It has been a while friends! I started producing this podcast back in 2018, and by 2023 I had recorded 75 incredible episodes that are all still very available for your listening pleasure.

The last podcast interview I recorded was with Rachel Brice, and I also recorded amazing conversations with Suhalia Salimpour, Carloeen Nereccio, Jill Parker, Jillina of Belly Dance Evolution, Ebony, Kamrah, and many more brilliant dancers.

https://bellydancebodyandsoul.com/rachel-brice-podcast-interview/

I always dreamed of interviewing Zoe Jakes. When Kaeshi Chai brought Zoe Jakes and Dalia Carella together for an incredible Bellyqueen belly dance event in New York City titled Zoe Jakes in NYC in October 2024,

Kaeshi invited me to moderate a panel discussion titled Moving the Needle Forward – Sharing Our Dance with Wider Audiences.

“Join a dynamic conversation with trailblazing artists Zoe Jakes, Dalia Carella, and Kaeshi Chai, moderated by Ailcia Free. These renowned performers will explore innovative ways to bring belly dance to diverse audiences, from mainstream stages to out-of-the box collaborations. Discover how each artist bridges cultural, artistic, and personal expression in their performances, and learn strategies to connect belly dance with new communities. Perfect for dancers, teachers, and enthusiasts eager to expand the reach of this vibrant art form!”

I hopped on a bus bound for NYC.

https://bellydancebodyandsoul.com/kaeshi-chai/

Zoe, Kaeshi and Dalia showed great photos while they spoke during the panel. Scroll down to see the photos mentioned in the podcast recording.

https://bellydancebodyandsoul.com/dalia-carella/

Sorry if you need to turn up some parts of the recording to hear the panelists and questions from the audience well. I recorded this old school style with one mic in a dance studio of dancers overlooking Manhattan. The recording turned out pretty good considering I just had a small backpack with me for equipment and everything else needed for the weekend of classes with Zoe, Kaeshi and Dalia. Here we go!

Alicia Introduces the Panel

Welcome to this dynamic conversation with trailblazing artists Zoe Jakes, Dalia Carella, and Kaeshi Chai. I am Alicia Free, host of the Belly Dance Podcast A Little Lighter. I am honored to be here with these renowned performers who will help us explore innovative ways to bring belly dance to diverse audiences, from mainstream stages to out-of-the box collaborations. We’ll discover how each artist bridges cultural, artistic, and personal expression in their performances, and learn strategies to connect belly dance with new communities.

Art forms continuously dance in and out of mainstream culture, and these artists have have brought the dance we love -belly dance- to diverse audiences for decades. We know the value and beauty of our dance, but so many people still do not.

https://bellydancebodyandsoul.com/belly-dance-history-up-to-the-1900s/

And there were peaks of belly dance popularity like the Golden Age of Egyptian film, the 1960s Reda Folk Dance Troupe, Am Cab in NYC and Ren Faires in California.

https://bellydancebodyandsoul.com/history-of-belly-dance-from-1900-1969/

Sha’abi in the 70s, and our panelist Dalia Carella saw belly dance history first hand starting here.

https://bellydancebodyandsoul.com/the-history-of-belly-dance-1970s/

Then the 1980s dance exercise craze. And then in the 1990s, big bands start to disappear. Then starting in 2000 Belly Dance Superstars which 2 of our panelists Zoe Jakes and Kaeshi Chai were part of, brought belly dance into giant theaters all over the US. In 2005 there was Shakira’s Hips don’t lie, and then in 2007 the same producer who created Belly Dance Superstars produces Zoe Jakes and Beats Antique. This will be an exciting conversation about the more recent history of belly dance and the inspiring places these amazing dancers think bellydance can and will go.

We will start with the oh-so-loveable Kaeshi Chai…

Kaeshi Chai on Collaborating with Partners who Already Have an Audience

Thank you so much, Alicia. I’m so glad you were able to make it. I’ll share with you a little bit about my background just to give you some context, so that you’ll understand how that informs my perspective.

And then after that, we’ll go to some takeaways. Maybe you can think about how certain tools and techniques and ideas that I’ve applied to my own journey can be applicable to you.

In 2002, Bellyqueen, a trio that formed in 1998, performed in Las Vegas for a six month contract. We had five shows a day. So we had 500 shows and we performed with contortionists and incredible Arabic musicians that recorded with Muhammad Abdel Wahab. We were so spoiled and every day each show had 100 people watching, half of whom were children, in fact.

And then we had the opportunity to perform with the Bellydance Superstars and that toured all over the United States and Canada and Europe.

And I started a community called PURE. In 2004, we went out into the streets to bring more color to New York City after it was under the shadow of 9/11.

And with Pure we also created “A Collection of Beauty Reimagined” which is a theatrical dance show about learning to love yourself even if the media says that beauty fits into a certain box and what you see in the mirror is different from what is in the magazine.

And that toured for five years, I went to places like Mexico city and Taiwan and Japan and different parts of America. We would do circle shares where we discuss how each culture is different. And then we would change the show to reflect the people that were in the show and watching the show. So for example, in Mexico, A lot of people suffer from alcoholism, whereas in Japan they suffer from working too hard. In fact, you can die from working too hard. I did not know that until we went to Japan.

Then I had the opportunity to tour with Belly Dance Evolution for five years, and we performed in Morocco f...