What is Square Dancing?
This folk form of entertainment is for a group of dancers.  Square dancing is typically done with four couples arranged in a square with one couple on each side facing in towards the middle of the square.  In most American forms of square dance, a directed caller cues the dancers to do movements... READ MORE

By now you’ve undoubtedly heard Megan Trailor’s hit song “All About That Bass.”  (I’d guess you’ve even gotten it stuck in your head a few times.)  In the chance you haven’t been exposed to it, the catchy song pumps lyrics boasting messages of self-acceptance regardless of a bigger body size and tells ladies to embrace what cho’ mama gave ya.  While not an expected music choice for me to perform to as an International dance artist, this pop song gave me an opportunity to do something different, yet strangely familiar.

Bella Ballroom Dance in Orange County recently had its anniversary party for which I was anticipated to perform.  This would be the first time any current or prospecting dance students would see me perform since I started teaching at the Newport Beach dance studio in April.  It would also be the first dance performance my colleagues would see from me.  I made an executive decision, took a performance risk and decided to dance as… *gasp!*… myself!  Let me explain.

Any classical or international dancer understands that to be considered excellent there are certain dance standards to adhere to.  Cultural contexts and musicality formats must be respected to represent an ethnic dance appropriately and correctly.  While there may be some room for expression, a plié will always be a plié.   Regardless of the style, if a dancer is going to stay 100% true to a formatted or traditional dance, they will experience some limitations.

When I decided to “perform as myself” for the anniversary party, I chose to just move:  freely and without adherence to any genre of dance.  I left the stage persona behind and pumped up a hidden faucet of my personality.  It was a risk.  When people know you as a bellydancer, they expect to see you bellydance and they get excited to see all the bells and whistles that Raqs Sharqui has to offer.  There was a good chance my performance’s absence of bellydance would disappoint them.  Additionally, I was performing for a crowd of ballroom dancers.  A ballroom dancer’s foundational values rely on patterns, technique and formatting.  It was a risk to break barriers and do something completely unconventional for this dance-trained crowd.  Beyond this, my biggest risk of all was exposing my own personal vulnerability.  You are your art and your art is you.  As singer Erykah Badu expressed and popularized, “Keep in mind that I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my shit!”

So I went for it.  I All About My Bass’ed it for an unsuspecting audience.  I worked the room and moved my body in a way that felt good and true to me.  In retrospect I can say that I became a personification of the song’s message to whole-heartedly embody and be proud of who you are. 

The result?  While a performer never really knows how an audience actually perceives them, I can say that I felt personally gratified for being true to myself and sharing this juicier side of me.   I graciously received warm compliments and by the end of the night I was hired by one of the guests to do the same performance at their upcoming wedding in Huntington Beach!  Sometimes you just got to “do you” and prosper.  I celebrated self-acceptance and the results landed me another dance show in Orange County!

Ziva Emtiyaz dances for Huntington Beach Wedding November 8th, 2014.  Photos by Joel Jimenez.

Sometimes I don't know how I do it.  While dedicating a life to dance is rewarding, it undoubtedly has its challenges.  Last week the variety and amount of dance performances I had to prepare for was borderline crazy.  I was rehearsing multiple Bellydance, Russian, and Latin numbers with Sahlala International Dance Company to be debuted at Los Angeles shows throughout the weekend.  I had a special request to work as a soloist for a wedding in Huntington Beach for which I had to tailor choreography to fit new props and costume selection.  AND… the Rhythm and Movement Asian tour with Souhail Kaspar was fast approaching.  The work we do is tough and I was preparing hard-hitting choreography and material to be presented in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan!  In this moment I’m flying to Asia reflecting,  “How in the world did I manage all this?” and also thinking that I should be listening to Souhail's “Rhythm Revolution” CD right now and rehearsing in my seat!

I highly recommend all dancers or anyone looking to improve their craft read on as I share what I’ve learned along the way about staying committed to practice.