Memories from the Navlen Dance Studio

Excerpt from an article previously published in the Norwegian Belly Dance Association’s ‘Al Farah Magazine’, when I closed my Norwegian studio. The article was VERY long, and I have only kept text directly linked to my work in the translation.

Text: Lene Dalen
Translation: Hilde Lund

An institution is closing its doors. And we thank it for all it has done. Navlen Dansestudio (The Belly Button Dance Studio) has closed its door for the last time after 16 years of dance. With high quality, respect for the dance and generous sharing of knowledge and experience, Navlen Dansestudio, via Hilde Lund, Lee Figenschow and Michelle Galdo, has contributed greatly to the Oriental dance in Norway. This article will look at what ‘Navlen’ has meant for students, teachers and the dance.
(…)
The First Oriental Dance Studio In Norway
The studio opened 16 September 2000, as the first Oriental dance studio in Norway. In a huge, run down former swimming pool with concrete and graffiti on the walls, new walls went in, a dance floor was laid, walls were painted in bold colours. Hilde did all of this herself, with lots of help from friends and students. The result was a colourful and cosy dance studio, that many people have felt at home in over the years.
The Navlen Dance Studio was started because Hilde wanted to offer a location a little more glamorous than the local gym to her students, and because she wanted to create a social meeting point for dancers. She wanted to create a social lounge and a culture house, where she could “insert knowledge and culture into people without them noticing it”. She invited Lee Figenschow (who “has one of the straightest backs I have ever seen”, quote Rut Schukalla in an Al Farah Magazine) and Michelle Galdo (“Norway’s most sensuous woman and annoyingly talented”, quote Hilde), to teach at her newly opened studio, in order to give a wider option of classes to students. They have been there ever since, and the HiMiLee collaboration started, with shows and classes. The joint Summer intensive course where they all taught their specialities started already the first year and quickly became a tradition for students and teachers alike.

Through many years the Navlen Dansestudio has been my second home, and I have at times spent most of my awake hours there, both attending classes and practicing on my own, the later years also teaching there. Hilde is generous and early on, she gave me my own key to the studio. As long as there were no classes going, I was welcome to use the studio for my own practice at a very reasonable price. I have had numerous courses, workshops and private lessons with both Lee, Michelle and Hilde over many years. They have different strengths, focuses and specialties, and what I have chosen to take from each of them has complemented each other.
(….)
Through 16 years, the ‘Navlen Ladies’ have generously shared their knowledge and experiences, and they have set high demands for their students. My Spanish teacher Nesma el Andalous always says “if you really love your students and want the best for them, you are very strict with basic technique, details and discipline.” Hmm. Strictness, details and discipline. It sounds familiar. And it has lead to good results. Egyptian and good foreign teachers often remark that many Norwegian dancers have very good technique and a high level of knowledge. When you meet someone who is so passionate about something, who has such obvious love for the dance and take it so seriously, you as a student get inspired to learn more, work hard and build that foundation you need to get out into the world of dance on your own. It is probably no coincidence that most of today’s Oriental dance teachers in Norway have a background from Hilde, Lee and/or Michelle.

(Lene) Where does the quality and knowledge come from?
(……)
The Navlen Dance Studio was the first Oriental dance studio to Open in Norway in 2000, but there were courses prior to that. Danseloftet, with Swedish teacher Ulrika Hellquist was crucial in establishing an Oriental dance community in Norway. She came to Norway regularly to give weekend workshops. She was a student of Bahi Barakat, who was a former Reda dancer. Ulrika was strict and very knowledgeable, demanded discipline and had respect for the dance and the culture it comes from. In an interview in the Al Farah # 2 in 1996, she says: “You need to know the traditions before you start changing them. You must know what you do (…) The dance obviously changes with time and in the meeting with our culture, but it must retain its soul and character. You can’t sway your hips in any way you want, and call it Arabic dance.” Ulrika set a high standard, and established an emphasis on respect for the dance, cultural knowledge and discipline.
(……)
Hilde traveled straight to the source, to Cairo, to Ibrahim Akef and Raqia Hassan. At that time, Raqia was THE definition of what Cairo dance should look like. Hilde learned the technique and and gained the knowledge, and brought it home to Norway where she shared it through her teaching and articles in The Navlen Magazine, The Al Farah Magazine and later in her magazine Al Raqassa. She became a pillar for the Oriental dance in Norway.
(….)

