Ep 113. Jessaiah Zure: Searching for Individuality in Turkish Romani Dance

Jessaiah Zure began bellydancing in 1997, studying primarily with Katarina Burda, and later with Jamila Salimpour. In 2004 she began her 10-year journey of living and studying on and off in Istanbul, where she studied Turkish Roman Dance primarily with Reyhan Tusuz. Jessaiah was Reyhan’s second ever “student”. As the years progressed, she met more people and danced and studied with many more dancers, including professionals, women in the kitchen, Anadolu Atesi dancers and more. The locals in Istanbul were amazed at Jessaiah’s natural familiarity with the music and dance. While she was there, Jessaiah was a featured dancer at many local events, weddings, shows, as well as written about in newspapers and asked to be in movies as a dancer.In this episode you will learn about:- Studying folklore as a part of belly dance classes- How do we define ‘traditional’- Jessaiah’s learning experience of Turkish Romani dance without knowing the language, and having an audience observing her at each class- We all start as beginners- The importance of individuality in dance.Show Notes to this episode:Thank you for your support via Iana Dance Club: www.ianadanceCLUB.com.Follow Jessaiah Zure on FB, and Instagram. Also, check her Fb group The Rhythm & Belly Revival (International Dance Collective).Follow Iana on Instagram, FB, Youtube, website .Bellydance Evolution and information about their BDExperience program at www.JoinBDE.com.Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast