Mark Balahadia

Aisha Azar

New member
Dear Forum Members,
One thing that I have noticed among the Middle Eastern dance set is that professional dancers seem reticent much of the time, to sing the praises of their peers. I have always thought that this is too bad. I am always sure to let people know when I think they are really good, but I think in Mark's case I will take a further step. Since he is fairly new on the workshop circuit, maybe many of you have not had a chance to see him dance or study with him. Having just spent a very educational and entertaining weekend with Mark, I want to let you all know that he is wonderful!
He performed Qawliya and Lebanese Raqs Sharghi in the show and both dances were refreshingly ethnically accurate, techincally great and really fun, because Mark is fun! There is a combination of innocence and savvy in his dance that rather personifies the spirit in many of the dances of the Middle East in a way that is not often seen when the dance is performed in the West. So many dancers are too darn busy standing on "ceremony and dignity", keeping themselves separate and emotionally cocooned from their audience, missing the point entirely. Mark understands the human connection really well and demonstrates that quality admirably!
Mark taught Lebanese Raqs Sahrghi and Assaya in the workshop and he is a consummate teacher, caring about the dance itself and explaining it's heart and soul as well as its movement. He demonstrated how Lebanese dance is different than Egyptian and Turkish, and cleared up a few misconceptions. He discussed the meaning of the dances in the larger context of the society and history of Lebanon as well. He also was sure to treat the students as individuals and he gave truly of himself. It was easy to see he wanted the class to understand the material he presented. In other words, he was an interactive teacher, not a demonstrator of movement or a cold lecturer.
One more thing about Mark. He did not put up barriers between himself and the other performers or the students at the workshop. He helped us shlepp our stuff in and out, sat with us, got dressed with us, and interacted with the other members of the show and workshop as if we were all equals,as it should be. There was no separation or playing of "I'm a Star and You're Not" as I have sometimes seen happen back stage. I have been in shows where the star performer is so aloof, trying to make it clear the she/he is somehow more special than anyone else on stage. That is nonsense of course, since the featured performer would have no show if it were not for the rest of the cast. The dancers in the show just LOVED Mark and I am already hearing choruses of "When is he coming back????"!
If you have not yet seen Mark Balahadia, I highly recommend him as a dancer and as a teacher. Better yet, sponsor him. My dance company did and we think he is one of the best new talents in the world of Middle Eastern dance!
Regards,
A'isha
 

Aisha Azar

New member
Mark

Dear Janaki,
I wanted to add one more thing that really impressed me about Mark. I teach a class on Sunday mornings and I tell the people that we sponsor that they can come with me to class or I will have someone pick them up to take them to the workshop,which is generally scheduled for after my class. Mark is one of two sponsored guests who have participated in my morning class. He was not afraid to lose some kind of star status or appear to be a student himself, which in reality, if we are smart, we all are students for as long as we dance. I have only had one opportunity to do the same and I took full advantage of it when I was being sponsored by another dancer! I felt really pleased that Mark is not afraid to be both teacher and student. It shows uncommon good sense and a lack of ego issues for sure!!
Regards,
A'isha
 

Makeda Maysa

New member
I haven't had the pleasure of being taught by Mark, but I have had several opportunities to either dance in the same show or watch him perform and he is always a delight. The first time I ever danced in a staged show, I was dying of nervousness ... Mark was backstage after I performed and gave me such great compliments, which so helped me to feel proud of what I'd done and comfortable with myself as a dancer. One thing that he said that night still makes me laugh and is the best compliment I've ever received. He said, "You danced like you've had good orgasms!":lol:
 

janaki

New member
Dear Janaki,
Mark is one of two sponsored guests who have participated in my morning class. He was not afraid to lose some kind of star status or appear to be a student himself, which in reality, if we are smart, we all are students for as long as we dance.
Regards,
A'isha

Dear A'isha,

Yes, learning is a continuous, life long process. I am sure the people you sponsor have same values like yours. You guys are setting a good example. Many teachers, once they reach a certain stage in their lives, get in to a box and they never come out it. I admire Mark for this. Would love to meet you both!!

Hugs
Janaki
 

Aisha Azar

New member
Mark B.

Dear A'isha,

Yes, learning is a continuous, life long process. I am sure the people you sponsor have same values like yours. You guys are setting a good example. Many teachers, once they reach a certain stage in their lives, get in to a box and they never come out it. I admire Mark for this. Would love to meet you both!!

Hugs
Janaki

Dear Janaki,
I agree!! I think so many teachers are afraid to appear as if they don't know EVERYTHING, that they would not dare walk into a class taught by a peer. Learning should not stop just because we have a certain number of years under our belts, or because we know a lot about our subject. Other teachers can give us new ways to even look at our own knowledge. It was so refreshing to work with someone who feels the same way, and is not jaded by his own sense of importance.
I would love to meet you, too. While I can't speak for Mark, he is totally approachable and friendly and I bet he would, too!

Dear Makeda,
My dancers reported the same kind of supportive attitude back to me about Mark, and he was a really supportive instructor as well. We LOVE him!!!

Regards to you both,
A'isha
 

Maria_Aya

New member
Hey Aisha and Mark in the same stage??? now why this world is unfair and we are so far away????
Congrats !!!! to both of you.
Mark is also the sweetest person and so humorous !!!

Kisses to both of you
from far away Greece

Maria Aya:D
 

Mark_Balahadia

New member
Wow!!! Pleeease Mark, when will you come to Hong Kong???

Hehehe, I'll come to Hong Kong when someone sponsors me there (or if I do a fly by from the Phillipines or Japan). By the way, I LOVE Cantonese food, especially the weird stuff too like jellyfish and dried squid...yum!

