Dance tip, learn bellydance, veil, ZeoT, Zurich
Alia McKenzie-Murdoch
Tips for belly dance with a veil

One of our favourite accessories to dance with is the veil, the theme of our A and A/M choreographies in our next course period (KP2) starting March 4th 2024. Veils can be used to frame movements or become an extension of the dancer’s body. Dynamic, dramatic or dreamy, the movement fills the space around the dancer in colour and shape, as the veil adds a new dimension to the performance.

Tips for belly dance with a veil
ZeoT, Zurich
Alia McKenzie-Murdoch
A YEAR IN OUR NEW DANCE STUDIO IN ZURICH

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already danced a whole year in our new studio in Wipkingen. It’s time to look back and celebrate how we achieved our crowdfunding goal to help fund building work and how we’ve filled the space this year with energy, creativity and fun! The new ZeoT dance studio is more than a dance school; it’s a beautiful space for our community to meet, dance, be creative and feel at home.

A YEAR IN OUR NEW DANCE STUDIO IN ZURICH
Alia McKenzie-Murdoch
HAFLA IM ZEOT ZÜRICH

Lass dich vom Zauber der mittleren bis fernöstlichen Tänze mitreissen! Der Eintritt ist frei! Es gibt eine Kollekte zu Gunsten des Kampfes gegen die Kinderprostitution.

Samstag, 4. November, ab 14.40 // Eintritt: Gratis

HAFLA IM ZEOT ZÜRICH
Alia McKenzie-Murdoch
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ZEOT ZÜRICH SHOWCASE 2023

On May 13th, 2023, students and teachers from ZeoT Zürich performed at the Aula Rämibühl, Zürich to a full house. Here are a few visual and written impressions of a wonderful evening where, once again, the women of ZeoT showed the power of dance to unite and transform.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ZEOT ZÜRICH SHOWCASE 2023
Alia McKenzie-Murdoch
Shine - dance and transformation through ...

ALIA, originally from the UK, is the creative director and owner of ZeoT dance studio in Zürich, Switzerland. Here she talks about the motivations and inspirations behind her world of dance.

Shine - dance and transformation through movement
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FEIERE WEIHNACHTEN MIT UNSEREN ADVENTSKALENDER-PREISEN!

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FEIERE WEIHNACHTEN MIT UNSEREN ADVENTSKALENDER-PREISEN!

Weihnachten steht vor der Tür und wir möchten die festliche Stimmung mit unserem Online-Adventskalender mit Dir teilen. Wir nehmen die 24 Adventstage zum Anlass, die weibliche Kreativität, Kraft und Unternehmertum zu feiern. Wir haben uns mit lokalen weiblich geführten Unternehmen zusammengetan, um Dir mit tollen Preisen die Weihnachtszeit zu versüssen. Den Adventskalender findest Du, wenn Du uns auf Facebook und Instagram folgst. Weiter unten im Newsletter kannst Du bereits einen Blick auf eine Auswahl der Preise werfen.

Unsere Kurse machen über Weihnachten eine Pause, aber es gibt viele Möglichkeiten, in unseren Winter-Workshops weiter zu tanzen. Von Isis-Wings über Shimmy-Technik, American Tribal Style oder eine Einführung in den chinesischen Tanz, probier etwas Neues und halte Dich warm für einen guten Start ins Jahr 2019 mit KP1 (orientalischer Pop).

HIGHLIGHTS IM NEWSLETTER

  • TARAB - Arabische Musik Konzert & Tanz im ZeoT Zürich - 02.02.2019

  • KHALEEGY PERFORMANCE-PROJEKT

  • ZEOT LEHRERIN WEITERBILDUNGSPROGRAMM 2019

Zum Schluss ein grosses Dankeschön an alle, die 2018 mit uns getanzt, aufgetreten und gefeiert haben. Wir lieben es, mit Dir zu tanzen. Wir danken Dir von ganzem Herzen, dass Du dazu beigetragen hast, die ZeoT-Community so glücklich zu machen - “you put many smiles on our hips!”

