Making an Impact on Today's Belly Dancing World

   Making an Impact on Today’s Belly Dancing World

How many dancers have wondered how to get well known in the belly dancing world? Realistically probably everybody!

I have wondered this myself and forged ahead almost blind because I didn’t have the faintest clue what to do. As I look around me even today I see many dancers starting off just like I did 23 years ago with that hope that maybe one day they will be teaching a workshop or performing in a major show.  

Training and practicing is a huge endeavor that for most of us can consume most of our daily lives for years. We gain confidence to go perform and with experience and trial and error we learn how to be entertainers. So what can we expect down the road?

First of all most dancers will work within their own community and get established either in their hometown or State.  I traveled around so I established myself as much as I could in the different States that I lived in.

(It would have been easier with a magic wand but there weren’t any available when I checked) so I knew I had a lot of hard work to do.

Each community that I have lived in had its own unique twist and take on belly dancing not to mention the community “character”.  The community “character” told me so much about the dancers’ ability to work with each other. 

As a business woman I have to know what is going on in my community and also in general the “belly dancing news”.  Being well informed has helped me understand the direction our dance world is going. There are major events happening all over from the West Coast to the East Coast. The one way to get seen and to network with other dancers is to support as many workshops and shows as possible. Our dance world in general welcomes new talent especially unique talent. People are constantly looking for inspiration and the one way to find it is to watch talented dancers perform.

To be one of those inspirational dancers means constant training and the will and drive to be your best. So it means practicing even when you don’t feel like practicing. Believe me I know all about this and I have even tried to argue with myself on occasion. In the end you’ll see me practicing because I haven’t found a good enough argument yet to keep me out of the studio. The more we are established increases the expectation from the dance world. So this means that with doors opening and opportunities abound expectations start to get higher. It’s funny how most dancers starting out (myself included) don’t even think about expectations. It’s amazing how the pressure can build every time a dancer is on stage because once our community says a dancer is good and she is the new inspiration, they don’t want to be disappointed.

So now we are looking at what kind of impression we make every time we perform. What happens when we have an off night and for some reason or another we don’t do our best? What kind of impact does that make on our community? Well I’ve wondered about this and have found that most dancers will be forgiving while others won’t say anything to your face but comments will be made out of ear shot. This is to be expected once you put yourself in the limelight. A majority of dancers performing who are well known can have an off night that would be a fantastic night for someone else. Most of us wouldn’t even know. So what I’ve come to understand is that once you are on your journey to becoming an established dancer the stakes are higher. And we want them higher because this is the one way to know those dancers who work hard and those who tell you more about their dancing than they dance. Our community wants consistency in their established dancers which means walking their talk the belly dance way.

If I know a well known dancer, will she or he help me get well known? Is it who you know in our community? Ok I have to say it, is it booty kissing?  Sometimes people get well known and let’s be honest we wonder why. It’s not a malicious question based on envy or jealousy but a matter of fact question. What about those “hidden treasures” that are out there. I’ve been called a “hidden treasure” and I’m smiling from ear to ear. But has it gotten me more work, I’d have to say no. So whose fault is it that I’m not better known? I write articles, teach classes, practice and teach workshops. Guess what gals surprise, that’s not enough. What I have not done is get out there and support my community by attending more workshops. We all have to keep the community economy afloat. If I want people to see me and consider me for a workshop than they have to know I am willing to support them. We build a stronger dance community by supporting different workshops because this is the best way to network and get yourself out there plus our community wins and thrives with new talent.

So here we are the new talent and we want to make a DVD. Will an instructional DVD make a difference in the way dancers see us? I made my first DVD a few years ago called “Hip Phylosophy” and so far dancers have given me two hips up. (I am lucky and blessed!)

There are many instructional DVDs out there so is this good exposure or bad? The reason why I’m asking this question is because I have had students who have bought a few instructional DVDs that they didn’t like. So what kind of responsibility do dance instructors have regarding their product? Let’s face it, we all want dancers to like what we produce.

So when producing an instructional DVD make sure you stand behind it. I guarantee my instructional DVD because I believe what I produced is worthwhile. So when it comes to producing your instructional DVD make sure that you are making what you believe is the best instruction from you possible outside of hiring you for a workshop. The whole point is to get teachers and event coordinators to hire you because of your product and talent.

In just about every State there are phenomenal teachers and dancers. There’s an old saying, “You can’t be a good teacher unless you are a good dancer and you can’t be a good dancer unless you are a good teacher”.  This pretty much says it all. Teaching and dancing go hand in hand.  If you mix in networking, supporting your community and product leveraging than you just might be on your way to becoming the new inspiration of the belly dancing world. And if not that’s ok too because the road to success isn’t only based upon how people receive you but how you receive yourself. Success starts from within so the bottom line is “Be your own success first”.