Banat el Kamar

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About Banat el Kamar

Banat el Kamar is the longest-running community education bellydance program in the Minneapolis-St Paul area.

We offer beginning through advanced classes in all varieties of bellydance in a friendly and welcoming dance environment for adult students of all shapes, sizes, and ages.

The class year begins in October and ends with the annual Spring Concert and Ice Cream Social in May.

The Spring Concert is a chance for family and friends to see the dances our students have been working on all year.

Between November and April we sponsor monthly haflas, which provide performance opportunities to students and other members of the Twin Cities bellydance community.

Students and new performers can get performance experience in a relaxed supportive atmosphere. Experienced performers can try out new styles and experimental material.

We usually have social dancing after the performances. Occasionally local drummers and musicians join us for performances and social dancing.

 

A Brief History

Jane (Field) Copeland, Our Founder, started the Banat el Kamar belly dance program in 1982 as part of Pratt Community Education in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. The program began with two instruction levels and quickly grew to four.

Jane staged the first Banat el Kamar Spring Concert in 1986. She believed that students needed incentive to perfect technique and choreography, to create original works, and an opportunity to perform for family and friends.

In 1989, Banat el Kamar dancers began to perform at the Pratt Ice Cream Socials, held every spring in Prospect Park near the Witch's Hat tower.

Jane moved to North Carolina in 1995 and several teachers succeeded her.

In 2000 we began the Banat el Kamar hafla series at Lake Harriet Dance Center in Richfield. We wanted to provide an informal performance opportunity for students and others. Hafla's soon became popular with the Twin Cities belly dance community.