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Ameenahndc · 04-10-2008, 08:56 PM

Hi Maria,
I guess I am late responding, since my troupe members answered most of your questions. So I will answer from my perspective. I have been dancing all of my life and decided to try something different, so when I came across bellydance about 5 years ago, I figured, why not? I didn't know anything about the dance and had not seen any dancers or troupes but Lotus had a kiosk in the mall at the time, so I signed up for class. Well that first time I came to class and my body wouldn't do what I told it to, I didn't understand. The moves that she made look so simple, weren't just coming naturally and it made me determined to get them. So I started attending classes regularly and eventually I was there everynight, so Lotus started to tease me that they would set up a sleeping bag in the corner for me. About a year after I started classes with her, she invited me to become a member of the troupe(which was one of my original goals once I saw them rehearse), so that is where my journey with the NDC began. Since then it has been an adventure and we have all grown as dancers, but most importantly, they are my family. So I guess the answer to your question "How the group was formed?" would be in time with all of us coming in in different ways.

We spend a lot of time together, rehearsing, talking, brainstorming and just generally hanging out, probably about 4 times a week or more when we have a show coming up. We rehearse a lot but we spend a lot of time goofing off too!!!

As Makeda said MAZ does our costumes. I think that between her and Lotus and their visions of what they want a particular choreography to look like, there just weren't costumes available for a good price that reflected their ideas. Plus it lets us be original and have some imput into what the costume will look like vs. just buying something that everyone else has already.

I have a pretty boring life outside of dancing. I work in insurance but dancing has given me the ability to become someone else on stage and travel to places I may never have gone before. And I get to dance!!!!

As far as dreams for the NDC: One of our goals this year is to put together a series of workshops for performance troupes. Most teachers teach for solo artists and we would like to educate dancers on working with one another in a troupe dynamic. Under Lotus we have learned how to break down a stage, retain theatrical quality, combine with a desire to showcase each dancer in a troupe setting. Even if all of us are not looking to eventually be solo artists, Lotus refuses to have "back up dancers." With the troupe formations and choreography, the idea is to showcase each member in the forefront. There are so many troupes that we have seen where there is a star and then her backup dancers, but we would like for the audience to see 6 very distinct dancers, each with a different personality and style, who are able to dance together while still retaining their own uniqueness. Our goal from these workshops would be to teach how to dance dynamically with focus on entertainment and troupe unity.

The other questions I think the ladies answered with what I would have said, so I won't add to those. I hope this helped and thanks again for the interest. Oh I forgot, you asked about joining the troupe. No problem! Maybe we can come visit you in Greece?

04-10-2008, 08:56 PM	#4 (permalink)
Ameenahndc Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 3	Hi Maria, I guess I am late responding, since my troupe members answered most of your questions. So I will answer from my perspective. I have been dancing all of my life and decided to try something different, so when I came across bellydance about 5 years ago, I figured, why not? I didn't know anything about the dance and had not seen any dancers or troupes but Lotus had a kiosk in the mall at the time, so I signed up for class. Well that first time I came to class and my body wouldn't do what I told it to, I didn't understand. The moves that she made look so simple, weren't just coming naturally and it made me determined to get them. So I started attending classes regularly and eventually I was there everynight, so Lotus started to tease me that they would set up a sleeping bag in the corner for me. About a year after I started classes with her, she invited me to become a member of the troupe(which was one of my original goals once I saw them rehearse), so that is where my journey with the NDC began. Since then it has been an adventure and we have all grown as dancers, but most importantly, they are my family. So I guess the answer to your question "How the group was formed?" would be in time with all of us coming in in different ways. We spend a lot of time together, rehearsing, talking, brainstorming and just generally hanging out, probably about 4 times a week or more when we have a show coming up. We rehearse a lot but we spend a lot of time goofing off too!!! As Makeda said MAZ does our costumes. I think that between her and Lotus and their visions of what they want a particular choreography to look like, there just weren't costumes available for a good price that reflected their ideas. Plus it lets us be original and have some imput into what the costume will look like vs. just buying something that everyone else has already. I have a pretty boring life outside of dancing. I work in insurance but dancing has given me the ability to become someone else on stage and travel to places I may never have gone before. And I get to dance!!!! As far as dreams for the NDC: One of our goals this year is to put together a series of workshops for performance troupes. Most teachers teach for solo artists and we would like to educate dancers on working with one another in a troupe dynamic. Under Lotus we have learned how to break down a stage, retain theatrical quality, combine with a desire to showcase each dancer in a troupe setting. Even if all of us are not looking to eventually be solo artists, Lotus refuses to have "back up dancers." With the troupe formations and choreography, the idea is to showcase each member in the forefront. There are so many troupes that we have seen where there is a star and then her backup dancers, but we would like for the audience to see 6 very distinct dancers, each with a different personality and style, who are able to dance together while still retaining their own uniqueness. Our goal from these workshops would be to teach how to dance dynamically with focus on entertainment and troupe unity. The other questions I think the ladies answered with what I would have said, so I won't add to those. I hope this helped and thanks again for the interest. Oh I forgot, you asked about joining the troupe. No problem! Maybe we can come visit you in Greece?