Belly Dance Podcast A Little Lighter

It has been a while friends! I started producing this podcast back in 2018, and by 2023 I had recorded 75 incredible episodes that are all still very available for your listening pleasure.  The last podcast interview I recorded was with Rachel Brice, and I also recorded amazing conversations with Suhalia Salimpour, Carloeen Nereccio, Jill Parker, Jillina of Belly Dance Evolution, Ebony, Kamrah, an...

This interview with Rachel Brice dives deep into recent American belly dance fusion history and fashion. Rachel reminisces about her influencers Suhaila Salimpour, Carolena Nericcio of FatChanceBellyDance® (formerly ATS), and Jill Parker, and opens up about inclusiveness and past mistakes fusing dance forms. It is such an honor and a pleasure to welcome Rachel Brice to A Little Lighter! There is a...

Most dance in our era is performative, but dance can do so much more. Harlem High School Assistant Principle and dance teacher Kierra talks about dances for healing, transformation, connection, and acceptance. Alicia Free: Kierra Foster-Ba is a Body Wisdom Coach and New York City dancer who has done some deep work, and her presence is a gift. I am so excited to share Kierra’s voice with you! Kierr...

Salit of NYC on the sisterhood of belly dancers, the politics that divide our community of Arabic music lovers, and how focusing on our belly dance technique rather than our appearance brings us more happiness. Salit (Sal-eet) started belly dancing in Israel when she was 21, and she did not expect it to become her profession and the foundation for her own bellydance school! I met Salit at Art of t...

Dr. Valerie Poppel, aka Nefertiti of Delaware, is a Clinical Sexologist and belly dancer who lived in Cairo. Find out what Nef warned about Soul Ties when she was featured in Cosmo yet again and how shimmying can improve our sexual health. Imagine a gorgeous brown-skinned dancer flecked in gold taking the stage with yellow isis wings unfurled. When she opens her arms and looks up, it’s like the su...

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW Author of 22+ belly dance costuming books, Dawn Devine talks about current belly dance fashion trends in Egypt and Turkey, how to make assuit fabric feel good on your skin, and how to get more out of your belly dance costumes. Alicia Free: I just don’t know where to begin with Dawn Devine aka Davina! She has created so many costume-creating resources for our dance communit...

Many of us dancers cycle through sad spells of pain where we don’t dance, and then we heal and get back into and achieve more victories, and then another injury surfaces. This is a pretty familiar cycle for humans, especially those who love to move and continue to challenge ourselves and grow as dancers. The intention of this episode is to shorten the sad spells of pain, and elongate our experienc...

Melodia of Melodia Designs has been designing amazing dance wear and comfortable-AND-sexy street clothes for over 20 years. But do you know about her intriguing dance past with the Belly Dance Superstars and Urban Tribal Dance Company? Listen and find out! Melodia has been adorning and accenting the beauty in fusion belly dancers and more beautiful movers with her oh so lovely Melodia Designs clot...

World-famous Egyptian raqs sharqi dancer Randa Kamel on the importance of belly dancing to live music, feeling the music, and why oriental dance developed in Egypt. Alicia: Randa Kamel has been blowing my mind for some time now. She is based in Cairo, and I love her strength. I love seeing her dance barefoot. I have sprained my ankle too many times to wear high heels, so seeing a master dancer per...

The nightclubs were open, famous Egyptian dancers including Randa Kamel and Aziza of Cairo performed, live bands played, and belly dance costume shopping continued. Hear about Naimah of Baltimore’s adventures on Black Cat Belly Dance Tour in 2021. Alicia Free: Naimah is known for her mystique, theatrical performances and gothic flair. She is a drop-dead gorgeous Baltimore-based visual artist...

NYC raqs sharqi dancer Natalie Nazario of Puerto Rico shares how to belly dance authentically to shaabi and mahraganat, as well as her love for Egyptian colloquial Arabic, culture and daily life.  Natalie Nazario is a Puerto Rican professional Raqs Sharqi dancer, teacher, choreographer, and producer specializing in Egyptian Oriental Dance based in New York City. Founder of Raks Al Zahra Company, h...

Get inspired by these dance, health and beauty tips from some of the most influential belly dancers in the world who were interviewed on this belly dance podcast in 2021. Feel grateful, make a dance goal, drink some water, and dance yourself down the sidewalk. Thank you for another beautiful year of sharing this podcast A Little Lighter! When I am creating these recordings with incredible dancers...

