April 2007
Philly Raqs has a new look!
Welcome to the new and improved Philly Raqs! This site has recently gone through a design overhaul which took months and involved many people. Please check out the Contributors page. Thank you to everyone who helped me with this, and thanks for all the positive feedback so far!

Please note, I am still in the process of cleaning up the design, converting data, etc. I appreciate your patience while the site design is finalized.

-Fatima, Webmaster

February 2007
DVD's versus Classes - A Guest Article by Desari

Jennifer, the webmaster of Philly Raqs, is happy to present this special guest article by Desari. Desari is a local dancer based in the Philadelphia Suburbs and she is also the wonderful moderatrix and creator of the popular Everyday Bellydancer Tribe on Tribe.net.

DVDs vs Classes
~Desari

I first learned bellydance from video while I was searching for classes. It helped me when I did find a local class and I was able to move along really well. Once new moves and then footwork were introduced though, I had more difficulty. I couldn't just point a remote at my instructor and push "Stop" or "Pause". The classes had to move on without me feeling like I could ever catch up. This had a snowball effect.

In the meantime, I would go over my videos and acquire new ones. I devoured performance DVDs as well as instructional. I could study the nuances that I couldn't learn in class whether it wasn't taught or I wasn't able to absorb it. I took intermittent sessions off from live classes but would still be watching and working with my DVDs. I learned things like fluidity in the dance that I didn't in class.

With DVDs, in a comfortable environment I had access to an encyclopedia of moves in an instant. I didn't have to wait months and years for my teacher to teach me. I could tailor my learning to suit me better than any one else could. If I take a class or workshop now, I am still in control. I have knowledge of what it is that the teacher is not covering. And I can appreciate what it is that she offers that I don't get from a DVD. It is all about learning to trust my intuition.

While I recommend that anyone wishing to learn the joys of bellydance take classes, I also recommend they supplement with DVDs. People learn at different paces. Mine improved when I was in control. With DVD and video, one CAN learn quicker and dance well.

January 2007
Local Dancers featured in Zaghareet Magazine
Shadia is on the cover of this month's Zaghareet Magazine, which features an article on her - written by her student, Ayshah.

Congrats to Shadia and Ayshah!

Shadia December 2006
2007 Philadelphia Bellydancers Calendar - proceeds go to Philadelphia's Animals
Want a super cute desktop 2007 calendar featuring some of the Philadelphia's best bellydancers? All proceeds are going to Philadelphia's Animals. Every single dime!

The photos are all in color. This would be great on your desk at work or your home office AND would make a great stocking stuffer!

Dancers in the calendar -
Jo Anne - January
Maya - February
Nyla - March
Galilah - April
Hayet - May
Laila - June
A'isha A'Nour - July
Fatima - August
Lurainya - September
Ewelina - October
Fairouza - November
Melinda - December

Cost $10

Contact Monet at popraqs@gmail.com or 267-241-2862. Shipping is an extra fee.

You can pay via paypal with an additional 1.00 service fee using a credit card, cash or echeck.

November 2006
Results of City Paper Choice Awards!
Check out the results of the City Paper Choice Awards, where Animus won Best Local Band (REASON: "They manage to mix jazz, greek, rock, middle eastern, and metal into one excellent art form.") and Studio 1831 won best Yoga (REASON: Their belly dance class is the best.)

Congratulations to Animus and Studio 1831!

Daily News article highlights local belly dance teachers!
Habiba, Valerie Rushmere, and Lurainya were recently featured in a wonderful article in the Daily News. It was a very positive piece that (for once, in my opinion) captured the spirit and fun of the belly dance scene in Philadelphia. Click here to see "Shake up your life - with belly dancing"

October 2006
Rakkasah Review by Monet

Philly Raqs is once again grateful to present Monet's review of Rakkasah East, held October 9 - 15 in Somerset, NJ. Thank you, Monet, for your thorough review and for braving 2.5 days of watching hundreds of dancers while sitting on a metal folding chair. (Ouch!) Click here for last year's review in the News Archives. As always, opinions expressed here are the opinion of the author only, feel free to differ.

The smell of crisp air, burning wood, autumn leaves in full color�.ah, its October. Time for Rakkasah East! Woo Yoo!

Unfortunately, I was unable to partake of the weeklong workshops but I heard the highlights included Hadia, Ansuya, Jim Boz, Suhaila and Fahtiem. When I arrived Friday afternoon at the hotel I ran into some women who were walking out of Suhaila's workshop early. They were out of breath and discussing how they could not continue it was that intense. I was sorry I missed it!

As usual walking into the Ukrainian Cultural Center Friday night is a sensory overload! Drums, veils, sparklies, oh my! I probably said the same thing last year but it is always the same kid on Christmas morning feeling.

I was happy to see the addition this year of a three-day pre-purchased festival ticket at a discount. Thanks Shukriya!

My behind firmly planted in a prime seat I await the beginning of the 3 day extravaganza. Pangia began the live music for the evening but Shadi from Reading, PA really opened the show with a dramatic double sword number. Mia Naja, Samira Suruk and Hannan also stood out. The stars of the evening were Leila Haddad with the only Tunisian performance of the weekend and the incomparable Jim Boz who never ceases to amaze and awe the crowd.

Mark Bell and Helm continued the evening with more live music and Oreet, a New York City spitfire rounded out the dancing with a fantastically spirited performance.

Back to the Marriott across the street for live music, dancing and drinks! On second thought - time for bed with visions of sequins dancing in my head.

Saturday. Long day ahead better pack some snacks! Film, check. Lip balm, check. Water, check. Let's go!

Kathleen (from Scotch Plains, NJ) performed an oriental medley that was reminiscent of Faten Salama. Her stage presence was lovely.

Folklore in the house. Dianna and Teresa in a cheeky Ghawazi duet that I enjoyed as well as a pot dance by U Street Caravan from DC.

Time for a stretch and a lunch break I think. There is a new Ruby Tuesday's restaurant about a quarter of a mile down the street that has an excellent salad bar and I am a vegetarian! The pickings are slim for a veggie at the Ukrainian Cultural Center.

I return just in time to catch some of Suhaila's students, Kendra and Shahla.

Michelle DeVine's troupe Mahalat exhibited veil followed by sword that featured some fantastic flexibility.

For the live music of Scott Wilson and Efendi, Ranya entered in a beautiful green bedlah. She dances with such passion and personality. Scott came out and played next to her, which was fun to watch.

Charming Maria Isabella from NYC danced to live music. Considering she can't be any older than 9 or so her timing was impeccable. Once again Scott came out to play with her. When he started to return to his seat he turned and tossed money over her head much to her delight. This prompted a few audience members to do the same. She was thrilled to see money all around her. So cute!

Belly Queens featuring Kaeshi also from NYC exploded onto the stage in a trio of wings. Great choreography, tight and well rehearsed. Another Belly Queen followed with a folksy solo. The trio returned for a hip-hop Pharonic number. They showcased fusion while maintaining the Middle Eastern integrity. Finally the quartet came on with a jazzy modern vibe. By far the highlight of the weekend for me so far.

Hard to follow the Belly Queens but Nixies, four very young girls, worked their magic. I saw the future of belly dance.

Dianna from Florida offered a tribute to Isis. I appreciated the concept and you could see she put a lot of thought into it but I was too worried about her costume. It was sheer and minimal in coverage. It was hard to concentrate on the actual dancing.

Speaking of costuming I am going to hijack my own review for a public service announcement. Ladies, you are on a raised stage. Please remember that when you consider your costume. I understand you may not be used to dancing on a stage but please think of your audience. The audience does not want to see (well maybe some do but I do not) your panties, thong or lack there of if you get my drift. If that were what I was looking for I would go to a strip club. Since we try very hard to overcome the stripper image please think about your under garments! It happens every year. PSA over. Thank you for your cooperation.

Suhaila time. She was a "goddess comedienne" in my opinion and the queen of dramatic poses. The audience cheered in delight at her infamous lip shimmy. Isabella came out and was simply inspiring. They did the drum solo Suhaila taught that week in class that everyone struggled with. Isabella has all the subtle nuances down. If she continues she will be a force to reckon with by the time she is 16 years old.

Habiba Dance Ensemble showcased a Pharaonic number in lovely white dresses. A high-energy folkloric Fellahin jug dance followed. Then a most unusual finale to "Walk Like an Egyptian" which was a little tongue in cheek.

Other highlights for the early afternoon included Dameshe, Ashara, The Reyna Alcala Dancers and Troupe Little Egypt. Next up several Rakkasah teachers. This should be a great hour.

Aneena performed a swirling beautiful double veil to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" using rainbow silk veils. There was not a dry eye in the house and we all stood in ovation at the end.

Saqra, the queen of zills, doubled our pleasure with both double veil and double sword.

The fiery gypsy, Mesmera, was mesmerizing in an inspiring costume.

Passionate yet cheeky is Fahtiem and that stomach!

What an afternoon! Time for dinner and a walk. Hurry up though I don't want to miss too much!

We make it back just in time to see Rose Champagne. Beautiful woman, lovely dancer. Loved the cane number.

