Joharah's students come from all over. From Niagara Falls to Richmond Hill. From Bulington to Milton. Hamilton, Guelph, Cambridge/Kitchener and Mississauga. When you love to belly dance they way our students do, the drive to Oakville is well worth it!
Ahlan from Joharah of BellyUp
Pay it Forward by Joharah
Welcome to BellyUp. My name is Joharah (which means jewel in Arabic). I opened my beloved BellyUp BellyDance studio almost four years ago and we have grown to serve hundreds of students who come to learn the beautiful yet all too often misunderstood dance form known as bellydance classically referred to as Oriental dance. My very first experience with bellydance many years ago was when a friend took me to a bellydance recital. She had been taking classes and wanted me to attend her teacher's show. When the show began I was taken by one dancer in particular. Dark haired, in her 40s, full figured and very voluptuous. The audience was mixed, full of men and women and family. She didn't bother to give lingering glances at the men like I thought she would. She just walked on stage with a sense of calm, in perfect time to the music and with an air of confidence, grace and earthiness that I'd never seen before in my life. I had fully expected the dancers to be overtly sexual, acting seductively to entice the men in the audience - out of my ignorance of the dance form I had stereotyped the "bellydancer". The atmosphere upon her entrance was as though a beautiful princess had just entered the room. She was sensual without putting it on. And her dance was so eloquent, the notion of sex was overshadowed by the art that she made in her dance. It was then that I realized that bellydance was not just a dance form but rather an exquisite high art form. Not at all what I expected to find that night to both my surprise and my delight!
Needless to say, I signed up immediately and couldn't wait to get to my very first class and like water to a fish, I felt as though I was made to move in this way. I couldn't stop thinking about how good it made my body feel to move in the Oriental way. But if my body liked it, my mind and soul were feeling so deeply connected with the excitement of this new journey I could hardly wait for the next class. In alot of ways it felt as though I'd come home to something heartwarming and familiar. And if you believe in past lives as I do, I felt as though I must have lived a life where Arabic rhythm was an integral part of who I was. The rhythmic nature of the music is something I related to deeply from the beginning. I feel the rhythms in my soul...not just in my feet.
I perform often for Arabic audiences and the first few times I did this I was quite nervous to perform their cultural dance for them. It can be a daunting experience as Arabic audiences have high expectations of their dancers so they're a tough audience. But they would often aproach me after my show to complement me on how well they felt I'd interpreted their music and captured the real feeling of the music. Moreover they told me I embodied the sheer joy of the dance which is afterall the essence of bellydance. That was a huge complement and felt almost like a rite of passage to know that I'm effectively responding to their music through my movements and self-expression. To Arabic people, the dance is about feeling and emotion. To them self-expression is equally as important as excellent technique. At BellyUp my mantra to students has always been develop a strong foundation of skills from which to build your dance and always dance from the heart. One of my first Egyptian teachers put it best. He said "Arabic women dance to feel happy, to feel sexy, and to feel young". And I've never known a student to disagree with that.
My life since that first show many years ago has been spent hunting down every Egyptian dance teacher I could find to study with. And I've been very fortunate to study with many of the most noteable Middle Eastern dance artists in the world. There's many more I hope to study with one day. But what interests me greatly is not just learning about the way they move, but learning why they move the way they do. Egyptian music is powerful. It's passionate, emotional, layered, complex and downright luxurious for lack of a better word. It's the only music I've ever heard that can bring a person to tears even when they don't know what the lyrics mean. One of the things I do in my classes is teach Western students how to hear the music through Eastern ears and try our best to dance the dance through Eastern eyes. Arabic music is very different and far more complicated music to dance to than our own.
I also feel a responsibility to teach students about the culture behind this dance which is fascinating. It's essential for students to understand where this dance came from if they are ever to fully comprehend the essence of the art. Bellydance has been persecuted for hundreds and hundreds of years if not longer. And while every Egyptian can name their favourite bellydancer if you ask them they would never want one as a family member. In the Islamic culture, bellydance is not a respectable profession for a woman. In fact, it's akin to prostitution. Yet music and dance go hand-in-hand in their culture. In Egypt bellydance is a big part of weddings and celebrations. Often a mother of the bride will not let the wedding proceed if a bellydancer is not present to lead the wedding party into the reception. So therein lies an incredible double standard. They love their bellydance and at the same time, they hate it. Which is why I'm so blessed to be able to live my life with passion for the art form in an open society that allows me to share the dance freely every day at a beautiful studio dedicated to the art form. Every day that I teach and watch my students dance I think to myself "they don't know how lucky they are to be dancing so freely". And in many ways I believe we are dancing for all those women who cannot.
My goal at BellyUp is to continue to build and foster a supportive community for dancers to explore and discover themselves through bellydance. Whether you're an executive or a mom, when you walk through our doors status doesn't matter. We're all the same on the dance floor. Some of you may be amateurs in which case you're in for a very rewarding hobby. And if you have aspirations to take your dance to the professional level and start performing you'll need the discipline and commitment of a true dancer but the road is wide open and full of opportunity. Bellydance fuels my passion from the time I awake until the time I go to sleep at night. To see the dance form evolving and growing inspires me to continually raise awareness for it so that it is understood and respected to the same extent that other dance forms are. Time and time again I've seen the power of bellydance help people overcome tragedy and life's many obstacles, from bad relationships, divorce, weight issues, career changes, eating disorders to surviving Cancer. There's a special kind of connectedness that people get from bellydancing. More connected to their body and their spirit and this can often have some life altering effects.
