Hi, I'm Sherezzah Bint al-Waha, and welcome to my place on the web.
If you haven't been here before, you probably have
some questions, so I'll start with some answers.
(If you have been here before, you may want to skip straight
to the main content.)
What kind of a name is that?
"Sherezzah Bint al-Waha" is my dance name.
I teach and perform Middle Eastern Dance
(what's commonly called "belly dance" and related dances)
in the area of
Delray Beach, Florida, USA.
I made up the "Sherezzah" part based on my real name,
Sherry, and the Spanish word for sherry, jerez.
I figured the result was sufficiently close to "Sheherezade",
of "1001 Nights" fame, that it probably didn't mean anything
bad in Arabic.
Alas, the name is
sufficiently close to "Sheherezade" that many people
can't seem to notice a difference.
The "Bint al-Waha" part is Arabic for
"daughter of the Oasis" and
is a sort of tribal surname for devotees of
Oasis Dance Camp.
What is the significance of "Beledy" in the title?
"Beledy" is Arabic for "my town",
generally used in the sense of "home town",
and so seemed an appropriate name for my home on the web
(especially now that it's also my domain name).
The term is also often used to refer to a particular
style of Middle Eastern music and dance, and also for
a particular drum rhythm, both of which I also like.
What's with the hands up there by the title?
Those are my henna-decorated hands, after I had them
professionally done at
Rakkasah.
You can see more detail in
this larger picture.
That's my current motto.
In late summer 2003, I had an experience that inspired this.
During intermission at a bellydance show,
they were playing some fun music and I was bopping around to it.
I ran into another woman doing the same thing, and she
smiled at me in a knowing way and said,
"If you don't dance, then the music goes to waste."
Well, we don't want that to happen, do we?
(Alas, I do not now recall who this woman was, so I'm unable to
attribute the quote!)
My previous motto was
"One can never have too much Afghani jewelry."
Okay, so this was really a rationalization for buying stuff...
However, while poking around on eBay once, I found
the adjacent picture with the caption
"You can NEVER have enough."
It was on the Internet,
so it must be Truth.
(Photo credit, of sorts: taken from eBay item
511405050 by seller collex2much.)
So what's this page all about anyway?
While
I plan to use this site for stuff related to
Middle Eastern dance,
there are already many excellent sites on the web that provide
a lot of good information on this dance, and I don't even want
to try to compete with them.
(One way to find these sites is to start at my
troupe site,
and use its extensive "links" section.)
So this site will be for my personal perspectives,
my personal opinions,
my personal commentary,
my personal interests--whatever
tickles my fancy in a dance-related way.
Maybe you'll find some of it entertaining as well.
My troupe site,
Rising Phoenix Dancers.
It includes a calendar of events (including classes and performances),
as well as photos, an extensive collection of links (as mentioned above),
my dance "bio,"
and various other articles.
Check it out!
Anti-Cancer Belly Dancers, a team I started for the
Relay for Life.
You can donate online through the site to support the
American Cancer Society.
The
"Tog Your Dog"
Project
(a.k.a. The Dog and Camel Show).
What do we do with Taco Bell dogs? Dress them in
costumes, of course!
(Last updated 5/02.)
That's my current motto.
In late summer 2003, I had an experience that inspired this.
During intermission at a bellydance show,
they were playing some fun music and I was bopping around to it.
I ran into another woman doing the same thing, and she
smiled at me in a knowing way and said,
"If you don't dance, then the music goes to waste."
Well, we don't want that to happen, do we?
(Alas, I do not now recall who this woman was, so I'm unable to
attribute the quote!)
