fiery fan veils

I have been watching many belly dancers using the chinese fan veils for belly dance. Initially I wanted to stay away from it as I am a traditionalist. And, Chinese fan veils are not a part of traditional belly dancing.

However….

I changed my mind.

I fell in love with its beauty. Also, I am trying to be more graceful with veil work. Therefore, decided it was a good excuse to purchase them and try my hand at it. It will add a new variety to my shows. It is really beautiful.

I have always been fascinated by Chinese culture. The architecture of their temples, costumes, feng shui, zodiacs….

Also I happen to be born on the eve of Chinese new year. I am the last of the tiger cubs to be born before the year of the rabbit. And my birthday usually falls around Chinese new year.

Fan veils aren’t easy to manipulate. My hands hurt. Also this is my first time dancing with them. I am trying to practice before I finally do it for a show. Now, I can’t wait!

My biggest inspiration came from Brazillian bellydancers who are obviously non traditionalist. They dance to every music in the planet. Even movie themes. My biggest inspirations are Karla Tem Tem and my friend Riti. I learnt we can belly dance to almost any kind of music.

Therefore i decided to dance to “Freed from desire” I heard this song by accident. I am a big fan of 90′s music. Also, the singer happens to look like one of my closest friends. So decided to just dance to it. I might do this song for a show. Its so powerful!

Tradition vs Modern
Well…an artform has to grow. We can’t avoid something just because it will make it less pure. Its like making babies. If you marry among your gene pool, your kids are not going to get any smarter. Thats how I think about dance. Its always good to explore outside.

But then again….You cannot do fusion unless you know the traditional roots of your own art form.

I am up for innovation. I am glad I purchased them. So were my cats. They sneaked up to my room and tried to destroy my veils. It has been damaged a little bit. So i decided to quickly do the video before it gets destroyed!

Thanks all of you for telling me which color veils suit me. Most of you felt i was more towards the element fire. So i purchased fiery veils. I kind of like the power behind it. Whenever I am down, I dance. It always makes me feel better. This fiery veils give me power. Right now, I am going through some mental challenges in my life. I am glad this adds fuel to my desire to live.

Thank you all

fiery fan veils

I have been watching many belly dancers using the chinese fan veils for belly dance. Initially I wanted to stay away from it as I am a traditionalist. And, Chinese fan veils are not a part of traditional belly dancing.

However….

I changed my mind.

I fell in love with its beauty. Also, I am trying to be more graceful with veil work. Therefore, decided it was a good excuse to purchase them and try my hand at it. It will add a new variety to my shows. It is really beautiful.

I have always been fascinated by Chinese culture. The architecture of their temples, costumes, feng shui, zodiacs….

Also I happen to be born on the eve of Chinese new year. I am the last of the tiger cubs to be born before the year of the rabbit. And my birthday usually falls around Chinese new year.

Fan veils aren’t easy to manipulate. My hands hurt. Also this is my first time dancing with them. I am trying to practice before I finally do it for a show. Now, I can’t wait!

My biggest inspiration came from Brazillian bellydancers who are obviously non traditionalist. They dance to every music in the planet. Even movie themes. My biggest inspirations are Karla Tem Tem and my friend Riti. I learnt we can belly dance to almost any kind of music.

Therefore i decided to dance to “Freed from desire” I heard this song by accident. I am a big fan of 90′s music. Also, the singer happens to look like one of my closest friends. So decided to just dance to it. I might do this song for a show. Its so powerful!

Tradition vs Modern
Well…an artform has to grow. We can’t avoid something just because it will make it less pure. Its like making babies. If you marry among your gene pool, your kids are not going to get any smarter. Thats how I think about dance. Its always good to explore outside.

But then again….You cannot do fusion unless you know the traditional roots of your own art form.

I am up for innovation. I am glad I purchased them. So were my cats. They sneaked up to my room and tried to destroy my veils. It has been damaged a little bit. So i decided to quickly do the video before it gets destroyed!

