Nichole Frechette is a Theater and Dance Major. She has always loved to dance, but really found her passion when she learned to belly dance! She has worked with High Schools and dance studios to teach young girls and women the importance of a good self image through the creative movement of belly dance. She explained to me what she loves most about belly dancing and why it is important to her.
I have been belly dancing for about nine years. I am part Armenian, so during our church picnics the women would get together and “belly dance”. I didn’t think anything of this when I was young. I always figured it was nothing more than a response to the music. These women were not dressed in the glittery costumes we now associate with belly dancers. They were dressed in regular dresses. But there movements were traditional women’s folk dance.
I officially started to study belly dance back in 2001 after seeing a veil dance done by a teacher in my modern dance class at my studio back at home. I don’t think she had any official training as a belly dancer, but she exuded freedom and pure joy which was something I have never seen before in a dancer. I knew that I had to learn that dance form!
In 2005 I began my official serious study of the belly dance art form. Ever since then I have searched for many teachers and have studied in debt with several local large name dancers in addition to world renowned dancers.
How did you becoming involved in belly dancing?
As I mentioned above I was introduced to belly dance as a performing art in 2001. Since then I have thrown myself into studying this ancient art form. I am always looking for new information about belly dance, Middle Eastern history, women’s role in society and dance, and how belly dance affects women.
Like many women who came to this dance form before me, I was “bitten by the Belly Bug”. This “Belly Bug”, as it is affectionately referred to in the belly dance culture is the inexhaustible thirst for knowledge of all things belly dance.
In addition to connecting with dancers around the world, I am also involved in costuming. The belly dance costume is a huge connection through the world of belly dance. There are many forms of belly dance and each form has its own unique costume style. The three most popular styles of belly dance are: Cabaret (sometimes referred to as Raqs Sharik), American Tribal Style (ATS), and Tribal Fusion.
Cabaret belly dance is what most people think of as “belly dance”. Cabaret dancers are the dancers who study movements from Egypt, Turkey, and some parts of Morocco, Greece and the Arabic Gulf Coast Regions. They wear the glittery costumes that typically include a belt bra and multi layered skirt.
ATS is an American addition to the dance based on cues that all ATS dancers know much like a language. They wear huge skirts (sometime up to 25 yards of fabric) and long sleeve black tops with open backs and bright colored accessories such as hip scarves, brightly colored flowers, tassels and old Middle Eastern coins originally worn by authentic Middle Eastern dancers.
Tribal fusion dance is a consortium of folk dances, cabaret and modern dance technique. Fusion dancers borrow their costume style from all over the place, often settling on a mix of ATS dancers, Victorian England, and the coins from the Middle East.
What do you love most about bellydancing?
What I love most about belly dance is the freedom and self awareness that this dance brings to women. This is a dance that was designed for women by women. Men didn’t see the dance until it had been performed at women’s parties for hundreds of years. Belly dance is the only dance form that is specifically for the female body and the female soul.
Any woman can learn how to belly dance because it is based off of natural female movements. It is not a dance of seduction, but a dance of knowledge. This knowledge is a knowledge of the ever changing female body, knowledge of the deep emotions of the self and the knowledge of our female ancestors. When I belly dance, I am dancing with my ancestors, and that is a deep and powerful experience.
How do you use this talent/skill in your current life? Do you do performances, etc?
I do perform all over New England and, currently, as far out as Pennsylvanian. I hope to get the chance to perform all over the country and even overseas. One of my great dreams is to study and perform in the Middle East.
I also teach belly dance classes all over the seacoast. For up-to-date information on where and when I’m offering classes or performing you can visit my web site: www.zabelbellydance.com
As far as how I use belly dance in my everyday life… I hold myself differently and walk differently. Belly dance requires a specific posture that is also our natural posture. This is not the hunched over posture we adopt thanks to how long we spend bent over our technology, but how we were designed to stand.
Belly dance also saved me in many ways. I used to have very low self-esteem. I was always getting the cold shoulder in my dance studio because I was not the perfect, skinny ballerina. As I entered my pre-teen years myself image continued to plummet and the thought of entering high school was beyond daunting.
Then, I started taking belly dance lessons… I discovered that my body could do amazing things! All of a sudden my waist started to form and while my stomach was not toned by any stretch of the imagination, I began to respect it. I learned all about my body and how to accept the changes that were occurring in my body.
I feel that I am very fortunate that I found belly dance at such a young age. It helped me build a lifelong dialogue with my body. I learned how to respect my body because it became so important to me. Belly dance taught me that I am unique and I am beautiful and I have something important to share with other women.
How easy is it for people to learn to bellydance?
One of the most common reactions I get from my students is “I had no idea how hard belly dance is! I thought it was just shaking my body like Shakira!” So many women come to my class looking for an alternative to the gym. Yes, belly dance is an incredible workout! However, it is so much more than just “shaking it”. Belly dance is an art form that requires years of dedicated study.
I myself, an always learning something new about belly dance. Just when I think I understand a movement, I discover a new aspect of that movement or a new *layer I can incorporate, etc…
*a layer is doing more than one movement at a time
Points I’d Like to Stress and Some Fun Facts
1. This dance form is not about seducing men or being sexual in any way. There are sensual aspects of this art form, but it is more about the intimate connection the dancers has with herself. When I perform, I do NOT perform for all male audiences. And I do make an effort to connect with the women in my audience and not the men. I can’t control the thoughts of my audience, but I can control how I present myself and how I interact with my audience.
2. Belly dance is an ancient art form that can be traced back to ancient times when goddess worship was the main form of religion.
3. Belly dance is a serious art form that takes years of dedicated study. Going to Zumba once a week does NOT mean you know how to belly dance.
4. A belly dance costume normally starts at $300 and can be as expensive as $1,000. Workshops normally start at $40 and can go up to $200 depending on who you are studying with and how long the workshop is. When hiring a dancer the typical 12-15 minute performance costs about $150.00 a traditional 30 minute performance starts at $250.00
5. A serious student may have her first performance after over a year of study.
6. Stage names are very popular in belly dance. My stage name is Zabel. It comes from my Armenian heritage. Zabel is the only queen who was influential enough to be mentioned in our history. I chose my own stage name, and I chose to take it on when I knew I wanted belly dance to be my life’s work. I spent months researching names and their meanings. I finally decided to take a name that fit my personality, was a nod to my heritage, was original, and easy to remember.
The act of adopting a stage name has different meanings for different dancers. Some take a stage name to celebrate her first performance; some are given a name when she has proven herself “worthy of the dance” as seen by her primary instructor. Some are given their name by members of a band she may perform with. And some dancers never pick a stage name, opting to perform just as themselves.
Don’t forget to visit her website www.zabelbellydance.com. You can also contact her at Zabel@zabelbellydance.com.