Interview with Mia

This interview originally appeared on the Goldman Sachs website (when Mia was working there in 2003) and was printed in Mosaic Arabic Dance Magazine in 2004.

You can also listen to a recent (March 2007) interview with Mia on myspiritradio.com here.

Dancing from the inside out:

An interview with Sufi trained professional belly dancer Mia Serra

Q: How did you become involved with belly dancing?

MS: I have always loved music but only ever danced when I went out clubbing. I was an IT consultant in London feeling increasingly drained and tired. A friend showed me the flyer for Sufi Master Adnan Sarhan’s workshop, a little smiling man with a drum, and I felt really drawn to going. I arrived after work, totally unprepared, still in my suit, yet after some gentle stretching and breathing I was dancing with my eyes closed, actually experiencing the freedom I had been craving.

After the workshop I felt really energized and happy. I went up to thank Adnan and he gave me a cassette of dance music and said, “You will be a good dancer, you will be on stage, you will hypnotize people.” - I shrugged it off at the time!

Q: Through belly dancing, you’ve also become involved with Sufism. What is the connection between the two?

MS: Belly dancing is a moving meditation, the experience of being danced by your spirit, or as Adnan says, “the yearning of the soul for freedom”. When you really listen to the music, your body takes over and there is nothing more to do than surrender to it. Although belly dance is the popular name for Middle Eastern dance, there are many different styles originating from different regions and my Sufi teacher happens to be from Baghdad. He teaches dance in a unique way, the Sufi way, from the inside out. Some teachers focus only on dance steps and ‘getting it right’ which is useful up to a point however at some stage you have to go inside and find your own dance and the Sufi way helps you to do this. Sufism is all about experience. It is about the destruction of the ego, in order to be able to fully live in the present moment. Sufis are not interested in talking about peace or joy or freedom, they are interested in experiencing it. It is very difficult to believe something or learn from it unless you experience it yourself. The Sufis are the seekers of truth. Dancing is just one of many Sufi exercises (which include drumming, chanting, whirling, breathing and yoga-like exercises) that are designed to put you in the moment.

Q: Isn’t belly dance an erotic dance?

MS: It can be very 'base chakra', but for me it’s actually a subtle undulation throughout the whole body, following the spirals of the music. It is what you make it, what you intend for it... many people have commented that my dancing is not what they expect, much gentler and more graceful. Interestingly both women and men enjoy my dancing and often women who have seen me dance are strongly drawn to learning the dance, to exploring the power and beauty of feminine energy for themselves. Sexuality is just one facet of the feminine, which is an energy that we have neglected, particularly in the West. There is a beauty and softness that returns to peoples’ faces in the dance as they break through the social mores to the essence of who they are.

Mia at a Photoshoot in Morroco

Q: What is your favorite aspect of performing? Of teaching belly dancing?

MS: I really love the way there is so much freedom in the dance. It gives your body a chance to show you where the tension is or where it needs to move or stretch. Too often we go to exercise classes where we follow the teacher and never really get the space to sense what our own bodies want or need. I love teaching because people are consistently amazing. There are people who just get up and dance as though they have been doing it all their lives, and there are those who hold back and eventually open up like a flower. There is something to learn from everyone and I am really in awe of my students. Each class is different and I tend to work intuitively with the energy of the group. The difference between performing and teaching is that by performing other people get to sit back and steep in the energy of the dance and appreciate the grace of it. Its astonishing to look round and see lots of smiling faces and entranced members of the audience. When you teach, you are showing people how to find this for themselves, guiding them towards their own unique dance.

Q: How do you transition between your everyday side and your belly dance side?

MS: As soon as the music plays, I am transformed into a super-confident dancer and I just follow the music. The music always leads the way; it’s like being a puppet having its limbs moved by the music when you really relax into it. People often talk about what is traditional in the dance and what is modern, and yet it is clear that the dance evolved from the music and the music from the dance. So when you are really listening you cannot help but be faithful to the music.

Q: What's the best part about belly dancing? What do you enjoy most?

MS: I love the creativity and the subtleties of the movement—and the way you can relate to people with humour and also become lost in the music and take the audience with you. I also really enjoy veil dancing, when you trail a veil around you in the air almost like a dance partner or sail on a ship, it has a very deep calming effect on people watching.

Q: What do you like the least about being a professional belly dancer?

MS: The assumptions people make about you. And the exploitation. Dancing is generally very hard work, but venue owners can be very exploitative, and it’s like the Middle Ages in terms of women’s rights!

Q: Do you have any interesting anecdotes about belly dancing?

MS: People are always wondering about who I am and where I am from as I have dark skin and hair. Generally people bet on where I am from, and then the bravest will ask me. I then perfectly annunciate the words, “Actually, I am English.” It totally freaks them out.