Jaida from New York wowed the crowd. They loved her and she certainly deserved their praise.

The live music schedule was enhanced by the addition of Djinn. Pete List, the human beat box, added that extra element I really enjoyed.

Other highlights for the evening included Willow with challenging floor work, Autumn Ward with an amazingly slow sultry Cirque Du Soleil rubber ball piece, and the tribal duet Valdana who at one point were dancing to Djinn playing "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath.

What? Eddie "the sheik" Kochek is here? Shut up! So Eddie comes out, has a seat, plays a few songs, and tells a few stories. Priceless. Carmine Guida and Scott Wilson played with him. So much fun.

Hard to follow that so I get up and stretch. I see vendors. Forgot all about them! After making a short list wish list I decide I am tired and head back to the hotel to relax and unwind. Again, I skip the after party.

I can't believe the weekend is almost over. At least I do not have to wait until next October. Spring Caravan will be here in May!

So I plopped myself down in the hard folding chair for the final day of dancing. I am prepared again for the long day and my butt has grown accustomed to being numb.

I found quite a few of the morning performances lacking energy and enthusiasm. There were talented dancers but they had no energy. The exception was Johonna Gamble from Roanoke. She was charismatic and opened with a dramatic "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" piece. Raqs Caravan East was technically talented and in sync but was lackluster for me. My friend called part of their piece the "Celine Dion Trio". The crowd really liked them so maybe it was just us.

There was a creep in front of us video taping only the bellies of each dancers. Finally, Pat Olson from Pangia comes up and tells him to stop videotaping. Thank goodness.

The next four dancers were all fantastic. Tasha, Zenaide, Layla and Alanah danced to Efendi and all were from the New York area. Zenaide utilized the stage well and exhibited joy and passion as she danced. Layla had spinning down to a science and entertained the crowd. The elegant and graceful Alanah finished the live music segment. Interaction between the band and each one of these dancers was at a high and it was refreshing to see.

Troupe Miraj. Welcome back ladies, I have missed your performances the last couple of years. 5-day glow tribal goddesses and I loved it. Very high-energy performances including a theatrical martial art sword fight and hip-hop.

Afternoon highlights were local Philly troupe Shake Charmers. A little gypsy, a little tribal and a yoga inspired troupe finale.

Dalia's Dance Collective was a tease but fan freakin tastic nonetheless. Danse Macabre here I come.

There are not enough words to describe Ansuya. I am biased of course as I have had the honor of hosting her in a workshop in Philadelphia. Judging from the audience reaction though I am obviously not alone. She is truly a superstar and a super nice woman to boot.

After that I needed to get up and move. Maybe finally buy some of those items on my wish list!

Must get back to the stage for Hadia who is excellent, smooth and refined.

Momo Kadous who I adore follows. He is so cute. I love what he brings to the stage and to the classroom. Truly an icon.

Leila Haddad in a fantastic hot pink and yellow costume floated out for an oriental number.

It is hard to follow that group of talents but Egyptian Sun Productions reeled me back in. They were ten dancers strong and very entertaining. I most enjoyed the "Black Betty" solo.

Ah. My ride is ready to go. Actually so am I. I am sure I missed a few highlights in the last 2 hours but I had my fill. No matter how much you love this art form there comes a point when you have reached your maximum capacity. After two and a half days I was there. I am sorry Metal Goddess closed the show as I so enjoy their creativity but you can't always see it all.

Overall it was another great Rakkasah East! The Marriott upgraded my room. The weather was fantastic. Got to see old friends and make some new ones. What more can a girl ask for?!

My only beef is that I am honestly tired of the same dancers dancing in different troupes. There are way too many offenders of this. It is frustrating both as a dancer and as an audience member. I know so many very talented dancers who could not get space on call in day. Yet here are many dancers who dancer 2,3,4 times over the weekend. It is really not fair and there should be a better system. Plus who wants to see the same dancers dancing all weekend. Variety is the spice of life. Ya know what I'm saying?

Last year my roommate had a new student who joined us on Sunday. She had never been to Rakkasah. I wrote how she went home with visions of belly dancers in her head. Well she came back this year even more committed plus she brought a friend! On the drive home the newly converted could not stop talking about the day and what she had decided today. She had made a decision that dance was what she wanted to do with her life. Dance. Not just belly dance but the whole shebang. Ballet, Jazz, Hip-Hop, African, Modern and Middle Eastern. It was truly a beautiful thing to hear.

Until next year.

Swap til U Drop - Philly Raqs and Amrazhi swap events
Start planning for the PhillyRaqs.com and Amrazhi Couture Live Swap Meets! Back by popular demand, we are having one swap in Philly and one in Bucks County. The Philly swap will be Sunday, December 10 from 3-7pm at Studio 1831 at 1831 Brandywine St., Philadelphia. And the Bucks County swap will be Sunday, December 17 from 11-4pm at Hipnosis Studio, 1810 County Line Road, Huntingdon Valley (located within Body Dynamics Fitness Center).

Both swaps are free to attend and you are most welcome to bring previously owned items for swap or sale. Come on, bring that costume you haven't worn in forever or that hip scarf that never looked quite right on you. Clean out your closets and get some great new-to-you items as well.

And, of course, you don't need to wait until December to post items for sale or swap - you can do that 24 hours a day from the Philly Raqs swap page! And don't forget, you can post items wanted as well.

September 2006
Vote for Animus for City Paper Choice Awards!
It's time for the City Paper Choice Awards... Why not vote for Animus as your local band? All you have to do is go to "Vote Now For CP Choice '06!" then click on the "Entertainment & Nightlife" link and then click on the "Local Band" link and cast you vote for Animus. While you're there, why not vote for other favorite bars, restaurants, and even dance troupes (under "Culture and Education")? The results will be published in the November 2nd issue and appear online at www.citypaper.net. Hurry! Deadline to Vote is October 18!

August 2006
Philly Raqs and Amrazhi Couture join forces to bring you a swap page and a swap meet!
I am very pleased to announce that Philly Raqs will be sporting a brand new page starting August 28th, 2006. I'll be adding a swap page to the site, as well as a form where you can submit items for swap or items wanted. This page is sponsored by Amrazhi Couture, purveyors of dazzling costumes from some of the hottest fashion designers in Cairo.

You are cordially invited to the Philly Raqs/Amrahzi Couture kick-off event, which is of course, a swap! The live swap kick off event will be Sunday, August 27, 2006 from 10am - 3pm at Hipnosis Studio (1810 County Line Rd. Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006. Located within Body Dynamics Fitness Center, 1st floor, back right corner.) Swappers can enter through the rear studio entrance. Everyone is invited, there is no admission, and we'll have a laptop set up where you can preview the swap page. (Sorry, professional vendors, we'll catch you at another event - this is for previously owned items only.)

Many many thanks to Azhia for coordinating this event and to Amrazhi for sponsoring the page. And the Hipnosis ladies get three cheers as well for hosting us in their studio! Please contact Azhia with questions on the event at 215-400-0572 or visit www.azhiadance.com

20 Silly Questions with Princess Farhana!
Princess Farhana was recently in town, teaching two workshops and performing as part of this year's Fuzefest on July 23, 2006.

Princess Farhana is not only an amazing belly dancer, she's a writer (with five books in print and her work has appeared in Los Angeles Magazine, LA Weekly, The Los Angeles Reader, Spin, Genre, as well as many others) and a burlesque dancer.

I was lucky enough to catch up with her backstage before the evening performance, where I promptly cornered her and forced her to answer the patented Philly Raqs 20 Silly Questions™. (Italics are my side comments.)

1. Princess Farhana, what's it like being a princess?
It's pretty fun! It can be funny depending on who has or doesn't have a sense of humor, but some people address me as "Your Majesty" or "Your Highness."

The title was actually bestowed upon me. My real name is Pleasant and for some time I thought that I wouldn't need a stage name. But I would perform at a lot of ethnic events and I got tired of people announcing me as "the beautiful Birthday Pleasant." The manager at the Mouns of Tunis, a restaurant where I have been performing for many years, told me that "pleasant" in Arabic is Farhana. There was another dancer in the area named Farhana, though. I had recently published a book titled "Princess of Hollywood" and Atlantis, of Belly Dancer of the Universe, booked me at a show with the other Farhana, so she billed me as "Farhana, Princess of Hollywood." I appeared on the IAMED �Hollywood Babylon� video, and they billed me as Princess Farhana of Hollywood, and finally it evolved to just Princess Farhana. I like wearing tiaras anyway, so it fits well.

2. What's your favorite color?
I'm a color slut - I flit from one color to another. I used to not like certain colors until I started to belly dance. Now, I like them all. I look really good in lavender and baby orange.

3. Tell me how you got into burlesque?
I was drafted into it by the Velvet Hammer burlesque group back in 1995. After their first show, they told me "You have to do this" and I replied "I'm not stripping" since I was working in the Arabic community and I didn't want burlesque to be an issue. But, I thought it was a cool idea and and it didn't seem like an issue - people didn't really know about Burlesque then. I performed in the second show, dancing with a sword, and the show was on a professional stage with professional lighting and sound (all so rare in belly dance!), and I thought "I should do this."

