Art and History of the Belly Dance

What is belly dance? Where did it come from? What makes it unique? Laska will discuss and demonstrate various Egyptian styles of belly dance and how this dance in its many forms made its way to the US. It's complicated!

Laska performed in Bellydance Evolution's Wizard of Oz  in Seattle last July. She earned her Bellyqueen Teacher Training Certificate from Bellyqueen NYC in 2022 and completed  the courses JTE (Journey through Egypt) 1 and 2 taught by dance ethnologist, Sahra Kent. She produced a MENAHT Dance show in 2021 thanks to a grant from the Connecticut Dance Alliance. She contributed to the al Raqs Online Conference in October 2022 and will contribute again this October. She also earned a Ph.D. in art history and has an article on Little Egypt and the origins of belly dance in the US out for review. 

Laska trained as a belly dancer, primarily in Egyptian style raqs sharqi in New York, Boston, and Hartford and extensively online with master dancers around the globe. In addition, she studied Afro-Caribbean, jazz, modern, flamenco, and Isadora Duncan dance. She spent five years dancing with the Fat Chance Belly Dance troupe, Lynchburg Tribal, in Virginia before moving to Hartford.