My sweet friend Kierra Foster-Ba is a Body Wisdom Coach (and assistant principal at a high school in Harlem for 20+ years now!) based in NYC, and she is coming to Ithaca to teach a 5Rhythms class on Saturday April 12th from 3-4:30pm. SORRY THIS CLASS IS FULL!  Email lighter@aliciafree.com if you would like to be notified next time Kierra comes to teach in Ithaca. What is 5Rhythms all about? Click here to find out.  The cost is $25. Venmo Jonah-Freedman1 to reserve your spot or email lighter@aliciafree.com if you don't have Venmo. The class will be at Ithaca Movement Arts at 119 S Cayuga St. It's

This interview with Rachel Brice dives deep into recent American belly dance fusion history and fashion. Rachel reminisces about her influencers Suhaila Salimpour, Carolena Nericcio of FatChanceBellyDance® (formerly ATS), and Jill Parker, and opens up about inclusiveness and past mistakes fusing dance forms. 

Golden Era Belly Dance enthusiast and our fabulous featured dancer in podcast #64 Badriyah of Belgium loves to bring us back to a time when bedlah and Raqs Sharqi dancers frequented movie screens. To an era of rapid growth for belly dance. A time when some of the most famous Raqs Sharqi performers were also film stars, and Fifi Abdou had just started her dance career. [visual-link-preview encoded="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"] In my interview with Badriyah, Badriyah revealed much of her findings from the research she has done on Egyptian belly dance films from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s. After years of studying Golden Era Belly Dance