Malaika: Uganda’s leading belly dancer

As to how it feels like being among the few belly dancers in Uganda, Malaika says: “At first I didn’t know how the public would react. If and when a belly dancer would come into the country, it would be a mzungu and usually for the glitzy parties and events. I was hesitant as I didn’t know how I or they would react to an African belly dancer. In a way I was skin colour conscious. But now I am very comfortable in my own skin and enjoy every moment of being on stage and being in front of people. It was the public and people that hired me to perform that gave me pride in my art as they enjoyed the expertise of the dance. The feedback they offered was pure joy and gave me the motivation to continue.”

Malaika is optimistic about the prospects of belly dancing in Uganda.
She says: “I see the outcome very productive and beneficial because Ugandans love dancing and partying, they love to have a good time. Secondly, there are many events to perform at during the year, be it company or corporate events, birthdays, weddings, galas, formal celebrations, small get-togethers and large stage concerts, and high society events. Everyone can learn and enjoy this dance.”

Malaika, who is commonly known as Malaika Belly Dancer, acknowledges that generally, female dancers are not appreciated in Uganda.
“I believe they are in their own way. They bring their own styles to the table. But it also depends on what style they are performing. There were some amazing shows put up this year and last year, with an all-female dancer casts, in public locations such as the National Theatre and The Square. I think that Uganda in general can do better in its outlook on female dancers and appreciate them more.”

On how she attained the name, she says: “Malaika was a name given to me when I was living in DR Congo. Because Joy, translated in French, is more of a feeling or emotion not a name. At that time 14 years ago, there was the Malaika Beauty Contest in Africa and the name Malaika resonated with the Lingala language better. Hence I was named Malaika and it stuck since then.”

When asked as to what is exciting about belly dancing, Malaika replied: “Ha ha!!! This is a very girly answer…it is 100 per cent the shiny colourful costumes and the fun part is designing them. Yes! I make my own costumes. I could order from abroad but you order and pay for a costume or a dress and what you get in your parcel is something completely different from what is shown in the picture online and doesn’t fit as well. So I design and take to a tailor to put together. I love the light flowing and sparkly outfits which feels good when you dance and looks perfect and eye catching on stage.”
She says belly dancing is a traditional dance that originated from the Middle East.

“Its local original name is Raqs Sharki, which literally means ‘oriental dance’. It is a dance originally performed by both men and women in some regions for enjoyment and entertainment. It took on more to be performed by women in gatherings and occasions for example for a wedding to bring good luck and fertility to the couple. There are so many different styles and ways to dance belly dance. I most prefer the Turkish and Egyptian styles,” Malaika says.

She adds: “The uniqueness of the belly dance is shown in the way you shake and move your belly. The movements can be from slow to very fast as the music is also a variation of slow and fast beats Belly dance took on the world by storm in the last 50 to 80 years and is performed everywhere for all occasions and events. It is also taught as a form of exercise for both adults and children alike.”

How to perform the dance
She says the dance is mostly performed as a solo act across the world but it looks amazing on stage for performances when there is a synchronised group of belly dancers performing together.
“The styles definitely have evolved over time including the costumes worn, from being more conservative to more open with more skin showing. The music also has gone from traditional beats to fusions of western music intertwined with Middle Eastern beats. A lot of times western people confuse Middle Eastern music with Indian music when it has completely different beats and tones to the music pieces,” she says.
She adds that another change has been from a belly dancer being of high society and adorned with fame and riches to dancing in back street bars and shady nightclubs.

“This day and age you get a bit of both; the traditional and the modern day, the conservative and the western styles, the classy and the more open. I keep my belly dancing extremely professional and prefer to dance to traditional styles and music, hence I get booked for more high society events and occasions,” she adds.

Malaika, who lives in Kampala, says she is teaching belly dancing.
“…I teach both adults and children. I can go to people’s houses to teach or I teach from my home or a dance studio nearby. I love teaching and seeing people progress in the movements. I even was teaching a guy who is a professional amazing dancer and he was very good,” she says.
Malaika started dancing at a young age for schools, clubs and various events and because of her surroundings, took special interest in belly dance. She travelled to Egypt where she studied it thoroughly. When she moved to Uganda, she was part of a trio of the famous Radio Active Dancers who were especially known within the Asian community for their energetic Bollywood Indian performances.

Since then, Malaika has done numerous performances for a wide spectrum which include the vice president of Uganda, ambassadors, Ugandan and Indian celebrities, Indian and Asian communities, television channel launches, the Free Masons community, openings of clubs and restaurants, parties, weddings, birthday events, concerts, live shows, formal functions and many more. She dances for both small and larger audiences with veils, swords and even fire.

She also works with Kampala Ameteur Dramatic Society (KADS) producing plays, costumes and design.
“I can’t pin point a certain time which I feel was spectacular. But the times which were interesting was dancing for the Vice President and other dignitaries, doing a music video with a local music celebrity, the time I got on stage after being off stage for more than five years after giving birth to my baby, dancing at big music festivals, being on the front cover of a magazine, among others. Every single show I do gives me the excitement and fulfilment,” she says.

As to any challenges that she has encountered in her professional dancing, Malaika, says: “I wouldn’t say there are a lot of challenges but I think here in Uganda it is mostly finding interested people to join me so I can put together a proper dance team which can perform for events. I have the foreign community interested but because of time constraints and family they are not able to join me on stage when I have a performance.”

She says she used to watch Didem, the famous Turkish belly dancer as a role model.
“I feel I copied her style a lot. I love the famous Sadie as she is amazingly talented on stage. Thelma Rose from South Africa encouraged me that I can be an African (black) belly dancer. Tina Kapp also in South Africa started me off dancing here in Uganda,” she says.
If she did not take on dance as a career, she says: “I would still be doing all the things I am doing now minus the dancing. I do enjoy being up on stage and maybe would have taken up MC-ing.”

Besides dancing, she says: “I was working for an NGO and love helping children. I do marketing online for various companies. I run my guest house on the beach in Goa, India. My work helps me travel a lot and I love seeing new places and talking to interesting people, I love attending events and watching talented artists from across the world. I love garage sales both buying and selling.”

Love for family and friends
She says she also loves being with her friends and family.
“I love long walks on the beach when the sun is setting. I am starting to love adventure sports like, sky diving, paragliding, white water rafting bungee jumping, fly boarding. I am up for a thrill-adrenaline rush anytime.”
She adds that being more graceful and flowing dancer, and not tight, sharp, loud movements have made her work unique.
“I fall deep into the music and enjoy each step tremendously. I am also a fire dancer and love the thrill of the spectacular sight of how the fire looks in movement. I incorporate fire dancing into my belly dancing,” she says.

She adds that she also loves reading articles online, watching people’s interesting life stories on YouTube.
“I enjoy watching series at the end of the day. For listening I enjoy slow jazz, easy listening, contemporary R&B, opera and Latin music,” she notes.
On marriage, she says: “I was married for eight years and I have one daughter who is seven years old.”

Describing herself

“I would call myself a TCK which stands for Third Culture Kids. It is a term adopted by people who are born in one culture which is not their own or their parents own and grew up in another culture or cultures. They will speak a language(s) from another part(s) of the world and usually have difficulty adapting to their parents culture or their passport culture. You have this quite a bit with military kids, missionary kids and diplomatic kids.

For example, Ugandan parents give birth in the United States. Their daughter gets US nationality, then the family is posted in Russia, the daughter grows up speaking Russian. Then they move to China and the girl builds her friends circle there and goes to university there. Then the parents decide to come back to Uganda. The girl, now grown, doesn’t know how to integrate with her own people here and finds it foreign and most possibly doesn’t speak the language. She chats with her friends in China with a five hour time difference and has to tell people she is from the US as that is her passport nationality.

I fall under the missionary kid category as my parents were social workers and we travelled a lot. I was born in Bangalore, India. My daughter is even more of a mix, she is from five countries, Canada, Nigeria, India, Malaysia and Uganda, and we call her the UN child,” she adds.