Nuances of belly dancing to Arabic music with Debbie Smith Baby Boomer Belly Dancer

We invited Debbie Smith back as our inaugural remote guest to talk with Karen about the nuances of belly dancing to live Arabic music without looking contrived.


A dear friend and Project Band member, Debbie is one of the few American belly dancers who knows Arabic and translates the words from the music as part of her process.


During this episode of the Baby Boomer Belly Dancer, we talk about:


00:00 Inaugural remote guest podcast with Debbie Smith


00:56 GBDAC2021 and what comes first... mastery or mystery?


03:02 Expression and sincerity in a dancer's performance


07:27 The opposite of effort...


09:32 Letting the music tell you what to do


11:35 Ways to increase your improv skills outside of class


14:25 What can look ingenuine


16:28 Looking for depth and reasons to do certain expressions


21:35 The process of taking in the music and putting it out in the form of movement


24:24 Dancers looking to deepen expression


25:56 Using translations to know how to feel about the music


34:02 When Westerners are mouthing the words to a song


36:12 Mapping a song out


Ultimately, context is everything!