4. If you could have any other career (outside of dancing, burlesque, and writing), what would it be?
I would be a storm chaser or go into criminal forensics. I'm so into both of them. I'd go live in Oklahoma, where they have 5 or 6 storm chasing schools and the biggest teaching forensics lab in the country. When I retire from all the other stuff, that's what I'm going to do - I'm such a weather geek.

5. Who is your belly dance role model? What dancers do you look up to?
I love all the stars of the golden age of belly dance. In terms of people I know, Zahra Zuheir was my first major teacher and she and Sahra Saeeda set the standard for me. Then, of course, there's Dina. I see the drama, and I scream like a teenager when I see her dance. I've been invited to a lot of tribal events recently, and I really like them - I feel that we share a lot the same creativity and I find it amazing and refreshing.

6. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you want to meet?
I don't know! That's hard, because I'll keep changing my mind. Botticelli immediately came to mind, I don't know why. Can we come back to that? (Oops, we forgot to come back to it.)

7. If you could be any kind of animal, what kind of animal would you be?
A cat - any kind of feline.

8. What's your favorite belly dance move?
I love them all - I think I like ab work the best, the whole range of ab work. Do ooey-gooey moves count?

9. What's your favorite place?
My favorite place is near a coast, I think. I love the Greek Islands and I'd like to go to Capri or Turkey. Who knows?

10. What's your favorite TV show?
It was Oz for five seasons until it went off the air.

11. How did you get into belly dance?
I was obsessed since I was a kid from seeing belly dance in movies, and I loved sparkly things. My mom taught theater in the early 1970's and the college had a huge ethnological music department. I was completely amazed by Arabic and Indian music.

One night, I was dancing at a nightclub and a girl asked if I was a belly dancer, because I was moving like one. I asked if she was a belly dancer, and she was, and everything just clicked. We exchanged numbers and I had to see her dance, and I had to have her teach me. There was no internet at the time, and back then, it was hard to find teachers. She introduced me to other dancers and led me to Zahra Zuhair, and it went from there.

12. What do you parents think?
I think my mother was horrified at first, but I've given her a lot worse to be horrified over, over the years! She didn't think I'd be really into it.

13. What's the funniest thing that's ever happened to you while dancing?
At a restaurant, I was dancing for a packed house. During the first set, there was one little kid who was absolutely screaming in delight - he loved it. For the next set, I come out and dance, and I drape my veil across his shoulders. He turns to his mom and screams, "Mommy, the lady let me hold her blanket!"

14. Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
Probably not retired.

15. How would you describe your dance style?
Very theatrical - Egyptian based, but I'm starting to branch out. Mostly, straight Egyptian.

16. With your involvement in burlesque, you've been a target for criticism in the past. How do you handle negative comments?
I get it a lot, and I have for years, going back to my background in bands and writing. I'm used to hearing negative comments. I made a decision for myself not to write about things that I don't like. If I don't like a dancer, I'm not going to trash him or her.

Sometimes negative comments can bum me out. But usually, they refer to things taken out of context, or rumors, or they refer to something that someone doesn't understand. A lot of times, it's from people that haven't even seen whatever they are commenting on or they are the ones who never do anything.

I have a tough skin and am no stranger to controversy, so it rolls off my back.

Actually, one of the people that trashed me the most in a few online forums for my involvement in burlesque emailed me three weeks ago, asking for burlesque resources!

17. What's your favorite body part?
My belly button. Like most women, I used to hate my stomach. Actually, my brain is my favorite body part.

18. What kind of music (outside of belly dance music) do you like?
I listen to everything. On my iPod, I have the 101 Strings Orchestra soundtrack and Rick James! And I always like rock and roll.

19. What upcoming projects do you have going on?
I have two new books coming out, the first in September - The Undeground Guide to LA. In the spring, I have Confessions of a Post Modern Showgirl coming out as well. Also, "Princess Farhana's Greatest Hips," a performance DVD, will be out around January. And I'll be on the Belly Cruise in February 2007.

20. Where can people go to find out more about Princess Farhana?
(OK, this was a mistake on my part - Someone was a little star struck and numbered the questions wrong and only wrote down 19!)

Find out more about Princess Farhana at www.princessfarhana.com

The author and webmistress, Jennifer, after a very long day of workshops, next to the radiant Princess Jennifer and Princess Farhana

Drum and Dance Learning Center in the News!
Check out this great article in the Burlington County Times featuring the Drum and Dance Learning Center in Bordentown, NJ!

July 2006
Lurainya on CN8!
Lurainya, media juggernaut (see March and April in the News Archive), will be appearing on CN8 Friday, July 7th, at 10am for 'Your Morning'. Lurainya does a wonderful job on TV (I can only imagine how nerve wracking it must be) - be sure to check her out!

Habiba nominated for 2 Golden Belly Awards!
Habiba is nominated for 2 Golden Belly Awards by Zaghareet magazine - Favorite Ethnic Dancer and Lifetime Achievement. To vote and see the nominees in each category, go to Zaghareet.

June 2006
Djuna Wojton publishes new book!
Have you ever wondered where your passion for this exotic dance stems from? Perhaps you can find the answer in Karmic Healing: Clearing Past Life Blocks to Present-Day Love, Health and Happiness. Written by Djuna Wojton, who has been active in the belly dance community for over 25 years will be giving free lectures in the Philadelphia area at the following venues:

Monday, June 5th at 7PM
North East Regional Library
At Cottman/Bustleton Aves
215-685-0503

Wednesday, June 7th at 7PM
Essene Natural Foods
719 S. 4th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215)922-1146

Wednesday, June 14th at 7PM
Holmesberg Library
7810 Frankford Ave
Philadelphia PA 19136
215-685-8756

Wednesday, June 21st from 5-8PM
Eyes Gallery402 South St
Philadelphia PA 19147
215-925-0193

Thursday Aug 10, from 6:30-8:30
Morgan's Cauldron
509 S6th St
Phila PA 19147
215-923-5264

Saturday, September 16th from 1-4PM
Head House Books
619 S2nd St
Philadelphia PA 19147
215-923-9525

You can find out more on her website; www.djunaverse.com

April 2006
Two Gilded Serpent Articles by Monet
Monet, the lovey who produces Pop Raqs (next show coming up on April 23! Details here!), has written two review pieces for Gilded Serpent, the free online belly dance magazine.

Check out Monet's review Leyla Jouvani's DVD - 21 shimmies and 1001 variations and Princess Farhana's Instructional DVD Bellydance Basics Reviewed

#11 - Lurainya's Podcast
One more reason why it's Lurainya's realm, to continue last month's story on her - she's featured on a podcast! How 2006 of her! (For those of you, like me, who are pod-less, you can play the mp3 from your computer.)

Lurainya was featured on the Philly Fitness and Health Podcast 25, part of the Philadelphia Daily News Locker Room blog. Here's the archive page, scroll down to "PHILLY FITNESS & HEALTH PODCAST 25" to click to listen.

March 2006
Philly's Sunday Inquirer article on male belly dancers
A so-so article on male belly dance straight off the newswires, so alas, there is no mention of our local male dancer, Omar! Click here for the link, you may be prompted to register for free to view the article.

Alexia of Princeton, NJ featured Hip Circle article
Alexia is (dare I say?) a media darling! After being featured in a local Princeton article in January (see the News Archive link above), she's now featured in a two part interview in the Hip Circle, an online belly dance magazine. Click here for the fascinating interview - it is a great read!

It's Lurainya's Realm, We Just Dance in It
I'll give you ten good reasons why:

1. She's been on Fox's morning show - TWICE! Her latest appearance was in early February. Go to her site to view both clips.
2. She'll be a guest speaker for the Women's Business Forum on March 15th
3. AND she will be at the Philadelphia Women's Expo on April 28 and 29 - check out my Events page for details on both.
4. She's on the cover of Philly Fit magazine this month,
5. AND she has a great article inside! Click here for the current issue
6. She has awesome "My Girl's a Bellydancer" shirts for sale.
7. And you can get the single "My Girl's a Bellydancer" by D'lang to go with the shirt.
8. And you can get the shirt and the single in a package with her new instructional DVD! Get the details on the goodies at her website, www.moonpgypsy.net
9. (She's a lovely person and a beautiful dancer.)

And as a special treat, here's one more -

10. A guest review of the DVD by the lovely Mushirah -

Dancing in Lurainya's Realm: A Review of "Lurainya's Guide to Bellydance"
By Mushirah
"Lurainya's Guide to Bellydance" is an excellent resource for beginning students and teachers alike. Lurainya, a gorgeous belly dancer from the Philadelphia area, is known for her smooth, ethereal veil work and her graceful, sensuous aesthetic. In her first teaching DVD, she takes viewers through 90-minutes of isolations, traveling steps, combinations, drills, and a rousing performance. This jam-packed DVD introduces a basic vocabulary of movement in the ancient art form.