You may decide to start bellydancing for one reason but the reason you decide to stick with it in most cases will usually be quite different and much deeper than what you originally had in mind. I guess I believe BellyUp is my way of paying it forward. There's nothing in life that has given me the gifts of personal growth and opportunity that this dance form has and BellyUp is merely my vehicle to share it with those that I can. Wherever I dance, be it the studio, on stage, in a restaurant, or just in my very own living room, is where I feel most at home and at peace with myself. Bellydance is a language of movement and communication. At BellyUp we've coined the phrase "Bellydance that moves you." and I think that describes the best benefit of all. It only took me a one hour class to discover my passion in life. It would be my honour and privilege if you'd discover your passion at my studio, BellyUp, so you could start to call BellyUp your home too! Thank you for reading my story.
Joharah
More about Joharah ...
Joharah's vision many years ago was to create an oasis for bellydancers. A haven of sorts that would bring together a community of women where they had a place to share all things bellydance. With a passion for teaching this beautiful and complex dance form, Joharah's dream came to fruition in 2007 when she opened the first BellyUp Belly Dance Studio, located in Oakville. In just over a year, BellyUp’s classes were so popular it was clear Joharah needed to find bigger digs and within three months of finding the next location, Joharah relocated BellyUp to the glammest of all bellydance studios… with two adjoining studios, and over 2,000 square feet of lucious bellydance space. In such a short period of time BellyUp has achieved many things. Several appearances on City TV's Breakfast Television and CHCH TV. Countless public performances at major community festivals, galas and corporate events along with numerous fundraisers for numerous causes. Contributor of many articles on the art of bellydance to local and national publications. BellyUp also won "Dance Studio of the Year! Two reader's choice platinum awards were given to BellyUp. Plus so much more. Read on about Joharah's involvement and commitment to the community and her journey to learn and share all that she can about this most amazing and elegant form of dance and feminine self-expression.
Commitment to her Community
Joharah loves to spread the word about the many benefits of bellydance and she is pleased to devote time to reaching into the community to educate and share her love of bellydance and all its healthy benefits. Joharah has been an Ambassador for Lululemon Athletica of Downtown Oakville and enjoys being part of a joint marketing alliance with this innovative organization. Joharah teaches belly dance at many of the local area high schools throughout Burlington, Oakville and Mississauga and also promotes a Love Your Body through bellydance workshop designed to help young girls and women build self-esteem and confidence. She believes that bellydance is a vehicle that allows women to embrace their bodies and femininity. Bellydance does not discriminate ... in fact as women become older often the better they become at bellydancing. Since bellydance is about emotional self-expression, women with life experience often have more range in emotion to use in their dance. Joharah has donated endless performances to fundraisers for Breast Cancer, Halton Women’s Shelter, International Women’s Day, WelNepal, Women of Afghanistan and community multicultural festivals celebrating cultural diversity. Joharah has written many articles on the history and benefits of bellydance for body, mind and soul.
The Journey of Learning
Joharah believes that learning to belly dance is a life long journey and works hard to continue her own education to constantly improve her teaching and performance style and to bring new and interesting techniques and approaches to share with her students and dance troupes. She regularly studies with a host of master teachers, performers and instructors in Canada and the U.S. and enjoys training with Middle Eastern Dancers such as Fifi Abdo, Dr. Mo Geddawi, Aida Nour, Tito Seif, Asmahan, Lubna Eman, Randa Kamal, Dina, Nagua Fouad as well as North American bellydance masters such as Suhaila Salimpour, Jim Boz, Aziza, Bozenka, Ansuya, Audra, Noura and Badia Star. Joharah hosted Jim Boz and Aziza at BellyUp this year for two sold out weekend intensives and she looks forward to hosting a fabulous range of master instructors in 2010 such as Fifi Abdo, Mohammed el Hosseny, Mira Betz and Carolena Nericcio of Fat Chance Belly Dance.
Teaching from the Heart
When Joharah dances, she really feels the music. And when she teaches it's no different. She emphasizes safe technique throughout every class and insists that BellyUp instructors share the same teaching ideals and principles and commitment to continuing education. She believes proper posture and body alignment is essential to learning how to dance in the bellydancer way. Joharah wants women to feel the purpose and beauty of every movement and gesture that is being taught and this includes teaching women to dance with feeling, emotion and most of all to dance from the heart which is BellyUp’s mantra. Once basic movements have been mastered, she looks to take the students out of the realm of repetition and into a space where the beauty of motion, subtle nuances of belly dance and self-expression can be explored. This is when the student feels as though they are truly belly dancing. Joharah’s strong sense of musicality and rhythm provides the student with insights into the dance that allows them to develop a cultural awareness of the dance form but also to develop a multi-dimensional technique with texture and great awareness of the musical rhythms and phrases they are dancing to. Joharah emphasizes to students the importance of not just executing a movement in the mechanical sense, but to understand why they are moving in this way to a specific phrase of the music. Students are encouraged to explore and develop their own unique style of dance allowing them to take the moves they feel most suitable for their body. Egyptian people will tell you that the bellydancer that dances with soul and emotion is the dancer that captures the hearts of the audience. And every bellydancer will tell you that the point at which you become one with the music is a very empowering almost spiritual feeling.
BellyUp is located at 2330 Lakeshore Rd. W., Unit 5, Oakville, Ontario L6L 1H3 in the heart of Bronte Village. Head south on Nelson off Lakeshore Rd. W., and make your first left into the parking lot. The studio's main entrance faces the parking lot. We have loads of FREE, convenient parking. 905 465 3100 studio or 416 414 1115 cell. Email info@bellyup.ca