- if you want. These moves could just as easily be incorporated into choreography.
As for group improv in class, while I strongly suggest all students participate in order to broaden their horizons, it will not be required, per se. Students can feel free to follow along in the back of the room without coming forward to lead the others or leave class early.
I have already taken bellydance lessons. Will I get anything out of this class?

It is my personal opinion that every student takes something new and different away from every teacher they study with. As have many teachers, I have developed my own format for this class, so that even students who have taken Tribal Style lessons from other teachers should be able to further refine their style and learn new variations on moves. I believe students of all levels can benefit from this class.

Classes at CHCYMCA are a go!

2006-02-28T09:42:00.000-05:00

I just heard from my YMCA coordinator that the required minimum number of students (8) have now signed up for my Tuesday evening class in Chapel Hill. Yay! I have been a teaching assistant for what seems like forever now and I have been dreaming about having my own classes. I think they are going to be tons of fun. Because the Y won't let me have drop-in students, I can actually design a curriculum that carries over from one class to the next. After 8 weeks I plan to have my students dancing like the stars. (we can hope!!)
Oooh! I'm so excited! I need to go to class now though. If only this were my real job... *sigh*

I am dying

2006-02-27T22:42:00.000-05:00

to see pictures from TribalCon.
If they don't materialize online soon, I may have a nervous breakdown.

A little bit of autobiography

2006-02-22T14:51:00.000-05:00

When I was a very little girl (four years old) my parents started me in ballet and tap classes. When I was a little older I stopped taking tap and started jazz and acrobatics in addition to ballet. (I started acro too late and was physically too large to ever be a gymnast, but the classes were worth it regardless because I learned proper layback technique very early on in my life.) I always prided myself on my abilities as a dancer as a kid. By second grade I was one of the only people in my classes who could do all three of her splits, a fact that made me feel pretty awesome. I loved to perform even though it made me sick with nerves. I learned so many things from those classes: musicality, rhythm, posture, grace, and kinesthetic awareness. When people ask me today, "How long have you been dancing?" I often forget to include these early years of dance education, despite how invaluable they are to me still.
I continued the classes until the seventh grade, when my family moved from New York to North Carolina. Our hometown here apparently has many traditional ballet schools which place a high emphasis on dance competition, or at least that's what I heard. To be honest, I never even tried to go back to ballet after moving. I was too scared my technique would be taken apart and the teachers would tell me I wasn't thin enough to compete. To complicate matters, I developed fibromyalgia syndrome shortly after moving, which completely sapped my energy and killed any interest I had in physical activity. For a very long time-- in fact, until quite recently-- I didn't see myself as having any physical capability whatsoever. My body quickly became an antagonist, completely seperate from my mind, a burden to be ignored as much as I could. Any exercise lead to pain, and inactivity to increased fatigue.
My interest in dance waned. I tried other types of performance to fill the gap. For a short while, I was involved in school plays, but my middle school drama teacher was replaced after a year with a lecherous creep, so that was enough theater for me. I continued playing viola (which I had been playing since the third grade) for slightly longer, but my high school had no orchestra, and with no public performance opportunities available I quickly lost interest.
Around this time I realized I was a fairly decent visual artist, so I started drawing fairly religiously and taking art classes. Art was for me a very individual and very competitive experience. The most frequently exchanged 'compliment', if you could call it that, between students in my art classes was "You draw (paint, sculpt, etc) so well... I hate you." I won the Art Award from my high school in my senior year, which brought both admiration and hatred. There was very little sense of community or peer support between the students. For the very most part, there was only the competition-- competition to get selected for contests, competition to win contests, competition for scholarships, competition for entrance to art schools. Until my sophomore year of college, I felt compelled to keep competeing simply because I had the capability to "win" most of the time, but the practice of it eventually failed to bring joy or fufillment into my life, especially as, in college, it increasingly threatened to devour any and all of my other pursuits (including participation in bellydance). I quit design school and abandoned an art scholarship feeling that the entire experience had been empty.
Meanwhile, bellydance. My mother started bellydancing lessons when I was 15. To begin with, this was mortifying. I remember clearly a family vacation to Disney World where she insisted on practicing her wrist circles and such nonsense in public-- how embarrassing and terrible for me! Not too long after the lessons started she and two of her friends, one of whom I have known since I was an infant, decided to form a troupe (which later was named Blue Moon) to begin performing in public. I must admit this was somewhat intriguing to me. They started practicing Fat Chance Belly Dance videos in our living room, because they wanted to go tribal. My mom egged me on to join them. My first attempts at doing the movements were embarassingly awkward, which immediately turned me off to the idea. (God! I have this extensive dance background, and these middle-aged women can do this better than I can? Forget it! Who wants to be a bellydancer anyway?) More awful still, my little sister picked up the videos and started dancing amazingly well seemingly overnight. I put a moratorium on the videos.
I probably would not have started bellydancing lessons had my teacher Nandana not moved to the Raleigh area. We met her by chance, having seen a flier she put up in the window of a store in Chapel Hill. Even still, I almost didn't end up taking classes from her. I almost decided to take doumbek lessons from her husband instead, because while I wanted to participate in Blue Moon, I had made up my mind that dancing was probably not for me. I think my sister convinced me to try the lessons once or twice, and, long story short, I was converted. This was the summer before my freshman year of college.
I see myself bellydancing until the day I die. No other pursuit has ever been such a positive influence in my life.

