Belly Dancers from all across East Anglia are uniting once more for another amazing fundraising show, showcasing the variety, fun and beauty of belly dance whilst raising money for charity.

This years show, entitled ‘East Anglian Belly Dance Superstars’ will be taking place on Saturday 17th March 2012  at the Seckford Theatre in Woodbridge and I’m happy to announce that booking is now open  at www.eastanglianbellydancesuperstars.co.uk.

Eastern Angles are selling the tickets through their Box Office – they are £10 each, or £7.50 concession. Seating is unreserved.

The charities that we are supporting for this event are MIND, Ipswich Cats Protection and Just Because – a

Charity Presentation by Bellycise 2010

registered charity set up by belly dancers aiming to raise funds and promote awareness, prevention and early detection of breast cancer for women in Egypt http://www.justbecause.org.uk/.

BODY CONDITIONING THROUGH BELLY DANCE

A 6 week course of belly dance inspired workouts to target areas such as stomach, back, thighs, buttocks and arms using a combination of belly dance, pilates and yoga movements. There will be both floor work for targeted toning and dance based movements for calorie burning.

Bring a yoga mat if you have one and a bottle of water

Every Saturday 14^th January through to 18^th February 2012

Extra date:   3rd March

 Next 8 week course:   28th April – 16th June. 2012

@ Hillside Community Centre, Stowmarket IP14 2DB

11.30am – 1pm

£7 pay as you go

Booking Essential: call Alison on 01379 678176 or email mail@bellycise.com

www.bellycise.com

From 8th September Belly Dance  and Bollyrobics ( Bollywood and Belly dance fitness class) will take place at Occold village hall, near Eye.

Booking essential:  email  mail@bellycise.com or phone 01379 678176

7.15 – 8pm   Belly dance classes for all levels   £5 per class

8.15 – 9pm   Bollyrobics fitness class  £5 per class

or

Do both classes for only £7 !!

Also : for new ladies, first class free!!!!!!!

Alison offers private tuition both to individuals at £10 per hour at her home near Eye, Suffolk

or

group tuition at a flat fee of £60 per hour  plus travel costs, with no limit on numbers, clients to provide the venue.  The more there are the cheaper it becomes for everyone! Ideal as a one-off works do or women’s group evening, or even as a regular event for friends.

For more details contact Alison 01379 678176

For the beginner who needs the class to fit around their own timetable, or the experienced student who would like to develop their skill further, Alison can offer friendly and fun tuition at £10 per hour in her home near Eye, or can travel out to give group tuition at a flat rate of  £60 per hour plus travel ( venue to be provided by student). For more details contact Alison on mail@bellycise.com

Bellywood Fitness, the Zumba style fitness class, based on Bollywood and belly dance steps, is coming to Needham Market Gym, every Monday ( excluding Bank Holidays) 8pm – 9pm.  Non members £5  Needham Market Gym members free.  Starts from 4th April 2011.

Bollywood dance performed on Forces Day 2010

Bellywood Fitness is a new fun way to dance your way to fitness. No previous dance experience is required, nor even a sense of coordination!  The moves come mostly from Bollywood and belly dance moves, with some latin and flamenco thrown in too! Like Zumba,  Bellywood uses dance steps at a basic level then builds up to more demanding and interesting combinations as everyone gets accustomed to the steps. The main emphasis though is fun! Having fun and dancing to great music and burning lots of calories at the same time.

So why not consider coming to the Bellywood class taking place at Needham Market Gym on Mondays 8 – 9pm and  Debenham Leisure Centre on Wednesdays 8 – 9pm,  and see what you think.  It makes a great alternative Friday night out – you get to party and burn calories at the same time!  bollywood routine on You Tube

Contact Alison on 01379 678176 or mail@bellycise.com  to book a place or for more information.

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Fitness class using bollywood, belly dance and burlesque! Suitable for all levels of fitness, no dance experience required. Great fun and a huge calorie burner. For those who want a fun way to loose weight or keep fit.

