Friday Favourites: All that Glitters

Hey Everyone

After the South African budget speach delivered by our minister of finance left us all a little depressed this week, I have decided to indulge in a "gilty" pleasure. . . in costumes that glitters and shines in metallic finishes.

Love these leggings under the skirt

Gold and bronze looks stunning

A beautiful choli style top

I'm not sure how practical this is, but it is stunning!

Some glitzy tribal fusion

All that glitters is gold on this stunning ensemble

Bronze with sexy cut-out detail

Gold always looks stunning when combined with turquoise accents

The belt is just stunning and don't even get me started on that lace skirt!

A post on metallics would be incomplete without Isis Wings

Hope you enjoyed today's post!

Please remember to follow Jacqui on Pinterest and Facebook for regular updates!

Happy shimmying!

XxX
Marina

Friday Favourite's......Birds of a Feather

Happy Friday Everyone!!.....I know as Belly Dancer's we all have our secret obsessions when it comes to costumes....so for those of you with a slight feather fetish (you can include me in that one)....ENJOY!!

Slightly over the top but stunning none-the-less

Love the color combo and the local guinea-fowl feathers

Dark Fusion Boutique Tribal Beauty

Love the Belt with the Gold and Peacock feather accents

Pretty in Pink

I know it's technically not feathers...but the peacock feather inspiration on the cuff is beautiful

Just because it's BEAUTIFUL!!

Now this is a Hair Garden that even the birds would be proud of

Feathery Bustle.....so want one of these!

Just stunning!

For all of us 'Show Girls' out there....who says you can't have enough feathers and bling!!

Very Pretty, love the Turquoise too....would love to see the wings that just stick out at the back

Again...just for the 'Show Girls'!!

Here's wishing you a wonderful week-end...may it be Belly-licious and full of Bling!!

If you want to see other beautiful Belly ideas, follow my Pinterest Board: 

http://www.pinterest.com/jacquichandler/belly-dance-tribal-fusion/ 

Happy Shimmying

Jacqui

Sunday Stalker...on Monday....Jillina & Heather Aued

As you all may be aware Goddess Divine Productions will be hosting the "Goddess Divine Festival" in Johannesburg from 26 - 28 April this year. The Festival includes workshops, Miss Belly Dance SA and Belly Dance Showcase, so a whole heap of 'Belly-ness' over 1 weekend. One of the biggest draw cards for dancers all over South Africa is the chance to attend workshops over the 2 days before the competition with the International Judges that will be adjudicating the competition. Every year they are exceptional, and this year will be no different.....so I have decided to 'Stalk' the 2 awesome ladies that will be here in South Africa to teach us, inspire us and help crown the "Miss Belly Dance SA 2014". 