"Lurainya's Guide to Bellydance" is professionally assembled and produced. The DVD jacket, for instance, features lovely photography and a nice layout. Although transitions between sections of the DVD could occasionally be choppy, the setting Lurainya chose for teaching, her close-up demonstrations, and her use of a student model with a different body type are all excellent. (In fact, I would have liked another couple of models, all with different body types, to show that the dance really is delightful on everyone.) Although the hip scarf Lurainya chose to wear in the DVD is beautiful, because it is dark, it is occasionally hard to follow some of her hip moves.

Lurainya's strengths as a teacher are her commitment to good posture and an obvious love and respect for Middle Eastern dance and for women. Early in the DVD, she recounts that she tells her students that belly dance is for every woman's body and they need to remember that they are perfect just the way they are. (I would have liked a couple more sentences on this nice touch of self-empowerment, but I am partial to the feminist aspects of the dance.)

Lurainya's dance technique is very strong. The moves she teaches are perfectly pitched to challenge a beginner. Because of limited time on an instructional DVD, all teachers have to decide between review time and coverage. Happily, Lurainya opts for the latter. Although the average viewer will have to rewind and play the isolations and steps repeatedly with music in order to master them, Lurainya encourages students to go at their own pace, breaks down the moves well, and covers an extraordinary number of them. She teaches head slides, head circles, shoulder rolls, shoulder shimmies, snake arms, wrist circles, rib slides, vertical torso circles, belly rolls, undulations, hip sways and shimmies, twists, small hip circles, hip lifts and drops, 3-point turns, a range of traveling steps, challenging and fun combinations, and much more.

Even better, the DVD is so engaging and well done that I found myself wanting still more. More time to practice the drills. More helpful information about transitions between moves--an area in which all dancers struggle. More veil work--one of the areas in which Lurainya excels. I think that is the student in me, who eagerly awaits the intermediate and advanced versions of "Lurainya's Guide to Bellydance."

Lurainya's dance teaching DVD is more ambitious than most and, I believe, more successful than most as well. It is an outstanding accompaniment to live teaching, a program students can enjoy on days when they are not in class. (You can buy the DVD at www.moongypsy.net.) Lurainya's sincere teaching persona is as good as those of the very best belly dance teachers. I will recommend "Lurainya's Guide to Bellydance" to my students, and I recommend it to you.

January 2006
Drum and Dance Center featured in Princton, NJ article!

Click here for a great article from the 1/16/06 issue of the Princeton Packet on Kim Leary and the Drum and Dance Learning Center in Bordentown.

In Memory of Rosemary Hughes

It is with great sadness that I must announce that Rosemary Hughes, a wonderful and beautiful local belly dancer, passed away on January 2, 2006 after a very long fight with cancer.

I have taken lessons with Rosemary and her daughter Lisa for over four years. They were regulars at Habiba's studio and sharing a class with this mother/daughter duo was so much fun and I was always touched by the love and goofiness between them.

Rosemary had been belly dancing on and off since the 1970's, and I loved her old school dance moves and coveted many of the skirts, harem pants, and costumes that she wore and that she had made over the years. I loved hearing her and other dancers in class talk about belly dancing in the 70's and what had changed or stayed the same over the years.

Rosemary was a beautiful dancer - you could see her strength and life experience in her dance and watching her was a pleasure. She was fun and light hearted and sassy, and her dancing reflected that. She was definitely sassy. I loved watching her dance, whether she was performing at one of Habiba's haflas or just doing a free style exercise or across-the-floor moves in class - she made it all look easy. And she added her own uniqueness to each move. I will very much miss her style and her dance.

I also learned a lot from her - she showed me how to let go and dance from the heart. Really dance - not "ok, I'm trying to nail down this move" kind of dance, or the "ok I'm going to try to impress everyone" kind of dance. I mean real dancing - dancing for the pure fun and joy of movement and joy of expression itself. She was having a good time, and we as the audience were all invited to have a good time with her - and how could we not enjoy ourselves around someone having so much fun? She taught me a lot about how to just dance in the now - to cast aside whatever was holding me back (usually myself) and just dance in the moment and enjoy that moment with others.

Rosemary was an inspiration to me both as a dancer and as a cancer "warrior." (She was a warrior, not a victim.) Rosemary would schedule her chemo treatments for Thursday mornings, so that she would feel her best at practice on Wednesday nights. Every time I would grumble about having a cold or being too tired to go to class, I thought of how Rosemary would be there, feeling her best after being sick all week from chemo. And I would get my butt in gear because what the hell was I complaining about anyway?

Rosemary endured years of chemo and I will always be amazed at her spirit and her ability to dance through and above problems that would easily crush others. Rosemary was very honest about her cancer, and chemo, and about getting into drug trials and her surgeries and how all of that still might not be enough, even after years and years (maybe 10 years?) of treatment. She and her daughter Lisa were frank and brave and their strength helped everyone around them.

Rosemary Hughes was a beautiful dancer, mother, and friend. I am so honored to have been able to dance with her and get to know her and learn from her. She will be sadly missed by everyone at Habiba's studio. Please contact me at webmaster@phillyraqs.com for contact information or funeral information.

Below, left to right, Rosemary, me, and Lisa from Habiba's Hafla in November 2004.

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November 2005
Rakkasah East 2005 review by Monet!

Jennifer, webmaster of Philly Raqs, is very excited to present this review of Rakkasah by Monet, producer of the popular Pop Raqs shows. Monet has a great eye for detail, as you will see. Monet, thank you so much for such dedicated performance watching, and for your patience in laying it all out for the rest of us who might not have been there or who missed some acts. Editor's notes are mine, since I can't resist throwing in my 2 cents too. Disclaimer - All opinions are our own. Feel free to differ.

Ah, Rakkasah. An event we look forward to all year long. The music. The dancing. The sparklies. Oh, my! There is never enough money for shopping at Rakkasah. Since I only had enough money for food and accommodation I could focus on the dancing!

This was my sixth year attending the festival. I was fortunate my first teacher invited me that year (thanks, Djuna!). Unable to take advantage of the numerous week long workshops, I drove up Saturday morning with another dancer. We arrived at 11:30am and immediately grabbed seats. We only missed 2 performances at that point. We did not leave those seats until 6pm - six and a half hours later! No kidding. Well, other than to use the loo. My friend did some shopping but I stayed glued to my chair. Water. Check. Camera. Check. Program, cell phone, snacks. Check, check, check. On with the show!

Day One

It's noon and D.C. is in the house. Raqs Caravan East (cabaret) and Raqs Caravan West (tribal) are always a treat to watch. Both are very large troupes and they are always in sync. Super. U Street Caravan sneak in between and gave us some fusion 50 cent style. Go Girls!

Now, I have never been a huge fan of Natica's Poetic Dance Theater. Just not my cup of tea. However this year I truly enjoyed their performance. Natica, Shukriya, Saqra and Co had some lovely double veil work using multiple colored lame veils. Then they came out with the phenomenal blue glittery wings. Just fantastic.

If any of you were at the Jewel of the Nile last year you saw Oreet. She is a spitfire performer, really great energy when she dances. Wee, this performance was even better. Her fiery red costume perfectly matched her dancing.

Aneena,. This woman has veils to die for. She wows the crowd every time. All pink and swirling. Lovely.

Hmmmm. Getting hungry. Should I venture to see what's cooking this year? (Check program.....) No, better not. Don't want to miss Amaya or Fahtiem. Oh yea, I have an Odwalla bar. Yummers.

Troupe Arabesque from Virginia up next. They usually try something different. This year - some African Domba style tribaret. Nice big baggy cotton wide legged pants in interesting colors and designs. Tribal belts, coin bras, cholis. Cool.

Amaya is such a passionate dancer. Veil, hat, fan. Truly a lovely vision in turquoise and black.

Daughters of Rhea came out as a giant May day pole. All the dancers had pieces of lame from the top of the pole and danced in a circle weaving their strands of lame. Great concept. They all seemed to have a great time. Very colorful.

OK. Here we go. FAHTIEM! Last year this woman did the horizontal belly roll twice. This year I lost count. Seriously. She did it in time to the music over and over again. WOW! This woman is truly inspiring. Another dancer who took her workshop that week told me her teaching is excellent and she makes you feel great about yourself. She started out the workshop by telling all the dancers that they were already perfect and were only there to become more perfect. Then she ended the workshop with a big hug. What a warm teacher.

Habiba Dance Ensemble in beautiful costumes each dancer in a shade of either burgundy, lavender or mossy green did a lovely classic number which Habiba herself later joined in.

Sound Check. Everybody dance. Oh! I can stand up and stretch now. AHHHHHHHHHHH.

It's Carmine Guida's (drummer) birthday. Yesterday and today as well. We will sing repeatedly all weekend long. Me thinks he is milking it.

Rose Champagne from Massachusetts switches time slots with another dancer (Sui) to take the 4:42pm time slot. Rose is a beautiful dancer with a remarkable story. She is definitely a dancer to watch in the future. Her troupe danced later in the evening and were quite good.

Djelhi (pronounced jelly) from D.C. wore black jazz pants and did a fun funky hip-hop number.