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CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS WITH OUR ADVENT CALENDAR GIVEAWAY!

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CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS WITH OUR ADVENT CALENDAR GIVEAWAY!

Christmas is coming and we’re sharing in the festive mood with our online Advent Calendar. Celebrating 24 days of female creativity, power and entrepreneurship we’ve teamed up with local female run businesses to bring you some amazing prizes. Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to get the chance to win. Have a look at some of the prizes in our newsletter below.

Regular classes will take a break over Christmas but there’s plenty of opportunity to keep on dancing in our winter workshops. From Isis wings to shimmy technique, American tribal style or an introduction to Chinese dance, try something new and keep warmed up for a great start in 2019 with KP1 (oriental pop).

HIGHLIGHTS IN NEWSLETTER

  • TARAB - Arab music concert & dance at ZeoT - 02.02.2019

  • KHALEEGY PERFORMANCE PROJECT

  • ZEOT BELLY DANCE TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMME 2019

Lastly a big thank you to all of you who’ve danced, performed and partied with us in 2018. We truly love to dance with you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping to make the ZeoT community such a joyful one, and for putting many smiles on our hips!

THE POWER OF DANCE

THE POWER OF DANCE

"No, I can’t dance, I can barely move. I love Latin music, but I don't think that I can move my hips like that". In my experience as a salsa teacher, I've heard this sentence many times!

As soon as I convinced people to give it a try, they could feel such power inside them and felt more beautiful, capable; things seemed to fall into place. Both men and women could express the same feeling of having achieved something.

As I began my career as an assertiveness coach and consultant, I understood it even better: dance is indeed a tool for assertiveness.

Why? I will give you a few examples…

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DIE KUNST WIE EIN CHAMPION ZU TANZEN! 

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DIE KUNST WIE EIN CHAMPION ZU TANZEN! 

Wichtige Fähigkeiten im Leben erlernt man am Besten, wenn man sie regelmässig übt. Du kannst jedes Buch über Ghandi lesen und trotzdem kein guter Anführer sein. Du kannst viele Kochbücher lesen und trotzdem nicht in der Lage sein, ein Gourmet Menu zu servieren. Genauso wenig wird sich Dein Shimmy verbessern, wenn Du Dir viele Bauchtanzvideos auf YouTube anschaust! Leider gibt es kein einfaches Zaubermittel um Dich zu verbessern - es geht nur indem Du die Grundlagen immer wieder gezielt übst.

”Champions are brilliant at the basics” - John Wooden - Bekannter amerikanischer Basketball Spieler

Manche Schülerinnen kommen regelmässig zum Unterricht und erzielen trotzdem nicht die gewünschten Fortschritte. Das kann frustrierend sein! Deswegen helfen wir Dir gerne dabei, Deine Trainingsmethoden zu verbessern! Die Kunst wie ein Champion zu tanzen liegt darin, regelmässig zu üben um in den grundlegenden Techniken des Tanzes sattelfest zu sein. Wir raten Dir, Dich darauf zu konzentrieren anstatt Dich zu sehr auf das Meistern von speziellen Tanzdetails zu versteifen. Weitere Ideen und Tipps dazu findest Du hier.

Am 22. Oktober beginnen wir mit Kursperiode 6, in der wir verschiedene Folkloretänze aus dem Nahen Osten und Nordafrika kennen lernen. Komm mit uns auf eine bunte Reise durch Tunesien, Ägypten und die Golfstaaten. In unserem Newsletter haben wir Tipps zusammengestellt, wie Du eine Choreografie leichter erlernen kannst. Wir haben auch ein spezielles Angebot (kostenlose Privatstunden) für alle neuen Abo-Inhaberinnen in KP6, das Dir dabei helfen wird, Deine tänzerischen Fähigkeiten weiter zu verbessern!