Jillina

 Images and Information courtesy of Goddess Divine Productions

Performer, Master Instructor, Choreographer, Director and Producer, Jillina has devoted her life to dance. Currently Jillina is touring the world with her newest production: Bellydance Evolution. Created in 2009, Bellydance Evolution is a revolutionary approach to the art of bellydance; it is a theatrical show with a storyline, much like a ballet. Bellydance Evolution has already appeared in over 20 countries and was a featured performer at the Mawazine festival in Morocco, performing for the Queen of Morocco.
In 1999 Jillina established her own dance company, Jillina’s Sahlala Dancers, currently LA’s premier Middle Eastern and world fusion dance Entertainment Company. From 2003-09 she served as Artistic Director and Main Choreographer for the Bellydance Superstars and performed with them for over 700 shows in over a dozen countries. High-lights include performing on the main stage at Lolapaloza, The Follies Berger in Paris, The Queen’s Theatre in London and Theatre Mohammed V in Rabaat, Morocco. Jillina continued in her position as principal choreographer until 2010.
Jillina pulls from a strong dance background in Middle Eastern, Folklore, Jazz, Ballet, and Hip Hop to create a colourful Middle Eastern fusion repertoire. She travels extensively, teaching seminars and performing in concerts. The “Michael Jordan of Bellydance”, Jillina’s talents have taken her to England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Chile, Venezuela, Canada, France, Italy, Monaco, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Holland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Russia, Slovenia, Peru, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Dubai and Egypt. Whether Jillina is coaching dancers individually or teaching a group of 1,000 students, she has a special ability to connect with people on and off the dance floor.
Jillina has won numerous awards from International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance and the Giza Academy, including Best Modern Egyptian Dancer, Best Instructional Video, Best Dance Company and Dancer of the Year. Jillina has appeared on a number of television programs, including, “Dancing With The Stars” & “Tsukiri” a widely viewed show in Japan. She has co-produced 12 instructional DVDs, which, due to their success, are now offered in 5 different languages and distributed by Universal Records. In the summer of 2009 and 2010, Jillina was the first American to be invited as a featured performer in the prestigious Closing Gala at Ahlan Wa Sahlan in Egypt.
Jillina is the owner of Evolution Dance Studios, located in Universal City, California, USA. The studio provides rehearsal space to some of Hollywood’s top artists- Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Choreographers from So You Think You Can Dance- and serves as a focal point for the Los Angeles Dance Community. You can view more about Jillina on her personal website www.Jillina.com

                                                                                                      

Heather Aued

                                                                                Images and Information courtesy of Goddess Divine Productions

Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Heather began dancing at the age of five. Studying modern jazz & ballroom, ballet, hip-hop & contemporary. At 9 years old she was invited to join a Los Angeles based performing group, where she quickly became one of the lead dancers. By the age of 13 Heather was already an Award-Winning choreographer & a lead dancer in 3 different dance companies. That same year she performed at the Rose Bowl alongside Cirque Du Soleil & Smokey Robinson for over 40,000 people.

Heather graduated from High School at 16 in order to pursue her career full-time. Also a professional singer, Heather has recorded with Grammy Winning Songwriter Michael Jay and Oscar Winning Songwriter Joseph Brooks. She also toured the Caribbean as the lead singer on the Freewinds ship.

At 18 Heather was cast by Kenny Ortega (Dirty Dancing Choreographer and Michael Jackson’s final tour Director) to dance on the Fox TV show “Grounded for Life” which earned an Emmy nomination for Best Choreography. That same month she was invited to join the International Dance Company, “Jillina’s Sahlala Dancers”. Having fallen in love with Middle Eastern dance, she put all her focus on learning the art form and quickly became a lead soloist for the Award Winning Dance Company. She is currently the Assistant Artistic Director & Manager for the group and can be seen on numerous Bellydance performance DVD’s as well as Jillina’s “Shape Up & Hip Out” DVD.

In 2008 she was featured on “Dancing with the Stars” alongside Jillina and the Sahlala Dancers. In 2009 Heather helped Jillina launch Bellydance Evolution and is also the Co-Director of the show. You can view more about Heather Aued on her personal website www.HeatherAued.com

                                                                                                                     Information courtesy of Goddess Divine Productions

I hope this is a little inspiration for all of you... a little nudge into thinking about doing 1 of the awesome workshops on offer or maybe, just maybe......being brave enough to enter Miss Belly Dance SA. If you need more information on either the workshops or the competition visit the Goddess Divine Miss Belly Dance SA website on: www.missbellydancesa.com.

Happy Shimmying!!

Jacqui

xxx

Friday's Favourites.....Red Hearts

Rubies are RED, Sapphires are BLUE.......
Here's wishing an Awesome Rusty Belly Dance Valentine's Day to you!!!

So we thought with everything being all rosy RED....we'd stick with the RED......Hope you Enjoy!!!

A little Tribal LOVE....

Love the Animal print.....fiesty!!

The detail on the neck is stunning

Be a little risque.....with well placed cut outs

Just LOVE the entire outfit....especially the leg bling!!

Another bit of Tribal LOVE.....

Now this is FIERY!!

