Peter Verzijl was introduced to belly dancing in the late 80s. He had no dance experience although dance had always fascinated him. Belly dance and especially its music touched him so deeply that he wanted to know everything about it. He decided to dive in as deep as possible into the craft of belly dance and into its music and to learn all its subtleties and nuances it had to offer, bearing in mind that as a man he would have to be twice as good a dancer to be taken seriously.
Two teachers had a major invulence on him: Paula Marissink based in Holland and the Syrian dancer, Nazir Abu Said, living in Vienna. From them he learned that belly dancing was not just a box of tricks or isolations that you show off. It’s not only about technique. Showing less is sometimes actually showing more. It’s really about letting go of the ego and reproducing the music with your body that are the key elements to this dance. Because of their critical lessons he learned to respect and honor the tradition of belly dance.
Peter’s stage name is Farouq, which means: He who distinguishes truth from falsehood.
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