Alexandra Graham

of South Africa

Alexandra Graham has been doing some form of dancing for most of her life – ballet at a very young age and then jazz and hip hop early in her teens. When she was 16, she decided to try out latin American, but in looking in the newspaper, she saw an advert for belly dancing. She went to her first class in 2007 and immediately fell in love, pulling herself into a whirlwind romance with dance. With a natural knack for dancing, Alexandra progressed quickly and was soon pushed up to higher classes. In 2009 she began assisting with teaching and soon learned how to guide and teach a class. That year she also started her blog, which is now getting hundreds of views every month and covers controversial topics rarely spoken about as well as costuming advice and personal experiences. Alexandra is now teaching beginner’s courses every term, writing her blog, designing costumes and creating choreographies. Alexandra specialises in Tribal Fusion belly dance with roots in American Tribal Style, although cabaret belly dance is not foreign to her. Heavily inspired by Rachel Brice, Mardi Love and Zoe Jakes, Alexandra is enthusiastic about Tribal Fusion and the direction it is going in and is dedicated to learning as much as she possibly can about this dance form.

Web site: http://thebellydanceblog.wordpress.com/

Articles on Gilded Serpent by Alexandra Graham

10-24-11 An Opposing View, South Africa's Dance Community Thrives by Alexandra Graham
Nonetheless, we are still a closely-knit group–with, perhaps, a handful of people who have decided to set themselves aside from the mainstream of our community. Unfortunately, we find that those are the same dancers who are giving their opinions and critiquing the rest of the community and its dancers.