Fan
Taqsim Belly Dance
Fan Taqsim
was originally born from my unique way of belly dancing with a Chinese silk
fan, fusing Chinese classical dance with middle eastern
dance. ‘Fan’ also because it means “the
art of” and ‘Taqsim’, the serpentine movements, the
undulations and curves of the slower, more sensuous form of belly dancing known
as ‘taqsim’.
Tak What?
Taqsim is an Arabic word pronounced as “Touk-Sim”. Traditionally, it means a break where a
specific musical instrument is played solo.
This is usually the cue for the belly dancer to break into a solo
piece. most often, when taqsim is played
or performed, the music is slow, hypnotic and the dancer may perform a lot of
floor work, undulations and snake arms.
I personally like taqsim because I prefer to dance a story and story
telling through dance is best communicated when the audience has time to hear,
watch and learn.
More FACTS & MYTHS is Available
here.
Belly Dance Classes
Women all over the world are beginning to understand what it is
to be a fabulous female through belly dancing.
While this was happening, I was off taking a long break, keeping
private classes and performances to a selected few. My apologies for the long absence! I've
started teaching intermediate classes (8 one-and-a-half-hour classes per
course) at Bishan Community Club on Tuesday evenings.
For more information, please call Mr Lim at Tel: 6259
1056 for cost fees and timing details. The current intake will end on
I am also conducting a series of Fusion Belly Dance workshops
(PA’s request, not mine) from April - August 2006 as part of the Arab Heritage
Trial organised by the People's Association. This is
actually quite an interesting initiative which features a range of activities
to bring greater appreciation of the Arab culture to the heartlands. There will
be workshops on Arab cuisine, makeup, calligraphy, music, dance (that's my
area) which will be brought to the various community clubs on the weekends. For
more information, check with your local community club or with Ms Chua Hong Yin
of PA at Tel: 63405 393, or visit www.pa.gov.sg.
For those who want to look into performing professionally and
would like to learn more about choreography, costuming, and performance skills,
workshops and private lessons are highly recommended.
More information is available here.
Photo Gallery
There are many opportunities to catch belly
dance performances in
Some pictures from recent events can be viewed
here.
Performances
Most performances this year are private
functions with a few selected public performances, usually charity events. The highlight of the year will definitely be a
troupe performance with some of
Kind Words
“I watched your performance at Chijmes last Friday, and was delighted at how unique your
style of belly dancing is! J I have been enthusiastically following the
belly dance scene. But by far your fan
performance is the most fa[s]cinating
I’ve seen so far.”
1.
from an intrigued
belly dancer, G
“You were the best performance that
night. You were so dainty and looked
like Kuanyin coming down to earth
.. (eh????).”
2. from
a belly dance student (not mine)
“You looked like this famous
Indian actress and dancer called Helen who ruled the Indian movie world for 20
years. You danced as beautifully as her
and looked as exotic. (Awwww ..
bless!)”
3.
from a nice Indian
gentleman at an impromptu performance
“You danced the Saidi
cane dance really well. Thank you so much .. it was as good as if we
were at home.”
- from a guest at
the Egyptian Ambassador’s residence
