Learning to Belly Dance
Can anyone learn to belly dance?
The answer, according to Nuala is a resounding YES! A bold statement, but in Nuala's experience, completely realistic. It is, however, important to find the right class and the right teacher for you...
Join the class and see what your teacher is made of before parting with any hard earned cash. Can the teacher really teach you? Can she even dance? There are no regulations on becoming a dance teacher and with the ever growing popularity of bellydancing, many unskilled 'teachers' are joining the bandwagon.
Make sure beginners and advanced students are separated. The skills involved in belly dancing are not like aerobics, you do not pick them up in a week or so. Therefore a beginner should not be in the same class as an advanced student. One would be completely lost whilst the other would be held back. It is not a skill you can pick up as you go along. If you want to do it properly, then you must enrol in an established course and as stated above, know the level at which your teacher is at.
Where has your teacher performed? How does she dance? Did they dance in touristy type places or authentic Egyptian/Arabic settings. There is a huge difference. How long has she been teaching? Most importantly, do you like the way she dances? Is she articulate and patient when breaking down the complex moves? The skills needed to dance are not necessarily the same as the ones needed to transfer that knowledge onto the student.
Free Demonstrations: At the start of each and every course, Nuala holds a free demonstration. This gives the student an insight as to what is in store in the course and the standard of dancing involved before the student parts with any money. The demonstration given by Nuala consists of two performances followed by a talk on the benefits of the dance, how it originated and why Middle Eastern women seem to be born naturals whilst we in the West seem to struggle. Nuala dispells that myth and explains how and why. Ladies are invited to ask as many questions as they wish and try a few moves to see how they like it. This is all completely free.
Physical benefits. When Nuala began performing throughout the Middle East, she noticed the physical change in her own body and was delighted to see that all the more established dancers had extremely impressive well toned, hour glass figures. The more she danced, the more her body changed for the better. Nuala realised that this was not only due to the physical exercise and calorie burning but what is known as 'isolation'. It is isolation of certain muscle groups whilst stilling others which not only gives the dance that special look but also the all important shape. Therefore it seemed that the body only changed shape if the moves were being done correctly.
Nuala has been trained in the art of Egyptian and Turkish dance, but has developed a clear Lebanese style, which is very popular today. Nuala danced professionally in London before being signed up by a Lebanese agent, who is the leading Arabic agent in the Middle East for Oriental Dancers (Belly dancers). 98% of the dancers on his books are Arabic, including the world's top Oriental Dancers.
For a Westerner to be signed up by such an agent to perform in the Middle East is very rare. It is important to note that Nuala danced for Arabic people in authentic settings, which is not to be confused with the touristy novelty type acts that many of us see in holiday resorts. Nuala was offered contracts throughout the Arab world and travelled extensively through the Middle East and Africa and was fortunate and skilled enough to perform in Egypt, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jordan, Ivory Coast, Gambia and Turkey. With this in mind, you can rest assured that you will be given the very best and most authentic Oriental dance performances available.