Mejance, or megance, or mejanse, or any other way that you may spell it🙈, is an entrance piece of the belly dancer. It’s her introduction, and her business card. 💁‍♀️ It’s the first song she appears in front of her audience, and very often it’s a music composed specifically for her. Even the lyrics may include the dancer’s name.😳⁣⁣⠀

A mejance will consist of multiple parts with changes in rhythms, melodies and moods. This is almost like a preview of what’s coming up. 👉There will be an upbeat part for travelling steps, or entrance with a prop, a more intimate but dancy part on spot, some folkloric elements, maybe a taksim, maybe even a short drum solo section, etc.☝️The finale of a mejance would typically remind its beginning, and often this section will be played once again at the very end of the show to signal the audience that the dancer has finished and is about to leave the stage.⁣⁣⠀

Traditional mejance songs can reach up to 20 minutes in length, but a most common duration is between 5 to 12 minutes. 💃💃💃In a competition format they are shrinked to up to 3 minutes, but still they allow dancers to show the variety of their technique and presentation skills due to frequently changed beats and melodies.⁣⁣⠀

Do you like dancing to mejances? What’s your favorite aspect of it?😁👇👇👇

P.S. The origins of the word ‘mejance’ are still debated but it definitely comes from French, and it was born out of mispronunciation 🤣 But that topic deserves a separate post)

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You can learn the full mejance choreo from the video as one of our choreo intensives inside the Iana Dance Club. 😘