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 interview with Aziza on the Greenstone Belly Dance IGTV below!

I’ve adored Aziza for a long time. Not only for her extremely elegant, poised technique, but also because she’s just a darn lovely person.

Aziza is a teacher who cares about you and your dance development.

She’s had a huge impact on my dance over the years, which is why I had to host her for our Online Workshops & Hafla this February 2022!

Join us for online belly dance workshops and a hafla featuring Aziza of Montreal on February 5, 2022!

YES! Recordings of the workshops will be available to stream for 2 weeks after the event.

For a long time, I didn’t publicly state this because it felt 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.

💚 Modifications are always offered in classes to accommodate injury or illness. You are always allowed to take a seat if you need a rest. On the rare occasion I don’t offer you a modification and you need one, you are always welcome to ask.

💚 There is no shame in leaving your camera off during online classes. I do often acknowledge it and invite you to give me feedback if you have a question (as I can’t see you and give feedback), but there is no shame here.

💚 There are no body type requirements and no body shaming in our classes.

💚 There is also no tolerance for whorephobia, fatphobia, racism, homophobia or sexism in our classes. I, Siobhan Camille, acknowledge that as a white female in our society, some of these things are ingrained and unconscious. I invite you to call me in if you hear me slip up.

💚 We make multiple donations per year to anti-racist organisations, and causes supporting dancers of MENAHT origin and MENAHT peoples in general.

✨ The important part – how will we continue to do better? ✨

💜 We will be more transparent in our donation processes. Currently we’ve been providing the donation overview amounts only to those who request it, for no real reason other than it felt “showy” to publicly post our donations. These will now be public. We hope this will also help highlight some awesome organisations and initiatives doing good in the Black and POC communities, MENAHT communities, dance communities and beyond.

💜 We will continue to teach on cultural relevance and significance in all dance classes; you cannot divorce this dance from its roots and context.

I also want to give a huge shout out to Eshe of Mahasti Creative Emporium who inspires me to stand up for what is right even when it’s uncomfortable. I truly appreciate you.

Let’s make the world a kinder place together.

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, followed by a performance watch party! See the full schedule on our events page.

For those of you joining us in Delft, the Netherlands, we will be supplying cake! But we do invite you to bring a plate of something to share, if you wish. For those of you joining us online, we thought we’d share our 2021 birthday cake recipe with you!

Greenstone Belly Dance 2021 Birthday Cake Recipe (Vegan friendly!)

This chocolate cake is vegan-friendly, and it’s based off the Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Cake from “It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken.” I’ve been making this cake for a couple of years, so I’ve experimented with how I like making it!

Dry ingredients:

1 cup wholemeal flour*

1.5 cups white flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

1 big teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 small teaspoon salt

*No wholemeal flour? No worries! Just make it 2.5 cups of standard flour instead

Wet ingredients:

2 cups plant-based milk (e.g. almond, oat)*

2/3 cup neutral oil (e.g. canola or vegetable; don’t use a flavourful oil like olive)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Optional: Frozen raspberries

*No plant-based milk? If you’re not vegan, I often use regular milk

Instructions:

Pre-heat your oven to 180C/350F. Lightly grease your cake tin or cupcake tin (I really like making these as cupcakes).

Whisk together all the dry ingredients.

Whisk together all the wet ingredients.

Combine wet and dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.

Instructions:

Pour the batter into your cake tin, or 12 cupcake moulds.

If baking cupcakes, optionally add 3-5 frozen raspberries on top of each filled cupcake mould.*

*In my experience, the frozen raspberries seem to work better on cupcakes than in a standard cake. I’m a dancer, not a baker, don’t ask me why!

Instructions:

If baking a cake, bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. For cupcakes, bake for roughly 20 minutes; keep an eye on them and also use the knife method.

Then let them cool a little before you remove them from their moulds/the tin, then enjoy!

Let me know if you make this at home! I’d love to know if you put your own spin on it. This cake is really fudgy, so I usually don’t put an icing on top. Icing is definitely optional if you want to go ahead and add some. 🙂

Happy baking, and hope to see some of you at our birthday celebrations online or in Delft this Sunday the 18th of July!

(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 het volledige schema hier. Online lessen (met onze professionele audio-visuele setup) gaan door op dinsdag en woensdag voor degenen buiten Delft, of degenen die liever online verder dansen.

Schrijf je nu in op de website om aanstaande donderdag met ons mee te doen (online), en vanaf 10 juni weer in de studio!

Dank u, dank u voor al uw geduld en steun deze laatste 6 maanden. We zijn er nog steeds dankzij jullie!

Shimmies,
Greenstone Belly Dance

Delft classes are back in our Singelstraat studio from June 10, 2021!

Dancers, we are so thrilled to announce that from June 5, group dance classes are allowed back in the studio!

Delft classes take place on Thursdays at 6pm (Improvers; a basic knowledge of belly dance is recommended) and 7:15pm (intermediate/advanced; 18 months continuous belly dance experience is required). See the full schedule here. Online classes (with our professional audio-visual setup) continue on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for those outside of Delft, or those who prefer to continue dancing online.

Register now on the website to join us this coming Thursday (online), and from the 10th of June back in the studio!

Thank you, thank you for all of your patience and support this last 6 months. We are still here because of you!

Shimmies,
Greenstone Belly Dance

Hi everyone, Greenstone Belly Dance director, Siobhan Camille, here!

I am delighted to share that I came 3rd in the Professional category of the Hamilton International Bellydance Competition 2020, and also received a special Judge’s Designation for Excellence in Stage Presence!

“Backstage” in my home studio waiting to perform at the HIBC Online Results & Celebration Show on Saturday night! #assuitallday

I had a fab time dancing at 1am at the results show on Sunday morning !😂 I stayed up until 3:30am Netherlands time enjoying the other dancers’ performances (and a particular shoutout to some of my Montréal dance friends, Leyana and Layal, I was so happy to see you dance again), and by the time I got into bed here at 4:30 the sun was waking up!

A huge thank you to the judges for their considered, constructive feedback. I highly recommend entering the HIBC to anyone seeking thoughtful advice to further their dance journey. And a big, big thank you to Aziza for encouraging me to enter. 

A massive thanks to Eshe Yildiz. What an amazing, hardworking and caring woman this competition organiser is. I have a new favourite (paraphrased) quote thanks to Eshe: Don’t be afraid to sing your own praises, because every time you do, you’re sticking it to the patriarchy! 

You can find the full video of my award-winning performance on the Greenstone Belly Dance YouTube channel. If you’d like to see my performance from last night (and epic 50 second costume change) head over to the Hamilton International Bellydance Competition Facebook page to watch the recording. It won’t be up for too long!

An extra special thank you to my friends in New Zealand, Germany, the United Stated, and Canada who tuned in to watch me perform live at the results show. I truly appreciate your support.