I went to Lowell on my “ birthday-Saturday ” to pick up my mother and one of her sisters , Jenny , and her husband Tom , who had come up from Springfield , MA , to come to my show ! I was so excited as it meant the world to me that my mother was there to see my first solo performance with a live band and that my aunt and uncle had made the trip ! And who were the musicians ? The renowned Mike Sarkissian and his band ! What an honor ! At the end of the evening , back in the changing area gathering up my costuming , Adonna came over to me and said … “ Well , well , Dorothea ! I never saw THAT before in class ! You are ready to teach here !”
And thus began my teaching career . I would begin teaching a beginner-level class while continuing to take advancedlevel classes at her studio . I am forever thankful and grateful to Adonna for her confidence in me and welcoming me into the world of “ performing solo ” and “ teaching ” belly dance .
The next week , Adonna announced that we in the advanced class would have a new teacher who had taken the summer off , hence I had never met her before . Her name is “ Tahruz Laleli ”, Elizabeth Clark . I am still in contact with both of these wonderful women and I have told this story to Elizabeth herself as well as to Adonna … “ We students were gathered in the studio , which was on the 2 nd floor in the building . We were excitedly awaiting the arrival of our new teacher . When I first saw her walking up the staircase leading to the studio , I thought to myself , “ This woman either knows nothing about anything or she knows everything about everything ”. And I soon found out that “ she knows everything about everything ”! She was indeed an inspiration ! I learned much more about the dance and performance skills based upon her style and experiences , but , importantly , I learned more teaching skills . All of my teachers helped me to become a good professional teacher ! I easily recall the most important learning experience I had with Elizabeth . There were about 6 of us in class . She told us that she would have each of us dance “ solo ” and that she had selected a unique piece of music for each one of us and that once the music started , we were to begin dancing and not stop until the music was ended . She had gotten to know us each so well … our dance style , our personal preferences in movements and presentation . For each of us she played a piece of music that was definitely a great challenge ! My piece was a fast-paced Turkish number ! I had experienced a predominance of Armenian music in my beginning classes with my first teacher who was of Armenian descent .
Armenian music has a slower-paced tempo than the Turkish ! The lesson … not just in dance but also in life … “ get out of your comfort zone and grow and learn and keep on doing it !”
Besides teaching in Cambridge at Adonna Studios once a week , I also began teaching my own classes locally , and began enjoying performing at several venues in Cambridge and Boston , including the Averof Restaurant and The Middle East Restaurant . The main attraction at the Averof was the famous singer , George Abdo and his band . Sometime in the late 70s a cousin of my mother came from Belfast , Ireland , to stay with my mother for a visit . I took both my mother , Dora , and her cousin , Sally , to the Averof to enjoy the whole experience and see my performance .
Now … here is “ a wee bit of a tale ” to add to the story … All my grandparents came from Ireland to Lowell , MA . My mother ’ s parents had their own home on the next street to where we had our home in Lowell . Thus , I am blessed to have had years of visits and sleep-overs at Gramma and Grampa ’ s house ! I remember stories about my grandmother ’ s sisters back in Ireland . My mother ’ s name was Dora . One of my grandmother ’ s 5 sisters was named Dora . I simply assumed my mother had been named after her aunt .
Now … back to the performance at the Averof . After my performance , seated at the table again with my mother and her cousin Sally , Sally said to me “ I noticed that Mr . Abdo introduced you as Dorothea … did you know that your great-aunt Dora in Ireland was really named Dorothea ?” My mother was more surprised than I was !
Well – you just cannot make this stuff up ! I love these connections , these coincidences we learn throughout our life !
After many wonderful experiences of performing in the venues in Boston and Cambridge , I decided that I would prefer to host my own “ haflis ”! And that began another exciting and wonderful journey into over 10 years of bi-annual major events held locally … at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Wakefield , MA . The “ hafli ” evening offered our guests a sumptuous buffet , live professional musicians , a guest professional-performer , my dance students ( solo and entroupe ), and my own solo . And of course , audience dancing between the performances ! How did I advertise the haflis ? We did not have computers with email then ! Flyers !! I recall
46 The Belly Dance Chronicles � May 2021