A few days ago, to stave of the summer boredom, I decided to start a blog regarding my life as a dance student and a grad student. For dance purposes, I go by Aleksie, hence my blog name. I currently am in Chicago, but I’m a bit of a nomad. I went to Smith College for my BA, lived in Boston for a year, and I am currently a grad student earning a masters in physics.

Throughout this, I’ve been a bellydance student/bellydancer. I study primarily Egyptian-based raqs sharqi, but I’ve recently added tribal fusion to my list of Middle Eastern dance education. After creating a dance resume, I realize I dance about once or twice a year in a performance. I’m hoping to perform more as time progresses.

In addition to my belly dance studies, I also study classical Indian dance. I started off with Bharatanatyam for a summer, spent two years learning Odissi, and am back to Bharatanatyam. My main goal with Indian dance is to be able to perform it; a subgoal is to have an arrangetram or graduation piece.

My blog will cover all of this, plus my musings on these topics, so if you’re curious about what it’s like to be a grad student, dance student, or both, please stick around.