(Interviewing Lee)-Can you tell me what Hilde and The Navlen Dance Studio has meant for the Oriental dance in Norway?
Hilde has been and still is an institution in belly dance-Norway. She is very, very, very thoroughly trained. Maybe most of all of us. And from the right place! She has paid a very high price for her commitment. She has also been very generous with her studio. She has wanted and facilitated for her studio to be a cultural centre, a centre with a knowledge base wider than her own. She wanted her studio to be bigger than herself. She invited us in to her studio, myself (Lee) and Michelle, and initiated collaboration. Like our Summer intensives, where we each taught our own specialities, what we were best at. Like the show “A Journey Along The Nile” which contributed to impart knowledge about Egyptian folklore. The Navlen Dance Studio was always a place for good quality classes and shows. That has been important for the Oriental dance in Norway.

Hilde’s path
Through many years at the Navlen Dance Studio I have seen a stream of new students coming to learn. For some this has been their first encounter with the dance, many others come from other teachers. I have observed that there are 2 reasons for them to come. They have danced for a while and reached a certain level, but have discovered that they need to improve their technique in order to improve further. The other ones want to learn proper folklore. For those who ask me for advice, I always say the same: “If you want to become really good , you must go to Hilde/ The Navlen Dance Studio.” Sitting in Hilde’s kitchen, I try to find out how she became such an important source of knowledge and quality.

-Where do your strong values and attitudes towards the dance come from?
They come from Ulrika Hellquist. She was structured and used to proper discipline in classes. She was my first encounter with belly dance. She was very strict. And scary. It made a deep impression on me. It was Ulrika who made me realise that we must respect the traditions and we need to know what we are doing. She showed me that there was soooo much knowledge I didn’t have, and I really wanted to find it. I HAD to go to Cairo, and learn as much as possible. I developed a deep fear for choreographing, which lasted for the next 10 years. I was terrified of making any mistakes. In the beginning when I danced at Habibi cafe, I only danced Raqia’s choreographies. The owners of the cafe were Arab, and I felt I would reveal myself as a poser and a fraud if I had made my own. Even though Palestinians are no experts on Egyptian dance, he he… I wanted by all means to avoid ridiculing myself, by showing them I was an incompetent foreigner. I have been very strict with myself.

Lee says you were important in establishing the dance in Norway because you brought Cairo home with you?
Yes, I feel that I was allowed to contribute in setting a standard. Because I was one of the first ones, and because I traveled to Egypt for 5-6 years, I got the power to define what Oriental dance is in Norway. Simply because I had a lot of knowledge that others didn’t have. My values got spread around. I wanted to do it properly. If I had been another type of person, belly dance in Norway might have looked a bit different now, just because I happened to be the first. It could have been anyone, but it happened to be me. So, it wasn’t my talent, it was the timing.

Where does all your knowledge about folklore come from?
I got very interested in it early on, and I understood that it was important. This came from Ulrika. She talked a lot about the fact that there are different styles, different music and that you need to know what you do. I thought: “OK, I will have to learn this, then”. Raqia also talked a lot about it in Cairo: “You must know folklore. If you want to be oriental dancer, you must know folklore!” I was very lucky, because Raqia was a former Reda dancer, and she obviously knows all the folklore. I also took endless hours of private lessons with different teachers within the different styles. I would ask for a saidi choreography from many teachers, and then I would structure the information I got afterwards. What does everybody say the same? OK, that must be the saidi. What are they doing differently? That must be the personal style and expression. I did the same with all the styles. So, I have been very thorough. Very thorough.

How did you develop your teaching? And where does your focus on ankles come from?
I have developed my own pedagogy, and I had to structure all the information had from different sources. I had the advantage that my head is rather squary, I like to organise and I had a background from classical ballet. I knew a fair bit about how to structure a dance class. I have also learned a lot through experience. The focus on ankles is a result of studying my own body . I have connected to and felt how every millimetre of my body plays a role in making the movements, and how much the ankles are involved. I have also learned a lot from Lee and Michelle and from working with the other Divas. We all have different approaches to the steps, and to hear what they think, has greatly expanded my understanding of my own dance.
(….)