The men were in full effect this weekend (finally!). It started with Numa'ir and Naiya. A couple who were very entertaining. Their playful interaction with each other and the crowd was excellent. A real crowd pleaser.

Saqra had some veil issues but you would never know which shows how talented and professional she is.

It's Suhaila hour.....

Tiffany, a member of Suhaila's troupe, did a fast solo number in a very interesting and beautiful turquoise costume.

Immediately followed by Suhaila's daughter. She did a routine I was told Suhaila taught last year at Rakkasah which was very challenging. Her daughter was flawless and her timing was impeccable. Unbelievable. Belly rolls and all. WOW! (ed. note - Suhaila's daughter is seven years old.)

Then comes the goddess herself in that famous Sheherezade costume. She did a very strong and passionate number.

Oooooo. Time to check into the hotel and grab dinner. That means I can stand up and move!! We must be back by 6:40pm. We ended up staying at the Courtyard Somerset which is down the road a minute because the Marriott was sold-out. Almost $30 a night cheaper, free cookies, pool, gym, balcony, and breakfast area. In the lounge there is free Internet, a fireplace, a full area of food to buy 24 hours including soups, frozen food, ice cream, and a BAR. I think I will stay here next year. Anyway, back to the show.

Entertainer of the year, Rhea. Seriously, it is amazing how great of shape this woman is in. She always manages to get a laugh from the audience.

Ma'shuqa Mira Murjan is an elegant dancer. Her costume was original and beautiful - turquoise (color of the weekend) with huge sequined flowers in yellow and fuchsia. Stunning.

More solos, some Flamenco and I am getting punchy. Two dancers next to me are a bad influence and keep making me laugh at inappropriate times. You know who you are. (PS - thanks!)

Melika Negwa and Hareem of the Queens always out on a great performance. Melika does a great 9/8. This year was no exception. I like that her troupe consists of mature woman who are beautiful and maternal.

Laura Rose danced to Pangia. She had some great hair extensions, a white costume, tribal type accessories and a turquoise veil. I wondered out loud how great it must be to have a mom like Delilah to learn from.

Autumn Ward, Reyna Renee and students put on a wonderful performance. Autumn really has come into her own since leaving Laurel Grey. They will dance again on Sunday (more on that later).

Ahanu Jaalil with Kirsten Mascioli performed a tribal number to some great music then reprise Danielle's fusion piece from the latest Pop Raqs show to Squirrel Nut Zippers. Very enjoyable as a troupe number.

Doing a fast number in a gold costume was Piper. This was a little too fast for me as I thought it really did not show her at her best. Don't get me wrong she was still good.

Time to go. Gee my ears are ringing. Oh, a drink? Why yes I would love a drink. Or several. So off we go to the Marriott bar across the street. Many other dancers have already congregated there to partake of live music and libations. There are also 2 bridal parties and a high school reunion. This could get ugly. In the restaurant next to the bar they are setting up for the "after party". No list needed here. There will be live music, more dancing, drinks....We leave after a drink and making the rounds to day hi. The party is just getting under way as we leave and already beer bottles are breaking. I heard a good time was had by all.

Nighty - Nite.

Sunday - Day 2

We had to go to the train station to pick up a new belly dance student of my traveling companion. This would be her first time. How exciting. Like a kid in a candy store. We warned her to start taking deep breaths as we walked to buy our tickets. She started jumping up and down when we walked in the first door and she saw the costumes. When she walked into the big room I thought she would faint. Once again I plunked myself down for the long haul.

We missed Metal Goddess. Bummer. Oh well, here comes Rayhanna. She danced to live music and did excellent floor work. Lovely white costume with a coral colored veil.

Nyla from Barrington, NJ also danced to live music and was the best I have ever seen her. She also used a sword.

Tasha from Pohatcong, NJ had great zills and was very entertaining.

Reyna Alcala and Dancers had the best troupe costumes of the weekend. They looked professional without looking cookie-cutter and looked attractive and simple without looking homemade. They also did some Flamenco fusion. 2 thumbs up.

Kasia from Buffalo, NY did a lovely Egyptian cabaret number is a pretty red costume.

BDC....where is the BDC??? That's alright here is Lurainya! Wearing a black, silver and white costume with a red veil she danced a very dramatic piece.

Ah boy. More Pangia. Let's sing to Carmine again. Hmmm. Let�s see what there is to eat at this joint. Gee. Same old stuff. What's a vegetarian to do? "Salad" or french fries. I opt for the "salad" - a term I use loosely to describe this plate of iceberg lettuce, 2 tomato wedges and 3 slices of cucumber. Why do the food options stink at Rakkasah? Burgers, fries, sandwiches, kielbasa, salad, cakes, candy, soda, eggs. They could, like Maura (Maura C of the Shake Charmers) suggested, opt for a traditional Ukrainian menu. I mean let's break out the pirogi, stuffed cabbage, potato pancakes, and borsht. I am sure I forgot lots of Ukrainian delights but you get the idea. At least that would be more interesting. They could keep the burger and fries and add a couple vegetarian items like a veggie burger or a better more meal like salad. Just an idea. What are the eating at Rakkasah West??? OK. Sorry. Lost my train of thought. Dancing. (ed. note - I agree, the food does really stink.)

Three very good solo dancers in a row: Nadira from Seattle, Ziba from Charlottesville, and Roni from Long Island. Followed by Dalia Carella Dance Collective. What a great 30 minutes!

Dalia always pushes the envelope and I love it. Some high energy Indian, some dramatic veil, playful African and jazzy fan. She make my head spin. Wow!

Just who is this Jim Boz? Have I been hiding under a rock to not have heard of him before? Got hips? Hell, yes! His dancing reminds me of Dr. Mo when he teaches; very Egyptian, very controlled, and slightly feminine. Excellent. I wanted more. The audience wanted more.

Suzanna Del Vecchio, a woman every dancer should study with, is always delightful. She is a beautiful dancer.

Cabaret Majeeda! Mushirah's troupe had good costuming. Troupe choreography in hot pink bras and matching velvet pants with purple and gold apron type belts. Cute! Then one of her students did a solo followed by what?!?! Jay-z? Fusion in very cute black short skirts/skorts with bras, knee pads and black boots. Fun!

An interesting fusion piece by Flavia and Somadatta followed to live music. Flavia is from Brazil and wore a bra and belt set while Somadatta is from India and wore traditional Indian garb. As Flavia belly danced Somadatta complemented her with Indian movements. Really quite nice.

It's about time we see more tribal. Mimi Fontana and Sarah Locke were mesmerizing. They reminded me in style of Rachel Brice (bow head in reverence).

Dalia's student Vanessa was next with some classic cabaret. She wore a beautiful costume and was a lovely dancer.

Jewel of the Nile '04 winner and Belly Dancer of the Universe Fusion winner, Dorit is always a favorite. Burgundy skirt with tribal embellishments, she could be compared in style to Ansuya. She is another one to watch in the coming years.

OK. Time for the heavies....Fatima Al Whahid, Aziza, Momo, Leila. No getting up now.

The crowd loved Fatima Al Whahid. Great orange and gold velvet dress. She has her fans and they adore her. She has fun hen she performs.

Aziza. What can I say? She is my personal hero. Stunning dancer is beautiful turquoise ensemble. My only complaint was her performance was to short. She should be given at least 20 minutes.

In a very entertaining folkloric piece, Momo was very high energy. He had on a colorful top with white baggy pants. He seemed to really be enjoying himself on stage. I know I certainly enjoyed watching him.

The only Tunisian dancer of the weekend, Leila Haddad never disappoints. I heard a story about her over the weekend that I will not repeat that made me view her dancing differently. I also heard some things from women sitting in front of me about something she did that also made me go hmmmm. I don't mean hmmm like good. I mean hmmmm like very interesting. (ed note - Leila, please do not sue us for libel.)

Philly in the house! Shake Charmers and Valerie Rushmere! Cane, cane and cane - yeah! I love me some cane. They started their show with a cane number a lot of us have seen before but is always nice to watch. Valerie then took the stage in a lovely solo wearing her hot pink costume. She pulled out all the tricks. Leg up. Are you a yoga master by any chance? The troupe (after much unnecessary worry) did a great job with the high energy Voulez Vouz. Excellent job.

Rayna Renee, Autumn Ward and Co came out for a second performance this time with two men! The men did a stick dance in traditional robes then all four did a great energetic folk dance. The piece de resistance was he finale which featured the women doing raqs and the men doing jazz and hip-hop. The crowd went nuts. I spoke to Autumn after the show and she said the men did not want to come at all. I am certainly glad they did! They were the high point of the weekend for me. Autumn and Co really encompassed everything I love about this dance. They did traditional then had some fun with it.

One more. Must support my local peeps. 1001 Dreams including Najia came out in full regalia. It is nice to see a large local troupe looking beautiful in cabaret costumes and performing in sync with veils. Very nice.

Are my eyes bleeding yet? I know I can't feel my butt. I am so happy to stand I could cry. We have to stop for real food on the way home. My "salad" has left me hours ago and I want to gnaw off my arm. Luckily my traveling companions feel the same way. So we all say goodbye to our friends, sparklies, and the Ukrainian Hall for another year.

