This Month in Bellydance – March!

Vixen Variety Shows

Vixen Variety Shows

February was a crazy month, and March shows no signs of slowing down. Vixen Variety Shows will be putting on a spectacular at Big D’s in Fargo Wednesday, March 13 at 10pm. We’ve just recruited some great hula hoopers and a fire eater in addition to drag, burlesque and of course bellydance, so don’t miss it!

The stars have finally aligned and I will be able to attend Cassandra Shore’s weeklong bellydance intensive. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it! I’ve been wanting to do this for about 10 years. I just got an update today on what we will be doing: two choreographies, a class performance, two professional performances, stage makeup, the works! Gonna be great!

And we’ll be at the Winery again for our monthly show on March 30, this time the theme is “spring.” Chef John could pull anything out of his masterful hat. Whatever it is you won’t want to miss it. Nom!

We’re going to be wrapping up our current class session on March 30 (no class March 23 due to the workshop), and starting a 4-week shimmy intensive to round out the season. That will be April 6-27. After that no regular class until after Labor Day. But we will still have haflas and other events. Check back here for updates.

Looking further out on the calendar, don’t forget CoreCon is May 3-5, where I will co-host The KEEP, which is possibly the best con suite there (totally unbiased opinion), and the Mistryl Shimmy Guard (best bellydance troupe at CoreCon, also unbiased) will be making their debut at the Death Star Visitor’s Lounge.

AND of course May 11 is World Bellydance Day. The Lovely Dozen are hosting a weekend-long workshop with Saroya of Atlanta, as well as the Shimmy Mob! This is going to be a BLAST! If you are interested in the shimmy mob I suggest you register right away so you can come to grips with the choreography. Click the links for more info.

I’m tuckered out just typing about all of this stuff. Hope you can join us!

Weekend Watch – Le Poisson de Trois at The Winery

Le Poisson de Trois

Le Poisson de Trois

Nothing to do Saturday? Need a romantic night out? Check out The Winery‘s event Le Poisson de Trois: a three-course meal and a three-course show featuring me, of course, and my super sexy cohorts Ladyking Cole and The Alabaster Disaster, and hosted by the fabulous Jarica Jordan. 10% of the proceeds will go toward Bros on Broadway. You can’t loose, especially if you love seafood like I do! Seating is at 6:45pm, tickets are $60 and are available in advance – a great deal for the lovely food and the lovely ladies.

UPDATE: Advance ticket sales are only available until noon Saturday, hurry to reserve your seat!

Club Bellydance – So Awesome!

CurtainCall

The big event has happened! If you missed it you may not see the likes of this spectacle again for a very long time. Bellydance Superstars’ Club Bellydance came to the Garage Bar in Moorhead, MN and it was AMAZING! We had so many different styles of dance, it was a wonderfully diverse showcase of talent. I can’t say enough good things!

I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who made this thing happen:

Bellydance Superstars Nathalie, Rebecca, Sabrina,Victoria, Sabah and Moria for coming to sunny Fargo/Moorhead to share their talents with us all. We love you!

The Lovely Dozen: Ana Ari, Amaya, Aremi, Saphira, Thura and Briste Aen, with solos by Ana Ari, Aremi and Saphira. They traveled from Grand Forks to participate in this great event.

Aremi

Aremi

Ana Ari

Ana Ari

Saphira

Saphira

Local favorites, The Shimmy Sisters: Annakiya Seher, Talea Jajel, Mystique, Ezra, Ella Za Beth and Kelebek Aslan, with solo by Ezra.

Shimmy Sisters

Shimmy Sisters

Ezra

Ezra

Gaia Sophia (Partner Joan was not able to join us unfortunately) traveled 3 hours from Pine River, and Ashley Throw came all the way from Minot. Cherish did not have as far to drive; Her tribal stylings have long been known in Fargo through her teaching at NDSU and work with Amber Waves.

Gaia Sophia

Gaia Sophia

And especially Ezma Siddiqah, my friend and dance partner who co-produced the show. She researched media, spent hours typing and re-typing info in community calendars, helped sort out the lineup, made the programs, came to meetings at the Garage Bar and generally kept me sane. All that and she dances beautifully!

Enchanting Erica and Ezma Siddiqah

Enchanting Erica and Ezma Siddiqah

Stevo Glendinning and Roxanne Goon from BDSS for contacting us in the first place and making sure we had everything we needed along the way.

Al and Tamara at the Garage Bar for hosting the event, and Ladyking Cole for introducing us.

