One of my favorite things to find in my email box is a great belly dance-themed newsletter. If you are like me, you love looking at dancer photos, reading articles, watching videos, listening to podcasts about belly dance!
Print Magazines – Gone but not forgotten
I miss the day when I subscribed to numerous belly dance magazines that would arrive in my snail mail box. Back then, I kept a stack of mags next to my cozy reading chair for quiet moments. What great memories! I even had my own one-off Cloth of Egypt themed Costumer’s Notes digital magazine printed. It is great to have a tangible memory of the project that I can thumb through.
Today, I instead of waiting for a physical magazine, I look forward to belly dance-themed email. With the proliferation of different media types, a newsletter is the best way for creative producers to tell us all about their latest content. What I love is that I don’t have to search to find information.
Email Newsletters Offer Curated Content
Perhaps the best reason to sign up for a newsletter is to receive curated content. When you sign up for a mailing list from a content creator, you are receiving information that they have created themselves or have selectively picked to align with their style, technique, or methodology. Here is a collection of a few of my top “must reads” from the world of belly dance.
The Belly Dance Chronicles Magazine
Isis and the Star Dancers of Texas produce the long-running magazine, The Belly Dance Chronicles. This magazine has been filled with useful information, event and product reviews, interviews with celebrity dancers, and loads of photos.
Formerly, The Chronicles was a print magazine with a subscription fee. However, today the Chronicles is now a digital magazine and absolutely free!
You read that right – FREE!
All you have to do is visit their website and sign up for their newsletter and they will alert you when new issues are available! Find out more details about the magazine here.
Belly Dance Geek Clubhouse
Produced by Nadira Jamal of Boston, this wonderfully informative website and newsletter offer two podcasts. The Belly Geek Clubhouse is an interview style Q&A with belly dance industry leaders from all areas of our dance art.
Nadira also has a podcast called “More Than Steps” where she discusses belly dance costumes one coffee-run at a time. Signing up for her Belly Dance Geek Clubhouse will ensure you never miss one of these informative podcasts. You can listen to past episodes using your favorite podcatcher. Here’s a link I use to listen on iTunes.
Mahin’s Belly DanceQuickies
Mahin of Phoenix has an amazing email newsletter Belly Dance Quickies that she sends out three times a week. No matter where you are in your dance journey, Mahin has content that is informative and inspirational.
Wednesday Watcher – Mahin shares a curated list of high-quality, interesting, and informative belly dance videos. She includes embedded links to sites like YouTube where you can watch some excellent vintage and modern dance clips.
Friday Grab Bag – This is a delightful mix of blog posts, links to informational articles and resources.
Sunday in the Studio: Each week, Mahin presents a free mini-class, tutorial, or demo that takes place in her Phoenix-based dance space One World Dance and Music Studio.
Zameena Newsletter
Published by the UK based belly dance vendor Zara’s Zouk. Each Zameena newsletter is written by different dancer authors from around the world, providing a global perspective on our dance arts.
If you follow this link, you can check out some of the past issues. Each issue contains one substantial article and lots of information about UK dance events and products in the store. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Costumer’s Notes
I’m going to take a moment to include a quick note about my own newsletter. My mission for each of my newsletters is two parts. The opening of the newsletter is a note to update my friends, family, and fans on what’s happening in my little corner of the universe.
Then as you scroll down, you will find lots of links to articles and information from around the globe. In each issue, there’s a curated list of 6 – 10 links to newspaper and magazine articles, Vimeo and YouTube videos, as well as blog posts by top dancers from around the globe.
If you are interested in receiving my “Costumer’s Notes” newsletter you can sign up here.
What are you favorite belly dance-themed digital magazines and newsletters? Join the conversation over in the Studio Davina – Behind the Seams group on Facebook.
I hope your email is filled with inspiration and information!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
August 27, 2018