Sword dance video!

2006-02-12T18:24:00.000-05:00

A video clip of my improv sword dance from the Cameron Village Library showcase this Friday is now available at YouTube.com. You can view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGoYWez-i-U
Some of the floorwork is obscured by the audience, but the video turned out pretty well otherwise I think.

Upcoming Performance Schedule

2006-02-12T11:46:00.000-05:00

Local Troupe and Performer Links

2006-02-11T20:23:00.000-05:00

First of all, for all your North Carolina bellydance info, you can always go to NCBellydance.org. Also, you can join the CarolinaBellydancers Yahoo Group if you have a Yahoo email.

Triangle area
Blue Moon Dance Company Cary
Nandana Cary
Haala Cary
Aziza Fadwa and Flowers of the Desert Durham
Leigh Brown Durham
Belly Revelations Raleigh
K'asha Raleigh
Shara Raleigh
Najila Sahlah Chapel Hill
Orientale Expressions Chapel Hill

North Carolina
Amanda Asheville
Baraka Mundi Asheville
SamiTe' Asheville
Yasmine and The Magic Hips Dancers Charlotte
Shadows of the Fire Fayetteville
Ruby Scarab Winston-Salem

Performance Photos

2006-02-11T18:09:00.000-05:00

Here's a list of some online picture galleries where you can find photos of me in performance. If you have any photos you've taken at a performance you'd like to share with me, by all means-- send me an email! (skbeaman@yahoo.com)

Zhaleh Fereshteh: Diva of Shimmies Workshop Show in Charlotte, NC (Courtesy of Asim)
Blue Moon Show Tunes Hafla 2006 (Courtesy of Lisa Fowler)
Rachel Brice Workshop Show in Charlotte, NC (January 2006) (Courtesy of Asim)
Haflaween 2005 (Courtesy of Lisa Fowler)
September 2005 Hafla (Courtesy of Lisa Fowler)
NC Renaissance Faire 2005 (Courtesy of Lisa Fowler)
One blurry picture of me from Shimmy South 2005! (Courtesy of Lisa Fowler)
Tribal:Pura Workshop Show in Asheville, NC (March 2005) (Courtesy of Asim)

Photos from various events can be found at my troupemate Nandana's site as well as Blue Moon Dance Company's website.

The photo used in the sidebar was taken by Lisa Fowler.

About Me & FAQ

2006-02-11T17:29:00.000-05:00

I have been bellydancing professionally for five years in the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham) area of North Carolina. I have been a member of Blue Moon Dance Company since 2002. Currently I perform tribal style bellydance both as a member of Blue Moon and as a soloist.
My influences as a dancer include Zafira Dance Company (who my primary teacher, Nandana, studied with for several years), FatChanceBellyDance, Ultra Gypsy, and Rachel Brice.
When not performing bellydance, in my everyday existence, I am a full time student at UNC Chapel Hill. When I'm not in class, I work as an ESL tutor for Japanese speakers. When I'm not busy with that stuff, I knit, draw, drink too much coffee, and play tabletop roleplaying games.

Do you teach lessons?
I teach at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA on Tuesday nights at 5:50 PM. My classes are an all-levels introduction to the foundation moves of American Tribal Style and Tribal Fusion. More information is available here.

