HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hope it's been amazing so far!
Welcome to the first Zameena of 2017!
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Zameena is a monthly e-zine / newsletter celebrating our community and our love of all things bellydance, brought to you by Zara's Zouk - that's my mum, Sandra, and me, Zara, here in the photos!!
We try to incorporate all aspects covered by that huge umbrella term 'Bellydance' and love having YOU, our readers, involved in Zameena. We have lots of ideas for 2017 and look forward to sharing the bellydance love. You can check out past editions here.
Back to this month and we have news of what's happening at Zara's Zouk but it really is over to our readers as we hear their many reasons for taking up bellydance, please enjoy!
(photos by Evie)
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The Zara's Zouk SALE is now on and we are having a MASSIVE CLEARANCE like never before of professional costumes starting at £60
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? CHECK IT OUT!
It's a great opportunity to choose a new costume for your spring performances!
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Why did you start to bellydance?
I love bellydance! There is no denying that, but often I go through stages of resenting it. I think many of us do. We get disheartened with it for whatever reason. Many a time I have seen on Facebook an announcement from a dancer: "I’M GIVING UP BELLYDANCE…." I mean why?
I think the reason is because unfortunately in bellydance we too often forget what bellydance actually is. Bellydance is the moves, the expression of oneself and the music, with your female form and sharing all of that with others, if you so wish. But all too often this is not what we think of as bellydance. We forget that. We start to associate bellydance with bellydance politics. How many gigs we do or don’t get. How we are doing in class compared to our fellow students, if we can do a certain move, if we are as good as other dancers. And, if you teach: how many people come to your class / workshop? How many likes your photo or video gets. How loud the audience clapped, …. And loads of other things. Things that pull our attention away from dancing for ourselves and for our own happiness. Things that make us forget that bellydance is just so much fun and feels so good to dance…..
When I find myself getting disheartened I go back to what first made me start bellydance. That innocent want, passion and desire to dance - before all the other stuff crept in.
Why did I start to bellydance? I just wanted to bond with my family more, to connect with the half of me that is Egyptian. Nothing more, nothing less and now, when I find myself wanting to give it up because I am upset with X, Y or Z, I go back to that. I go back to reminding myself why I loved this dance; why I just had to start. It wasn’t because I wanted a career, to be famous, to make money, to be better than others, to fill workshops etc …. I just wanted to dance around the living room in Cairo, with all my cousins, to fun tunes and have a laugh!
AND I LOVE TO HEAR WHY OTHERS STARTED BELLYDANCE which is why I asked Zameena readers and Facebook friends to send in their stories. What better way for us all to start the New Year than to remind ourselves of that first thing which drew us to this art?! I hope you enjoy reading these reasons as much as I have. They may remind you of what first drew you to dance and take you back to a place of dancing for yourself. A big THANK YOU to everyone who wrote in and shared their story….
Here are your stories:
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"In an Egyptian restaurant a bellydancer got me up dancing and said I should take classes as I was a natural." Anett, London
"I wanted to do something sociable and I love dancing. Everyone was so lovely and friendly and I loved (and still do love) the music and dance. I was instantly hooked." Larissa, York
"I went to an aerobics class after the birth of my second baby. I hated how they counted through the music and there was no "real" dancing. At the local NCT group I was complaining about how boring it had been, and someone said they had heard about a local belly dance class. About 8 of us were planning to go together - in the end it was two of us, and the other lady only went twice but I was hooked for life ! - My baby is now 25!" Sara Shrapnell, California
"I had just moved to the UK, and wanted to get out of the house and make new friends." Sarah Elizabeth, Durham
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"I went to a friend's bellydance show and loved the performances and wanted to try it myself. I got hooked. That was over 5 years ago and now I am teaching bellydance" Sandy Maya, Reading
"Because it frees the soul," Anonymous, Leeds
"I signed up for a thousand new activities when I started university, but belly dance is the only one that stuck. Probably thanks to all the wonderfully addictive rhythms!" Jen Blundell, Coventry
"Bellydance is the dance which suits me the best and expresses my inner emotions more than any other dance. I tried many dances to come to this conclusion! In my teens I attended a dance academy. One day, in contemporary class, each person had to show their own improvisation and that's when I saw a girl showing some Bellydance moves. I felt nostalgic as it reminded me of the times I watched Egyptian movies with bellydancers when I was small with my mom. The girl's movements were beautiful and she was so passionate about it. Later, we learnt a choreography, a fusion of contemporary and oriental movements on Oum Kalthoum's song, Alf Leyla W Leyla remix by DJ Said Mrad. The costumes were Arabic harem style. I enjoyed this choreography more than any other. I could feel the movements like I was alive. That's when bellydance entered my life." Chacha Dance, London
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"I started at the age of 53. I wanted to be fitter so my boss took me along to a class one night and I became hooked. It made me use muscles that I never knew I had. I love belly dancing!" Maureen Morton, Derbyshire.
"My mum saw an advert in the local adult education brochure and thought it sounded fun so she took me along with her. Because I was under 16 and therefore not really allowed to attend an adult education course, I had to get special permission from the class and my school to confirm that it wouldn't interfere with my daytime studies. It was well worth the hassle though, as I loved it from day one, as did my Mum. We never looked back! It's been 23 years now and we're both still dancing and showing no signs of giving up!!!" Hannah Newton, Oxfordshire
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"I was doing my Duke of Edinburgh bronze award and needed to complete the 'skill' section - dance appreciation was an option and by chance I spotted belly dance classes in my estate newspaper. That was over 10 years ago!" Natasha Clark, Andover, Hants
"It seemed exotic and I loved the costumes." Wendy Blair, Gloucester
"To reconnect with my soul." Jackie, Berkshire
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"I saw Bal Anat perform at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in San Rafael, California. I was a designer with my own shop and was wearing an Elizabethan dress. The troupe of dancers were all wearing coin costumes, asuite, amazing Turkmen jewellery; they were playing instruments, doing zagareets, and were spell binding! They danced balancing trays on their heads, pots, sword dancing, and the finale dancer, Galia danced with a veil, did a Turkish Drop and played sagats! I approached the leader of the troupe, who turned out to be Jamila Salimpour, and told her that her dancing and show was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. She took my hand and said, 'You look like an Ancient Egyptian. Come Dance With Me'." Asmahan, London
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