Don’t Be “That” Girl

There are fewer and fewer venues now to see a belly dance show. Those of us who have a regular place to go are lucky. For others, it may be a special event that requires a road trip just to experience this. If you have never seen a live show or just aren’t sure how [...]

Creating Combinations

Combinations are a great way to drill your skills, increase muscle memory, build in familiarity with new transitions, and to make your dance more lovely. But how do you do this? Here are some ideas. If you are a beginner and are still struggling with move names and the execution of basics, you can start [...]

Playing The Beledi Pattern on Zils

If you are trying to play the beledi pattern, I assume you are already familiar with basic zils, but here goes the pre-zil stuff. The zils go on the middle finger and thumb with the elastic sitting just below the nail bed. MAKE SURE YOUR ELASTIC IS TIGHT ENOUGH TO TURN YOUR FINGERS BLUE AFTER [...]

Beyond Moves, Combos and Choreography is Available As an Ebook

I was asked about whether my book, Beyond Moves, Combos and Choreography is available as an ebook. It is and actually always has been. I just don’t sell it that way and neither does Amazon. You can get it from the publisher, Lulu, here. It’s $13.99 (function() {var s = document.createElement(‘SCRIPT’), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName(‘SCRIPT’)[0];s.type = [...]

Demonstration of How to Do a Hip Lift and Hip Drop

Start with your body on a diagonal. Frame the active hip. Put your weight on your back foot. Bend the knees. Start the movement from the center line of the body. Lift the active hip above the center line, then drop it back to neutral. For a hip drop, drop the hip below the center [...]

Look Out! Video Coming Soon!

Look out! Starting next week I will be posting videos both here and on my youtube channel. Some will be by me. Some will be by certified belly dance trainers. Some will be demonstrations. Some will be quick lectures on a topic. I hope that you learn something and can see how the belly dance [...]

Taaj’s Tour of the Tor

If it’s been a while since you got your goddess on, it’s time to do a roadtrip. My tour of the sacred sites of England and Wales is sure to inspire you the way it does me. The town of Glastonbury has legends and myths from many times and cultures associated with it. There are [...]

Five Days in Cairo (part 4)

Day five. I woke depressed. I didn’t know if I wanted to do something or do nothing. I had to pick up my costume from Madame Hekmet, so I went to do that while waiting for the other girls to get up and get dressed. The taxi driver didn’t know where I was going, so [...]

A Dancer of the Past or Present?

This article was written by Halima and originally published in Zaghareet! January/February 1997 I have often pondered the possibility of reincarnation. Our families and religious backgrounds influence us in our decisions to allow such an idea to become reality in our lives or not. Nevertheless, I am always looking for signs to prove that it [...]

We Have a Preliminary Itinerary for the Sacred England Tour!

All you fabulous goddesses, it’s time to get excited! I received the preliminary itinerary for the 2012 Sacred England Tour. It’s looking pretty incredible! Start saving. You are going to LOVE this! It’s designed to be leisurely, educational, beautiful, entertaining, and spiritually awakening. I hope to have registration materials up in mid to late October. [...]