Bellydance | Shell Bailey Photography

Apr

Kristi of Moquette Volante

bellydance / 0 Comments / April 8, 2009

Kristi is a solo performer, fire dancer, and Artistic Director & performer of Moquette Volante, Pittsburgh’s narrative Middle Eastern dance troupe. (I did a shoot for Hakan, also of Moquette Volante, earlier this year.) Kristi was looking for promotional shots for solo performance and also professional headshots. She is a gorgeous dancer, graceful and with a great sense of humor, so we had a really good time and got some fantastic shots.

Kristi teaches bellydance classes in Pittsburgh and is also available for workshops and performances, both as a soloist and with her dance company. You can follow Moquette Volante and their upcoming events on their facebook page.

See the rest of the photos here.

Feb

bellydance / 0 Comments / February 11, 2009

I’m creating quite the backlog of posts! I’m a bad blogger, I know. The winter has been dreary and stifling. It feels like nothing has exciting has been happening, but that’s not really true.

First on the list of backlogged posts:

Hakan is a fantastic professional bellydancer and a friend. To tell you the truth, he’s Pittsburgh’s finest male bellydancer and becoming quite well known for his sword performances. He’s a strong soloist and is also a member of the troupe Moquette Volante, which combines storytelling narrative with Middle Eastern bellydance. Awesome, huh? We actually started taking bellydancing classes at around the same time, way-back-when, and it’s inspiring to see what an involved, engaging performer he’s grown into.

There are really too many to show them all here- I have a hard time even picking my favorites. Check the rest out here.

Dec

Black and white and red all over

bellydance / 0 Comments / December 6, 2008

This past weekend I attended Zafira Dance’s Vaudeville Carnivale 3. It’s really a beloved event for my friends and I- we volunteered for the first two, and it’s such a quality show. Amazing every time. Anyhow, this time I went not as a volunteer, not as the event photographer, just as the audience- I couldn’t help snapping a few shots, though.

I’ve been really drawn to black and white lately. That is unusual for me- vivid colours are such a strong part of my style that I’m hesitant to discard them entirely. But I’ll admit. I’m a sucker for old grainy b&w photography, for classic movies with fedoras and birdcage veils, and for music with the scratchy sound of the records. I’m a sucker for vintage. So sometimes, even though I love colour more than anything, I just can’t resist the pull of black and white. And then it becomes another style entirely- one of the things that I love about the picture above (besides the Mezmer Society’s fabulousness) is the light.

So this little set is a study of lights & darks & stage lights & the beautiful cabaret. Click on the bottom image to see the rest. :)

Sep

bellydance / 0 Comments / September 17, 2008

Recently one of my very best friends and dance partner was in town. Her schedule is understandably very whirlwind whenever she’s in the area, so we were both very excited when we managed to put aside some time just to hang out and take pictures. We’ve been meaning to get some promotional shots done for our bellydance troupe’s new website, and jumped at the chance.

Chelsea was probably the first person to let me shoot her all those years ago. By now, we have a long-standing tradition of invading her parent’s farmhouse, throwing all of our clothes into a big heap on the bed, agonizing over costuming and makeup decisions for at least an hour, and then running outside and shooting hundreds of pictures. Who doesn’t like to play dress-up? Plus, she’s naturally gorgeous, and at this point is quite used to me taking pictures of every move she makes, so it’s hard not to pick up the camera while she’s around.

Can you blame me?

Click on the picture for the rest of the set. :)