A little romance for the hands, lace will always do that!

Hope you all get a little spoilt today!

Happy Shimmying!!

Jacqui

xx

A letter to our new students

This week I had the great pleasure of meeting the new Sistas of our Belly Dance school and once again I was struck by the amazing journey that this has been for me personally. Today, instead of posting a Star Stalker post or the like, I want to take the opportunity to give a little insight into the journey of a Belly Dance student.

The first group of new beginners for 2014

As the beginners left the class, one of the new students asked me how long I've been dancing. It surprised me that it has been more than two years since I set foot into Jacqui's first class back in March 2012.She also asked whether they would ever get it right. I clearly recognise their slightly bewildered looks and nervous giggles as the same experience I went through so long ago. That first class was intimidating! For someone who had always loved watching someone else dance, it was suddenly terrifying to literally have the shoe on the other foot! I remember looking at Jacqui and seeing this tiny graceful woman who clearly had a background in classical dance forms (I guessed right, she was a ballet teacher before!) and thinking that I had made the biggest mistake of my life! It was challenging and it was scary, but somehow we made it through that first class. That night I drove away and thought to myself that I was probably not going to go back. . . and then I did.

 

One of our first classes in 2012

Through the next couple of weeks, my fellow students and I were continually challenging ourselves. We slowly but surely figured out the basic moves and actually saw an improvement in our dancing. This boosted our confidence immensely. It also helped that our classes have always been filled with wisecracks, laughs and flops. Jacqui will be the first to tell you that moving her body to one side is a dream, but as soon as she has to do it to the other side, everything just. . . um. . . yeah. . . Not so good! 

Once we had the dancing under our belts, Jacqui came with a new challenge: live performances. It was a scary thought for most of us, we believed that we were nowhere near ready to showcase our dancing skills on a stage in front of strangers! But we did it, taking part in The Way Dance School's annual dance show and later also joining Belly Buttons Harties in their Desert Feast show. The first time on a stage was intimidating, but the adrenaline rush is addictive and the mutual feeling after the first show is always "When can we do that again?!"

After our first public performance in 2012

Now it's two years later and our school has classes for the new beginners, the advanced beginners and my intermediate group. I always pitch up early for our intermediate classes and love seeing the progression in the advanced beginners as they further their studies. Do I recognise myself in the newbies? Oh yes!

That first class is always the most difficult and I want to make sure our new students understand and believe this. You will not "get it" in the first hour - not even if you have years of experience in other dance forms. You may not even get it in the first four classes. . . and then, suddenly. . . Magic will happen and suddenly your body will move in a surprising new way. A new pathway would have formed in your brain and something that tripped you up for weeks, will suddenly be like second nature. Will you find that new moves completely scramble every brain cell? Definitely! I still struggle with what side is left and what side is right and Jade, my fellow intermediate student will tell you that she hates shimmy walks. Everyone of us have something that we don't like or can't do.

I believe that every dancer will tell you that you never "become a Belly Dancer" as if it is some destination to arrive at after X amount of years of training. Every dancer is an eternal student of the dance form and we will always have new challenges to face, new choreography to master and new crowds to wow. 

Is the journey difficult? The question should not be is it difficult, it should be "Is it worth it?" And to that, the answer is always YES.

I welcome you lovely ladies into our sisterhood and family at Rusty Belly Dance and I hope you will give me the pleasure of watching you on this magical journey that we call Belly Dance as a way of being.

Happy Shimmy-ing!

XxX
Marina

Friday Favourites: Blue moon

Hey Everyone

I don't know if it's just because I'm in "almost-holiday" mode, but I'm feeling a certain affinity towards colours that reflect the moods of the ocean lately. I love every shade from pale baby blue to the deepest midnight and everything in between!

Here are my favourite blue costume creations:

A stunning blue Bella costume with a paint effect

Different shades of blue with heavy gold detailing with an Indian influence

Stunning pants!