Highlights KP6 (weitere Informationen im Newsletter):

  • ESRAA WARDA // FROM MOROCCAN CHAABI TO ALGERIAN CHAOUI 

  • OZGEN // TURKISH ROMAN DANCE, DRUM SOLO & SUFI INSPIRED VEIL CHOREOGRAPHY

  • GEORGETTE DUTOIT // "ON YOUR FEET" - FOOT FITNESS WORKSHOP

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HOW TO DANCE LIKE A CHAMPION

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HOW TO DANCE LIKE A CHAMPION

The most valuable things in life can only be learned by doing them a lot. You can read every book on Ghandi and still not be a leader. You can read cookbooks cover to cover and still not be able to serve up a gourmet meal. You can watch every belly dance video on youtube and still not be able to shimmy! If you want to get better at something there’s no magic ingredient - it’s about drilling the basics again and again until it becomes automatic.

Maybe you’ve been coming to class regularly but you feel frustrated that after practising for hours you’re not getting better or getting the results you want? Then it’s time to think about whether you’re practising in the right way!

“Champions are brilliant at the basics” - American basketball player John Wooden

Mastery in nearly any endeavor is the result of deeply understanding simple ideas. For most of us, the answer to becoming better leaders, better chefs or better dancers is consistently practicing the fundamentals, not brilliantly understanding the details. You can find more ideas and tips on how to practise here.

On 22nd October we'll begin KP 6 studying various Middle Eastern and North African folkloric dances. Join us on a colourful journey stopping off in Tunisia, Egypt and the Gulf states. We’ve included some more tips in our newsletter on how you can learn a choreography more easily and you’ll also find a special offer (free private lesson) for all new Abo holders in KP6, which might just help you find the best way to practise with intention and not just effort!

Highlights KP6 (more info in newsletter):

  • ESRAA WARDA // FROM MOROCCAN CHAABI TO ALGERIAN CHAOUI 

  • OZGEN // TURKISH ROMAN DANCE, DRUM SOLO & SUFI INSPIRED VEIL CHOREOGRAPHY

  • GEORGETTE DUTOIT // "ON YOUR FEET" - FOOT FITNESS WORKSHOP

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5 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR DANCE TECHNIQUE IMMEDIATELY!

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5 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR DANCE TECHNIQUE IMMEDIATELY!

Read our 5 goals for focused learning. Our tips will help you be fully engaged in dance class so that you can more easily learn and retain a choreography or improve your technique.

Why Oriental Contemporary?

Why Oriental Contemporary?

The title of this article and the name of my style of dance was put to me by a student of mine at the end of a class I was giving. She said, "Rachida, this is not just bellydance, what you do is oriental contemporary!"

Since then I've adopted this name for what I do. I began to mix different techniques spontaneously as I was learning them and it was more a bodily and expressive need than an intentional idea to innovate. At that time I took classical, jazz and contemporary classes to compensate the work of oriental dance, a work that is characterized by its sinuous movements, isolations, work of the internal musculature and feminine energy. Working with the corporal lines of classical and jazz and integrating the play of weight and impulses of contemporary dance, helped me to find a new way to express myself and also to feel. Now I realize that in a world in constant change, you can also change your needs and your way of expressing yourself.

NORTH AFRICAN/MAGHREB DANCE: The cornerstone of Amazigh, Andalusian, and Arabized Movement

NORTH AFRICAN/MAGHREB DANCE: The cornerstone of Amazigh, Andalusian, and Arabized Movement

“Oriental Dance”,“Raqs Sharqi”, or “Belly Dance” has very little to do with the Maghreb or North Africa (sans Egypt). Often North Africa is lumped into the acronym “MENA” - meaning “Middle East and North Africa” because of the commonly believed notion that there is a so-called “Arab world” accompanied with a unanimous understanding of an unified Arab identity and corresponding dance culture. This is a misconception! Dancers interested in learning about Northern African/Maghrebin dance should understand a few basic concepts in order to enjoy the diversity and nuance. This article, written by Esraa Warda especially for ZeoT Zürich, explains more about these fascinating dance styles, music and culture.