All in all a great weekend as usual. I saw some amazing dancers, some talented newcomers and nervous first timers trying so hard. That is what makes Rakkasah great. I can still remember my first time like it was yesterday. I saw women larger than me - bellies uncovered - smiling, confident, beautiful. I was in awe. It changed my life.

I do have some suggestions or feedback about the weekend.

The food is the most obvious. I think we all agree on that one. Hell, let me in the kitchen. I'll cook.
NO PETS. Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge animal advocate. However, this is not the place for any pet - especially a scared, frail Chihuahua. Can't you hire a pet sitter for goodness sake?
Offer a weekend show rate. Some people can only come for the weekend and come both full days or all three days. Paying full price stinks. Throw those people a bone. It does not have to be much. For example - 2 day pass = $25 - a $5 savings. Or a 3 day pass = $35 - a $7 savings. A bigger discount would be better but anything is better than nothing.
Seating. I have no idea what the answer to this one is. Every year people get pissy about saving seats or not being able to save seats or some combination of seat saving. There did seem to be more seats available this time.
Call in for dancers. Don't give the same people two time slots. So many dancers could not get a spot because of this. After call in you can see you has dupes - call them and cancel one or the other. It is only fair. Then start calling the wait list people. Also, consider putting beginners performances early in the day. I don't know if it would work but it would make looking at the schedule easier. (ed note - Monet is so right, the amount of people performing more than once was really out of control this year.)
This is for all dancers. I (and I am sure many people did) saw way too much butt and crotch. Ladies, try spinning and turning in your costume in the studio in front of a mirror or in front of your friends who can give you feedback on this. Keep in mind you are on an elevated stage. Do these things prior to getting on stage and showing everyone your goodies. Just a thought. (ed note - Can I get an amen? Monet read my mind. Say no to crotch shots, please.)

Anyway. On the way home from Rakkasah we dished and gossiped, talked about looking forward to next year, and shared favorites of the weekend. It is always nice to be able to look forward to a weekend of hanging out with other dancers who share your love of this art form, being able to see other dancers perform, meet new people, see old friends and really being absorbed in the moment.

As for our first timer. Well, she went home broke but extremely satisfied. She had belly dance dreams as she slept on the way home. It doesn't get any better than that.

Monet Raths
Producer of Pop Raqs

October 2005
Coveilance Dance Project featured in 'Morbid Outlook'

While gothic bellydance is fairly unknown, there are a few groups in the area exploring this hybrid of belly dance, american tribal style, and goth. One troupe, based in the Delaware Valley, was recently featured in a cover story by 'Morbid Outlook' - a arts and liteature magazine. To read the article, click here To learn more about the Coveilance Project, click here.

A dancer's perspective on belly dance and Pop Raqs

Jennifer, webmaster of Phillyraqs, got to wondering what dancers (who aren't belly dancers, but other dancers like modern, jazz, ballet, etc) think about belly dance performances. It's easy to get so caught up in the belly dance world, we forget that not everyone is a belly dancer. (Well, I forget, at least.) After the recent Pop Raqs show sponsored by Monet, of which all proceeds went to Katrina victims, I asked a few dancers if they knew anyone who was not a belly dancer who wished to write something about their reactions to the show.

One of the Pop Raqs dancers, Jo Anne, was kind enough to pass on the request to her sister, who shared her experience of watching the show below. Thank you so much Ayesha for sharing such beautiful and kind words with us!

Art Raqs
By Ayesha

At a time when the voices of artists are threatened with silence, we need benefit performances. We need them for the good will and monetary aid and that they can give to victims of disaster, and we need them to help us remember the value and importance of the arts at large - how it feels to hear a great work of music, or to watch a captivating dancer.

The recent Pop Raqs benefit for hurricane Katrina was a wonderful event that accomplished both of these goals. The offering of original choreography performed by both group and solo dancers was a pleasure to watch, and it was inspiring to see what this group of dancers had created, from the care and detail with which each dancer executed a twirl or a shimmy, to the care with which each had chosen a costume and veil. These are the things of art, and what makes us alive as people; it is good to dance and to watch people dance, it is what most people have forgotten.

There were many exciting moments in the show, especially the group performances by the Pop Raqs Ensemble and 1001 Dreams. It was also inspiring to see the graceful way that each of the solo dancers carried herself, and carried the audience to another place - not to mention the way that Nyla and Azhia carried swords while dancing in their duo piece. The special solo performance by Ansuya was unforgettable, and she certainly dazzled us all with her exuberance and energy in the fast dances, and her gorgeous backbends in the slower ones. Her eyes danced too, and gave us more than enough mystery to be hooked by the end of her first few steps.

To watch these dancers is to know the way that dance can lift us up from the world that surrounds us, and make us better people. It is important that we should keep these works alive, both the works of the artists, as well as the sense of artistic community that they create, and that makes us feel and see once again all the beauty, passion and compassion that we are still capable of.

September 2005
Vikki Williams and ATS featured in TimeOFF Bucks County

Vicki Williams was recently featured in TimeOFF Bucks County - click here to check out the article!

It's a great write up discussing her classes, explaining ATS, and mentioning Hipnosis. Yay, always great to see good press on local belly dance!

20 Silly Questions with Ansuya

Author's note - I am thrilled to present this interview with the lovely Ansuya, who was in Philadelphia for a 2-day workshop and show on September 10-11, 2005. Ansuya is my favorite belly dancer and I was very excited to sit down with her - I am also a bit of the obsessive fan, but she handled my bizarre fixation on her with grace and gentleness.

Ansuya is a wonderfully warm individual, and her recent workshop in Philadelphia was outstanding. Ansuya is also a very fun person with a great sense of humor. During the workshop, some of us got to talking and wanted to learn more about her - what's life like for your average, everyday belly dance superstar, anyway?!

We wanted to ask the silly questions that no one else asks, but everyone wants to know. So here you go - Jennifer, the fearless leader of Philly Raqs, presents you with 20 questions and Ansuya's answers, as well as my own silly commentary in italics.

1. What kind of car do you drive?
An electric blue Jeep Cherokee, with beads hanging from the rearview mirror and incense inside.

(Ansuya also couldn't remember if the car was an '86, '96, or '91 Cherokee - this is so endearing to me. So un-superstar, you know?)

2. What is your favorite TV show?
Oprah.

3. What was the last movie that you have seen?
What the Bleep Do We Know? It's quantum physics for the layman.

(So smart, this one! Not just all looks!)

4. What is your favorite city that you have been to, whether on tour with the Superstars or in your own travels?
Definitely home - which to me is Ojai, California. It's my favorite place to go and going there, to me, is going home.

(Ansuya currently resides in Miami.)

5. What is your favorite smell or fragrance?
My boyfriend.

6. Do you have any pets?
Yes, I have 3 cats - Inti, Abu, and Mina.

7. Do you have any hobbies? What do you do to relax?
I love to watch movies.

(Her favorite movie of all time is Dirty Dancing - which started a 10 minute conversation where we all started quoting our favorite lines from Dirty Dancing. No one puts Baby in a corner!)

8. How do you make *this face*? (Jennifer makes that worried/migraine-y Ansuya face that looks dopey on Jennifer but awesome on Ansuya)
I'm not really sure - I can't help it - I make that face when the music makes me feel so good, it's almost a little painful and I direct that to the audience so they can share the pain too!

(Are you looking at one thing with that face or do you just see the general crowd?) I don't know, I think I just kind of see the general crowd.

(Jennifer practices making her dopey face at Ansuya a few times before moving on.)

9. How do you grow your hair so long? (Jennifer stares longingly at Ansuya's long hair.)
I keep it trimmed slightly, and that's about it.

(Do you ever cut it?) I've never gotten a real haircut, always just a trim.

10. Do you drink alcohol? If so, do you have a favorite drink?
No, I don't drink but if I did, my favorite drink would be blood red wine.

11. How long have you been a vegetarian and why?
I was raised as a vegetarian, but I have many reasons to be one. My most important reason is the feeling of kinship that I have with animals.

12. Will you marry me?
Yes. Please put that on the website. Ha-ha! (She thinks I'm kidding, silly girl. I'm not. Really.)

13. What do you think of Philadelphia and the workshop participants?
I think the area that we're in is really charming, I love the antiques stores and the cobblestone streets, it's old and I like the flavor that it has. I'm staying at a really nice inn nearby. (The inn and the workshop were right around 12th and Spruce streets - near the gayborhood and antiques row. I also live around there, so I'm glad she likes it. We'll live here after the honeymoon. See #12.)

I really enjoyed getting to know everyone this weekend - we started off the first session on the first day of the workshop with some intense improv and you could feel that people were a little shy. And it's been fun to watch the process throughout the weekend as people got more comfortable and more able to express themselves openly with fusion in a safe environment. The journey for me always is to connect with students and encourage their abandonment, and it's very important for me that students finish my workshops feeling free.

14. What is your favorite color?
Purple and red - especially together. It's that mix of sensuality and divinity, you know?

