but to learn on the job . Much of my education came from dancing at weddings and house parties where I could observe how men and women of the cultures move naturally to their music joyously and effortlessly .
I was given the name Aziza from a Greek musician . He was a bouzouki player named Spiro . He owned the venue that I danced at , and he would drink … a lot . I was usually the last dancer of the night , going on around one 1:30 in the morning , and he ’ d be at least half a bottle of ouzo in by the time I was to perform . I recall that when he would announce me , he would pretend like he couldn ’ t remember my name . And then one night , he announced me as Aziza . Looking around I realized he meant me . I went out and danced . I had to come back in the middle of the week when he was sober to get paid . I asked him why he called me Aziza and he did not remember he had . He shared with me that I reminded him of a dancer he used to play for 25 years earlier , named Aziza .
Funny story , years later I went to California for a competition . A woman at the festival was selling costumes , and her name was Aziza . After I performed , she came up to me and asked me if I have had ever taken from Badawia . Badawia , a Jordanian dancer who had taught my teacher , Rubye . Aziza says , “ Well , I used to dance with her !” I found out Aziza used to perform in Oregon with Spiro . So that was the Aziza that I was named after . My great grandmother in dance ! Sadly , Aziza passed away this year . I am grateful to have met her and share an important connection .
Within one year of my first belly dance lesson , this dance was my full-time job . I gigged and gigged and gigged in my local area . I think one thing that was amazing about that time , looking back now , is realizing how lucky I was to have this experience . The fact that I was working so much with live musicians was a fabulous life experience . I thought the days of performing 45-minute shows to live music multiple times a night would never end .
That special connection that I had always loved , dancing with the live piano music in my ballet classes as a kid , was amplified here with Middle Eastern musicians and the beautiful music of this dance form . Besides , the Middle Eastern performance ethic encouraged and valued spontaneous
Above : Al Amir , Portland , Oregon Left : Greek Cuisina , Portland , Oregon
connection between the music and the audience . The magic and danger of improvising in the moment is electric and such a wonderful dynamic to experience .
I began teaching when people who were seeing me at my gigs started asking me and pushing me to teach . I was resistant to do so because I had high expectations of my dance teachers from taking ballet and thus , I did not feel qualified to teach . I had been dancing for about eight years by then , but since I had people who were pursuing me to take classes , I succumbed to the inevitable call to teach belly dance and I started with some privates and started building up from there .
At that time in my life , I was also coming to a point where I had to seriously consider my future . I knew that I could not keep being a party dancer forever and I had to decide : Did I love the dance enough to keep doing it and pursue becoming an instructor ? Or did I need to go back to school and find something else that could sustain me ? Could I regulate dance back to being a passionate hobby ?
Ultimately , I chose to go for it and make belly dance my professional life , and once I did , pieces started falling into place . I knew that I needed to make a name for myself outside of the Pacific Northwest if I wanted to make a living teaching this dance form . I started to investigate some options . At the time competitions were becoming popular . Also new to the scene was the International Academy of Middle Eastern
January 2021 � The Belly Dance Chronicles 13