Anyway, I had so much fun in Spokane! A'isha was a wonderful host and now a very good friend of mine :) I think we both have swore throats from laughing like mad the whole time I was there.

Baharat's show was well organized and it was refreshing to see different folkloric performances mixed instead of one belly dancer after another. I just loved the Saidi tableau and A'isha's Samri number (the costume was to die for ;))

As A'isha already mentioned, I did go to her class before the workshop and I found her to be an articulate and knowledgable about Egyptian ra2s shar2i. A'isha talked to me throughout my stay on the concept of texture. I found this to be a very interesting and complimentary way of explaining movement in Oriental Dance. It certainly helped me teach the workshop since most of the students were more familar with A'isha's teaching style.

What is surprising is that A'isha maybe the only American authority on the dances of the Gulf on the west coast. Many dancers assume that ra2s khaleeji is a homogeneous dance style that is performed throughout the Gulf. Many dancers also assume that it's perfectly authentic to dance ra2s khaleeji the way Egyptians do it, when in fact Egyptians are the worst interpreters of this dance (well besides many Americans). Although I have a perfectly good Modern Khaleeji dance style that I learned from Gulf Arabs/Iraqis, A'isha has plunged head first and is extremely knowledeable about the regional dances of the Gulf.

I love A'isha's costumes. She does quality work and I hope to get a costume made by her eventually. And I miss A'isha SO MUCH now and everyone else over there too. Next time I'm over we should smoke some nargileh and look fabulous :cool:
 

teela

New member
Hopefully Mark will be doing a workshop over the summer so I could maybe get down to attend something. Hmmmmm I should put a bug in the ear of folks in Fairbanks and Anchorage to maybe sponser him.....
 

Mark_Balahadia

New member
Hopefully Mark will be doing a workshop over the summer so I could maybe get down to attend something. Hmmmmm I should put a bug in the ear of folks in Fairbanks and Anchorage to maybe sponser him.....

Hey Teela :) I'd love to come to Alaska if I get sponsored. And it's awfully pretty over there :)
 

Aisha Azar

New member
Mark B.

Dear Janaki and Teela,
I hope you will both seriously consider sponsoring Mark. I have been in this business a long time now and it is not easy to impress me, but I feel that he is definitely high quality in both performance and instruction. And he is one of the few around concentrating on Lebanese dance!
I have made it one of my goals, as an older dancer, to have my company sponsor fresh, younger people who really deserve for the dance community to notice their work. Because of this we often sponsor people that are not so well known yet, but should be, such as the Hamidehs, Jennet and Mark. Among the old guard in the dance world, there is often a reluctance to admit that there are new and exciting people coming up. Mark and people like him are the life line and continuance of the dance, keeping it real and honest and culturally meaningful! I appreciate that more than I can possibly say. Older dancers like me do not have so many years left before we can not do it any more and it's nice to know that there are those like Mark and Jennet out there.
Regards,
A'isha
 

sedoniaraqs

New member
Wow Mark, so you are multitalented! For some reason I thought you did mostly Egyptian. Maybe because the dance clips I have seen of you (dancing to Zeina and rakset kharamana) were very Egyptian.

Cool!

Sedonia
 

Mark_Balahadia

New member
Wow Mark, so you are multitalented! For some reason I thought you did mostly Egyptian. Maybe because the dance clips I have seen of you (dancing to Zeina and rakset kharamana) were very Egyptian.

Cool!

Sedonia

Hey Sedonia. Both clips on youtube are Samia Gamal tributes so I was doing mostly Classical Egyptian movements. I have this uncanny ability to do imitations of other dancers, you should see my Suhair Zaki impersonation :clap:
 

sedoniaraqs

New member
Hey Sedonia. Both clips on youtube are Samia Gamal tributes so I was doing mostly Classical Egyptian movements. I have this uncanny ability to do imitations of other dancers, you should see my Suhair Zaki impersonation :clap:

Well, I'm very envious. I think that kind of ability analyze and imitate subtle nuances of movement must be one of the secrets to learning any ethnic style well, and certainly for learning more than one.

When are you going to post some vids of your Lebanese style?

Sedonia
 

Mark_Balahadia

New member
Well, I'm very envious. I think that kind of ability analyze and imitate subtle nuances of movement must be one of the secrets to learning any ethnic style well, and certainly for learning more than one.

When are you going to post some vids of your Lebanese style?

Sedonia

Actually, I have two from Milwaukee that are more or less Lebanese style (the bum articulations are definitely Dina though...but the Lebanese love doing that move too!):

YouTube - Mark Balahadia - Part One
YouTube - Mark Balahadia - Part Two

The quality is bad but I hope that gives you some idea :D
 

Lydia

New member
I haven't had the pleasure of being taught by Mark, but I have had several opportunities to either dance in the same show or watch him perform and he is always a delight. The first time I ever danced in a staged show, I was dying of nervousness ... Mark was backstage after I performed and gave me such great compliments, which so helped me to feel proud of what I'd done and comfortable with myself as a dancer. One thing that he said that night still makes me laugh and is the best compliment I've ever received. He said, "You danced like you've had good orgasms!":lol:

last sentence.....i would die if somebody told me that after the show!! slip of the tong??????
 

Makeda Maysa

New member
last sentence.....i would die if somebody told me that after the show!! slip of the tong??????

Actually, I took it as a compliment ... as it was intended. I know that he wasn't saying I looked like I was having sex on stage ... rather, that I looked happy, euphoric to be dancing ... that I was clearly connected to the music. I loved it and still consider it one of the best compliments ever.
 
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