DANCING IN MACKAY

Middle Eastern Queensland

Mackay is a provincial city on the East coast of Queensland, Australia. It is geographically almost equidistant from the northernmost and southernmost limits of the coast of Queensland; and is protected by the Great Barrier Reef. It is almost 12 hours by car to Brisbane, the state capital city in the extreme south east of Queensland and 5 hours by jet plane to the West coast of Australia. 

The population of Mackay in November 2005 was 135,000+.

Belly dancing came to Mackay, {rhymes with eye} 

about 1996.

Zaida teaches a class of older women, who are discovering the health benefits of Belly Dance and the sheer JOY of Dance.  Classes are held in air-conditioned comfort in the Blue Nurses' Seminar Room.

Zaida's Jacarandas frequently perform as a troupe and experience the adrenalin flow of dancing for an audience. I try to encourage my dancers to share the joy of dance with people who can no longer dance; for instance residents of aged care residences.

Enid, a professional ballet teacher, who was also experienced in many forms of dance, in 1996 introduced us to this particular form of dance and ignited a flame, which has grown and grown. 

Enid was 72 years old at that time and this encouraged me, at 60, to ‘have a go’.

Nancy had a troupe named   "Nancee's"   (previously TANSSCA'S ) and holds classes in the Dance International Studios,  Mackay – she has now changed her focus and is teaching ‘Bollywood.’ 

Nancy and one of her students made the journey to Egypt, in May 2000,  to further their knowledge and experience of Middle Eastern Dance.

There are now two other commercial studios in Mackay – Lisa teaches at Theatre Arts

And there is another group called ‘Katz’ in an old church hall in Ungerer Street.

Ladies come to classes and try out the dance form. Some stay, some are never seen again, but all of them take away with them a better understanding of bellydancing.

Teachers are careful to explain the structure and the background of bellydancing, so the information is slowly filtering through the community.

Mackay is a long, long way from the bigger cities in Australia, and does not have the population to support workshops featuring international teachers. Teachers in the Mackay area, find they have to travel vast distances to attend workshops in other centres, and this can be extremely expensive. However, they do travel, in order to improve their own knowledge of bellydancing.

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Ann taught for approximately two years in Seaforth, 

a small hamlet North of Mackay.  

In June 1999, Diana, who taught in Mackay for two years, 

travelled to Cairo in Egypt to attend a belly dance teachers' workshop. 

She returned with a plethora of new ideas for her students. 

In May 1998, a weekend workshop was held at a local Resort, and this was well attended by dancers from the studios as well as people who had never tried bellydancing before.

Rasheeda, from just north of Brisbane, conducted the workshop, under the auspices of Queensland Keep Fit Association. 

One lady travelled from an inland town about 8 hours’ driving time from Mackay, because there was no bellydancing in her home town.

Yasmin Asar, teacher/performer conducted a workshop in Seaforth, near Mackay in May 2000, and a second workshop for Zaida's Jacarandas in Mackay on 14th November 2001.

Yasmin is HIGHLY recommended to students in London, UK.

Yasmin has an instructional video for sale; her website is

www.tonyandyasmin.co.uk

There might even be something in the local newspaper.