Mariyah. Sublime Bellydance Artistry.

New Year…New Photos

Friday, April 27th, 2012

A preview from my most recent photo session with the amazing photographer, Lina Jang
Pictures from the full shoot to be posted in the Gallery soon!

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Happy New Year!

Saturday, February 25th, 2012

Happy New Year!

I know that this new year post is quite late…The whirlwind of the end of one year and the start of a new has barely given me time to update my calendar or send out an email, but I did not want miss writing a new year post here.
It seems that every year I expect January to be a nice easy break after the hectic holiday season and that never quite happens. A fair amount of gigs always turn up but more importantly it is always a busy time of planning and laying groundwork for exciting projects in the months to come. This past year has also given me much to reflect on in art and dance and where my focus lies.
My father has always had the following quote in a frame on his desk and I wanted to share it here….

Whatever you think you can do, or believe you can do, Begin it. The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves also.
Action has magic, power and grace”
-Goethe

I wish every one of you an exciting and fruitful 2012, year of the Dragon. May all of us achieve our dreams and not lose sight of what is truly most important to us.
Much love in dance…
Mariyah

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Bellydance at Your Bridal Shower

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

It’s summer, and the season brings with it many beautiful and joyous weddings!

One of the most popular requests that come my way is for bellydance bridal showers and bachelorette parties. Next to the wedding reception itself, these pre-wedding events are some of my very favorite parties. Bellydance is glamourous, sexy, fun and empowering. It is also a perfect choice if you are looking for an alternative to the typical bridal shower or bachelorette activities. Brides and bridesmaids who are planning these events often have many questions for me so I decided to put together this guide with some options to consider when booking a bellydancer for your party. Be sure to let the dancer know your vision for the event so she can arrange an entertainment package that is uniquely suited to you and your guests!

• Lesson– A lesson most often comes to mind when booking a bellydancer for a bridal shower and it’s a great way to get to get everyone involved. Get an introduction to the basic movements of belly dance with a focus on fun and shared experience! A mini lesson can be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on the details of your event. Remember that though these mini-lessons are casual and focused on fun, they are still pretty active and most guests just aren’t prepared for a full 1 hour dance class in the middle of party. If you are interested in a full length class, it is best to book space at a dance studio and have the lesson as a prelude to a night out or day of activities.

• Performance– A spirited and glamorous bellydance performance is an excellent addition to any a festive event! The show can be anything from a shorter presentation to introduce a lesson to a full length performance. One of my most popular requests from clients is the lesson/performance combo. If you feel your guests won’t need a lesson to coax them onto to dance floor you may prefer a standard performance with plenty of time for audience participation!

• Extras– Coined or beaded hip scarves and veils can add to the fun and enhance the experience of your party. Depending on the size of your group, the dancer you book may have scarves available for rental during the lesson or you can purchase them for the guests to take home as party favors. Ebay is a great source for inexpensive scarves in bulk.

• Additional artists– A bellydance performance or lesson is an excellent focal point for your bridal shower entertainment. Depending on the size of your event, you may also want to consider additional artists to add to the atmosphere. A henna artist is one great example. Elaborate henna decoration is a traditional pre-wedding ritual in many parts of the Middle East and hiring a henna artist to do smaller designs for you and your guests is fun way to incorporate this tradition into your event. Many henna artists can do traditional designs as well as modern glittered designs. Mini-readings by a tarot or palm reader can also be a great addition.

Happy planning, and see you on the dance floor!
-Mariyah

Planning a bridal shower in the NYC or NJ area?
Contact Mariyah to help arrange the perfect entertainment!
Phone
347.743.6545
Email
Mariyah@EasternDancer.com

Mariyah is an NYC based professional bellydancer.
To learn more, or to inquire about booking for performances, workshops or classes, visit www.easterndancer.com,
join the mailing list, or find her on Facebook

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Dance Collaborations

Sunday, April 24th, 2011

Years ago when I first discovered bellydance I was immediately enchanted by many aspects of the art form: the beautiful music my teacher used in class, the powerful, elegant yet earthy movements and the exotic and ornate costuming. However, the solo, that expressive and improvisational aspect of bellydance, was most certainly one of its most fascinating attributes. When I began to take my first belly dance classes I was coming from a few years of training primarily focusing on ballroom dance. There are many things I love about ballroom but up until I started to seriously study bellydance, all performance aspects of dance for me had been focused on working with partner or group. The individual and expressive nature of the solo dance is still one of the things I love most in bellydance. Still, there is much to be said for the power of working with a group and the energy of synergistic collaboration. Over the years, I have done countless performances as a soloist, but I have also taken the opportunity to work with some other amazing dance artists. I am fortunate today to work with some wonderful dance companies as well as partnering in past and current projects with some very talented dancers.

Coming up in less than two weeks I will be teaching a duo belly dance drum solo workshop, a collaboration with wonderful NYC dancer, co-company member and dance partner Layla Isis.
This workshop will be a fundraiser for the Dalia Carella Dance Collective, a fusion dance theater company, in which we are both dancers. I have been dancing with the DCDC since 2001. It has been an amazing experience over the years dancing with Dalia and being a part of her unique artistic vision. As a director she always brings out the best in all of her dancers and I am very excited to be part of the upcoming 10th anniversary show of the Collective September 23rd and 24th in NYC.

Another company in which Layla and I both collaborate is NYC Arabic music and dance ensemble Zikrayat. Zikrayat’s focus is the Golden Age of Arabic music and dance and features classic belly dance and folk dance performances. In the past year, I have had the opportunity to do some direction and choreography for the dance ensemble. It has been a great experience creating and staging choreography with the wonderful dancers. Zikrayat is both a musical ensemble and a dance company which is especially important to me. I “grew up” as a dancer on live music and I cannot imagine my experience as in dance without it. The interplay of music and dance is such a vital part of this art form and in fact it is this creative collaboration, between musicians and dancers, that is my favorite in the world of bellydance.

Most recently I have also joined Bellyqueen, a popular and highly regarded bellydance based dance theater company in New York. In March, I joined the group for a mini-tour of the show “Journeys Along the Silk Road”. This unique production is a theatrical dance show using a strong basis of bellydance to tell its story. It has been just a few months so far but it is a great experience and an adventure rehearsing and touring with these talented dancers.

I never tire of seeing the individual expressiveness of a solo dancer in bellydance, or of performing my own solos. But dancing as a part of a group opens up a world of artistic possibilities as well as new opportunities and ideas. Working with three such unique groups while keeping up with my solo work takes a lot of energy and organization (not to mention rehearsal!) but it is a powerful experience and an adventure all the way!

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Welcome!

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

Hi Everyone! I’m Mariyah and I’d like to welcome you to my new and much improved website! First, I’d like to thank Brian Feister at Dreamstar studios. He has created this absolutely beautiful site that is easy to use, manage and update. Brian has made many wonderful websites for amazing dancers, each as individual as the artist. This unique beauty of individual artistry has had me hooked on Oriental dance from the very beginning. I continue to be fascinated by the richness and grace of this remarkable art form! Dancing is my dream, and pursuing this dream has taken a lot of love and hard work. I am very excited to finally have a website that so beautifully represents me and what I do.

My life as a performer here in NYC has truly been an adventure! I have danced in nightclubs, ballrooms, concerts and theater stages, traveled across the country and around the world for performances and workshops, been a part of hundreds of beautiful family celebrations of birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries and have the honor of collaborating with many exceptional artists, dancers and musicians. I hope to share some of that with you here in this blog, so please check this space for announcements, recommendations, musings on life as a working dancer, reports of adventures and travels, special gigs… and who knows what else!

Please have a look around, check out a class or performance, join my mailing list to receive updates on events and leave me a comment or an email if you’d like. I would love to hear from you!

My sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of you for your support and love of dance,

Mariyah

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