Belly dancers shake up Kidzu
By: Kelly Yang, Staff Writer
Issue date: 8/27/07 Section: Arts
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The girls, ages 3 to 11, performed for about 25 audience members alongside instructor Terri Allred, stage name Sadiya, as part of Happy Hips Youth Oriental Dance Troupe.
Sadiya means "Happy" or "Lucky," Allred said.
"Most Oriental teachers select a stage name, and I wanted one that people were able to pronounce, especially for my younger students," Allred said. "And I give my students a stage name, if they want one."
She said Happy Hips was inspired by her 7-year-old niece.
"She had a birthday party, and I performed for the children and saw that they enjoyed it. From there, I decided that I was going to impact the lives of young girls."
The belly dancers began the 30-minute program introducing the basics of belly dancing, including the sound effects used to accommodate certain moves, such as the hissing sound made when the dancer performs snake arms - a wave beginning with one wrist and moving through the shoulders to the other.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro group consists of 10 members and debuted at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Holiday Parade last year.
"It was freezing cold out, but the kids didn't seem to care," she said, adding that the dancers were having so much fun they didn't even notice the judges. The troupe was awarded for being the "most original."
Saturday's Kidzu performance began with Sadiya's solo, followed by the Happy Hips girls doing individual improvisations.
Yana Levy, 5, was the only one of the group whose choreography included the belly roll - a difficult move for some dancers.
Levy, who starts kindergarten today, has been belly dancing for about a year.
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