Episodes

I met Erin in my first belly dance class in 2000 at Cornell. For 20 years we danced together on stages, streets and around fires. Erin passed away in May 2020 during the Covid Era, and I continue to seek a dance floor that can help heal the pain. I saw this quote from writer Hope Alocer posted in a Facebook group for dancers: “Behind every dancer there’s someone that broke her, a song that moved her, a moment that inspired her and a dance floor that healed her.” – Hope Alcocer How can we make t...

Singing belly dancer Helen of South Florida gives us some tone-at-home fitness tips we forgot about and shares how she moved past fear to create her own online dance program and write “Belly Dance Business 101”. https://youtu.be/GWMhaUvEcwM Interview with Helen Blondel Making an Online Belly Dance Course Belly dance is a beautiful art form, but it is niche. A lot of people don’t know about it. I was teaching classes at Florida International University that were capped at 50 students and had ...

Tired of feeling tight and stressed? One of the world’s most down to earth Buddhist teachers shows us how to soften, relax, create space, and find meaning in our dance lives and daily lives. When I saw that Pema Chödrön (pronounced Peh-mah Choh-drun) was coming to Omega just outside of New York City in 2020, I was thrilled. Pema always puts things into perspective for me. She is undisputedly one of the great experts on kindness in our time. And Pema is a realist. A nun with children and grandk...

Veil poi innovator Maëlle shares belly dance secrets from the Lebanese night clubs of Brussels, palaces of Dubai, and Suhaila Salimpour’s dance studios. Hear her story. Alicia Free: Like many of us, Maëlle was looking for just a new dancing hobby when she started belly dancing. She took her first classes more than 20 years ago…and she fell in love. Maëlle was the featured dancer of a 5-star palace in Dubai, performing with a live band. She is currently based in Brussels, Belgium. She is the thir...

For 12 years Sabriye performed all over the Gulf and North Africa. Hear her tips for keeping the soul in Saidi and how to do Khaleeji hair throw moves safely. I am pleased to feature another leader in the Salimpour school and community, Sabriye Tekbilek. What a lovely Turkish name. Sabriye is the daughter of renowned Turkish musician “Haci” Ahmet Tekbilek. Her uncle Ömer Faruk Tekbilek is also a famous musician, and her mother Lisa Djeylan is known for pioneering belly dance in Sweden. So Sabri...

Flashy Floridian Belly Dancer Ciana talks about the difference between dance cardio classes and straight up belly dance classes, the importance of foundational strength for preventing injury and aiding expression, and how much fun it is to wear big drag lashes when you dance. Art and Athleticism Ciana Ariel Boetius (“Bo-EE-tus”) started dancing around 2009 in Southern Florida. After a series of back injuries, she has added functional dance conditioning including barre, pilates, and functional ...

What should we call tribal fusion now that Indigenous leaders have spoken? Professor Keyes from the Salimpour School hashes out what educated belly dancers should know. Abigail Keyes (pronounced like “eyes” with a K) is one educated and informed belly dancer! Not only is she one of just 5 dancers in the world to hold dual certification in both the Suhaila and Jamila Salimpour formats, but she also studied at Near Eastern Studies at Princeton and Arabic at Georgetown and she is currently an adju...

Find out how podcast host Iana Komarnytska made her passion for Middle Eastern dance into an abundant business, get tips for creating a clear website, and hear why it is so important for belly dancers to study folk dance styles. I am very excited to feature fellow belly dance podcaster Iana today! Podcasters unite! In addition to hosting the podcast Belly Dance Life and the online Iana Dance Club, Iana is an award winning international performer and belly dance instructor. https://youtu.be/dTlc...

Find out how Suhaila, Jamila and The Salimpour School have shaped the history of belly dance and fused elements of hip hop dance with traditional Middle Eastern Dance. Great Suhaila Salimpour Quotes From This Podcast Interview: “And that’s how we have all these hard contractions in belly dance now, pop and lock…People just think that always been a part of belly dance, like Cleopatra brought that in…It’s because of me and Walter Freeman.” “I can create and teach the strongest possible dancer i...

Hear Naimah’s tips on great eye makeup and how to get your dance costume to stay in place. And find out how modeling and studying burlesque can help us belly dancer better. 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 Bellypalooza, and other events with great names like Belly Horror and Raven’s Night. She h...

New York City Belly Dancer Kaeshi talks about touring the world as a dancer, screaming when dancing, and Beauty Reimagined. And her doumbek playing husband Brad Mack gives us tips on how to become a better performer. About Kaeshi KAESHI CHAI of New York City has performed in 39 countries with names like Natasha Atlas, INXS, Belly Dance Superstars, Raya Brass Band, on Conan O’Brien and many more screen and stage appearances. She is also a theatrical director, teacher trainer, and award winning ...

Third generation belly dance star Isabella shares what she learned from Suhaila and Jamila Salimpour, talks about the magic of Bal Anat, and reflects on dancing illegally in Egypt at 8 years old. Learn more about the Salimpour School: SalimpourSchool.com SalimpourSchoolOnline.com About Isabella Salimpour: Isabella Salimpour is a third generation multidisciplinary artist, dancer, singer, and actress. Daughter of middle eastern dance instructor and performer, Suhaila Salimpour, and granddaughte...

