Bellydance Superstars Choreographer and Artistic Director Jillina Carlano tells us how to communicate with musicians when you dance. Use hand gestures just like the musicians! Read this for examples and listen to Belly Dance Podcast A Little Lighter #62 for more Jillina expertise.
"Hafla Prince" Carmine Guida of NYC has played oud, cümbüs and percussion for thousands of delighted belly dancers. Hear Carmine's tips for helping the band love to play for you and for making it super fun.
Learn this essential tip for any dancer who plays zills, dance confidently to the droning medieval keyed fiddle we call the hurdy gurdy, and have fun hearing the wild Renaissance Festival times of musician and dancer Roxanne Dresden Bruscha.
These loved Turkish, Rom and Arabic songs are a must-know for belly dancers, especially if you want to be ready to dance to a live band! Learn about the maqamat, rhythms, translations and ways to dance to Katibim, Al Ain Molayaitin, and Rompi Rompi.
Improvising to live drums around a fire at a festival like Pennsic can turn a studio-trained belly dancer into a belly dancer who knows what’s up.
Learn how to do an earth shaking shimmy to the powerful 2-headed bass drum the davul (aka tabl beledi), improv with your belly dance friends like a Turk in a circle dance, and get a super dance bra strap tip from Farha.
Meet the ancient grandmother of the tambourine, really get the meaning of the gorgeous old song Lamma Bada, and think twice before wearing that coin belt when you belly dance.
Belly dancing to live music for an audience is the ultimate belly dance experience. It is nothing like dancing to recorded music, and when you can dance confidently and respectfully with a live band your understanding of belly dance will rise to another level. It is surprising how many dancers study American Tribal Style, Tribal Fusion, classical Egyptian belly dance, folkloric and American Cabaret Style and then sit down when it is time to improvise to live music. Dancing to live musicians is my favorite part of belly dancing! Years ago I started learning percussion in order to deepen my understanding of the music and also
Afraid to perform with a live band? Liz Strong of Belly Dance Superstars and Beats Antique and Emmy award winning musician Dan Cantrell share their best practices for dancing to live music.
Lamma Bada Yatathana is a beautiful old song to belly dance to. Lamma Bada is also The Danceable Song for the 9th episode of my belly dance podcast A Little Lighter [visual-link-preview encoded="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"] If you want to sing Lamma Bada, print these: Lamma Bada phonetic lyrics and translation - Aquabella version Lamma Bada Lyric Pronounciation and Translation - Taksim Ithaca Version Lamma Bada is a “muwashsha”, meaning a secular poem which grew out of al-Andalus. This often refers to Southern Spain before Christian invaders came in the late 1400s and kicked out a hell of a lot of great musicians and architects. Muslims and Jews were forced to either