The Gilded Serpent presents...
Najida Da'nna
Esther Zeigler Burns
Well, I just am the classic widow, living in the South Georgia swamp with five cats and a WAY overgrown yard. No kids, just cats, the internet, my job and dance. And a brother a lot like Jethro Bodine next door.
When I was little, my mother tried to make me take piano lessons, but I was too much of a fidget, so I danced instead, starting out as a majorette (I know, I know, but you should SEE what I can do with a sword now!!!) I was first captivated by Bellydancing when I saw Julianna on the Ed Sullivan show when I was six. I thought she was THE most beautiful thing I had ever seen, like living light.
I took my first lesson in 1979 here in Savannah with Celeste Humphries. She was a great teacher, but when she left town, I wasn't able to find another teacher. I did continue taking other dance classes, primarily ballet, and even danced in a small troupe in Statesboro, Georgia when I moved there.
The years passed, I got married, got older, got slower, got fatter, moved around, moved home and nursed a dying husband. It wasn't until about five years ago that I returned to Bellydance as my respite from stress, driving three hours to Augusta for lessons with Zheleh Feresteh. In a serendipidous twist, seems Zheleh and my first teacher, Celeste, were roommates in college, and started taking dance lessons at the same time!
After my husband died, I really dove in with a passion, taking every class and seminar I could, supplementing my education with videos, books and the internet. I guess my education since Celeste consists of classes with Zheleh, Aziza Nawal, Layla Katrina, Shalimar Serene, Cassandra, Artemis Mourat and Suzanna de Vecchio.
I was contently dancing along, minding my own business when the Casbah Moroccan Restaurant opened here in town and they needed a dancer, like yesterday. Seems there weren't any professional dancers here in town (LOTS of strippers, but that will be another story ;) ). I auditioned for the job and much to my surprise, they hired me. Talk about a crash course in cabaret performance and Middle Eastern restaurant politics! I have a piece about tipping I am writing now, based on my adventures there.
It was a great learning experience, and while I was there, I met Maya Kamala (Carrie Byam). And together we established the Shimmying Sands Dance Troupe, which we just recently changed to the Lotus Dance Company. We simply got tired of being called the "Simmering Sands, Shimmering Sands, Simmying Sands" . ACK!!!!
Classes have been held here at Chatham Nursing Home where I work as a Registered Dietitian/Food Service Manager. We practice in the 'chapel' (auditorium) with our 'payment' for using the facility being a quarterly performance for all the residents (yet another good story!). Which is a win-win situation for us; we are getting lots of 'stage' practice and they get a form of entertainment most haven't been exposed to in their lives. They really are the BEST audience in the world.
In addition to performing here at the nursing home, we have performed at everything from Senior citzen's meetings, to weddings, a mall dance fest, to birthdays, to a Woman's Health Fair to an Arts Festival at the Savannah College of Art and Design. The strangest request we had was for a five year olds birthday party. Seems he LOVED swords and I dance with a real one. After a bit of discussion the father and I both agreed, that it would be better to wait until the child was older before letting me lose in a room full of screaming Kindergardeners with a sharp object. I think we both were relieved.
Since we founded the troupe, little over a year ago, the performance group has grown to about eight members. We now have a beginning class on Tuesday nights in addition to our advanced/troupe Thursday night practice. We are also in the process of establishing a Friday night class at Corey Everson's fitness center and we were even contacted about the possibility of starting a class at the Y in a neighboring community.
Our goals are to continue to grown as dancers and professionals, and continue to educate our students (and the public) about Middle Eastern Dance (aka Bellydance). We are doing this not only through our classes and performances, but with our web page at www.ezbee.org/lotus.htm and our newly launched quarterly newsletter "The Lotus." With Middle Eastern Dancing catching on (again) as a fitness trend, we have a rare opportunity to bring a great deal of knowledge to the public and change a lot of misconceptions about the dance. All the while sharing with the people the joys one of the most mentally, emotionally, physcially and spiritually consuming and fullfilling arts in the world.
Web site: www.ezbee.org/lotus.htm
