So… what is there to say about Nathara, huh? LOL! I guess we’ll start with just the data and then see where it takes us!
I began belly dance classes in 1998 and from day 1, I was hooked. I had found my way home.
My Belly Dance Lineage
My first class was with Najwa (Elissa Kyriacou), well known in Los Angeles and around the world. She is now a professor of dance at UC Riverside. She probably doesn’t remember me, but I remember her with endless fondness. Her teacher was Aisha Ali, who is a living legend.
After Najwa, I took several workshops with Ansuya Rathor (one of the original Bellydance Superstars) before moving to Arizona.
In Arizona, I was lost for awhile, but connected with some local dancers and was briefly in a troupe (no longer in existence). Later, I connected with Midriff Crisis (also no longer in existence) and began dancing at Fighter Practices at Reid Park and then studied ATS with K-Lee of Domba (also now no longer with us – Domba, I mean). I then had the immense pleasure of studying with Kathryn Ferguson (may she rest in peace) at her Xanadu studios (now the Xanadu Dance Collective) – another legend in the belly dance community.
I moved again and began studying with Lois Sanders (Samra) of the Desert Dancers in Casa Grande, began teaching dance classes at Root 2 Route Botanicals (formerly Herbalicious LLC) and then joined RaMagik Belly Dance and began teaching the level 2 dance classes through the Parks and Recreation department in Casa Grande and later took on the level 1 classes as well.
I later left RaMagik Belly Dance and returned to dancing as a soloist with the Desert Dancers under Samra and have now moved to Fresno, California!
Over the decades, there have been a LOT of workshops, festivals, private lessons, shows, DVDs, Skype Lessons and all sorts of other opportunities. I have also studied modern dance, hip hop, break dancing, and ballet, although briefly.
Dance and Me
I have always wanted to dance. ALWAYS. But when I became a teenager, my short, curvy build made me unwelcome in classes. I grew up in the seaside town of Ventura and am, to put it gently, a bit eccentric. I lived in crop tops and big hippie skirts and had a loud and apparent obsession with bells (hiding an obsession with bells is hard, and, to be fair, I didn’t really try). Everywhere I went, people were asking if I was a belly dancer. I had never seen belly dance, but when I saw it listed in the community classes at Ventura College, I jumped at the chance and have never looked back.
Surely, there have been gaps in my dance history – a year or two here or there, but I have always come back. Music is so integral to my existence and mental functioning that it seems, in hindsight, only inevitable that I should find my way into dancing.
Belly dance was a natural fit, with its emphasis on hip work, groundedness, drums, and ancient lineage.
Dance has given me so much in my life – a medium of expression, a connection to my body, an appreciation for my large hips, and a community I can find anywhere I go. I have sisters all around the world and a language with which to communicate with them and a way to exchange energy, skills, passion, inspiration, and love with them – all without words.
It is entirely fair to say that belly dance has changed my life in the very best of ways. I would not be who I am if it weren’t for the day I found Najwa’s classes 20 years ago. Thank you, Najwa, and thank you sisters (and brothers!) for being so welcoming, inspiring, beautiful, and everything that you are.
About My Dance
I consider myself a “tribaret” style dancer, which is a combination of American Cabaret (the style I learned from Najwa) and Tribal Fusion (inspired by Rachel Brice and the Indigo). I was very lucky to begin dancing just as The Indigo were breaking onto the scene in San Francisco and I saw the very first Belly Dance Superstars Tour debut at Cairo Carnivale before their first tour even began, where I had the pleasure of meeting THE Rachel Brice in person and hanging out with her during the Festival dancing. I watched UNMATA (led by Amy Sigil) shatter the belly dance community in fits of outrage and confusion – and excitement! And recently had the pleasure of learning from and dancing WITH THE Amy Sigil herself!
Though I consider myself Tribaret, I am proud to say that I am well-educated (though surely not an expert) on dance traditions of the Middle East and North Africa. I can tell the difference between Egyptian, Lebanese, Turkish, and Greek styles. I have done za’ar, guedra, and shikkhat. I have studied the Romani and their influence on belly dance fantasy. I have studied Indian Odissi and have a passion for Bollywood.
I have learned the traditional 3-, 5-, and 7-part restaurant sets of decades past. I am skilled with swords, candles, veil, fan veil, cane, and skirt. I am in love with Umm Kalthoum – both her music and her celebrity. I love a good drum solo (to be fair, I also love a BAD drum solo!).
The costuming is amazing, inspiring, and complex and layered and the reason I have some pretty decent sewing skills now.
I love my sisters and brothers (and all the other siblings, however they may or may not identify), our heritage in dance, and the current and future innovations. I love every style revival that comes around and the weird stuff people are doing, even the stuff I don’t love.
I love the cultures of the Middle East and their endless hospitality, their complex layers, deep, meaningful history, and intricacies and have adopted many of their survival techniques to the 17 years I spent in the Arizona desert.
Hi, I’m Nathara, and I’m a belly dancer.