The shape of this skirt combined with the colour makes me think of a mermaid

Exquisite bead work!

Something different. . . but beautiful

The gold detailing on the skirt and the delicate belly drape is sexy!

The draping of this skirt is something I want to try personally

Simply stunning

Remember to like us on Facebook and Pinterest for more of our favourite costume ideas

Enjoy your weekend!

XxX
Marina

This is who we are. . . Jacqui Chandler

Today’s post would have been the first in a series of posts that centres around our Rusty Belly Dance students. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans for our exciting photo shoot planned for this weekend, but I couldn’t not post something. So today I present to you “This is who we are. . . Jacqui Chandler.”

We know Jacqui as our teacher and mentor, a woman with roots in ballet who carries the same principle of discipline into her Belly Dance teaching, but there is much more to her than meets the eye. She describes herself as a “Mother, Life Partner, Dancer, Teacher, Choreographer, Costume Maker, Life Liver, and Happiness Seeker.”

Born in the small Free State town of Welkom, Jacqui started her dance training at the tender age of 6 in ballet. With the loving guidance of her dedicated mother, it soon became her life. After graduating from high school, she chose to study Graphic Design at the Technicon of Bloemfontein, but transferred to the Technicon Natal and changed her major to Stage Management and Technical Theatre. Thanks to her dancing experience, she joined the Natal Performing Arts Council (NAPAC) and performed in various productions at the Durban Opera House. She also furthered her studies in ballet and obtained her teachers’ certificate. 

After completing her studies, she moved to Zululand in 1991 and started teaching ballet for six years. Her life took her in many different directions and she studied every available dance form including Belly Dance. After spending two years in Mozambique, she returned to South Africa in 2006 and started taking belly dance more seriously. After being a student of the dance form for four years, a couple of friends came to her asking if she wouldn’t consider teaching classes for them and that is how her teacher role developed.

For Jacqui, the allure of Belly Dance is that it is an ageless dance form. For dancers in ballet or contemporary dance, the lifespan of your career is quite limited, but Belly Dance can be danced by all ages, from very young to very old. She says that her biggest challenge in her life as a Belly Dance teacher is that there are just not enough hours in a day. Jacqui has a full time day job that she’s lucky to be able to do from home, but she also needs to find time to choreograph dances, teach five or more classes a week, make her own costumes and still have time to spend with her loved ones. She would love to be able to further her training in Belly Dance, but given her geographical position in Rustenburg, finding time to attend classes in bigger city centres are also challenging, but she attends every workshop she can to make sure she learns as much as she can.

Tribal Fusion is the one genre that Jacqui would like to master and her inspiration for dance is the amazing Ms Rachel Brice (a past Stalkee) If she could learn from any dancer in the world, it would be Rachel because she has a way of dance that mesmerizes her audience. Tribal Fusion as a dance style also appeals to Jacqui because of its versatility. Any other dance form can be fused with classical Egyptian style to create something new and for a dancer with classical ballet, contemporary, jazz and even cabaret (the sequins and feathers!) training, this is right up her alley!

Jacqui (back, right) with her Rusty Belly Dance students

With her teaching, Jacqui finds inspiration in working with her students, learning new steps, challenging each other and becoming better with every class. She credits the Rhythm Divine Hafla, held in last year October as one of her proudest moments where her students displayed their new-found skills to family and friends. To see their own spiritual and emotional growth alongside their mastering of the skill of Belly Dance inspires her. She also finds the Sisterhood of Belly Dance to be a source of encouragement and inspiration as her classes are filled with great laughs, an exchange of ideas and amazing people.

In 2014 Jacqui will obtain her formal teachers accreditation with Ajsa Samia, attend workshops and hopes to take her group of students to the stage of the V&A to dance in The Palace of the Wind’s annual International Oriental Dance Festival. There will also be various showcases and events planned for this year.

Remember to join Jacqui on Facebook, the Rusty Belly Dance page and follow her on Pinterest for more insight to this amazing woman.