New York City belly dancer Zobeida on Anahid Sofian’s floor work, how to dance to 9/8 Turkish Roma style and how to find time to dance when you have kids. Alicia Free: This one goes out to all you mamas out there. This interview really spotlights some of the struggles of being a mother and being a belly dancer. We recorded it way before coronavirus and I waited to release it around Mother’s Day to make it really special. That’s why we don’t talk about coronavirus at all and why the guest, Zobe...

California belly dancer and twerking instructor Cera Byer talks about fearless improvisation, clear choreography, and taking “exquisite care” of ourselves. https://youtu.be/DSVdmNo01Ok?t=87 Alicia Free: I am so happy to share with you the amazing, the edgy, Cera Byer. Cera Byer is a dancer, choreographer, movement coach, and an author. Look out for the book, “The Six Pillars of Body Love” coming out soon. Cera has been teaching dance since the year 2000, so as of now that’s 20 years. Some of...

Show me the love! Find out why Suhaila walked off the nightclub stage at 28, how we can show respect for the cultural origins of belly dance, and how her mother Jamila Salimpour danced her cooking. *Just to note that this interview was recorded in December 2019, right before the coronavirus outbreak. About Suhaila I am so honored to feature this belly dance legend of our time, Suhaila Salimpour. Suhaila started dancing at the age of two. The mother of tribal belly dance, Jamila Salimpour, was...

Here’s some treatment for Coronavirus depression: Join the Dancing with Myself Movement, try Belly Dance Chi Gong, and relieve stress by laughing like crazy Laughing Yoga style. Featuring music from Moontee Sinquah. https://youtu.be/7cfXYiKibF4 Fellow Americans, citizens of the world, now is sure enough a time when we need to feel A Little Lighter. Many of us are alone and scared and feeling trapped in a space and time where the clock is moving in slow motion. With frantic thoughts pumping th...

Suhaila’s student and friend Anna Horn shares some of the surprising elements of Suhaila’s format, reminisces about Jamila Salimpour’s finger cymbals, and shows us how the pets we love can inspire us to dance. Alicia: You guys are going to love this. I have Anna Horn in the studio. Anna is going to tell us all about what it was like to teach class with Jamila Salimpour and Suhaila Salimpour and work for Suhaila out in California. She’s going to talk about her whole belly dance career, dancing ...

Hear how murder mystery writer Jo loves the process of preparing for a performance even more than the show and values sharing experiences with other dancers more than perfection in the spotlight. And she likes to set drinks on fire… Jo Boring: Let’s get ridiculous. Alicia: Ooh, what an invitation from Jo Boring. Now, Jo Boring, what an interesting last name for a gal like you. Jo Boring: Alicia Free. That is a fitting name for a gal like you. Alicia: Thank you. Jo Boring: I married int...

Want to feel beautiful and juicy in your body? Listen to this. Let’s reveal what belly dancers can learn from burlesque culture and find ways to take exquisite of ourselves. Alicia Free : I am so pleased to feature Tessa True Heart, aka Tessa Myers, a friend of mine for years and years that I’ve had the honor of performing with in many occasions. We are recording in the town next to Ithaca where Tessa and Jo Boring, who I will also feature in another podcast, own a wonderful studio together, h...

Find out what makes Egyptian dancers look authentic and what can make Western dancers look a little fake, what makes dancers sexy, and why belly dancers in the Middle East are still stigmatized. Alicia Free: I am so pleased to have Tarik Sultan on the show. He’s a fabulous male dancer out of Jersey City, and he’s going to talk about a lot of amazing parts of dance and history that a lot of us don’t know anything about. And I’m really excited to feature Tarik Sultan. Tarik, can you tell me a li...

Dance feeds our feminine, and the child inside of us longs for the freedom to play dress up and dance. But problems can stop us from dancing. Hear from Tony Robbins and his wife Sage how we can turn problems into gifts and create habits that make us happier. In December 2019, my husband and I took six days to focus on who we are now and who we are becoming at Date with Destiny. What a gift. To dance, celebrate, weep and reflect in close proximity 5,000 extraordinary people, all the while being c...

Learn this essential tip for any dancer who plays zills, dance confidently to the droning medieval keyed fiddle we call the hurdy gurdy, and have fun hearing the wild times of Renaissance Festival musician and dancer Roxanne Dresden Bruscha. Woohoo! A Little Lighter is in the list of the Top 15 Dance Podcasts of 2020. Thanks for listening 🙂 Alicia : Welcome to episode 31 of A Little Lighter. The guest that we have in this episode is Roxanne. She’s a hurdy-gurdy player, a band director of her ...

Jill Parker shares what she wishes she knew when she first started dancing with Fat Chance Belly Dance, talks about tattoos, beauty secrets, and the sorcery of dance. https://youtu.be/fDFB1UkY024 Live at the Corset Factory, a pre-Industrial Revolution building in Cortland, upstate New York with Jill Parker from the West Coast hanging out on the East Coast for a hot minute. Jill Parker, always cutting edge. For decades, she’s been performing all over the world with others in the pantheon of be...

Show me the love! Where did belly dance come from? Who are the most famous belly dancers? What are the different styles of belly dance? This podcast will answer so many of your questions, and you’ll love it. We made it! This is the final episode in the four part series on the history of belly dance. Show #19 focused on the history of belly dance up to the 1900s. We sat in the women’s quarters together imagining what it would be like to be entertained by Ghawazee, Awalim, Ouled Naïl, and Roma d...