Amity Alize

05/27/2026

I've been thinking about a fundraiser for this year as I've tried to do one every year since Raq-On Dance opened in 2006.

This year, I'd like to give the two books I wrote for dancers to folks who make contributions.

Donate $20 to any relief effort charity in Lebanon, Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Iran, or Palestine and I'll send you one of my two books! Donations can be to a charity or a gofundme page for a family directly. If you need suggestions just let me know.

Email [email protected] your receipt and let me know if you would like:

-Business 101 for dance and fitness teachers (shoutout to publisher Lauren Zehara Haas for partnering on this!)
Or
-Dance studio startup kit: for those looking to open a brick and mortar dance studio.

I'm also a CPA that has helped over 100 others start their dance businesses. I hope these books get you started on the right foot while also helping those in need

05/25/2026

Meaning of my last post: people are always going to find something to complain about. There are people who are always going to not like what you do because it upsets something unhealed in them. Dance is part of art, and everyone is always going to have an opinion. If you stop doing what you love because what others think, you're going to miss out. Study hard, dance your heart out, listen to the music, and you will find something way more fulfilling than internet trolls who hide behind a screen. I shared my experience in hopes that others will keep going.

If we all do this regardless of ageism, sexism, size bias (big or small), imagine how much we can reclaim for ourselves and community. If we all sit down for the haters, we would lose so much. We already have and need to continue show the next generations that we can dance for much longer. Eff the unrealistic beauty standards of looking like a 20 year old women forever. Let our bodies morph and change as we age and appreciate all life cycles.

All the mean comments come from people's pages where they have expressed white supremacy, racisim, no picture profiles showing themselves but when you look them up you can see they hate everything and are just bots or keyboard warriors. Look at my review ratings. I said no to genocide and war and other dancers wrote negative reviews trying to tear me down. I'm still standing and it has had zero impact. Keep dancing.

Keep your head held up and your eyes on the prize loves.

05/24/2026

I recently read a post from a dancer that there are other women in her dms fat shaming her. Wtf.

As a 200+ pd dancer most of my career, I've never once been fat shamed to my face in 2 decades. Not hired? I'm sure some highly commercial spaces never wanted me. I know I was not called back once to a restaurant. They're not my market if they don't want me.

Have I been insecure? Sure.

But you know what? My shimmies are juicy. I get to order custom costumes because off the rack can't hold me. When I dance, audience has to enjoy my musicality and dancing more than commercialized beauty or I won't get asked back. Other women come up and say thank you for dancing in public because they never thought it was an option for them.

People pay $300 to watch my fat jiggle to music. Best job ever? I think so. Darlings, my hips have grossed over $1m. Those haters can't compare.

There are more luscious dancers than I and they too deserve space and recognition too.

It's 2026. We don't make time for this bs anymore. Dance because we get to. Life and the music is too short.

05/22/2026

This will be an amazing event! Soumaya MaRose's group will be featured to live music and a full Choir!

05/18/2026

You know what I love?

I love seeing the dancers who we grew up together and catching up. I love seeing all the teachers and mentors who have retired or semitretired in the audience. I love the people who tirelessly show up to support the next generation of dancers.

I hope newer dancers get to have the same experience of leaving their normal groups and just getting in a car and driving all over or splitting a hotel or dancing and meeting new people. My experience is that you're never a stranger in the dance world. I have sofa surfed all over the world and met amazing people and heard amazing life stories. I have just as many fond memories of this as a stage.

100% reccomend. Just showing up to dance is just the iceberg. That connection to the community translates so much in your dancing. You have people to smile at. Less fear or divide between you and the audience, less worry about flash, more connection.

So much of "success" in dance is comraderie; not competition or isolation.

05/03/2026

Studio is nice and clean for the 4 hour drum solo class tomorrow! See you soon!

04/26/2026

Fall class sneak peak:

August 30th: 4 hour deep dive into entrance songs Mergences and Choreography. Noon to 5pm with one hour break/mingle cost: $75 in person or zoom

September 13th: 4 hour deep dive into Saidi and Tahtib Choreography. Noon to 5pm with one hour break/mingle cost: $75 in person or zoom

Sept-Nov: Performance intensive: one on one and group solo creation with a focus on performing either a 10-15 minute show of your choice or let Amity put one together that will force you to grow out of your comfort zone :) 8 weekly Thursday night zoom meetings at 7pm Eastern time plus four 30 minute private lessons. In person or zoom Cost: $275

Sept 10-Oct 29th Amity's fun facts and History of Belly Dance online lecture series. 8 weeks Thursdays 7 to 8pm est. Cost: $80

Nov 5th to 19th: Musicality online lecture series for dancers. Dive into rhythms, maqams, and feeling the music for improvisation. 3 weeks Thursdays 7 to 8pm Cost: $30

Do all the things package: $500

To register, email [email protected]

04/26/2026

Wow, that last post really struck a cord with you all! I received messages from all over the world. What an honor to hear from all of you.

