October Dancer of the Month:
Nisaa!

Nisaa is a St. Louis-based instructor / performer of Middle Eastern dance and the artistic director of the Madrasat Nisaa performing troupe. As an instructor, Heather's mission is to foster a greater understanding of the complexity, diversity, and beauty of Middle Eastern dance forms. Although specializing in Egyptian dance (raqs sharki), Heather also teaches and performs a variety of folkloric dance forms, including debke (a folk dance from the Levant), saidi (Upper Egyptian) style dance, and khaleegy (Persian Gulf) style dance. Together with Madrasat Nisaa, Heather presents the vibrant, colorful dances of the Middle East in a manner designed both to educate and to entertain. Middle Eastern dance is a living art among contemporary peoples and cultures of the Middle East, and as such, it is a window into their rich heritage. STLBD: How long have you been bellydancing? Nisaa: I have been belly dancing for the past 7 years or so. STLBD: When did you decide bellydancing was something you seriously wanted to do? Nisaa: I knew after my first lesson that I would do this for the rest of my life. It really resonated with something in my personality. It's hard to explain: I do have a very outgoing personality, but before I started belly dancing, I was not "at home" in my body and very uncomfortable with any physical form of expression. When I discovered belly dancing, my body image finally caught up with my personality. STLBD: Who was your first teacher? Nisaa: My first teacher was the lovely Nadia Alooma (Delores Dunn) in Urbana, Illinois. I am not sure whether she teaches dance anymore. She is an elegant, classy dancer, and a great inspiration to me. She's also an incredibly sweet, warm person. STLBD: What made you decide to teach? Nisaa: With various types of fusion and avante-garde belly dancing becoming so popular, I really wanted to offer classes that are firmly grounded in Middle Eastern culture, music, and aesthetics. My top priority as a teacher of Middle Eastern dance is to contextualize the dance in terms of its cultural origins. Nisaa's Classes: Check the class schedule for times and locations. Nisaa has convenient Saturday classes! Speaking of American belly dancers, I do not think any of us can claim a monopoly on authenticity; however, I believe that we American dancers owe it to the peoples and cultures of the Middle East to at least learn about the origins of these dances, what they mean to Middle Easterners, and how the dances are done "over there" before we start mangling them with our own "artistic interpretations." I almost exclusively teach Egyptian dance--raqs sharqi, raqs beledi, and folkloric styles--although I also dabble a bit in the folkloric styles from other regions, including the Levant and the Khaleej. STLBD: To date, when was your best performance? Nisaa: It was a recent one. Last July, I attended a workshop on teaching methods with the renowned Mahmoud Reda. During the evening hafla, I danced to "El Hobbi Koullou," and I must have been riding a high from the workshop that day, because everything seemed to click. I really could feel the music seeping through my pores that night. Hard to explain! The greatest joy of all was that I received positive feedback from Mr. Reda later that evening. After that moment, I felt like a real dancer. STLBD: Who is the dancer that inspires you the most? Nisaa: There are a few. Mahmoud Reda is one...I have never had a better workshop than the one I had with him last summer. He is a dancer's dancer: he is a systematic and demanding instructor, he truly understands rhythm and musical interpretation, he has the creative vision to produce dramatic, visually stunning choreographies. I left his class wanting more; studying with him made me wish I could devote myself to training full-time. Fifi Abdo and Sohair Zaki are my two other favorites. Their styles are vastly different, but there are things I love about each of them. Fifi has a magical quality about her when she dances; to me she will always be the consummate belly dancer. Sohair has an ear for rhythm that no one can rival. STLBD: In your opinion, what is it that transforms a dancer from ordinary to extraordinary? Nisaa: It's a deep connection to the music. That is why Egyptian dancers are so beautiful and moving to watch: they are in the music, and the music is in them; they really FEEL what they are dancing. It pains me to watch a dancer perform without even the vaguest understanding of or attachment to the music. It doesn't matter how technically perfect the dancer's technique is; if she can't feel the music, the dance is empty. STLBD: What does your name mean, and how did you come to find it? Nisaa: "Nisaa" means "women" in Arabic. I selected the name because when I started dancing I was reclaiming confidence in myself as a woman. When I chose the name, I was a baby dancer with little knowledge of Arabic language and culture, and I had found the name on an online list of supposedly Arabic names. Now that I have more experience with Arab cultures and speak a bit of Arabic, I know that NO Arabic women are named "Nisaa"! But the name stuck, so here I am! STLBD: What do you have in store for yourself and your troupe for the future? Nisaa: Personally, I want to get all the experience I can with Egyptian teachers. My dream is to be able to travel to either the Nile Group workshops or to the Ahlan Wa Sahlan Festival in Cairo. I doubt I will be able to afford it this year, though! As for my students, since I am a relative newcomer among the established belly dance schools in St. Louis, I am focusing on building up my student base and refining my curriculum. My troupe, Madrasat Nisaa, is really just a loose association of my See Nisaa and her group, Madrasat Nisaa, perform at this year's Loop in Motion Festival! students at this point. In the future, I hope to formally establish a dedicated performing troupe. The tough thing in building a troupe is finding students who are prepared for the massive commitment necessary to become a serious dancer. (I have a few who are well on their way, though!) Also, as I remind my advanced students, once you put yourself "out there" as a performer, you must be prepared to receive critique not only from the dance community, but also from the general public. I feel that to an extent belly dancers are too insulated from critique. The only way to grow as a dancer is to receive and learn from critique; you don't have to agree with it, but you can still hear it and learn from it. Overall, my primary goal is to continue to educate people about Middle Eastern dance as a cultural expression of Middle Eastern peoples. For this reason, most of my recent performances have been at family-oriented, educational venues and events. Belly Dance with Nisaa www.bellydancewithnisaa.com

 

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