I ask Michelle what she feels that The Navlen Dance Studio has meant for the Oriental dance in Norway.
Hilde has been very strict with whom she has allowed to teach at the studio. Therefore the students have had an understanding of quality that they have carried with them when they have developed into dancers. They are not only skilled dancers, they are also humble in regards to the dance culture they represent. In my opinion, Hilde has been the leading force behind this, using her studio as a tool. The studio has also been the only, I think, pure Oriental studio in Norway. It has also been a social hang out for dancers, amateurs and professionals alike, and that has been very important to those who have used the studio.

What has The Navlen Dance Studio meant for students?
When the studio celebrated its 10th anniversary. Hilde asked 4 talented students if they could put together a full show. All four of them, Amina, Maikki, Christina and Rønnaug (Aurora), are well established dancers and teachers today. Hilde has, through events such as “Open Stage” , given new talents a stage to shine on, among other dancers Marte Kjøll. Marte has developed into one of Norway’s most well known dancers. She has lived in Cairo for several years, she has been a regular instructor at the Nile Group Festival and she is our currant wealth of knowledge about the latest developments in the home country of the dance.
What has The Navlen Dance Studio meant for her?
To ask me what the Navlen Dance Studio has meant for me is like asking a salmon what he thinks about water: The Navlen Dance Studio changed my entire life. I worked for a buss company, studied Polish and planned on taking a Masters degree in language, instead I ended up dancing and living in Cairo.
When I first started studying with Hilde, I had taken classes with other teachers, and I thought I had gained some knowledge. After all I had done several levels and learned choreographies with veils and stuff. I discovered that Hilde, Lee and Michelle were teaching their Summer intensive, and even though the level was higher than the level I was at, I sent a mail asking if I could participate if I just kept myself quietly in the back and didn’t disturb anyone. The answer was that I couldn’t, but that I was welcome to attend level 2 when the term starts. I remember that I thought that was overly strict, after all I had said that I wasn’t going to bother and disturb anyone! But I obediently showed up for level 2.

How was you first class at The Navlen Dance Studio?
There were heaps of students, and little, shy me stood in the far corner next to all the dolls where I expected that nobody would see all my mistakes. I was wrong! During the 90 minute class, I think Hilde corrected me a hundred times. Everything was wrong, from my feet to my knees to my posture, not to mention that I had to LOOK UP, not down into the floor. It was there, during those 90 minutes, that I was hooked on belly dance. Because Hilde showed me a tiny little glimpse of how rich this dance is, how all steps have a correct and a wrong technique, then there is music, then there is folklore, and …and… After the class I stayed behind and read all the magazines she had, looked through all the books, looked at all the photos, and I understood that belly dance is SO much more than just moving around in a pretty costume, doing sexy moves.

What is the most important thing you have learned at the Navlen Dance Studio?
Hilde has taught me so incredibly much, but the two most important things by far are respect for the dance and discipline. This is totally un-commercial and a brave choice to make as a teacher and a studio owner. When you insist that students do three quarter shimmy drills a hundred thousand times, you loose those who don’t want to work, and unfortunately there is a lot of them, both students and teachers. Twelve years after I took my first class with Hilde, I still teach my students, both Norwegian and foreign, much of the same technique that I learned from Hilde, particularly hip and shimmy drills. In this time and age everything needs to be instant gratification, and the selfie in the pretty costume or with that famous teacher is often much more important than spending time learning technique or folklore. This makes it even more important that teachers dare make demands on their students. You got nothing for free from Hilde. There was no promise to become a “dancer”, and to perform with a student group. You were not asked to be a stand in. There were no shortcuts for students to perform in public, even though they didn’t know much. You were asked to work, work and work, while being told that no matter how good you get, you can always work more. And I thank God, and Hilde, that I got that start and that foundation so early. When I came to Cairo the first time, I took endless lessons with Raqia Hassan, and I was told off for a lot of things, but I was praised for one thing: “You have very good technique”. “It’s from Hilde Lund,”I said.

It is incredibly sad that there will be no more dance at the Navlen Dance Studio, but I believe that the studio lives on within all of us who studied there, and in our students. Hilde should be so proud of what she has built up, and I don’t think she quite understands how big it is, and what invaluable significance she has had for Oriental dance in Norway.