15. What would you do if you could pick another career?
I'd be an actress.

16. How do you stay in shape? What do you outside of dancing to stay in shape?
I regularly stretch, swim and walk.

17. What's your sign?
Aquarius.

18. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
No - my mom's more hip that me! She has 3 tattoos - one on each arm and one on her thigh. The one on her thigh is a butterfly that she got in the 60's, and the ones on her arms are a dragon around a rose (for me) and a snake and a lotus on the other (for my brother). When I'm older, I'd like to get some tattoos but with my interest in acting, it's hard to have any. So I'll get tattoos later.

17. (Heh heh. At this point, I realize I numbered the questions wrong - score! 2 more questions!)
What belly dancer do you most admire (outside of your mother and godmothers who influenced your dancing growing up)?
Rachel Brice.

18. If you could perform for anyone, living or dead, who would you most want to dance for?
My father.

19. Who would you most like to teach belly dance to? Anyone - living or dead?
President Bush! (We all erupt in laughter, we knew she'd say that!)

20. What brand of zils do you use?
Turquoise International and Harry Saroyan zils.

21. And lastly, even though it's 21 (ok, really 23, but she didn't know that) - what future projects are you working on that we should watch out for?
I have a new DVD coming out soon - All New Hot Belly Dance Combinations by Ansuya, that I am really excited about. I am producing it myself. I'm also looking to produce future titles in my DVD collection, which is a big business step. And a big artistic step, as I want to include more features on future DVDs that capture the spirit and history of Belly Dance. And I have a lot of events and workshops coming up too, they are listed on my site, which is www.ansuya.com.

Me: Thank you so much Ansuya!
Ansuya: You are welcome, Jennifer!

August 2005
Azhia's report on Amrazhi's Japan Debut, June 2005

*Jennifer, webmaster of Philly Raqs, is thrilled to present this report of Azhia's recent trip to Japan, written by the lovely Azhia herself. Please contact Jennifer at webmaster@phillyraqs.com if you are interested in writing a news item.*

Planning for the Amrazhi Japan Debut began back in March of 2005, just after we vended during the Morocco Birthday Bash Workshop and Show Weekend. Since 2/3 of Amrazhi Couture (Zeina Dancers: Amani and Amira) had already traveled twice to the States on behalf of Amrazhi Couture (the first being the Amrazhi Couture Debut at Valerie Rushmere's Studio 1831 in August of 2004), we decided it was time that I (the other 1/3!) should come to Japan to help establish the Amrazhi Couture name in the burgeoning belly dance community of Osaka, Japan (akin to Tokyo, Japan, as Philadelphia is in its relation to New York City). Not only was this an exciting opportunity to launch the Amrazhi Couture business overseas, it was personally meaningful, as I would get to return to the city where I spent time in college as a foreign exchange student and where I first met Amani, who soon became a close friend and colleague.

We decided to continue with our successful model of having a Trunk Show, workshops, and an evening performance with a Fashion Show. Zeina Dancers were well-connected in the Osaka Middle Eastern dance community so I was confident that whatever venues they secured would be top-notch, and this was, after all, Japan!

Amani in the 24/7 Collection Tank Top In preparation for the trip we discussed which costumes I was to bring with me from the States for the Fashion Show. Foreign as well as Japanese belly dance performers/students were recruited to participate so we needed a variety of sizes to accommodate every woman. We also ordered the first of our "24/7 Collection," sexy strappy tank tops with our logo and name. Slight glitch: in our excitement, we over looked a small misprint. Amrazhi Corture tank tops anybody? We decided to keep them and promote them for a special one-time low price in Japan, where proper English phrases like: "Charly we wish you happy inspiration time" is a regular occurrence so we figured Amrazhi Corture would not be too obnoxious. Incidentally, I brought some back with me to the States if anybody would like a medium tank top for $12! This is a rare rare edition tee, never to be seen again! :0) I also prepared for my workshops, which included the Turns/Spins and Drum Solo with Balancing Prop workshops. I was assured that it was not necessary to have my notes translated into Japanese and it turned out that the students were very appreciative of the notes, which they comprehended easily.

I flew out on Tuesday, June 28 and arrived in Osaka on Wednesday, June 29. I took the Japan Rail from the airport to Shin-Osaka Station (equivalent to Suburban Station), where I met Amani's home stay brother. He assisted me in the cab getting to Amani's apartment. In Japan, you have to know where you're going and how to get there and direct the taxi cab drivers, unless it's to a major train station. Otherwise, the streets don't have names per se, and you need to give the cab drivers landmarks and explicit guidance on how to get someplace.

On Thursday, June 30, Zeina Dancers had set up a separate gig for us at a beautiful hotel about an hour outside of Osaka. It was for a convention of safety inspectors (something like that) and they were having a wrap-up dinner, at which we were hired to perform. We did 2 group numbers and each did several solos, and Zeina performed a couple of duets. For 3 dancers, we managed to pull off a very diverse and full show and were paid handsomely. Luckily our "dressing room" was right off of the stage so once we were done with one number, we had to throw off our costumes to put the next ones on. Sharing the stage with my friends and business colleagues was quite special and I enjoyed it immensely. Together, we performed to Bellydance Superstars Volume II's "Entrance of the Stars" and Shereen's "Enak." We celebrated afterwards at an Indian restaurant in downtown Osaka. Unfortunately, the talent agent had made a miscalculation and determined that she paid each of us too much, so we actually had to give back some money. I know this would not happen in the U. S., as the organizer would probably eat the error but in Japan, they expected full remuneration for the overpaid amount. Oh well, the money we made was still enough to pay for a portion of my plane ticket.

All was not work, and I managed to get some necessary shopping during the down times. Luckily, the weekend I was in Japan was "Bargain Weekend" so every store was having a sale. On Friday, July 1, Amani and I shopped in downtown Osaka for a few hours, and then we packed our things and headed to Amira's apartment for the Trunk Show. Unlike the Trunk Show at Valerie's Studio 1831, only a handful of people attended. People are not accustomed to visiting people's homes in Japan, as they are like the last bastion of privacy in a very crowded and congested culture. And it was pouring outside. We did sell quite a few tank tops, and fit some of the models for the Fashion Show. Amani had to leave early to do her regular gig at a Turkish restaurant, where she was also meeting with our emcee for the evening show, to go over translations. I left Amira's apartment at around 11pm and took the train back to Amani's apartment. Surprisingly, Osaka now has train cars specifically designated for females to address the groping problem. I don't know if this was a step forward or backward. Needless to say, while I always felt safe traveling by myself in Japan, even late at night, I felt more comfortable riding the car with only women on board.

Early morning Saturday, July 2, we embarked to the community center where I was to conduct my workshops. I had a handful of students; all were bright and talented dancers, and I even had a few foreigners take the workshops. I was impressed with the speed and level of comprehension at which the students picked up techniques and choreography. Later I learned that several of them struggled with the material but I wouldn't have known it.

After the workshops, with no time to spare, we headed back to Amani's place to pick up our things for the evening and Fashion Show. It took place at a cute little night club in the downtown Osaka area of Shinsaibashi, called Visionnaire. This lounge/bar/club was all concrete and modern, much like a cross between "Pod" in Philadelphia and a racquet ball court, and about the size of 1 racquetball court! The show opened with our "Entrance of the Stars" number, where we wore our own Amrazhi Couture costumes, followed by various entertaining duets and solos, and the intermission consisted of the Fashion Show, which was a flawless stream of gorgeous costume after gorgeous costume (if I may say so myself!). I assisted the dancers with their costumes and didn't get to watch most of the Fashion Show, unfortunately. Amira selected a catchy piece of music and one would have thought they were attending Fashion Week! The models were having so much fun on stage, and I imagine it was a lot of fun for the audience to watch. The second half of the program consisted of more talented solos and duets, and we closed the show with our "Enak" piece in our modern galabeyas. The dancers loved the costumes that they got to wear and we sold two costumes to one of the models, who looked absolutely stunning in what I brought with me from the States. We were so pleased with how the evening turned out and we got a lot of positive response from the audience. Even Rob, the emcee for the evening, who performed his duties bilingually, stuck in a "Top 10 Reasons to Become a Bellydancer" (the number one of which was "Costumes! Costumes! Costumes!"), which was hilarious. I left a few of the Eman Zaki costumes in Japan, since several professional performers expressed interest in purchasing them. We were also supported by some of the other professional dancers and students in the area, who loved the dance fashions they saw and enjoyed the open dancing after the evening show.

Amani in the 24/7 Collection Tank Top Afterwards we gathered at Amira's place and viewed some of the photographs and video of the Fashion Show. The evening had exceeded our expectations.

On Sunday, July 3, Amani, Amira, and I did some more shopping, though we didn't stay too long in the department stores, as there were too many megaphoned stored employees directing traffic on the escalators (oh yeah, the sale was in full swing). We settled at a Starbucks and discussed the next events for Amrazhi Couture. Zeina Dancers plan to have another event in Osaka in December, and myself and Amani will be vending at the Ansuya Workshop and Show on September 10 and 11, possibly with a Trunk Show on September 9, at which time we will debut the "24/7 Collection" in the States (with no misspellings) and we are planning a Fashion Show at Rakkasah East in October. The next stop for Amrazhi Couture: Eugene, Oregon!

