Bellydance WA

About Suzee

and her dance journey

Photo

My first exposure to bellydancing was in 1982 at a popular Lebanese restaurant in Perth, WA.  Immediately I was spellbound with the dance, music and exotic Arabian night’s atmosphere.  I considered doing classes then but lacked the confidence to go ahead.  Doing ballet throughout my childhood, then onto ballroom and latin as a teenager, something was still missing and I found myself drawn to other cultural dances from around the world as I love the colour, costumes, music and spirituality of world dance.   During my travels over the past 20 years I have seen bellydance performed in Egypt, Tunisia, Greece and India and I decided that Middle Eastern dance was something I wanted to pursue with a passion.

In 1995 I enrolled in a Bellydance course at TAFE, there meeting Angela Irwin (Director of Bellydance Central).  She was such an inspiration that I continued classes for a year with her and as fate would intervene met Renate (BDWA) and trained with her for over a period of four years.

Over the past 13 years I have attended numerous Bellydance workshops, festivals and training courses with both International and local instructors and have been inspired by them all.  My studies include completion of Keti Sharif’s “Oriental Dance in Perspective” course; this helped enhance my knowledge of the history of Bellydance, musicality, choreography, dance styles and cultural influences.   I’m also an accredited A-Z teacher of Keti’s original routines.  As a continual student of this beautiful dance I take every opportunity to further my learning experiences through ongoing dance training and therefore developing my own unique dance style.

In 2006 I commenced teaching for Bellydance WA which has been a truly rewarding experience not only for me as an instructor, but for the many women I have introduced to the art of bellydancing and seeing their enthusiasm in class.  Bellydancing is fun, vibrant and a different fitness regime for women and girls of all ages and backgrounds.  During the past two years I have performed with the “Bashirah Dancers” at many festivals and concerts including a two night showcase in Pemberton WA, featuring a fusion of Bellydance and Bollywood.  Bringing Middle Eastern dance to the community is important, as there are so many diverse dance styles and costumes than the regular expected sequins and exposed bellies.  In amongst all this excitement I’m also a busy working mum with a young daughter who also adores bellydance and there's a supportive husband who puts up with the two ladies in his life constantly dancing around the house to latest bellydance tunes.

From my own experience I have found bellydance to be a fabulous way to improve your fitness, embrace your femininity, sense of well being and be confident about your own body image.  Not to mention the wonderful friendships I have established through bellydance.  If you feel unsure about bellydance and the wonderful benefits it can provide, take a deep breath, be daring and sign up for a class and start a truly amazing journey for yourself.