LUNA Belly Dance Blog

The Tuesday class has been working on the Shimmy Mob choreography and we’re excited to perform it on Saturday May 12 in Moncton. After the daytime performances we will be performing the number again in the Studio Sephira Belly Dance Showcase and Kaleena will be performing a solo! There is also a number of special guests and performances! Show starts at 7:30pm and admission is $10.

Bring your loonies and toonies. This is a fundraiser and everything raised goes directly to Crossroads for Women in Moncton! Your participation positively impacts the community!!

This is Studio Sephira‘s 4th time participating in this event and our first. So come cheer us on and help us to support women in New Brunswick through a fun and positive fundraising event!

New Year, New Experiences

2016 the caterpillar

2017 the cocoon

2018 the butterfly

Are you ready for a new experience through an art form that will get you in shape and feeling beautiful, all while supporting a great cause?

On Tuesday January 16 at 6pm we are starting our Shimmy Mob class. Shimmy Mob will have us flash mob style dancing with other belly dancers in Moncton (and all over the world) on Saturday May 12 2018 to fundraise for women and children’s shelters. Each class we will focus on technique, combinations and all other class material but we will also include Shimmy Mob practice (you get the video to work on it all you want at home too!) By May we will all be ready to confidently rock the Shimmy Mob choreography. Practicing a dance and drilling technique will also offer health and fitness benefits. Belly dance makes you a goddess!

Here’s how it works

1. 1. 1. Register for Shimmy Mob by the end of the year for the early bird discount. It’s $36.50 USD and includes a TShirt for the day of the event and the choreography video so you can practice at home in between classes. The price goes up in 2018. Your team is MONCTON so please select that option when you register. On the day of the event we will be carpooling to Moncton to dance with a bunch of other dancers! It’s going to be a blast! (no worries if you do not drive, we will find you a ride.

      2. Register for classes by the end of year for the early discount of $75 for 6 classes ($85 after the 31^st). We start on Tuesday January 16 at 6pm.
         

   

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this class suitable for beginners?

Yes beginners to intermediate. It is a mixed level class but complete beginners will have 4 months to learn the techniques and choreography, and we review basics at every level. I have been dancing for over eight years and did my first performance after 3 months. If you can commit to the classes and a bit of practice on your own you will be more than fine.

Can I attend this class if I’m not registered for Shimmy Mob?

Unfortunately not, as I can only teach the choreography to students that are already registered for Shimmy Mob. This is the event’s rules.  LUNA Belly Dance offers another beginner-intermediate class on Thursday evenings at 6pm.

Can you do Shimmy Mob without the classes?

Yes! The class is for the group experience and additional instruction, especially where the technique is concerned! Anyone can sign up for Shimmy Mob, practice the dance on their own and meet a group in a participating city.

Who is teaching this class?

Kaleena has been dancing since 2009 and dances professionally in nightclubs, restaurants and for public and private events. She was a teacher and the rehearsal assistant at Om Laila Studio in Toronto where her teacher Roula Said rounded her education with  Middle Eastern Music and Song. She learned percussion including finger cymbals (zils, sagat), the drum (darbuka, doumbek), rhythms of the Middle East and singing/song translation for Arabic Music. She was in a number performance groups and theatre for singing, percussion, and dance and has also performed hundreds of times as a soloist. Kaleena has trained with world renowned Master Instructors from Egypt and specialized in the Reda Style (theatrical folk dance company in Egypt) with Nada El Masriya at the Egyptian Dance Academy. Kaleena is known for having soul in her dance, smooth elegance, and knowledge of music and song. She loves to improvise dance most but also enjoys creating and teaching choreography. Her classes are upbeat,  positive and welcoming to everyone regardless of levels or goals.

 

 

 

New Class at 139 Prince Edward Street, Saint John

It has felt like forever since our last dance class. I’m really happy to announce that we’re starting up with a single class at 139 Prince Edward Street in room 111. You will see the studio as soon as you walk through the door! Happily, it is very accessible.

We are in the new Social Enterprise Hub! A space built for change! We are delighted to be in a brand new building (built from the ground up in 2016!!)

Class is $80/6 weeks with hst included. $70 if you register by September 23. Paypal, Etransfer or credit card. I can also be reached over the phone 607-2257 or email to reserve your spot.

6 Classes $70 until September 23

LUNA Belly Dance offers women an environment to build confidence, body awareness and to discover YOURSELF as an artist. I teach everyone to bring out their individuality, artistry (yes you have it!) and to feel beautiful. This is not an athletic class. It is about feeling freakin’ gorgeous! There’s no squats or intense exercise but you can still expect to have a great workout. Especially toning arms with veil!

This class is already filling up thanks to the wonderful students and friends that have been waiting for me to get back at it again! So please contact me asap to reserve your spot.

 

Belly dance is an umbrella term for a lot of different dance styles that have a hip and belly focused movement vocabulary.

In Egypt, belly dance is called Raqs Sharki. This means Oriental Dancing. You could say that belly dance is a term that has been coined by Non-Middle Eastern people to describe the way the dance looks. I watched a discussion hosted by an Egyptian musician and dancer named, Karim Nagi where he said calling the dance belly dance is like calling a car a moving box with wheels. It was a memorable analogy! However, we continue to call Raqs Sharki belly dance because this is how the art and business is recognized in Canada.

In Egypt, belly dance is a social dance that most women who have been raised in the culture will have seen and experienced with friends and family in a casual, non-performance environment. There are nightclubs and famous belly dancers in Egypt of course, but the majority of women use this dance to have fun with their friends and family. If an Egyptian woman wants to be a dancer in Egypt one option is to join the Reda Troupe. This is a theatrical interpretation of folk dances from Egypt. It’s a re-imagining of how these women would act and dress in their homeland. Many dancers start here.  The Reda style has balletic influences and many Egyptian trained dancers get a lot of ballet training in their dance classes (like all of our arm positions and arabesques in class!) or they take ballet separately, to complement their belly dancing.

The Egyptian style can be described as flirty and coquettish; soft, elegant and not as busy when compared to other styles. This means there isn’t as much complex layering. The art is making the dance look and feel relaxed. There is a huge emphasis on feeling the music and improvisation (usually to live music…and the live music is improvised too!) Middle Eastern music is seriously complex! There are hundreds of rhythms and thousands of variations on those rhythms and there are maqams; this is comparable to a mode, and it tells the dancer and other musicians the feeling or tone of the music being played so that it can be interpreted accordingly. (i.e. a sad, celebratory, folky etc song) Sometimes a dancer will dance to a famous and beloved singer such as Om Kalthoum and will express the lyrics and essence of the song through her dance. Knowing the moves, songs, singers, composers, lyric translation and how to interpret it all through your body is a big part of the Egyptian style.

It seems like a lot and it is, but it all comes together eventually!

Even every instrument will give the dancer a direction. The ney (like a flute) may speak to longing and the movements may be more reaching , long and dramatic. This will differ to if the musician is playing an accordion and then the dancer will use more juicy hip and belly movements and the dance will have a more earthy and sensual feel. Or the drum, which is by far the most popular. The dancer will be sure to use her isolation technique, personality and bring a ton of energy to the audience!

In short, musicality and emotion is very important to the Egyptian style. As a general consensus, a middle eastern audience would likely enjoy a belly dancer more that knows the classic songs and has great musicality rather than a dancer that  only has great technique. When a Saidi song comes on (a folk dance style) the dancer may be expected to give a nod to this region with a dance move from Upper Egypt (actually the south of Egypt so it is similar to Saint John calling their downtown Uptown!) Of course a combination of musicality and technique is the ultimate goal!

The Egyptian style has evolved dramatically over the years. I will leave you with two videos and this is something one of my Egyptian folk dance teachers did for me years back. Please watch these two videos. One is of a very famous Egyptian dancer named Soheir Zaki  (this video is from the 70’s) and the other is a famous modern Egyptian dancer named Dina (video is relatively recent and she is dancing to live music!). This also shows how this is a very personal dance. No two dancers look the same even when they know the same songs and a similar movement vocabulary. The Egyptian style is incredibly unique to the individual and it makes it a very personalized and creative art form to learn.

I get asked this question a lot! Short answer is, it can but here’s a better response to why belly dance is the ideal activity for women’s health and fitness.

I (Kaleena) have been a certified personal trainer for over a decade and lost 50lbs with diet and exercise but it wasn’t until I started to belly dance that I truly loved my body and felt confident in my own skin.

Belly Dance is one of the BEST Exercises for Women 

• • Work your Abs
    Belly dance is earthy, centered and grounded. To learn this dance you use your core. This is an exercise that strengthens your abdominal muscles in a low impact way, and having strong abs and good posture (we go through posture every class) not only prevents falls and injuries by improving your balance but it will make you appear taller, and slimmer (and proud! Rawr!).

• • Full Body Toning
    Despite being called belly dance this is an art form that uses the arms and traveling steps frequently. You will find that you work muscles you didn’t even know existed, and you will be moving and burning calories, while toning your entire body.

• • Gain Confidence
    This is THE MOST IMPORTANT benefit to belly dance as far as I’m concerned. What good is weight loss if you are still not accepting your body? After losing weight I was underweight and felt even more self-conscious than ever before. Belly dance taught me to LOVE my curves, embrace the jiggle and recognize that every body is beautiful!