Do you teach private lessons?
Yes, I am available on a limited schedule to teach private, semi-private or troupe lessons in Chapel Hill or Carrboro during the week or anywhere in the greater Raleigh area on weekends. Please email me if you are interested for hourly rates. (skbeaman@yahoo.com)

Will you perform at my private party or public event?
I am currently available to perform at mixed-audience and all-female private parties/restaurant sets only. Party sets can be all-performance or include instruction time for guests, whichever you prefer. Please contact me for pricing information. (skbeaman@yahoo.com) For public events I recommend inquiring with my troupe, Blue Moon Dance Company-- we provide some of the best stage performances available in the area, complete with live musicians!
Please note that I will NOT perform at bachelor parties or any similar events, so don't bother asking!

Will you perform at my hafla (dance party)?
If it's convenient to my schedule and not several hours away, most likely, yes.

Do you teach workshops?
Yes! I regularly assist in teaching Blue Moon workshops and I have taught two solo workshops in the past. Check here for information about future workshops in the Triangle area. If you are interested in booking a tribal style workshop outside the Triangle area, please contact Blue Moon Dance Company at mail@bluemoonbellydance.com.

Do you perform American Tribal Style, Tribal Fusion, World Fusion Bellydance, or what?
While I am familiar with the ATS (American Tribal Style) format, I do not rigidly adhere to it and neither does Blue Moon. I would consider our performance style "Tribal Fusion", although this brings up the question-- what is it "fusioned" with? We incorporate other dance elements (mostly Indian) in our performances from time to time, as well as some more modern elements, but the basis of our style and the majority of our moves are ATS. Blue Moon regularly does both improv and choreographed performances. When dancing solo, I do improv almost exclusively.

What props do you use?
I am proficient with zils, sword, other balanced objects (ie: pot or basket), Balinese fingernails, and skirt.

Cameron Village Library Performance

2006-02-05T00:47:00.000-05:00

February 10, 7:30 - 8:30PM, Cameron Village Library, 410 Oberlin Rd, Raleigh.
I will be performing along with many other professional dancers in the area in the Belly Dance Showcase at the newly renovated Cameron Village Library in Raleigh this coming Friday night along with Sashi (aka my mama). Come help us celebrate the library's reopening! I will be debuting a new sword dance and my mom and I will be debuting a new duet!

Hell Video!

2005-11-06T11:10:00.000-05:00

Go seeeeeeee
http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=Eclbpc3BwOM

Niger Relief Workshop

2005-10-26T19:11:00.000-04:00

The cause:

Millions of West Africans in the Sahel region in countries including Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso need our food aid now. Nomadic cultures such as the Tuareg may face the end of their way of life due to widespread drought and crop failure if they do not recieve help. Only 52% of the funding estimated necessary for a complete relief effort has currently been recieved by aid organizations. Bellydancers from all over the US are rallying together to help bridge the gap. By attending our workshop, you will be helping us to sustain these amazing cultures to which we owe so much of our dance heritage.

The event:

Sara will be teaching an upbeat, fun original "tribaret" choreography to a song by the universally appealing Natacha Atlas. Expect a tribal format with just a little cabaret drama. Basic moves will not be reviewed. Advanced beginners, intermediate students and professionals are all welcome to participate.

For a registration form, please contact Sara at skbeaman@hotmail.com.

The minimum donation postmarked before 11/10 is $30; after 11/10 and at the door, $35. ALL PROFITS will be donated to TurtleWill, (www.turtlewill.org) a small, nonprofit organization "dedicated to the improvement of the lives of traditional peoples in Ethiopia, Mali, and Niger in a manner that is consistent with their traditions and cultures, through locally driven projects that maintain choice".

If you cannot attend the workshop but would like to help with a monetary donation, please contact skbeaman@hotmail.com or donate directly to any of the following charities:

www.turtlewill.org

www.oxfam.com

www.dontletmypeopledie.org

www.africare.com

www.nomadgal.com

NOTE: The final amount we raised for TurtleWill was just under $500. Thanks a ton to everyone who participated! -Sara

Haflaween is Compulsory

2005-10-26T18:30:00.000-04:00

Watch me, Blue Moon Dance Co. and some of the best belly dancers in the Triangle area get down with our spooky selves at HAFLAWEEN II: Invasion of the Belly Dancers! This Saturday, October 29, at the Solution Center. Info at http://www.bluemoonbellydance.com . RSVP Only.