Here's another thing to think about: when was the last time you got that little internal giggle, fire, or butterflies in your belly? You know, the ones you probably experienced when you fell in love with the dance? Or maybe when you hear a song you absolutely love?

It's that feeling that you keep to yourself when you just want to enjoy like you have the most amazing piece of chocolate melting on your tounge, or that taste of a nice glass of lemonade on a hot day.

Do you know how to pull that back out when you dance? Can you re-engage and remind yourself why you do all of this?

If not, it's probably why practice or performing feels ugh. Like work. Forced.

You have to figure out how to self soothe, like back to being a child. When your emigdela is hijacked constantly by world events or the case of "shoulding on yourself," you simply can't be creative.

Find something that gives you rest and peace until you get that feeling again. Artists need breaks. That's the problem of your body being a business and this crazy social media world.

For me, when my festivals and events and studio was busy, I wanted to hide. I was cranky and couldn't even participate because I was so worried about making sure everything went well. It completely hijacked that feeling, even when others thought I was the definition of success. When things went wrong I just crashed. It overshadowed the good things.

Reality was that I wasn't aligned anymore with my core values. My core values didn't align with what I built/what others wanted from me. My dance core values are integrity, growth, challenge, stewardship, and meaning. Do you know your core values as a dancer? Post them below.

Stopping opportunities for people who said loudly that they didn't have time to practice and are just winging it while I killed myself for months of prep work so they had a stage. Doing the same shows and gigs because we always did them. Watching dancers do selfies and who were more worried about their makeup than watching the other dancers. People who wrote negative reviews on this page and blacklisted me because I cared more about people being unalived than my so called career. Doing the same thing and not growing simply because it worked and was comfortable.

Man, unsticking that emigdela takes a lot of inner work and a lot of goodbyes to things that no longer serves you.

Now that I've had time to miss things, dance for myself, and let my brain reset from fight or flight, I truly feel when I step onstage, that little baby belly light/internal giggle/whatever you want to call it, is back. I truly believe the audience feels that moment too. I feel like part of our mission as arriving as a performer is to be so connected and vulnerable enough onstage that we can help the audience light theirs when we share.

04/25/2026

Coming right up! Do you have your tickets yet?

Meet the next beautiful group joining us at our 2nd Anniversary Show in May!!

The Raq-ettes hail from Raq-On Dance and NH and VT. They want to remind you to unclench that jaw, take a deep breath, and enjoy the music. Raq-On Dance -Belly Dance in the Upper Valley NH & VT
❤️

04/22/2026

A lot of dancers seem to be frazzled right now. Between the restaurants asking them to do what they want vs providing their own artistry and show, the constant expectations to look a certain way, changing market demand, the lack of paying gigs (or ones that want to pay market), dancer run events with 5 minute limits where we are all performing for each other, and teachers burning out trying to build something larger than a single beginner class in a world of instant gratification and rising costs, it can feel so daunting, right?

This is me giving you permission to take back your dance. For you. Sometimes you need someone else to say it.

Not everything has to be commercialized.

If you knew how many "successful" dancers are subsidized, you'd realize a lot of what we've been fed on social media isn't a realistic expectation. Meanwhile the most loved grew naturally from their passion organically; they let their love of dance shine first and that's what made them successful.

You can enjoy just loving dance.

Being a student.

Being a community member.

Not having to market yourself 24/7

It's ok to not post every video or perform in every opportunity.

It's ok to not be "on" all the time

Every artist needs breaks. Burnout is real.

Go back to your roots. Why do you love to dance?

Find that spark and nuture it. Let it grow again.

Or set it down until you miss it.

The definition of success has changed for me over the years too. Today it is the fact that I get to dance when I want to, when I feel like it, and when the music tells me to. Not when I have to in order to meet some expectation to show up for others. Now I show up for me. What a freaking gift!