
What’s the difference between Egyptian Raqs Sharqi and American Cabaret Style Belly Dance?
Defining dance styles is always tricky! Much like music styles, lines blur and definitions change over time. Do you know Def Leppard used to be considered a heavy metal band? Today they’re probably more considered to be in the rock category, with heavy metal bands sounding much heavier. Much like the Ramones were once considered super punk, but now there are much louder, noisier sounding bands in the punk category.
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What is progressive overload, and how do we use it as belly dancers?
One of the biggest mistakes I see dancers make when it comes to training is ignoring the concept of progressive overload. Progressive overload refers to gradually (the key word here!) increasing the amount and/or difficulty of your training over time. In both the rehabilitation and athletic performance spheres, we use progressive overload to safely and effectively improve strength, mobility/flexibility, and conditioning status (cardiovascular fitness).
Keep readingSiobhan Camille interviews Aziza (CA/USA)
I spoke to Aziza of Montreal, an internationally reknowned dancer and superstar – and a huge inspiration to me as both a person and a dancer. We chatted practice, consistency, stage presence, cycling and more! Join us for online belly dance workshops and a hafla featuring Aziza of Montreal on February 5, 2022! Watch the…
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Siobhan Camille on the Yallah Raqs Podcast: Shimmies & Strength
Thrilled to be back on the Yallah Raqs podcast, this time talking about shimmies and strength! In this podcast episode, we discuss shimmies and the role strength plays when it comes to shaking those hips. There’s always something more to learn, layer, or experiment with when it comes to shimmies, so give it a listen. 🥰
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Greenstone Belly Dance: Statement of Values and Inclusivity
For a long time, I didn’t publicly state this stuff because it feels performative. But I’ve realised that being more vocal about what we believe in also helps ensure we attract the students and collaborators who also share the same core values.
To that end, I want to tell you what inclusivity looks like to us, and what we’ll be doing to do better as we go forward.
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What is “Sa’idi” dance?
As belly dancers, we refer to a dance performed to music from the Said region (upper/Southern Egypt) as sa’idi. The more correct name for this dance is raqs-al-assaya/raqs-al-assayah (sometimes transliterated differently), which means stick dance. Learn more on our blog!
Keep readingGreenstone Belly Dance 2021 Birthday Cake Recipe – Vegan Friendly Chocolate Cake!
This month Greenstone Belly Dance is celebrating its third birthday! We’re excited to celebrate with some free events this Sunday the 18th of July. We’ll begin in the morning with an in-person dance class and birthday picnic in Delft, then we have our online events in the event, starting off with a belly dance quiz,…
Keep readingWe mogen weer! We can dance in the Delft studio again!
(English follows) We mogen weer dansen in de Delftse studio! Dansers en danseressen, we zijn zo blij dat er vanaf 5 juni weer groepsdanslessen mogen worden gegeven in de studio! De Delftse lessen vinden plaats op donderdag om 18u (Improvers; basiskennis buikdans is aanbevolen) en om 19u15 (intermediate/gevorderd; 18 maanden aaneengesloten buikdanservaring is vereist). Bekijk…
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What does “Baladi” mean?
“Baladi” is a term used widely within the international belly dance community, but also within Egypt. It’s a word that can describe a person, a dance, a musical style, food, and so much more! So it can get a little confusing when trying to understand what exactly baladi is. In this blog post, I’ll touch on the multiple meanings of baladi, along with baladi dance stylisation and musical progressions. I’ll be discussing: The idealised archetype of a baladi person in Egypt;
What we tend to mean when we’re talking about baladi stylised dance;
What a baladi solo or baladi progression is.

How to Structure your Warm Ups for Belly Dance: The RAMP Protocol
I think by now, most of us are thoroughly convinced of the benefits of warming up for dance – or at least, we like doing it! When we surveyed 109 belly dancers in New Zealand, we found that 84% of them warm up prior to their dance practice[1] (bravo!). When I first started out in…
Keep reading#TheRealDanceThing starts today!
Hey dancers! I was honoured to be asked by Athena, Liila, and Kirah to be an “early-adopter” (or an ‘influencer’) in their new challenge, The Real Dance Thing! What is #TheRealDanceThing? It’s a dance challenge that starts on Instagram today! The aim of this challenge is to encourage spontaneity and help us move away from…
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Siobhan Camille is performing in Curvaceous Belly Dance’s Online New Year Shimmy Showcase!
I’m performing online this Saturday, and I’d love to see you there! Tickets are by donation, and proceeds will be split directly between the artists, so you know you’re helping fuel them to keep doing what they love doing, even during a pandemic ❤️ Check out the event here or click the image below for all the details 🙂 There are dancers from the U.K., Wales, Portugal, U.S.A, and more!
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