Jarica Jordan and Jack Fantom for volunteering their time at the door and merch – your friendship and support mean a lot!

Our wonderful audience for showing up and cheering us on!

My parents for providing photos and my brother-in-law and sister who provided video that will be forthcoming.

And my husband Paul for also taking pictures and putting up with me and my glitter.

Me and Mikayla

Me and Mikayla

Victoria, me, and Moria

Victoria, me, and Moria

Every time I try to wrap up this post I think of someone else who contributed to this event. It takes a village to raise the roof! Let’s do it again real soon!

Apologies: Many photos, especially of soloists Gaia Sophia, Ashley Throw and Cherish and group number by The Lovely Dozen did not turn out because of the harsh stage lights. If you have any good ones please send them my way!

UPDATE: Thanks to Annette for getting a great pic of Gaia Sophia (above).

Choice Music to Chill By

niyaz-01

Niyaz

I was asked after class today what music we were listening to during the warmup and cool down. Well, lots of different stuff. I’ve been accumulating dance music since 1999, and if you played the entire lot you could go for 2 full days with no repeats. Here’s what I like to warm up with:

Serpents Dance by Arcana (from Le Serpent Rouge)

Chifti Telle and Floor Work Slow Chifti by Eddie “The Sheik” Kochak (from Strictly Belly Dance Vol 1 & 3 respectively)

Ambesto by Mahmoud Fadl (from Drummers of the Nile Go South)

Beni Beni, Tamana, and Iman by Niyaz (from Nine Heavens)

Saraab by Simon Shaheen (from the compilation album Desert Roses and Arabian Rhythms Vol. 3)

Sehr Oyounik and Last Words by the Temple, by Hossam Ramzy (from Best of Hossam Ramzy)

Some of these artists are not easy to find unless you get compilation albums like the Bellydance Superstars or Desert Roses series, but worth checking out for sure! I posted a while back about how to find new music if you are interested in learning more. Feel free to post some of your favorites in the comments!

 

Fabulous February

Chocolate Veil

Chocolat du Trois at the Winery

Hi everyone! January is quickly coming to a close and there is so much going on in the next month! Let’s take a look:

NOW: Dance class at the Spirit Room just completed week 2 of 10 – having fun with veils! Read the interview with Enchanting Erica on their blog.

Feb. 2, 10pm: Uni-T Ball at the Legacy Ballroom, above the Pickled Parrot, 505 3rd Ave. N in Fargo. The best drag and burlesque in town!

Feb. 12, 7:30pm: Club Bellydance featuring me, of course, and my partner Ezma Siddiqah, Saphira, Cherish, Ana Ari, The Shimmy Sisters, Aremi, Ashley Throw, Gaia Sophia & Joan Anderl-Schaefer, Ezra, and The Lovely Dozen, and of course BELLYDANCE SUPERSTARS Sabah, Moria, Nathalie, Sabrina and Victoria! Get your tickets HERE. $20 advance, $25 at the door. This is going to be EPIC! The Garage Bar, 3108 9th St. S., Moorhead, MN (next to the Safari Theater).

Feb. 14 & 15, 9 pm: Erotic Art Show, DK Custom Framing @ Gallery 14, performance downstairs at New Direction. Sexy art, saucy new acts from Bad Weather Burlesque and some yummy erotic poetry. Not to be missed! Art show starts at 7pm, live performances start at 9pm.

Feb. 16, 4-7pm: (note correction to time) Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, DK Custom Framing @ Gallery 14. Show off your artistic skills drawing Bad Weather Burlesque‘s gorgeous performers. Dry media only, no photography.

Feb 23, 7pm: Special show at The Winery, theme to be announced.

I don’t think I could possibly pack any more in! Will March be more restful? NO! I’ll be attending a week-long belly dance intensive at Jawaahir! I am so excited – I can’t wait!

Photo courtesy Shaun Johnson

New Session Starts Tomorrow!

Winter 2013 starts Jan. 12

Winter 2013 starts Jan. 12

Don’t forget, class starts tomorrow! We’ll be concentrating on veils this session. If you don’t have a veil I will have spares in class. If you want to get one of your own I recommend a very light polyester organza that floats gracefully down when you flip it in the air, or if you want to go hog wild you can get a silk veil, preferably 5mm but 8mm is also good, just heavier. My favorite spots to get these are on Etsy.com from ClevelandUrbanGirl or SilkDancer, or at Turquoiseintl.com. I have no affiliation with any of these vendors at all, I’m not getting any kickbacks, I promise! We’ll be working with rectangular veils and not half-circles.

