Oriana met this talented dancer at a show by The Parvanas in Panama City, Florida. They sat down to scratch at the surface of her amazing stories! Tell us how you got started in bellydance. Who were your influences and teachers? I took an 8-week class offered by a local college. One of the students knew of an
older woman named Phaedra who taught semi-private classes in her living room. We
started going once a week and I was hooked! I attended my first B.D. convention in Ft. Lauderdale sponsored by Zephyr. There was a live band and Zeeba from N.Y hit that stage and slid across it on his knees! Wow! Such a magical experience. I traveled weekly to study with Julianna (George Abdo’s favorite album cover girl). I attended workshops with all the greats; Ibrahim Farrah, Anjelika Nemeth, Dahlena, Serena, Amir, Gamela Osphor, to name just a few. I studied in CA with Jamilla and Suhaila Salimpour. I also went to Mid-Eastern nightclubs and watched the dancers and took notes on bar napkinss of moves I wanted to do. I was hungry for as much knowledge as I could get and went wherever my budget would allow.
How long have you been dancing? What has been the biggest takeaways in that time? I’ve been dancing non-stop for 50 years and teaching for 35 of them. My biggest take
away- our dance ebbs & flows. I’ve seen it get lots of media coverage with many women involved in classes then die out multiple times (Zumba, Gulf Wars, Covid) since I’ve
been dancing. I’ve also seen our costuming come around full circle a few times.
Coins/striped fabric (“Gypsy”) to dripping glass beads and dresses (Egyptian), back to
coins and full skirts (Tribal) to beads and dresses (now). We may be a small army but
we’re mighty and keep rising up!
Is there anything you miss or would love to see again in the community? OMG, I miss the live music!! I miss Mid-Eastern, Greek and Moroccan restaurants,
especially ones with live music. I miss dancers playing zils and dancing more often to
traditional music. I’m fairly new to the Panama City area so I miss my troupe and teaching
weekly group classes.
What do you think the future of bellydance is? I do worry about our future. I think there’s a disconnect. More dancers are studying
online through Zoom and relying on YouTube clips. They’re great but everyone needs live teachers as well for critique and the camaraderie and energy of other women. What advice would you give to other dancers?
My advice is to NEVER stop studying. I STILL do! You’ll never run out of things to
learn. Take live workshops. Go see as many dancers as you can. Study the music and
rhythms. Learn to FEEL it and dance without choreography. It will give your
performance a connection to the music and so much more depth. Afterall, you are the
visual of the music when you dance. Submerge yourself in it.
Why is it important to study the culture and past influences? It’s so important to study the culture of our dance. There are so many layers between
the different rhythms, cultural nuances, regional dance styles, not to mention Cabaret
vs. Folk. You need to understand what is appropriate and what is insulting to someone’s
culture and give it the respect it deserves. By studying the Golden Era dancers you’ll
learn subtleties not seen in a lot of today’s dancers. Tell us your wildest adventure!
I’ve had a lot of wild adventures! Most of them involved language translation
problems. I stayed in the desert for 2 weeks without taking a shower due to limited
water. I spun off a 15 ft stage in front of 1000 people. I was hired to dance at an Irish
party only to get there and see it was a funeral and the guest of honor was present. I
danced around gas pumps at a Lebanese owned gas station grand opening. I danced
with George Abdo and the Flames of Araby orchestra and Eddie “The Sheik” Kochak.
The list goes on, how much time do you have?
What was the scene like when you started and were performing in the nightclubs? When I started, conventions weren't recorded. There was no internet or cellphones.
There WAS a lot of Arabic and Greek restaurants and nightclubs in the South FL area with
bands. I quit my day job and worked the nightclubs 6 nights a week, 2-3 shows per
night, each 40-60 minute sets. You never knew what the band would play and never
had rehearsals since your set could include a lot of customer requests. I traveled to
other states and countries doing gigs. Talent agents were a thing, and I worked through
them as well to get corporate, condo and hotel gigs along Miami/Ft Lauderale beach.
Finally, how can people find you?
People can find me through dawn2dance@yahoo.com. I still teach workshops and
right now, teach private and semi-private classes in the Panama City, FL area.
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