The Rose Hafla asks members of the Scottish Bellydance Community in 'The Interview Sessions.' We find out how they started bellydancing, highlights of their dance journey so far, inspirations and top tips!
Name:
Helen Pratt
Based:
Edinburgh
Dance Student
Amateur Performer
How did you start bellydancing?
Back in 2007, I went to Egypt for the first time. I’d been fascinated with Egypt since I was at primary school and had always wanted to go there.
The hotel I went to held bellydance classes on the beach every day, so on my very first day in Egypt, I tried bellydancing and absolutely loved it. I went down to the local souk and bought my first coin belt.
I took a day trip to Cairo that week, and got chatting to one of the tour guides. Up to that point, whenever any Egyptians found out I was Scottish, they would immediately shout “William Wallace” or “Braveheart”. However the tour guide in Cairo had a very different response to finding out I was Scottish – he said “Scotland? We have a Scottish bellydancer here!”
His response was so unexpected that it really stuck in my mind. I remember thinking that if someone from Scotland was working as a bellydancer in Cairo, then a) they must be extremely good and b) it must be possible to learn how to bellydance in Scotland. Therefore once I was home, I started looking into bellydance evening classes in Edinburgh, but life unfortunately got in the way.
10 years on, I was involved in an accident when a van smashed into the back of my car and left me with chronic back pain. When attending counselling sessions to help me deal with the trauma of the accident, the subject of bellydancing happened to come up, and it turned out that my counsellor was a keen bellydancer. She put me in touch with Lorna of Cairo, and so, 10 years after the Cairo tour guide told me about the Scottish bellydancer in Cairo, I started private classes with Lorna of Cairo.
Your top 3 highlights of dance journey to date?
There have been so many highlights of my dance journey that it’s been hard to choose just 3, but some key moments have been:
The first time my teacher, Lorna, got me up to dance with her in a restaurant. I’ve always been painfully shy and dancing in front of people had always been terrifying for me as I was worried that people would look at me! Dancing with Lorna felt safe though because I knew I could trust her not to make me look silly. It was the biggest boost to my confidence you could ever imagine. For the first time in my life I felt ok dancing in front of people. It opened a door because up till then, performing would have been unthinkable for me.
Attending Celebrating Dance Festival in Torquay. Devoting an entire weekend to nothing but bellydance workshops and haflas was so much fun. Best of all though, I got to meet lots of bellydancers who I had previously only ‘met’ at online Zoom haflas or classes. Throughout lockdown I did online classes with Anna ‘Arabella’ Chandler and her ‘Arabellas’ troupe in Bristol. Finally getting to meet them all in person in Torquay was such a special and emotional moment.
Dancing on stage in Egypt. When I was on holiday in Egypt this year, the hotel held a bellydance show in their ampitheatre. I got chatting to the staff and mentioned that I was a keen bellydancer. When the show started, a staff member came up to me in the audience and said that the professional bellydancer would do the first song and that I could get up and do the second song if I wanted.
The thought of getting up on stage in front of a packed ampitheatre, without any idea what song I’d be dancing to, or indeed if I’d even heard the song before, was a little daunting – but I also immediately realised that I had the confidence to do it. I knew I would regret it if I didn’t do it. Dancing on stage on Egypt felt so special and magical, and I loved it. Particularly so as the last time I was in Egypt I was too shy to get up when the bellydancer was pulling up audience members to join her, so I was aware this time of how much my self-confidence has grown through my dance journey.
What inspires you to keep dancing?
I couldn’t imagine not bellydancing now! I do it because I enjoy it – I don’t need any more inspiration than that!
I’ve always loved dancing – dancing takes me to my happy place, where I can be me.
I’ve now learnt to use that in other areas of my life such as my job, when I need a confidence boost.
When I was feeling anxious about a virtual job interview last year, I went into “bellydancer mode” and pretended I was about to go on stage and perform. I set up my laptop carefully so that rather than sitting for the interview, I could do it standing in dance posture. The interviewer could only see my head and shoulders so had no idea that a) I was wearing a hip scarf or b) I was practicing horizontal 8s with my hips throughout the interview! It made me feel far more relaxed and confident and it clearly worked – I got the job!
For me, one of the other inspiring aspects of bellydance is that the more you dance, the more you realise how much there is to learn about bellydance – all the technique, styles, music, costuming, history and culture surrounding it. Yes, it can be a bit overwhelming but it’s also inspiring, knowing that the more you dance, the better your dance will become.
3 dancers (past or present) that inspire you and why
As I’ve always been quite shy, I find it inspiring to watch dancers who are confident expressing their personality on stage and interacting with their audience: dancers like Lorna of Cairo and Yalia of Vienna. I watch how they do it and how the audience reacts, to give me confidence to try and incorporate more of that into my own performances.
A local Edinburgh dancer who inspires me a lot is Seraphina. She’s a beautiful dancer and her musicality and timing of accents is always spot on. I could watch her dance all day.
Share a ‘top tip’ for new or existing bellydancers
One of my ‘top tips’ for any dancer, but especially autistic dancers like me, would be: find the right teacher. The right teacher will be able to push you out of your comfort zone and challenge you, but in a way that still feels safe and comfortable for you.
Different teachers explain technique in different ways, and you need to find a teacher who understands your learning style, and can explain technique in a way that your brain understands. At one of my first lessons, my teacher told me that if I didn’t understand how to do something, then it was her job as my teacher to find a way of explaining it that I did understand. That was the first time in my life that anyone had told me that, and it blew my mind. I realised that if I was struggling with something, it wasn’t necessarily because I was too stupid to be able to do it, it was perhaps because it hadn’t been explained to me in the right way for my brain to understand it. My teacher’s attitude has inspired me to persevere with bellydance moves that I’ve found difficult because I know I can always ask her to explain it in a different way if I continue to struggle with it.
The most important thing I would say to any bellydancer though is keep dancing!
Lovely to read about your bellydance story, Helen! ❤️