Pontificating the Professional... Videos and Photos!

Pretty girls dancing at a party!

The StarBelly Dancers pride ourselves in donating many performances to the community or giving our earnings to the StarBelly School of Dance Scholarship Program. I love the program because it gives dancers the opportunity to keep on learning at StarBelly School of Dance in case some financial emergency occurs and they may not be able to afford classes for a short period of time. I am so grateful to be in a school that understands that art should not be taken away from those that need it most - well done Cecilia and Chad! 

​The StarBelly Dancers also get paid to perform at events and at restaurants (Sofia's Greek Bistro and the Taj Mahal of Boise are our current landing spots for restaurant dancing and they are amazing and delicious). Bayla, Jessica and I recently performed at a private party for a wonderful family who kept on gushing about how beautiful, talented and professional we are.  Yes, I'm bragging: we are definitely all of those things! Something that strikes me though is how often people applaud our professionalism.  My hope is that someday "professionalism" in belly dance will be taken for granted and that men and women who perform in this style will approach every gig, job or performance with grace, rectitude, and sophistication.  How we are seen as a collective depends on all of us working together, so I have a list of promises that I am making to everyone that ever hires me and to my fellow dancers so that I can continue to push forward this art that we love.  

The Art of Belly Dance Show, Spring of 2018

• I will always have the appropriate costume, including shoes, make-up and hair for the event I am participating in. Additionally, I will always have a cover-up available when I am not performing. 
• I will be prepared with my own music and sound to the best of my abilities per the agreement between myself and the venue. If lighting is an option, I will also come prepared for that. 
• I will always ensure that my performance is appropriate for the audience I am dancing for, to the best of my abilities. 
• Everyone at your event is going to have a blast - belly dancers are the life of the party and I am happy to create a fun environment for you and your guests.  
• I will charge a fair amount (and for you other dancers out there, I will do my best not to undercut you - I appreciate you and your art and we all deserve to be paid fairly). 
• I will respect you and your guests and in turn I hope that I can be respected too! 

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Papa-Paparazzi! 

Thank you to everyone that has enjoyed my dancing and sent me quick clips.  I added this little montage to my gallery - I'm trying to build my videos up a little!  Please enjoy these performances at restaurants, student recitals and community events.  If you have any other clips that make me look cool, please send them over to ToriKingDancing@gmail.com. Thank you! 

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Which one should go in my gallery?  

Do we even need to talk about how much I love Saidi dance?  Nope. Also some photos of the StarBelly Dancers doing Tribal X with Myra (who invented the style) and the Ente Omri Remix choreography by Cecilia Rinn. 

These photos are courtesy of Diamond K Photography, owned by Keri Anderson who is a member of the StarBelly Performance Team and a lovely person! This was at the last Art of Belly Dance show, featuring Myra Krein. 

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For those of you who celebrate, I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving.  I'm very grateful for you. Yes, you specifically. You encourage and inspire me everyday. Thank you for joining me.