 Right:
Dancer Valerie Rushmere
About Belly Dance at Studio 1831
Enjoy the mystery and sensuous beauty of an age-old performance
art by learning to belly dance, also known as danse orientale, danse
du ventre, raqs sharqi, etc. Below are descriptions of classes offered
by Studio 1831. For a class schedule, click here.
Belly Dance I
Especially designed for beginners and for those who want
to brush up on basic technique. Students learn the basic moves most
often seen in Cabaret/Egytian style belly dance. Moves include shoulder
and hip shimmies, hip drops and lifts, snake hips and figure-eights,
rib circles and rib drops, as well as basic dance posture and arm placement.
Wear comfortable clothing and slippers/dance shoes or bare feet.
Belly Dance II
In a faster paced class, students refine the Cabaret/Egyptian
movements learned in the first two classes. Students will work with
veils, zils and learn choreography suitable for a group performance.
Wear comfortable clothing and slippers/dance shoes or bare feet.
Bellydance III
Advance techniques, choreography, layering, and a fast
pace mark this class.
Belly Dance Sightings!
Valerie was the local professional dancer featured
at the two Bellydance
Superstars shows on Friday, March 12, 2004. And, she was
quoted in the March 11 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer about
the growing popularity of belly dancing throughout the Philly
area.
* * *
CNN Online's Health Section had this article
about belly dancing on June 13, 2003.
Health Magazine had a short, first-person
article on the fun of belly dancing. Check it out at
the magazine's web site.
Also, Valerie, who was first runner up in the
Jewel of the Nile Belly Dance Pageant in January 2003 in
New
Jersey, appeared in photos (along with Jeannine, Mushirah, and,
in the background, Jo Anne) in the Burlington County Times.
Time Magazine's Michele Orecklin noticed
the increased trend in belly dancing classes in health and fitness
clubs and tracked it across the country. Read
more! (October 25, 2002).
Foreign dancers are carving out a niche in Egypt
cabaret clubs. Cairo's Al-Ahram Weekly takes a look (February
2002).
On Jan. 26, 2001, NPR's Weekend All Things Considered radio
program featured Artemis (AKA Elizabeth Mourat) teaching host
Lisa Simeone and NPR staffers how to belly dance. To check out
the transcript and the video, click here.
Another devotee! This time, a writer for the San
Francisco Chronicle investigates a
dance class in Mountain View, Calif. (August 2001)
The Los Angeles Daily News featured an article
promoting the Fifth
Annual Bellydance Awards and dancer Jillina and the Sahlala Dancers
troupe. (August 2001)
Cairo Times and the Washington Post Online have
both featured articles about Middle Eastern Dance: Read about Egypt's
legendary dance star Suhair
Zaki (June 2001) or take a tour of Washington
DC's dance spots (April 2001).
The Savvy
Traveler web site explores the dance scene in Cairo, long
a center for Raks Sharki, the beautiful dance form called Danse
Orientale, Middle Eastern Dance or Belly Dance by foreigners.
First For Women's Feb. 7, 2000 edition (pp.
44-45) reported that belly dancing:
SELF magazine touted belly dancing as the "ultimate
antidote to exercise ennui" in its "Shake into Shape" article
(August '99, page 92).
A New York Times science-section writer
gave a first-person account of the body benefits of belly dancing
in "How to Build Abs of Undulating Steel" (July 27, 1999).
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Valerie's
Studio 1831 is located at 1831 Brandywine St.
(one block north of Spring Garden Street),
in the Art Museum area of Philadelphia, PA, 19130,
within 15 minutes walking distance of Center City.
Click
here for directions.
Questions?
Call the Studio at 215-665-1991. |