£5 per class

Monday  8pm – 9pm   except bank holidays

Needham Market Gym, booking through gym essential 01449  723 441

Thursday 8.15 – 9pm  term times

Occold village hall, nr Eye.  Booking through Alison mail@bellycise.com or 01379 678176

One of the most crucial elements to a successful fund raising event is forward planning and advertising. You could have a great event with lots of interesting things in it but without advertising the event well in advance and making use of all publicity available to you, your event could well be a failure. Free advertising include strategically placed advertising boards and posters, free listings in local papers and radio and via the charities website.

These following fund raising ideas are not original but tried and tested and proven to work:

Sponsored events

Doing a sponsored walk, dance- a- thon, mountain climb, parachute jump… it doesnt matter what you choose, these sponsored events are a great way of getting a guaranteed amount of money before you even do the event. Its also a great way to raise the profile of the charity you are fund raising for, especially if you get some kind of media coverage, and the more in advance you start the more people can be asked to sponsor you.

The main disadvantage of sponsored events is that you are asking friends, family and acquaintances for money so you can only run these sponsored events 2 or 3 times maximum a year.

Car Boot/ Jumble sales

Incredibly popular events even after all this time: who can resist the chance to get rid of clutter in the loft/garage or to pick up a bargain. Income comes through what you charge per pitch and any refreshments you sell, plus having your own pitch selling donated items, cakes etc. If you can get some commercial businesses to have a pitch ie bouncy castle, burger van, local businesses selling their wares you can charge twice as much for a pitch. Also dont leave it to chance that people will book a pitch, actively contact local groups who might want to have a stall, for example local womens groups , gardening clubs, other charities, childrens’ groups.

The main disadvantage of organising a car boot sale is that you may well clash with another similar event as they are so popular, and rainy weather can affect success. In order to avoid these pitfalls make sure your event has a building so people can have table tops indoors aswell and check local papers and listings so you can avoid clashing with other nearby events if possible.

An alternative is to simply have a pitch at a popular car boot event and try and get as many donated items as possible. This is also an opportunity to advertise your charity.

Auction

An auction is a more successful version of a raffle. The limitation of a raffle is that you are restricted to the number of people at the event who can buy a ticket so no matter how great the prizes are your potential profit is capped. So instead arrange an auction ( could be as part of another event such as a dinner dance or show) with the best prizes you can get local businesses to donate ( gym pass, free meals, free entry to local attractions, beauty treatments, theatre tickets etc) .

Firstly at the auction make sure alcohol is available! You need people to feel relaxed and generous. You also need a charismatic compere to joke and tease the audience into starting the bidding. Also let people know the value of the gifts and start at a reasonably low price so the audience are aware of a what a bargain they are getting.

Once the first couple of lots have gone I have witnessed the rest of the evening go with a swing and the end result is that those who have won their lots feel doubly pleased both with the lot they have won and the knowledge that the proceeds go to charity. And all the auctions I have witnessed have raised £1000 or more rather than the £100 or so a raffle could raise.

Talent Show

Whatever your group or charity an nice and popular event is a talent show or dance show, which is also a good winter event being indoors.

The best way to make the evening( or matinee) a success is to get as many local dance /theatre/music groups involved as possible. All performance schools and groups need occasions to perform at, and everyone is happy to dance for charity. The schools and groups get to advertise themselves and have a performance platform, all you need do is find a suitable venue. If you can apply for a grant, get a local business to sponsor you or can fund raise the costs of venue, hire/publicity and tickets then all the profit can go directly to your charity.

The reason the show is always a success is that the family and friends of the performers like to come to the show, and if you can persuade children’s groups to get involved the grandparents and other relations love to watch their little relatives shine on stage. So if you can get at least 50 performers involved, each performer has at least 2 or 3 relatives/friends come to see them ( often more) so you already have 100 -150 in the audience already.

Welcome to Bellycise!

Want a party with a difference?
Alison can perform for your party or wedding. Give a fun and interesting talk for your social club. Why not organise an alternative girls night out having a belly dance party?

Why try belly dancing?

* Any woman of any shape, size or fitness level can achieve great results

What makes bellydance such a good workout is that it uses all parts of the body; from hands,to waist, spine, thighs and arms.

* It also helps develop and tone the pelvic floor muscles which is of great importance to all women.
* And of course it is sensual, sexy and great fun. No matter what size or shape you are it is a dance made for all women.