Meeting with Caroline ACHOURI, oriental dance and Datura Style teacher

Thanks to Caroline ACHOURI, experienced Bellydance and fusion teacher, for answering our interview with sincerity and passion.

What does oriental dance mean to you?

Dance in general is "simply" my life... Even if on a daily basis, it is not always easy for those around me because everything is organized around dancing between the lessons I give, those I take, creations and rehearsals, research, travel... I have been 100% dedicated to it for more than 25 years now and it has never wavered, it's quite the opposite. I always wanted to "be a dancer" and as soon as I could make a living from it, I left everything else aside, especially my long studies and my professional career which was just beginning, to devote myself to dance and its transmission.
Dance is what makes and balances me even if the path has been and sometimes remains full of pitfalls. After all these years, the passion and desire are the same and under no circumstances would I go back… I might do some things differently, but still while dancing.  

Apart from the Bellydance and fusion classes that you provide on a regular basis, you offer private lessons for 1 or 2 people. How do you work in these classes? What are the advantages and disadvantages compared to a traditional course with a larger number of people?

I love giving private oriental dance lessons, even if it takes a lot of time and requires a lot of concentration. We are as close as possible to the student's expectation, and this one varies greatly from one person to the other. So, it can be purely technical or choreographic, a preparation to go onstage or simply the discovery of a style. Therefore, we have to be open to each need, clearly identify it, and accompany the student in an adapted and personalized progression. It is then very different from a group course where the progression is global, and where I set the learning objectives myself.
As part of a private Bellydance lesson, the student rarely comes for only one session. Classes are often given over several months, or even a full year. So it contributes to developing very strong bonds between the student and the teacher. The private dance lesson is no longer just about learning a discipline or a skill, it is also personal stories that are revealed. So you have to be attentive to all that, sometimes “play the shrink”, without being overwhelmed by this aspect. But it's exciting and so rewarding...
Moreover, in a group lesson, the energy flows spontaneously and the group is carried not only by the teacher but also by all the other students there. In a private dance lesson, attention is one-sided and pervasive, requiring constant adaptation and energy. I am often more tired after 1 private lesson than after 3 group lessons!

You've been named an official Datura Style teacher? Can you tell us exactly what it is and how you got this certification?

The Datura Style was created by Rachel Brice, world icon of Bellydance Fusion. It is a very precise technical methodology for perfect physical control but also a recognizable aesthetic, illustrated by a repertoire and vocabulary defined by its founder. These 2 aspects provide choreographic composition tools and improvisation and performance techniques.
My certification took me to Portland in the United States, where the Datura school is located. The certification took place in 4 successive and progressive phases, during which we learn and deepen the Datura techniques and aesthetics, but much more: the dance's history, musicality, rhythm, choreographic composition according to the modern dance methodologies, stage preparation, preparing for transmission, working and living together. It is a complete training, where during each phase, we were in total immersion 8 hours a day for 7 days, and at the end of which we had a theoretical and dance exam.
Rachel Brice is a demanding teacher who pushes her students to excel and always find new resources.  
It took me 2 years of hard work and going back and forth in America to pass my certification, and I still continue "to upgrade" remotely or directly in the United States. Rachel Brice never lets go of her students. Since she herself is in a constant learning process, she always has new perspectives to pass on and that is extremely motivating.  
Today, I try to pass on her format with the same rigor to my students, while continuing to be curious about new forms and techniques, the goal not being to become a clone, but to keep being inspired.  

With the covid, mask and confinement issues behind us, what is your analysis of the Bellydance sector today? Has a real and lasting recovery taken place or is this sector still fragile? Have the students' goals and wishes changed and evolved as a result of the health crisis?

Since the start of the 2022 school year, it seems to me that things have gone back to normal. At least, that's what I see in my oriental dance classes and in performance halls. And it's such a pleasure to find yourself in real life and not "remotely" (I hate this word and what it refers to because I really suffered from giving Bellydance lessons behind a screen, all alone in my studio. And I was also sorry for my students stuck between a sofa and a coffee table… The dance no longer had any meaning because it was completely deprived of its essence: energy and sharing). So, yes, it's a pleasure to reconnect with dance halls and filled stages and also be able to enjoy all the interactions. We have all changed following this epidemic, we now know more than ever how suddenly things can stop so we can measure its value and flavor even more on a daily basis.

What are the big names and models that you particularly admire in the oriental dance's field?  

I will always be grateful and impressed by the people who trained me in oriental dance and Bellydance fusion, and who inspired me. In chronological order of significant encounters I would say:
- Leila Haddad, Djamila Henni-Chebra, Mahmoud Reda, Ibrahim Akef and Diana Tarkhan for oriental dance. 
- Rachel Brice, Mardi Love, Anita Lalwani, Carolena Nericcio, Suhaila Salimpour for the fusion and the FCBD Style. 
Of course, there are also the Egyptian oriental dancers that I was lucky to admire in Cairo, such as Fifi Abdou, Dina and Randa Kamel. Seeing them on the stages of Cairo cabarets was an immense opportunity and an incomparable source of inspiration.

What kind of Bellydance costume do you like?

I'm not really interested in oriental dance costume because it's mostly the dance's emotion and the dancer that moves me. Whether she is wearing jeans, a tracksuit, galabiya or a sequined costume, the most important thing in my opinion is that the oriental dancer feels in tune with what she is dancing and what touches her emotionally. In the end, the audience will always remember the emotion and not really the stage costume. Of course, in specific contexts, you need appropriate costumes to which we pay particular attention, but I'm not sure that the best compliment is to tell a dancer "I loved your costume" without mentioning her dance...

Let's open up the field of possibilities... If life allowed you to try your hand at another completely different artistic discipline, what would it be?

I believe, it would be to become an actress and performer, which I already experience regularly in a Toulouse cabaret called "Le Kalinka". I love playing characters, close or not so much to who I am, experimenting with different facets and personalities, exploring emotions and bringing them to life, using the voice and not just the body. It's a little bit like having the possibility of living other lives and other destinies, being another and being able to express what one could not or would not dare to do in "real life". It is sometimes unsettling, but always rewarding. 

Discover Caroline ACHOURI and her artistic world in this video: