Costuming Ideas for our At Home Hafla!

Hello Dancers,

Since we are getting ready for our at-home class haflas on Nov 16th (Beginners) and Nov 18th (Intermediate/Advanced), I wanted to give newer dancers some costuming inspiration.

We do not have to spend money to dress it up a little from regular classwear. We all have things in our closet that will work just fine. I don’t know about you, but I have probably been wearing the same 2% of my clothes since the quarantine began - who even knows what’s in the closet at this point?! Now is as good a time as any to take a look and see what forgotten treasures might be in there.

Belly Dance Costuming Examples

Below are a couple video clips with costuming ideas that we can pull from our closets. I chose video so you could see how the clothes and movement go together. This first clip is the Egyptian dancer Dina. She’s known for really outrageous costumes but here she is in a simple black dress. If you want to emulate this look, it doesn't have to be this short. of course.

The next clip is Fifi Abdo, and here she is wearing a loose galabeya with a hip scarf. You could use any loose fitting caftan type dress to emulate this performance look.

Here is another clip of Dina where she has a dress/biker short combination on.

You can also use two pieces. The following example is me! I really love this style so you can poke around my YouTube channel for more examples of this look- and please subscribe while you are there :).

Any tops and skirts in these shapes will work. I bet if you look through your closet you will find you have something that will look great!

Other bellydance costuming ideas:

  • Any fancy dress with a hip scarf

  • A hip scarf can be any piece of fabric that ties around your hips!

  • You can sew or glue rhinestones or sequins onto any top you have to add some sparkle

  • Any sparkly costume jewelry you have at home, like rhinestone necklaces or dangly earrings, will look great

  • Makeup adds a lot and can put you in a great mood to perform! You can search for “Arabic eye” or “smokey eye” makeup on YouTube and you will see lots of fun ideas. You don’t need to buy any makeup, just use what you have to create the look. If you do want to buy something new, drugstore makeup works very well, you do not need designer makeup

  • Don’t feel like doing eye makeup? Red lipstick is a quick way to add glamour and feel dressed up

  • Nail polish is also a quick and fun way to feel more glamourous for performing- I love red or something bright! I always do my own nails, you do not need a professional manicure

These are all just ideas if you want to dress up a bit for our last night of class, there is no pressure on anyone to do anything if you don’t want to or are too busy. But costuming can be just as expressive of your personality as dancing, and it can also put you in the right frame of mind for performing, so I encourage everyone to think about it a bit.

Please add something below in the comments if you have more ideas or any questions!

In the coming months I may transition to blogging less frequently so I can concentrate on my Newsletter and other writing projects. Please subscribe to my Newsletter if you’d like to stay up-to-date!

Take care, everyone.

Fall 2020 Virtual Classes

Hello Dancers,

Well, we’re still sheltering in place here in California, so let’s keep belly dancing from our homes.

My Fall teaching schedule is up now on my Classes page. Registration for the classes through the SSF Parks and Rec starts on 9/4 for SSF Residents and 9/8 for everyone else. And the one bright side of virtual classes is that you can take them from anywhere, so please feel free to join us.

You can register for the Parks and Rec classes directly on their website. I hope to see you in class.

In addition to teaching, have also been using this shelter in place time to go through years of performance footage. I have always lacked the confidence to share my dancing on social media and so I neglected this part of being a dancer. It’s been nice to go through them all now and I will start sharing some here. I am working on my YouTube channel and I hope you will consider subscribing.

Here is one of the performances I posted there. It’s a lovely American Cabaret style performance from 2014 featuring live music by local belly dance favorites Meridian Band. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you all for reading and I will look forward to seeing you in class.


Fall2020ClassesPinterest.jpg

Free Virtual Belly Dance Classes!

In celebration of National Parks & Recreation Month, the South San Francisco Parks and Rec is offering three of my Intro to Belly Dance classes for free!

Free Virtual Belly Dance Classes from Alisa Greer Belly Dance through the SSF Parks and Rec!

Free Virtual Belly Dance Classes from Alisa Greer Belly Dance through the SSF Parks and Rec!

These are live classes via Zoom, and they’re perfect if you are new to belly dance or returning after not dancing for a while. I’m teaching each class as an individual capsule, so you can take one, two or all three.

There is no charge for the classes but you do need to register via the SSF Parks & Rec online catalog. Once there, click on the green ‘Free in July’ tab and then click ‘Belly Dancing- Beginners’ and follow the instructions to register.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions!

Happy Dancing xo



Dina (دينا)

Hello friends,

Tonight in class we are going to start working on a different kind of song. We’ve been working mainly with classic pieces over the last few months, and tonight we’ll move onto a Shaabi style song.

I had planned to have an explanation for you all about Shaabi music but, like everyone else, I have been overwhelmed by current events. I will get one together for next week.

In the meantime, I thought we could at least enjoy some Dina (دينا). Dina is the most important and influential Egyptian belly dancer of the modern era. Below are two clips of her dancing to the same song because it’s fun to see how she dances in the movie clip compared to how she dances to it at a party with a live audience.

Also - I LOVE her silver dress!

امينة بشويش عليا تسجيل محمد الرفاعى

Dina at a wedding party in Cairo. الراقصة دينا Amina- Da 3eno Meny 's choreography. دينا Bellydance in Cairo, Danse Orientale


I hope you enjoyed those.

My belly dance classes continue online through the South San Francisco Parks and Rec through the end of June. I am not sure what is happening after that but I will keep everyone posted as soon as I know.

In the meantime, it is not too late to join us for this online session. The South San Francisco Parks and Rec Department have made these classes available to the public for free, but you do need to preregister at their online catalog so they can send you a secure invitation to join. Enter code SP1-471 in the box under ‘Filter’ and our class will come up - it’s called ‘Virtual-Belly Dancing’.

You can always contact me with any questions!

Summer 2019 Belly Dance Classes in South San Francisco

Hello Dancers!

Registration is open for my Summer Belly Dance Classes in South San Francisco!

Summer2019BellyDance.jpg

Click here to register online! It’s simple to register using the South San Francisco Parks and Rec online system. If you type “belly” in the “Filter” box at the left-hand side of the page both classes come up. Register today and you’ll be ready to dance your way through the summer :)