Year schedule 2025-2026 (old schedule!)
| Drum Solo (7x) | Start: 3 Sep End: 14/15 Oct |
| Arab Sounds (7x) | Start: 5 Nov End: 17 Dec |
| Dabke & Stick dance (7x) | Start: 4 Feb End: 1 Apr |
| Veil dance (7x) | Start: 8 Apr End: 10 June |
| Parties & guest lectures | January (4x) 17 June |
No classes: 25 Februari, 18 March, 29 April, 6 May & 13 May. A course will only start with enough participants.
The year plan will be announced early October. The next gathering is on October 21. Sign up using the contact form to be notified in time about the start of the course, or by sending an email to raqsenschedeATgmailDOTcom. For inspiration, here’s a glimpse into last season’s courses.
Drum Solo
Arabic music features a whole range of beautiful rhythms, far more than Western music. Each dance class focused on one or more sequences or rhythms. We worked toward dancing to a drum solo, with room for improvisation. One student shared how she brought the movements to the Dutch dance floor and felt very graceful. That’s the spirit! For inspiring rhythms, check out Rhythm for Everybody.
Arab Sounds
We learned to dance to music similar to what you hear on Arab charts, loosely inspired by https://www.arabsounds.net/. The style is also known as Urban Bellydance. An example of music in this style is Beraha Ya Sheekha. We worked on our dance skills with humor and in a relaxed manner.
Veil Dance
This course has just ended. A lovely course with hardly any footwork, but all the more armwork! The “weather report” in the dance studio: an hour-long delightful breeze, created by our swirling veils as we danced to sizzling, theatrical dance music!
Dabke & Stick Dance
Dabke is alive in Enschede. It’s the dance of, among others, the Assyrian people (Suryoye) and the Turkish community. We learned dances such as Bagiye and Çepki. We also danced Egyptian stick dance to Saidi music. Learning to recognize which music goes with which dance was part of the course.
Veil dance
Throw off your scarf and let yourself be enveloped by a swirling veil! While a scarf makes you curl up to protect yourself from the cold, a belly dance veil invites you to open up. It wants to be fanned out like a blossoming flower. Accompanied by vibrant theatrical dance music, you will discover what can blossom within you this spring. The class is open to all levels, so everyone is welcome to join.
Dabke & Stick dance
This was the theme of the previous course. Dabke is alive in Enschede. Among others, it’s a dance of Assyrian people (Suryoye) and Turkish people. We learn Bagiye and Çepki., among other things. We also dance Egyptian stick dance to Saidi music. Learning to recognize which music belongs to which dance is part of the course.
Year schedule
The course year is structured along 4 themes. You can register for a theme (7 lessons). The lessons take place on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings in the brick building at playground Kozakkenpark (10 minutes by bike from the UT!).
Course fee
A trial lesson costs €15. This amount will be deducted from the course fee if you continue. A single introductory workshop costs €15 pp (minimum 10 participants). A course of 7 lessons costs €70. After each course, you can decide whether or not to continue. There is a separate course fee for students and low-income earners.
Inclusivity
Raqs Enschede is for everyone, including the queer community. The Wednesday group has a core group of participants who have been dancing with us since Raqs Enschede was founded in 2022.