This is who we are: Lee-Anne & Christen (part 2)

Hi Everyone

Today we are introducing you to two more students of Rusty Belly Dance: the mother-daughter duo Lee-Anne and Christen. Both of them are in our Advanced Beginners group and they shared their thoughts on Belly Dancing and life in general with me.

Lee-Anne

Lee-Anne is a mother and business woman from Rustenburg who has been dancing for a year. Her interest in dancing turned her to the internet to look for classes in the area which lead her to Jacqui. She enjoys the social aspect of Belly Dancing and she is always at the heart of the lighter moments in class. Her greatest achievement to date is being able to dance in front of people and the first place the group achieved at the IAAASA Championships in September 2013.

Lee-Anne

Lee-Anne would invite people who are "against" Belly Dance to a free class to help change their opinions, but knows that it would not change their perceptions overnight. She believes that Belly Dance empowers women and gives confidence. Her favourite style of Belly Dance is Egyptian and she loves dancing with the veil and would like to learn more about using fans in her dancing. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and creating costumes.

Lee-Anne (in light blue) and Christen (in pink) with the others at the IAAASA Championships

Christen is Lee-Anne's beautiful daughter and shares her mother's passion for Belly Dance. She is also an acomplished acrobat and up-and-coming actress. She was taken to a Belly Dance class by her mother and acro teacher and loved it. She loves learning new things in class, but finds posture and memorizing the choreography a bit of a challenge.

Christen

She wants to share the fun of Belly Dance with others to show them the difference between the reality and perception of dancers held by the uninformed world. She also enjoys the Egyptian style of Belly Dance and loves working with the veil. When she is not in school or at Belly Dance class, she can be found at acrobatics practice, or eating!

Christen

Take note of these two ladies, as I suspect that they are going to make a formidable duo as they progress in their training. 

See you again next week when we meet the next two students in the group.

Happy shimmying!

XxX
Marina

Friday Favourites: Green with envy

Hi everyone!

Here is a roundup of our favourite green costumes - all of them are gorgeous enough to leave us green with envy!

I love the multi-coloured bit over the skirt.

This is a unique shade of green, don't you think?

This 25 yard skirt is to die for!

This was originally a Cosplay costume, but it would be stunning for a belly dancer!

Green velvet and interesting draping makes this a winner

The bra is so unique. . .

I'm still trying to figure out how they did this, because it's stunning!

Another interesting shade of green

Green and gold never looked so good (not even on a rugby jersey)

I'm not crazy about the beading over the bum area, but the tie-die feel of the skirt is nice.

They say this is a belly dance costume. I'm not sure, but I don't care. . . I want one!

Enjoy the weekend and remember to join us again on Sunday for the next installment of "This is who we are. . ."

XxX
Marina

This is who we are. . . Diana & Jade (part 1)

Hey Everyone

By now I'm sure you've heard about the photoshoot we had a few weeks ago and if you've befriended us on Facebook, you would have seen the fruit of that shoot pop up here and there.

Rusty Belly Dance students

The reason behind the shoot was to have some photos to use for marketing purposes and also to introduce you to the Advanced Beginners and Advanced Intermediate students at Rusty Belly Dance.

Today it is my great pleasure to introduce you to the first two students: Diana and Jade!

Diana

Diana is one of our Advanced Beginners. Born in our beautiful neighbouring country, Namibia, she moved to South Africa 30 years ago and spends her days working in an office. She started dancing in 2013 and says that Belly Dancing has given her a lot more confidence. She was drawn to dancing by the elegance, beauty and mystery of the art form. Her Belly Dance idol is the beautiful and stunning Irina Akulenko and Diana admires her because she's such a natural dancer.

When asked what she would say to people who are critical of Belly Dancing, Diana says that she would tell them that the tango and other Latin American styles of dancing are a lot more suggestive. Belly Dancing is a sensual dance, and because it is danced mostly by females it is bound to create an unnecessary stir. She views it as an art form to be respected. 

Diana

When this beautiful lady is not dancing or working, she enjoys photography, listening to music and owns a large collection of fantasy dolls. . . Now we know where her costume inspiration comes from!



The other student we are profiling today is Jade, a young woman with four years of Belly Dance classes below her shimmy belt. She hates shimmies, but loved learning new moves and improving her dancing with each class. Being comfortable enough to dance a solo at last year's Hafla is her greatest achievement so far. 

Jade

Jade admires Sadie and would love to do a shimmy workshop with her to learn to have the same control that Sadie has when mastering this challenging move. Other people's ignorance with regards to Belly Dance irritates Jade when they think that we're all half naked in class. She wants to educate them that dancers show their passion through Belly Dance and that confidence and self-respect are some of the benefits she gets from dancing. 

Jade

At presend Jade is still at school and when she's not behind the books, she also loves photography, listening to music and drawing. Apart from Belly Dance, she is also trying her hand at acrobatics. 

I hope you enjoyed this look into the lives, loves and loathes of our students. Next Sunday we'll be looking at two more students. Remember to follow us on Facebook and on our Pinterest boards to keep up to date with all things Rusty Belly Dance.

XxX
Marina

Friday's Favourite's: Strike a Pose....

Hi Everyone,

Yup, we did an amazing photo shoot last weekend...I think the results will be amazing! Thank You to everyone involved!!
But one thing that I did notice while we were all standing there...all ready for the camera to start clicking away....how do you pose for these dang things, without looking like you swallowed a lemon, have too many teeth in your mouth or *cringe* discover that spare tyre you thought you'd lost never actually went anywhere.... So as a little visual aid for those of us thinking of doing some nice studio photo's, here is a couple of lovely Belly Dance poses I think we could all pull off beautifully!!

A black back ground is always good to show off a costume....and yourself.

Action Shots

Something a little different

 

Dramatic Black and White.....always a winner

Using Props gives the eye something to follow

Back lighting

Showing movement with your costume....(still trying to decide if the skirt was photo-shopped....

If you can do it....flaunt it!! Back bends are always cool

Overhead Group photo

Posed Group photo

Floor pose

Well I hope that has given you a little food for thought!

Have a great week-end!!

Happy Shimmying

Jacqui

xxx

Friday Favourites: Belly Dance Photography

Hey Everyone

Tomorrow is a very exciting day for us at Rusty Belly Dance. We're doing a photoshoot tomorrow and, to celebrate the momentous occasion, I'm posting some of my favourite photos of belly dancers. . .

The angle from which this shot was taken gives it interest as your eye travels down her body

This is a great live shot. . . The light on the veil creates depth.

Beautiful photo, beautiful ladies and a beautiful venue.

This composition is striking. . . and I love the swords and the strangely provocative pose!

Isn't it amazing what a strong backlight and a simple veil can do?

A dancer photographed at sunset. . . mysterious and yet simplistic.

Another live shot. . . It's almost as if you can feel the movement.

Don't know how much of this is CGI, but it's stunning!

Rachel Brice in a magical almost-sepia shot (loving her costume!)

Another striking shot using only a veil as prop.

(all photos reposted with respect, but without permission)

I cannot wait to share our own photos with you all, finally showing you exactly who we are. . .

Happy Shimmying!

XxX
Marina