ABOUT CRYSTAL
About Crystal
Crystal is a belly dance expert who has been following her passions since 2004. She has been teaching and performing belly dancing in Turkey, Taiwan and Hong Kong. She established her first famous professional belly dance studio in Taiwan, 1001 Nights Belly Dance School, focusing on Turkish style belly dance. Becoming a well-known and experienced belly dance instructor in Taiwan, she's motivated thousands of students including international students, and many of them have become leading dancers in their own countries.
Inspired mostly by her involvement in belly dance during her 20 years of experience in Istanbul, her dance focuses on the unique style of Turkish belly dance, which features improvisation, rhythmic response, layering techniques, elegance, and having a modern touch.
From decades of teaching expertise, Crystal has developed her famous, effective, fun and systematic teaching method known as CMBD.
Starting from Taipei, having relocated to Istanbul, and now based in Montreal, Crystal is very happy to share her mature and professional teaching methods with dance lovers in this diverse city of Montreal.
bellydance
Hürriyet Daily News 2011
A Little History
At the age of 16, in Auckland, New Zealand, Crystal was given a cassette of Latifa, the famous Tunisian singer, by her friend Sara from Iraq. Since then, she never stops listening to Middle Eastern Music. No matter pop, folk, instrumental, or classical, she indulged herself into every note, every beat, and emotions of the music. While listening, she feels the need to DO MORE with the music! First, she tried to learn the instruments, then she tried to learn the language, and in the end, she found the BEST INSTRUMENT for her: BELLY DANCE! She found that by dancing, she can feel being a part of the music; becoming ONE with the music.
About 1001 Nights Belly Dance School and CMBD
1001 Nights Belly Dance School was established in 2007 in Taipei, Taiwan by the famous belly dance teacher Crystal. It was the only professional belly dance school which focused on authentic Turkish style belly dance in Taiwan. The Turkish style belly dance is a highly artistic form of dance which features a modern and glamorous tone while interpreting the rhythm and music in precise and creative ways.
Crystal founded the 1001 Nights Belly Dance School as the only place in Taiwan where students could learn, engage in, and watch the performance of Turkish style belly dance. The students and audiences were from all over the world.
CMBD
The school features Crystal's Methodology of six sections and music interpretation (CMBD). This method not only includes precise and logical explanations for each movement and the unique way to practice with the rhythm and melody of the music, but also focuses on how to relax our bodies. Crystal teaches students how to actively listen and respond to the music. She trains students to simultaneously relax the six areas of their bodies and strengthen their muscles. This improves their muscular coordination so they can respond to the music spontaneously and with perfect self-control. Dancing is not merely memorising choreography! This method is unique and has revolutionised belly dance training overall.
The 1001 Nights Belly Dance School is well-known and appreciated for its devotion to promoting Middle Eastern art and culture, its success at developing a sophisticated belly dance education system, and its ability to train students to enhance and achieve solid skills for belly dancing.
Crystal has encouraged her former students in Taiwan and Hong Kong to take over the assets and carry on the tradition she started with The 1001 Nights Belly Dance School. Crystal chose to close the school itself in 2021 because she has moved to Montreal, Canada.