Star Quality?

Another question that comes up often is "how does one get to be well-known/considered to be a "star" in the bellydance community?"

In order to answer that, we need to look at what makes a star and what IS a star anyway? There are several different factors at stake, as well as several different "tiers" of stardom if you will. If I was going to narrow the factors down into 3 sections, it would be Ability, Promotion, and Personality:

Ability: This refers to the individual's technique - not only in how well-versed they are in the dance and what they do, but how able they are as a teacher, as a performer.

Promotion: The individual's outlying presence - the image presented online via websites, videos, magazines, business cards, through events and other offerings.

Personality: How they come across as a person - as a performer, as a teacher, as a community member.

The combination of these 3 factors determine which level of stardom one may achieve. Here I have also narrowed the levels down to the 3 most common, which I have dubbed: Rising Stars, Shooting Stars, and Established Stars.

Rising Stars: Rising Stars are typically dancers who may be well-known in their local community, but are starting to break out on their national or international scene.  It can also refer to a younger dancer who exhibits a lot of potential to develop into much more.

Shooting Stars: Dancers who come fast on the scene, and seem to vanish the same way they arrived, for any number of reasons.

Established Stars: Dancers who are tried and true names in the business, who continue to grow and develop, and maintain their staying power.  They are generally among the most respected members of their local communities as well as far beyond. 10, 20, 30, 40 years, they're still around, going strong.

So how is it done?  More importantly, how is it done WELL? Well, we'll cover that in Part II!