Resources for Dancers

Other local teachers/performers we personally recommend.
Georgiana (Carbondale IL) is currently not teaching a regular class; however, you may inquire about instruction or performance.
Lauren (Belleville IL)
Ligaya (Padukah KY) (270) 898-0840
Nisaa (St. Louis area)
Diana (St. Louis area)

 

Sedonia's articles for dance students

Choosing a belly dance teacher

The path to performing

Levels of Middle Eastern dance

A comparison of Oriental dance and western dance forms

Belly dance music from emusic.com -- get 5-7 fabulous belly dance albums for the price of one CD!!

Sedonia's youtube lessons

 

Whole Page of Music Links

 

Regional Links with events and dancer contact information
Comprehensive info on St. Louis area dance community
Comprehensive info on Midwestern dance events
Bhuz.com has events and contact info and is a great online community of dancers.

 

General Information Sites about Middle Eastern Dance
Shira.net
Internationally renowned dancer Morocco of New York
Two of our favorite dancers: Artemis Mourat and Yasmin

 

Dancing, Performing, and Professionalism
We're not going to reinvent the wheel here. The most comprehensive site for performing tips, professionalism, ethics, and history of the dance on the internet today is the site of Samira Shuruk, a Washington DC area dancer. Here are two of her main resource pages:
Professional dancer rates page Lists professional dancers’ rates around the country:
Huge list of links to good articles

Every dancer should read Shems' article on the language of dance

Short Article about the history of Belly Dance

 

Vendors

Please note this is not a comprehensive list of vendors. We have found these businesses to be reputable and are returning customers.

 

Local
Tedi of Nile Breeze vends hipscarves, finger cymbals, music CDs and videos .
Sedonia's Silk Creations -- silk veils 618-924-7223.
The Country Goddess (520 S. Illinois Ave Carbondale, 618.457.4042) has hipscarves, tops and skirts, coin belts, finger cymbals, jewelry, and other items of interest to the belly dancer, plus incense, aromatherapy, soap and skin care, and new age items.

 

Regional/National
Dahlal International is one of the U.S. leading vendors of all things belly dance, and she’s right in our backyard! She carries high-end professional costumes, music, videos, props and accessories.
Audrena's is another major vendor in Chicago. High-end professional costumes, music, videos, props, and accessories.

Music CDs and videos
Maqam.com
Hollywoodmusiccenter.com
http://www.rashid.com/

Downloadable music

(please note, we suppport artists' copyrights and only recommend the legal purchasing of music)
Get 25 FREE Downloads from eMusic. No Restrictions - Own Your Music! the cheapest way to get a huge middle eastern music collection (disclaimer: I am an emusic affiliate; see my emusic article.

itunes also has Middle Eastern music (but emusic has many of the same albums for less).