It is very easy to make your own. If you go to the fabric store and buy your own material you really just need 3 yards of fabric. Stitch or fray-check the cut ends and you are in business! I prefer 45″ width so I don’t step on the material. I’m short. Contact me if you have any questions about that.

The music we will be using is “Rumba For Veil Work” from Eddie Kochak’s Strictly Belly Dance Vol. 3. This should be downloadable on Amazon.com or iTunes. It is 2:23 long.

If you are looking for a new challenge there are lots of workshops coming up in the region: make sure to check out ongoing workshops and classes from Gaia Sophia; The Lovely Dozen is sponsoring a wonderful workshop in May to coincide with World Belly Dance Day; The Jawaahir school in Minneapolis has a week-long intensive coming up in March that should be fabulous!

Club Bellydance Update!

ClubBellydanceGreetings Friends and Fans! We’ve been able to flesh out some more info for you because I know you are dying to get your tickets and make your plans to see Bellydance Superstars and our awesome regional belly dancers! Here’s the haps:

When: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 7:30pm

Where: The Garage Bar 3108 9th Street South Moorhead, MN 56560

How much: $20 in advance and $25 at the door (plus tax/fees) GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!

Who:Enchanting Erica and Ezma Siddiqah
The Lovely Dozen
The Shimmy Sisters
Gaia Sophia of Nebu Ka’ Tribal and Joan Schaefer of Sofia Tribal
Featured solos from:
Ezra, Cherish, Ashley Throw, Aremi, Ana Ari, and Saphira
And best of all, Bellydance Superstars Sabah, Moria, Sabrina, Rebecca, Nathalie and Victoria!

Join us on Facebook for additional updates, photos, etc. This is going to be amazing!

Here’s a preview for you!

BELLYDANCE SUPERSTARS ARE COMING TO FARGO/MOORHEAD!!!

More details as they become available. Mark your calendars for February 12, 2013 at the Garage Bar 3801 9th St. South in Moorhead, MN. This will be a 21+ show.

AWESOME!

Busy, busy, busy…

Enchanting Erica at Grindfest 3

Grindfest 3

Well, it has been a busy month for sure! Saturday morning class has been going swimmingly; we are polishing up the choreography and have one more class left on December 1 before we take a little holiday break. Class will resume on January 12 with all new choreography. Keep practicing shimmies and zills!

Bad Weather Burlesque has been picking up the pace, first with the Uni-T Ball, the JT Cigarro Huntin’ Opener (featuring Tomahawk Tassels!) and Grindfest 3 (hosted by KNDS). The next Uni-T ball will be December 8. Plans are in the works for more shows, and keep an eye out for us on Valentine’s Day.

Red River Raks has been keeping us belly dancers busy for sure, with Gaia Sophia’s workshop at 12 Houses Bellydance, and our quarterly hafla. In March I will be attending my first big intensive with Cassandra Shore – I am so excited I can’t stand it!

But for the holidays and most of December I’m going to have a little rest, work on some costumes, and update my blog. Keep checking back for more news, and thanks for your support!

Fun Times With Friends!

Improv to live drums!

We had a super Saturday! Class field trip with Karen, Cheryl, Mikayla and Bonnie to Gaia Sophia’s ATS workshop with 12 Houses Bellydance in Grand Forks. Loved it! Gaia Sophia is a great teacher and all around super lady, so if you have a chance to go to one of her workshops do it! In the evening there was a hafla and live drumming at the end. The Lovely Dozen were performing acts from their Halloween show, so I ultimately decided not to worry about the red eye too much – it adds to the atmosphere. Here are some highlights.

Gaia Sophia – check out that sweet costume!

Jennifer’s awesome solo

Amanda is a dangerous beauty!

Natasha is possibly the best zombie belly dancer ever

Love Sharon’s costume and moves!

Jenna has perfect balance, poise and grace with a hookah on her head

Yours truly ❤

Rockin’ out for the big finale

Bernie, Natasha and Gaia Sophia jammin’

The one thing I am constantly amazed by is the generous and supportive nature of the dance community. I am so grateful to know you all!

Special Thanks to:

  • Mikayla for taking many of these pictures for me!
  • Bonnie for having a veil in her car that just happened to match my outfit – you are officially hard core just for carrying that around with you!
  • Gaia Sophia for putting on some great workshops and performances!
  • Lisa and 12 Houses for hosting the hafla!
  • The Lovely Dozen for making this thing happen!

I apologize if I missed any thanks or if I was not able to get a picture of some of the dancers. You were all wonderful and I look forward to seeing you again!

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