• • Be Elegant and Graceful
    With belly dance you will learn how to move with elegance and grace. You feel like a queen even when you are walking down the grocery aisle. You will be stunned with how these qualities are IN YOU ALREADY! Belly dance just brings them out. When I started I felt like I had two left feet and no coordination. If I can do it, trust me, so can you!

• Stop Caring About Weight Loss
  You will never believe it’s possible because as women we always want to improve our appearance and this equates to losing weight but belly dance truly helps us to get past this obsession with weight loss. When you accept your body, start to see “imperfections” as what makes you unique and see that every body type is moving beautifully in class, you will stop caring about whether or not you will lose weight because you will be too busy reveling in the other benefits (many more I didn’t write about here!) and you will  free yourself up for more important aspects of personal development, creativity, and making your entire being strong and healthy.

Visit our studio at 162 Union Street in Saint John and try your first class free.

LUNA Belly Dance 

Are you nervous to belly dance? GOOD! You need to do what scares you to change yourself: mind, body and soul.

YES means CHANGE. I’m a certified personal trainer and nutritionist but before I said yes to walking 5 minutes on the treadmill I was 50 lbs overweight and would get winded walking up a flight of stairs. Yes to walking 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, 20 minutes and yes yes yes turned into a career, 50 lbs weight loss, running a half marathon and doing multiple segments on CBC.

I said yes to the gift of belly dance (birthday gift from my Mother). I had never danced before and I was really bad at it (trust me I watch the beginners I teach and you are all more coordinated than I was) but I kept at it. I said yes to going to class. It cured my shyness and social anxiety, it gave me so much creativity, and the CONFIDENCE, SELF-ESTEEM and POSITIVE BODY IMAGE to go after what I want and need in this life!

YES is one of the most powerful words when it comes to your personal development and happiness. So if you are on the fence about these dance class, or heck, anything in your life, and especially if you have a tendency to say no..make it a YES and watch your world change!

Check out the Schedule and come in to try a class.

 

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Share the contest post on our page, or this blog post and tag or message us to win:

6 Class Gift Certificate
Coin Belt
Veil

This can be for you or anyone you love on Valentine’s Day!

Feel free to check out our Class Schedule and stop by any time to try a free class! We are located at 162 Union Street, Second floor!

We are now officially open!!! Luna Belly Dance hosted our first open house last night in our studio at 162 Union Street, second floor in Uptown Saint John. We want to thank everyone that made it possible; family, friends, neighbours, CBC Radio for interviewing us, Uptown Saint John for being supportive and empowering and of course to our attendees and new students! We are so looking forward to having you in our classes!

We will also be adding a class to the schedule on Saturdays at 1pm

It’s truly amazing how belly dance is an inclusive environment. We loved to see our guests last night having fun with one another! This is a great form of exercise and creativity for women of all ages, shapes and walks of life.

We are still hosting one more open house tomorrow, Saturday February 4 from 1-3pm! This is a free event with classes, prizes, snacks and performances. Come on out!

When I started belly dancing it was my Mom’s idea, and I had no clue what I was doing! I was very shy and self-conscious. Throughout my life I had been overweight and underweight and none of it made me happy!

I was fortunate enough to always have teachers that were patient and took it very slow. They recognized what I needed and worked with me on an individual basis. Most of all they made it so fun that I didn’t even realize that every new move, step and turn was a small accomplishment that was working its way toward something much, much bigger.

Over time, I connected with my body. Being able to make it move how I wanted brought out a strong sense of control that I never had before. It gave strength to being a woman I had never really considered or thought possible. It made me comfortable with who I am.

Saying yes to new experiences, meeting strong and confident women were all little pieces to my puzzle that started to bring me out of my shell. Eventually, I trained to perform and was taught how to carry myself, how to have a strong presence, and how to do everything like that was my plan all along.

Imagine how being comfortable with your body, how to walk with confidence, how to enter a room, and how to “own” everything you do, can translate into everyday life?

I started to feel like the impossible was possible, being a woman was a pretty amazing thing, and going for, and achieving goals was absolutely within reach. Plus, at a minimum I had some great dance moves for parties and weddings. Overall belly dance made me finally happy with my body and confident in my life.

Our studio and classes are a reflection of this process. We believe you can dance for a number of reasons from being active and wellness, meeting new friends, developing new skills, none, or all of the above. You don’t need to want a huge transformation or have any expectation at all. I didn’t. Guaranteed you will have fun and gain new experiences but likely, belly dance will give you something unexpected, will awaken something you needed but didn’t realize was missing, and you will benefit.

Classes are fun and no-pressure. You will learn the basics from the ground-up. There is no expectation. You don’t need to be a dancer or want to be a dancer.

Our goal is to bring out the best of what belly dance has to offer for the individual.

We’re so excited to launch LUNA Belly Dance classes in Saint John and we hope to see you at the open house on February 2 from 6-8pm and February 4 from 1-3pm at 162 Union Street.