Episodes

It has been a while friends! I started producing this podcast back in 2018, and by 2023 I had recorded 75 incredible episodes that are all still very available for your listening pleasure. The last podcast interview I recorded was with Rachel Brice, and I also recorded amazing conversations with Suhalia Salimpour, Carloeen Nereccio, Jill Parker, Jillina of Belly Dance Evolution, Ebony, Kamrah, and many more brilliant dancers. https://bellydancebodyandsoul.com/rachel-brice-podcast-interview/ I a...

This interview with Rachel Brice dives deep into recent American belly dance fusion history and fashion. Rachel reminisces about her influencers Suhaila Salimpour, Carolena Nericcio of FatChanceBellyDance® (formerly ATS), and Jill Parker, and opens up about inclusiveness and past mistakes fusing dance forms. It is such an honor and a pleasure to welcome Rachel Brice to A Little Lighter! There is a beautifully written bio of Rachel on https://www.rachelbrice.com/about, so I’m going to share it w...

Most dance in our era is performative, but dance can do so much more. Harlem High School Assistant Principle and dance teacher Kierra talks about dances for healing, transformation, connection, and acceptance. Alicia Free: Kierra Foster-Ba is a Body Wisdom Coach and New York City dancer who has done some deep work, and her presence is a gift. I am so excited to share Kierra’s voice with you! Kierra dances with Kaeshi Chai and PURE (Public Urban Ritual Experiment) an international organization o...

Salit of NYC on the sisterhood of belly dancers, the politics that divide our community of Arabic music lovers, and how focusing on our belly dance technique rather than our appearance brings us more happiness. Salit (Sal-eet) started belly dancing in Israel when she was 21, and she did not expect it to become her profession and the foundation for her own bellydance school! I met Salit at Art of the Belly when I took a super fun cane dancing class from her. I love her sass when she dances, as w...

Dr. Valerie Poppel, aka Nefertiti of Delaware, is a Clinical Sexologist and belly dancer who lived in Cairo. Find out what Nef warned about Soul Ties when she was featured in Cosmo yet again and how shimmying can improve our sexual health. Imagine a gorgeous brown-skinned dancer flecked in gold taking the stage with yellow isis wings unfurled. When she opens her arms and looks up, it’s like the sun is pouring into her soul. On her face, ecstasy. She dances and shines. At one point, she looks in...

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW Author of 22+ belly dance costuming books, Dawn Devine talks about current belly dance fashion trends in Egypt and Turkey, how to make assuit fabric feel good on your skin, and how to get more out of your belly dance costumes. Alicia Free: I just don’t know where to begin with Dawn Devine aka Davina! She has created so many costume-creating resources for our dance community and influenced many of our costumes. I remember borrowing the book “From Turban to Toe Ring” fro...

Many of us dancers cycle through sad spells of pain where we don’t dance, and then we heal and get back into and achieve more victories, and then another injury surfaces. This is a pretty familiar cycle for humans, especially those who love to move and continue to challenge ourselves and grow as dancers. The intention of this episode is to shorten the sad spells of pain, and elongate our experience of comfort and joy. Sounds good right? Before I dive into Pema Chödrön’s teachings on pain how i...

Melodia of Melodia Designs has been designing amazing dance wear and comfortable-AND-sexy street clothes for over 20 years. But do you know about her intriguing dance past with the Belly Dance Superstars and Urban Tribal Dance Company? Listen and find out! Melodia has been adorning and accenting the beauty in fusion belly dancers and more beautiful movers with her oh so lovely Melodia Designs clothing for almost 20 years. Melodia has been adorning and accenting the beauty in fusion belly dance...

World-famous Egyptian raqs sharqi dancer Randa Kamel on the importance of belly dancing to live music, feeling the music, and why oriental dance developed in Egypt. Alicia: Randa Kamel has been blowing my mind for some time now. She is based in Cairo, and I love her strength. I love seeing her dance barefoot. I have sprained my ankle too many times to wear high heels, so seeing a master dancer perform barefoot really moves me! And she dances with such passion. Randa moved to Cairo as a teenager...

The nightclubs were open, famous Egyptian dancers including Randa Kamel and Aziza of Cairo performed, live bands played, and belly dance costume shopping continued. Hear about Naimah of Baltimore’s adventures on Black Cat Belly Dance Tour in 2021. Alicia Free: Naimah is known for her mystique, theatrical performances and gothic flair. She is a drop-dead gorgeous Baltimore-based visual artist who started belly dancing back in 1999. She has performed at many festivals including Tribal Fest and Be...

NYC raqs sharqi dancer Natalie Nazario of Puerto Rico shares how to belly dance authentically to shaabi and mahraganat, as well as her love for Egyptian colloquial Arabic, culture and daily life. Natalie Nazario is a Puerto Rican professional Raqs Sharqi dancer, teacher, choreographer, and producer specializing in Egyptian Oriental Dance based in New York City. Founder of Raks Al Zahra Company, her group is the result of great inspiration received from her travels through the Middle East, as wel...

Get inspired by these dance, health and beauty tips from some of the most influential belly dancers in the world who were interviewed on this belly dance podcast in 2021. Feel grateful, make a dance goal, drink some water, and dance yourself down the sidewalk. Thank you for another beautiful year of sharing this podcast A Little Lighter! When I am creating these recordings with incredible dancers and recording this right now for you, I want to be clear. It is your heart that I want to touch. Yo...

