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BOZENKA
World-renowned belly dancer visits Boston
By JONATHAN DONALDSON
del.ico.us
reddit!
For the past 10 years, Layaleena has denoted an evening of dining, music and dancing for Boston's Arabic community and beyond. At the X&O Lounge, weekly revelers are treated to both beautiful belly dancers and authentic, traditional / popular Arabic music performed by top musicians. Around 11pm, the belly dancer comes out. I imagine what this atmosphere might be like: grandmothers covering children's eyes, and wives elbowing husbands. "The crowd is expecting a show. The dancer is definitely the high point of the night," says Meiver, a renowned New England teacher and performer of Middle Eastern dance. "She's a source of joy and happiness and pride."
This Saturday, Layaleena hosts a world-class belly dance sensation: Bozenka. A celebrated Czech / Cuban beauty from Miami, Bozenka has it all—the pop credentials (she choreographed for Shakira), the artistic credibility (she won the 2006 Egyptian Ahlan Wa Sahlan belly dance championship) and the international touring acclaim. Meiver, who has studied with Bozenka, describes her teacher as "an unusually graceful, elegant and precise dancer, who is very skilled technically. She makes it look easy."
The term "belly dance" is itself a misnomer, supposedly coined by a Frenchman who saw dancer Little Egypt at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Its original Arabic name is "raqs sharqi," or "oriental dance," of which there are many different varieties ranging from popular to folkloric to the cabaret we know as "belly dancing." Nevertheless, various elements of belly dance such as the hand gestures, the softness, the body waves and the hip work reflect a more stylized version of how women actually dance with each other in parts of the Middle East. "Belly dancing is like a non-private attitude that you have about your beauty and your sensuality," says Meiver. "It's empowering to women."
BOZENKA
AT LAYALEENA
SATURDAY 7.26.08
THE X&O LOUNGE
217 WASHINGTON ST., RT. 138
STOUGHTON, MA
617.921.9922
9:30PM/21+/$10
XOONLINE.NET
LAYALEENA.COM
BOZENKA WORKSHOP
SATURDAY 7.26.08
GREEN STREET STUDIOS
185 GREEN ST., CENTRAL SQ.
CAMBRIDGE
1:30PM-5PM/ALL AGES/$80
MEIVER.COM
