Hard Raq Cafe DVDs are in!! Get yours today!Only $25 + tax
Business HoursMonday 6pm - 9pm
Tuesday 6pm - 8pm Wednesday 6:30pm - 8pm Thursday 5:30pm - 8:30pm Friday CLOSED Saturday Noon - 3pm School of Raq will be closed May 19 - 21 for Victoria Day Long Weekend. |
|
Summer Session will be posted soon!
Welcome to the School of RAQ
First of all, what does it mean? And how the heck do you say it? We know what a school is, but RAQ?? Raqs (pronounced ROCK) means dance in Arabic so it stands to reason that we are a School of Dance. Specifically, Bellydance. With a little bit of sass, naturally.
At the School of RAQ, our incredibly talented and passionate instructors teach a melting pot of bellydance styles. Bellydance has so many great benefits. It is a great way to liven up your exercise routine and you are sure to meet some amazing new people. The more you bellydance the more you will learn about your own strength and inner & outer beauty. On top of all that, bellydance is an art form and art forms have only the limitations we put on them. You do not have to be a certain size, shape, colour or age to express yourself and therefore you don’t have to be a certain size, shape, colour or age to bellydance. Everyone is free to express themselves; bellydance is a chance to be just you. We all come from different walks of life and we are all at different stages, but as a community we can share this art form together.
School of RAQ is the product of years of passion coming to fruition. Ten years ago, I walked through these very studio doors looking for something for me and me alone. I had spent years practicing and teaching martial arts and I had become one of the guys. Everything I did they did too and often much harder because they were boys and couldn’t stand to be shown up by a girl! I wanted something new, something I didn’t have to share with them.
Then, a co-worker of mine showed me some ridiculous move that she was working on in a bellydance class she was taking at Isis Dance, the same studio I now own. I knew then and there that I had to check it out and I signed up for classes for my birthday.
I went to my first class and fell in love. My teacher was the lovely Shahenda. She was so inspiring, I wanted to be her when I grew up (I still want to be her when I grow up but will settle for having her teach in my studio!). I promptly quit teaching martial arts and started taking as many classes as I could. When my day job could no longer support my addiction to shiny things, I took a job at the studio to help support my habit. Looking back, my mentor Anemone was a bit of an enabler! And I love her for it! I was at the studio every day helping people put together costumes from the various bits and pieces in the boutique, doing odd sewing jobs and helping out with registration and the like. But while I was working, I was always listening and watching what was going on in the studio. I would practice my technique in the lobby and listen intently as each instructor explained something in their own style. I loved the variety of it and the beauty. It was also at Isis that I was given my first teaching job and I am so grateful to Anemone for having faith in me!
I’ve spent the last 10 years dancing and teaching and taking as many classes as possible. I even quit my “Grown Up Job” in an office so I could take on more classes. This job gives me so much more joy than I ever had working 9-5 and I can honestly say that I have never had a bad day at the office. Whether I’m dancing in front of a large audience or teaching new students, who are effectionately referred to as Baby Bellies, to move their hips for the first time, I know I have the best job ever! Now I have the privilege and honour to open my own studio in the very space where I started this crazy journey 10 years ago. I’ve come home.
At the School of RAQ, our incredibly talented and passionate instructors teach a melting pot of bellydance styles. Bellydance has so many great benefits. It is a great way to liven up your exercise routine and you are sure to meet some amazing new people. The more you bellydance the more you will learn about your own strength and inner & outer beauty. On top of all that, bellydance is an art form and art forms have only the limitations we put on them. You do not have to be a certain size, shape, colour or age to express yourself and therefore you don’t have to be a certain size, shape, colour or age to bellydance. Everyone is free to express themselves; bellydance is a chance to be just you. We all come from different walks of life and we are all at different stages, but as a community we can share this art form together.
School of RAQ is the product of years of passion coming to fruition. Ten years ago, I walked through these very studio doors looking for something for me and me alone. I had spent years practicing and teaching martial arts and I had become one of the guys. Everything I did they did too and often much harder because they were boys and couldn’t stand to be shown up by a girl! I wanted something new, something I didn’t have to share with them.
Then, a co-worker of mine showed me some ridiculous move that she was working on in a bellydance class she was taking at Isis Dance, the same studio I now own. I knew then and there that I had to check it out and I signed up for classes for my birthday.
I went to my first class and fell in love. My teacher was the lovely Shahenda. She was so inspiring, I wanted to be her when I grew up (I still want to be her when I grow up but will settle for having her teach in my studio!). I promptly quit teaching martial arts and started taking as many classes as I could. When my day job could no longer support my addiction to shiny things, I took a job at the studio to help support my habit. Looking back, my mentor Anemone was a bit of an enabler! And I love her for it! I was at the studio every day helping people put together costumes from the various bits and pieces in the boutique, doing odd sewing jobs and helping out with registration and the like. But while I was working, I was always listening and watching what was going on in the studio. I would practice my technique in the lobby and listen intently as each instructor explained something in their own style. I loved the variety of it and the beauty. It was also at Isis that I was given my first teaching job and I am so grateful to Anemone for having faith in me!
I’ve spent the last 10 years dancing and teaching and taking as many classes as possible. I even quit my “Grown Up Job” in an office so I could take on more classes. This job gives me so much more joy than I ever had working 9-5 and I can honestly say that I have never had a bad day at the office. Whether I’m dancing in front of a large audience or teaching new students, who are effectionately referred to as Baby Bellies, to move their hips for the first time, I know I have the best job ever! Now I have the privilege and honour to open my own studio in the very space where I started this crazy journey 10 years ago. I’ve come home.