Learn some of the secrets of recreating Golden Era belly dance moves and costumes from Badriyah. Find out the best belly dance scenes from classical Egyptian movies with Samia Gamal, Naima Akef, Taheya Carioca and hear Badriyah’s dreams of opening a Belly Dance Museum. Badriyah is a professional oriental dancer, devoted mainly to Egyptian classical and folklore styles, modern fusion with ori...

New York City dancer Danielle Hutton speaks on magical intentions, powerful productions, and why washing your hair on Venus’s Day is a damn good idea. New York-based fusion belly dance performer Danielle Hutton’s dance has been described as a concentrated slow burn of sincerity and elegant emotionality. Danielle is a choreographer, creator, consultant, and educator who conducts transformativ...

Belly Dance Superstars Choreographer Jillina Carlano on courage, contribution, and marinating yourself in music. From performing in prison, touring the planet and stumbling forward through the reckoning in the dance community. This is an amazing podcast interview. Jillina Carlano is a world-class artist who produces dance shows and creates experiences for dancers and audiences all over the world....

Brooklyn-born belly dancer and fusion artist Brenna Crowley tells us how she went from looking down at the ground to strutting sidewalks like a runway model and dancing like a superhero. Alicia: Fiercely whipping her red locks around and sometimes shooting daggers out of her eyes between smiles, Brenna Crowley is a belly dance artist in NYC who is known for her commanding stage presence, intensity...

Award winning belly dancer Amanda Hart talks about how “A little progress each day adds up to big results”, her own growth from being part of Jillina’s Belly Dance Experience, and her love for the Lebanese singer Fairuz. (Progress quote from Satya Nani) https://www.amandahartbellydance.com Amanda Hart is an award winning smiling shimmy queen from Kansas. For all of you listening...

Show me the love! jQuery(document).ready(function($) { // Enable Bootstrap Tooltips $('[data-toggle="tooltip"]').tooltip(); });   Trans masculine belly dancer Kamrah of Chicago talks about key differences in Egyptian and Lebanese belly dance and highlights a big mistake that many of us make when dancing with a sword… https://youtu.be/3DugEkV-AS8 Kamrah is Chicago’s first trans masculine...

Show me the love! jQuery(document).ready(function($) { // Enable Bootstrap Tooltips $('[data-toggle="tooltip"]').tooltip(); });   Some Great Carolena Nericcio Dance Quotes: Successful patterns repeat themselves We are there for the bliss of following the directions The audience felt like they were dancing with us The most successful performance is when the audience completely forgets they&#82...

Show me the love! jQuery(document).ready(function($) { // Enable Bootstrap Tooltips $('[data-toggle="tooltip"]').tooltip(); });   What is the difference between Popping and Locking? Find out from this amazing fusion belly dancer who has toured with Belly Dance Superstars, Belly Dance Evolution, choreographed for Zoe Jakes’s shows, and is featured on Rachel Brice’s Datura Online. T...

Hear how Eshe travelled to Turkey to study with belly dance legends Sema Yildiz and Princess Banu, why the word “Roman” needs to replace the G* word, and why Fifi Abdou’s new performances on Instagram may be even better than her iconic dance performances. Eshe is the director & owner of Mahasti – The Bellydance Emporium up in Ontario Canada. Eshe has been belly dancing since...

Forget about writing a useless New Years Resolution. Here’s a better way for dancers to prepare for the best year of our lives. Listen and find out what it is! This episode gives you time to reflect and create. It’s the end of 2020! Holy shit. 2020 has schooled me.  I want this coming year to be the best year of our lives. Full of dance. Full of joy. Full of growth. This special episode of A...

“Hafla Prince” Carmine Guida of NYC has played oud, cümbüs and percussion for thousands of delighted belly dancers. Hear Carmine’s tips for helping the band love to play for you and for making  it super fun. Carmine Guida is a party-making machine, and he is also a very talented and versatile musician. He teaches percussion and plays melody instruments including jimbush (joombush...

Healing yourself is possible, even in rich dark nights of the soul. Find out how Ceremonial Botanical Bodywork practitioner Rachel Fisher heals, how she became friends with Rachel Brice, and hear how she got 250,000 followers on social media and then let them go.  Exciting update! A Little Lighter is ranked as  #2 in the Top 10 Belly Dance Podcasts You Must Follow in 2020 ! Thank you to all of our...

I met Erin in my first belly dance class in 2000 at Cornell. For 20 years we danced together on stages, streets and around fires. Erin passed away in May 2020 during the Covid Era, and I continue to seek a dance floor that can help heal the pain. I saw this quote from writer Hope Alocer posted in a Facebook group for dancers: “Behind every dancer there’s someone that broke her, a song that moved h...