Thanks all of you for telling me which color veils suit me. Most of you felt i was more towards the element fire. So i purchased fiery veils. I kind of like the power behind it. Whenever I am down, I dance. It always makes me feel better. This fiery veils give me power. Right now, I am going through some mental challenges in my life. I am glad this adds fuel to my desire to live.

Thank you all

fiery fan veils

I have been watching many belly dancers using the chinese fan veils for belly dance. Initially I wanted to stay away from it as I am a traditionalist. And, Chinese fan veils are not a part of traditional belly dancing.

However….

I changed my mind.

I fell in love with its beauty. Also, I am trying to be more graceful with veil work. Therefore, decided it was a good excuse to purchase them and try my hand at it. It will add a new variety to my shows. It is really beautiful.

I have always been fascinated by Chinese culture. The architecture of their temples, costumes, feng shui, zodiacs….

Also I happen to be born on the eve of Chinese new year. I am the last of the tiger cubs to be born before the year of the rabbit. And my birthday usually falls around Chinese new year.

Fan veils aren’t easy to manipulate. My hands hurt. Also this is my first time dancing with them. I am trying to practice before I finally do it for a show. Now, I can’t wait!

My biggest inspiration came from Brazillian bellydancers who are obviously non traditionalist. They dance to every music in the planet. Even movie themes. My biggest inspirations are Karla Tem Tem and my friend Riti. I learnt we can belly dance to almost any kind of music.

Therefore i decided to dance to “Freed from desire” I heard this song by accident. I am a big fan of 90′s music. Also, the singer happens to look like one of my closest friends. So decided to just dance to it. I might do this song for a show. Its so powerful!

Tradition vs Modern
Well…an artform has to grow. We can’t avoid something just because it will make it less pure. Its like making babies. If you marry among your gene pool, your kids are not going to get any smarter. Thats how I think about dance. Its always good to explore outside.

But then again….You cannot do fusion unless you know the traditional roots of your own art form.

I am up for innovation. I am glad I purchased them. So were my cats. They sneaked up to my room and tried to destroy my veils. It has been damaged a little bit. So i decided to quickly do the video before it gets destroyed!

Thanks all of you for telling me which color veils suit me. Most of you felt i was more towards the element fire. So i purchased fiery veils. I kind of like the power behind it. Whenever I am down, I dance. It always makes me feel better. This fiery veils give me power. Right now, I am going through some mental challenges in my life. I am glad this adds fuel to my desire to live.

Thank you all

Playing zills while balancing a sword – belly dance

I’ve been dreaming to try this. Its not perfected yet. But I am working on it. I needed to get better with sword and zills. Really fast. So I practice both at the same time. I think I can join the circus now. I might do this in public when I get confident with it. I think zilling and balancing acts are becoming obsolete as performers choose the easy way out in shows. Bellydance is about tricks and skills. That is what made me so fascinated with this artform. I will continue practicing this way until I am an expert with both props. It is fun and I love challenges.

I might do this for the show tomorrow for the fun of it. Even though its not perfect it is something new and fun to try out.

 

Blessed be

 

Sabreena

Short drum solo choreography

I needed to add fillers between long shows. So i thought I’d add a tiny drum solo as an appetizer before a hardcore solo. I decided to make this a little different. I decided to focus on other parts of the body this time – Other than the tummy, hips and chest. I realized hand movements can really frame a dancer. And hands is something I am not very good with. It stems from shyness. Hands, hair and neck can be an interesting touch to a drum solo. So decided to get creative about it.

I love drum solos and that is my strongest sequence. But sometimes we have to get out of patterns and add a bit of creativity. I like my drum solo style. And I plan to retain it, except start using facial expressions, hands and hair movements to bring some life. We have to be chameleons.  Sometimes when you perform at parties or restaurant gigs, people look out for showmanship more than skills. Skills are definitely important. But if you do not connect with the audience you lose out a great deal. I have changed my personality in dance. I learnt by smiling and making people laugh, we bellydancers appear less threatening. Thats how I intend to do future shows. It makes people happy. I have a sense of humor and I think its time I make it part of my shows.

Hope you guys like it. You are free to use this choreography, just be kind enough to link it to my channel. I am curious to see how others do it.

 

Sabreena