Learn some of the secrets of recreating Golden Era belly dance moves and costumes from Badriyah. Find out the best belly dance scenes from classical Egyptian movies with Samia Gamal, Naima Akef, Taheya Carioca and hear Badriyah’s dreams of opening a Belly Dance Museum. Badriyah is a professional oriental dancer, devoted mainly to Egyptian classical and folklore styles, modern fusion with oriental dance and the Golden Age of belly dance. https://youtu.be/sjMzxfss_DQ She teaches in Ghent, Belgiu...

New York City dancer Danielle Hutton speaks on magical intentions, powerful productions, and why washing your hair on Venus’s Day is a damn good idea. New York-based fusion belly dance performer Danielle Hutton’s dance has been described as a concentrated slow burn of sincerity and elegant emotionality. Danielle is a choreographer, creator, consultant, and educator who conducts transformative workshops. For over 17 years, Danielle has been a fixture within the New York City belly dance communit...

Belly Dance Superstars Choreographer Jillina Carlano on courage, contribution, and marinating yourself in music. From performing in prison, touring the planet and stumbling forward through the reckoning in the dance community. This is an amazing podcast interview. Jillina Carlano is a world-class artist who produces dance shows and creates experiences for dancers and audiences all over the world. I have heard numerous stories from dancers in this podcast about Jillina’s incredible positive ener...

Brooklyn-born belly dancer and fusion artist Brenna Crowley tells us how she went from looking down at the ground to strutting sidewalks like a runway model and dancing like a superhero. Alicia: Fiercely whipping her red locks around and sometimes shooting daggers out of her eyes between smiles, Brenna Crowley is a belly dance artist in NYC who is known for her commanding stage presence, intensity and one-of-a-kind performances. Spoiler alert: Brenna knows how to moonwalk. She has been an instr...

Award winning belly dancer Amanda Hart talks about how “A little progress each day adds up to big results”, her own growth from being part of Jillina’s Belly Dance Experience, and her love for the Lebanese singer Fairuz. (Progress quote from Satya Nani) https://www.amandahartbellydance.com Amanda Hart is an award winning smiling shimmy queen from Kansas. For all of you listening from outside of the US, that is right in the center of the USA, a bit of a trip from the belly dance epicenters of Ne...

Show me the love! Trans masculine belly dancer Kamrah of Chicago talks about key differences in Egyptian and Lebanese belly dance and highlights a big mistake that many of us make when dancing with a sword… https://youtu.be/3DugEkV-AS8 Kamrah is Chicago’s first trans masculine belly dancer. Kamrah has been dancing since 2001, and Kamrah performs and teaches what we used to call Tribal Fusion, American Cabaret, Lebanese, and Egyptian belly dance throughout the US. Kamrah is also a member of Ra...

Show me the love! Some Great Carolena Nericcio Dance Quotes: Successful patterns repeat themselves We are there for the bliss of following the directions The audience felt like they were dancing with us The most successful performance is when the audience completely forgets they’re watching it. Dance is supposed to take you away from the every day. Ask yourself: What is engaging for the audience? What is distracting? What is superfluous? For me, there is certain music for certain activiti...

Show me the love! What is the difference between Popping and Locking? Find out from this amazing fusion belly dancer who has toured with Belly Dance Superstars, Belly Dance Evolution, choreographed for Zoe Jakes’s shows, and is featured on Rachel Brice’s Datura Online. This show is packed with deep health and beauty secrets as well as a love for festivals and shenanigans. https://youtu.be/g2PRW4lbOsY Ebony Qualls of Washington DC fuses urban dance styles with oriental dance styles and makes t...

Hear how Eshe travelled to Turkey to study with belly dance legends Sema Yildiz and Princess Banu, why the word “Roman” needs to replace the G* word, and why Fifi Abdou’s new performances on Instagram may be even better than her iconic dance performances. Eshe is the director & owner of Mahasti – The Bellydance Emporium up in Ontario Canada. Eshe has been belly dancing since 2002. She’s trained extensively in Canada, Japan, Egypt, and Turkey. And she’s performed in America, Japan, Turkey, South...

Forget about writing a useless New Years Resolution. Here’s a better way for dancers to prepare for the best year of our lives. Listen and find out what it is! This episode gives you time to reflect and create. It’s the end of 2020! Holy shit. 2020 has schooled me. I want this coming year to be the best year of our lives. Full of dance. Full of joy. Full of growth. This special episode of A Little Lighter is all about that. I’m going to give you the some time to reflect, celebrate and create th...

“Hafla Prince” Carmine Guida of NYC has played oud, cümbüs and percussion for thousands of delighted belly dancers. Hear Carmine’s tips for helping the band love to play for you and for making it super fun. Carmine Guida is a party-making machine, and he is also a very talented and versatile musician. He teaches percussion and plays melody instruments including jimbush (joombush or cümbüs) and oud. He created the recordings “Middle Eastern Rhythms for Practice” that is a great resource for danc...

Healing yourself is possible, even in rich dark nights of the soul. Find out how Ceremonial Botanical Bodywork practitioner Rachel Fisher heals, how she became friends with Rachel Brice, and hear how she got 250,000 followers on social media and then let them go. Exciting update! A Little Lighter is ranked as #2 in the Top 10 Belly Dance Podcasts You Must Follow in 2020! Thank you to all of our amazing listeners and guests. And congrats to Iana of the #1 Belly Dance Podcast Belly Dance Life. Ian...