The Navlen legacy
Back at Hilde’s kitchen, I ask her what she thinks is the most important thing her studio has contributed with to the Oriental dance in Norway.
-Seriousness, knowledge and quality

What are you most proud of?
I am very proud that I have contributed to the high level of Norwegian Oriental dance. Norwegian dancers are recognised abroad as having good technique and a high level of knowledge. I feel that I can pat myself on the back for having contributed to that. I am also proud for having had so many talented students. I can’t take the credit for a clever student, because nobody gets very good if they don’t put in that extra effort themselves, and practise for many hours a week for many years. But I have been able to help and guide those students who have wanted to put in that extra effort.
-That is the definition of a good teacher, isn’t it, that the teacher opens the door and shows the way, but that the student still has to do the job?
Exactly! I have had a lot of very talented students, though, and that has been very rewarding. That is what I am most proud of. And also that I have kept my studio as a pure Oriental studio, I have refused to rent it to other dance forms. I am proud that I have never reduced the quality of my work of commercialised the dance and the classes. I do feel that the spirit of the studio has been good, inclusive, friendly, social and a safe place to learn and develop. A place of knowledge, quality and culture. With that, I have achieved what I wanted when I started it, and I am proud of that!
(…)

Three students share their thoughts on the Navlen Dance Studio
1) What has the studio meant for the Oriental dance in Norway?
2) What has it meant for you?
Amina Bacali, professional dancer and instructor at Studio Orient
1) The studio has meant a lot for the Norwegian belly dance community. It has, as one of the very first studios in Norway, been a first point of meeting for new dancers, and a source for increased knowledge for more experienced dancers. Hilde has, through her courses, her magazines Navlenytt and Al Raqassa contributed to increase the understanding and respect for culture, music and traditions. Lee and Michelle have also been central in building the standing of the studio, because all three of them have represented high quality in their work
2) I started at the Navlen Dance Studio in 2005. The studio was looking for a receptionist who got paid in free courses, which was perfect for me as a school student. I hung onto that job for 6 years! (…) The Arabic dance was always very much respected at the studio and for me, being half Arabic, this was very important. I grew up with Egyptian films and music, and because the instructors focused so much on the dance’s background, history and traditions, it felt right for me to be at that studio. In addition to learning the dance, I even learned more about my own Arabic background. (….)

Hege Olsen, Student of many years at the Navlen Dance Studio:
1) The studio has taken the dance seriously and is uncompromising when it comes to quality, on many levels. (…) There are no short cuts, you must work hard and you are seen and you get feedback. That can be frustrating at times, because it takes time to learn, but this IS how you get results in the end. You can do level 6 but still go back and take a class at level 1 and learn a lot. The quality is equally great at all levels, and there are always things to dive deeper into and improve. There is no such thing as a too low level, yet you can always stretch towards a higher level. (….)

Ellen Bjerkan, Student of many years at the Navlen Dance Studio
1) The studio has been a steady anchor point in a community that has developed fast. Hilde Lund has, through her long term work as a dancer and teacher, made sure there has been continuity and quality, with a clear dance-political profile.
2) (….) Hilde Lund has, as a teacher, always represented quality in the dance, no matter which skill level the student was on, versatility (rhythms and styles), predictability in her attitudes towards the dance and a vast knowledge about the dance as a cultural phenomena. She is also very clear that she is part of a bigger tradition, and that others have been before her. She would always say whom she had learned or copied this step from. So many times I have heard Hilde say: “This step I have stolen from (dancer’s name). And this is my version of it”. I smiled from ear to ear every time I heard it!

The Navlen Dance Studio was my first encounter with Oriental dance, at a beginners course with Lee Figenshow, and I found my hobby and passion there. With regular lessons, weekend workshops, Summer Intensives and private lessons with Hilde, Lee and Michelle. I cannot imagine a life without the dance. If I had entered a bland dance studio, without colours, without friendly people, without the music, without the magazines, without Lee, Michelle and Hilde…I don’t think that I would have continued. It is the people that create the place. And what a place the Navlen Dance Studio has been! A hidden away treasure that turned out to be very important to me!

Thank you so much for the fairy tale it has been!

Hilde Lund5 July 2022