Alumni News Spotlight Shedding Light on Middle Eastern Dance
It was a random encounter with an insistent stranger that steered Hannah Dimopoulos ('91, dance) toward her true calling. The Juilliard-trained dancer, whose ballet career had been derailed by an injury, thought performing was behind her. But the woman who stopped her on the street knew—even if Hannah had no idea yet—that she was born to be a belly dancer.Like many impressionable girls, Hannah Dimopoulos had clamored for ballet lessons after seeing The Nutcracker. By the time she entered high school, her life revolved around performing with a regional Pennsylvania ballet company. But her father, a chemical engineer with a Ph.D. and a Harvard M.B.A., insisted on college—and Juilliard seemed the ideal way to combine academics with her artistic ambition. "What I loved about Juilliard was being around so much talent, in so many different realms and art forms; it's such a rush," she recalls. "You almost feel like you don't belong in the company of all these people. And then you realize that you're one of them; that's why you're here!"
Hannah Elizabeth Dimopoulos (Photo by Lina Jang)
But a fluke injury forced the difficult decision to take a leave of absence after just one year. Hannah had wanted to go to medical school before ballet took hold of her life. "I thought, O.K., if I can't dance, I'm just going to go for it." She earned a biology/pre-med degree at Muhlenberg College, in her native Allentown—yet dance still wouldn't release her. While in school, she began teaching ballet at the regional company where she had received most of her early training.Then, there was that fateful encounter on the street. "The woman who stopped me wanted me to teach a belly dance workshop for her 50th birthday. I thought she was confusing me with someone else," recalls Hannah. "I told her that I was very flattered, but I was not a belly dancer; I was a ballet dancer. And she kept insisting, 'Oh, no, no, no—you are!' It kind of freaked me out." But she was also intrigued enough to investigate this ancient art form. After looking through books and videos, she signed up for a six-week session with a local teacher … and was hooked. "I fell in love with the music, with the fact that I could express myself in other ways that ballet or modern didn't allow for. It was as if I had discovered some deep meaning of the universe. I thought, 'This is it! This is what I love to do!'"Meanwhile, a teaching job with the National Dance Institute (founded by Jacques d'Amboise to introduce dance to children nationwide) brought Hannah to New York. She took classes with famed belly dancer Serena … and immediately found herself part of Serena's show at the lavish Ibis Supper Club in Midtown. "I was petrified, because I could actually see the audience's faces. I was used to staring out into blackness, seeing only the exit signs at the back of the theater." But the intimate setting, the interactivity of the performances and opportunity for expression of innate musicality, are precisely what appeal to her now.Belly dance (or, more correctly, Middle Eastern dance) is an ancient part of Arabic culture that has evolved from a wide range of influences, with as many different styles as there are dancers. Turkish style is energetic, incorporating backbends and floor-work; Egyptian dancers' movements are more grounded and subtle. Arabic folk dances (along with their rich traditional music) are the focus of still other performers. Costuming and musical accompaniment provide all dancers with ample opportunity for individual expression.Hannah Nour (as she is known professionally) has appeared on Turkish MTV, in several movies (including Stephen King's Thinner), and at the U.N. She was even invited to perform at the White House for President Clinton and Egyptian President Mubarak—an event that was to be broadcast on CNN, but which was canceled at the last minute due to security concerns.While the skill and discipline of a highly trained dancer are obvious in performance, belly dance offers benefits to young and old, beginners through advanced. Hannah—who teaches group and private classes, and is part of a project called PURE (Public Urban Ritual Experiment)—considers herself a cultural ambassador as much as a performer. "There's still a misconception that belly dance is just something for a dark nightclub, that it's only to entertain men … and that's very far from the truth. It's a celebration of life in all its complexity." Hannah Nour (whose name means "light" in Arabic) is one who aims to bring it into the daylight.