July 2005
Belly dance videos at area TJ Maxx/Ross stores
Thanks to Emily (my workshop kindred spirit) and Jackie, two of Alia's students who I recently spoke with at the Oasis Grill, for providing this great info! Emily and Jackie mentioned that they have found belly dance videos, including Suhaila Salimpour's "Jazz/Pilates/Yoga/Ballet for Bellydance" series at area TJ Maxx and Ross stores in PA and NJ. Some of the videos are as low as $5!

I ran to my local Ross, and found DOZENS of belly dance exercise videos. I loudly squealed with glee in the video section and began to tear it apart, much to the bemusement of fellow shoppers. While I didn't see any Suhaila videos, I did see Dolphina's beginner and warrior tapes, 3 of Raina's four exercise videos (including Hip Hop Hip Drop), two Amira Mor tapes, Bellydance for Wimps, 3 Veena and Neena tapes, and Neon's ab tape. And a few others I can't remember. Most titles were in VHS and DVD, and the most expensive was $8.99. ($5.99 for VHS.)

Titles differ at each store, so who knows what's at a Ross or TJ Maxx near you. For such low prices, it's worth a trip to a few stores. (I left with six DVDs to practice with, after trying to rationalize buying 15 of them. Can someone please explain to my husband that only buying six for such low prices is admirable and I was being very good? He didn't seem to believe me when I told him.)

June 2005
Habiba nominated for Golden Belly Awards
Congratulations to local performer and instructorHabiba, who is nominated for 3 Golden Belly Awards from Zaghareet Magazine. She is nominated for Instructor of the Year, Favorite Ethnic Dancer, and Favorite Cabaret/Oriental Dancer.

To vote for Habiba and to view other nominees and other categories, go to http://zaghareet.freeservers.com/poll.html.

To vote, send votes to Zaghareet, P.O. Box 1809, Elizabeth City, NC 27906 or e-mail zaghareetmagazine@earthlink.net. Voting will continue until October 15, 2005 and the winners will be announced in the November/December 2005 issue.

May 2005
Review of American Bellydancer by Mushirah
Many thanks to the lovely Mushirah for the permission to reprint her review here. Please note, this review first appeared on the Philly Bellies listserv.

Miles To Go: A Review of American Bellydancer by Mushirah

The documentary American Bellydancer contains a scene in which Miles Copeland, infamous promoter of the touring troupe Bellydance Superstars, and Suhaila Salimpour, belly dance virtuoso, quarrel. Though their tone is jocular, their topic is serious: whether dancers should be selected as "superstars" for their staggering beauty or for their mastery of the ancient art form. Gambling on what he hopes will be the "next Riverdance," Miles has dollar signs whirling around his eyeballs and so can't manage to see past pert breasts in sequined tops. I know what sells, he asserts. Suhaila--along with Jillina and almost all the other well-spoken, intelligent women in the film--points out that Miles knows nothing about the dance and emphasizes that the focus should be on dance skill.

In this dispute, unfortunately, the documentary sides with Miles. While director Jonathan Brandeis includes plenty of footage that mocks the man who gained fame as promoter of The Police, his film does nothing to educate its audience beyond Miles' limited understanding of the dance. It tells us nothing, for instance, about the dance traditions that influence American belly dance--from Egyptian, Turkish, and Romany, to our own tribal style. It passes on an opportunity to explain why the legendary Morocco opposes adding Fosse's jazz moves to the dance. It skips a chance to explore the art form's attraction from the feminist perspectives of Ansuya or Tamalyn Dhallel. Instead, it sticks to self-satisfied pronouncements of creating a "cultural bridge" between the Arab world and the United States, which, one can only presume, will end global terrorism.

Though he mutters bromides about fostering world peace, Miles becomes truly animated only when discussing money. Enraptured by the sale of a single CD, he says the entity comes alive because it has been purchased-the CD now means something and is valuable because money has been exchanged. This is an apt metaphor for how Miles sees Middle Eastern dance and its dancers. These women are valuable only to the extent that they'll look hot on TV and move units.

And they do. The Superstars manage to be both exceptionally beautiful and talented. The movie avoids showcasing their talents, however, in favor of the petty dramas of 14-hour overseas flights, snapped bras, and last-minute program changes. Rather than see what makes Rachel Brice a superstar, for instance--not one full stomach roll or Turkish drop is featured--we are treated to gossip about Miles's credit card getting stuck in an ATM. Who cares?

After the Miles-Suhaila fight, the documentary features a scene in which Miles and his production crew are watching the Miles-Suhaila fight on TV. Incredibly, it then moves to a scene in which Miles and still others are watching the scene of Miles and his production crew watch the Miles-Suhaila fight on TV. Sitting this week in the lonely Holiday Inn meeting room in downtown Philadelphia in which American Bellydancer was screened, I kept expecting to turn around and see Miles and another set of cameras filming our reactions to watching his reactions to his reactions of seeing himself on screen.

Ultimately, American Bellydancer is little more than another advertising vehicle to plug this public relations Svengali's new trick. The dancers seem peripheral to reflections on the main event, which is Miles' work to realize his "vision" (of lining his pockets). One wonders how different that vision would be if Miles were a Melinda. Suhaila reflects on what it was like for most belly dancers to perform at restaurants, for instance: the owners were all men, the waiters were all men, the band members were all men, and the last thing the dancer wanted to do was to dance for men.

Miles thinks that by picking superstars who are uniformly thin and gorgeous, he will create a show to seduce the male gaze. But in a world saturated with pornography, belly dance is never going to provide the kind of heterosexual titillation that Miles presumes will earn its keep. On the contrary, one of the attractions of belly dance for women is a deep sensuality that dancers of all ages and sizes can embody. When I went to see the Superstars perform live last year, the audience was overwhelmingly female. Consumers of belly dance camps, classes, haflas, films, and shows are the same. Middle Eastern dance is an art form primarily by and for women--a fact American Bellydancer fails to appreciate. Women are the natural audience to whom Miles should devote his attention. To realize his economic dreams, he will have to muzzle his manly pride and start listening to the women who actually understand the dance.

February 2005
Review of Aisha A'noor Sword Workshop by Fairouza

Jennifer, webmaster of Philly Raqs, is thrilled to present this article, written by the lovely Fairouza. Please contact Jennifer at webmaster@phillyraqs.com
if you are interested in writing a news item.

Aisha A'noor Sword Workshop
Sunday, January 30th 2005
Donna Tambussi Studio of Dance in Collingswood, NJ

"Did you resolve to finally take that sword out of your closet and learn to dance with it?"

Aisha A'noor (aka Kristen Lampe) challenged us to make good on our New Year's Resolutions, and learn to dance with that challenging and intimidating prop. Over the years I have seen Aisha A'noor perform several sword choreographies. Each one is fresh and imaginative, dramatic and mysterious. She always manages to make it look so easy*. I was thrilled to hear she planned to teach a Sword Dancing workshop, and I was not disappointed.

The event was well attended, with dancers traveling from as far as Queens, NY and the Catskills. We started with stretches chosen to prepare us for the challenges of dancing with the sword: lower body strength and flexibility for floorwork, torso strength and good posture in order to keep the sword balanced. Then she put us all to the test: we balanced our swords on our heads and worked through a series of dance moves that can be used to great effect as part of a sword choreography. We moved through traveling moves, "isolated isolations", floorwork, and some guaranteed crowd-pleasers. Aisha also took some time to talk about sword dancing, and give a lot of practical advice about sword maintenance, costuming, and music selection.

After the lunch break, we learned a 3-1/2 minute choreography. The choreography was simple enough for us to learn in one afternoon, but interesting and dramatic enough to use as a performance piece. It incorporated many of the moves and ideas we had worked on in the first part of the workshop.

The workshop participants got an excellent overview of sword-balancing technique and the components of a dramatic sword performance. Not to mention the realization that we all need to spend a lot of time with our swords balanced on our heads before we're ready to perform! I am well on my way to keeping at least one of my New Year's resolutions!

What other workshop attendants had to say:

"I thought Aisha A'noor taught a great workshop! She was fun and open with her students and taught a great choreography suitable for all levels of dancers. She maintained a good pace throughout the day and I left very satisfied. I would recommend her to others if I see her having another sword workshop! And her signature move is a must see!" ~Lurainya of Doylestown, PA

"[We] had a wonderful time at the workshop. We were both raving about it on the way home. We'll have a lot of fun putting together a routine�The choreography and constant practice were invaluable. I loved all the handouts. Especially the one about not cheating - rather we need to bend our knees more and practice our isolations!! � It was great!" ~Mahrabesh of Springmount, PA

*To see Aisha A'noor performing one of her mesmerizing sword dances see the "Lurainya's Realm" video - available at www.moongypsy.net

Local Dancer nominated as Sexiest Vegetarian!

Of the thousands of entries received, Marnie is one of ten women selected as the potential sexiest vegetarian (tofutti cutie). Support your sister in dance and give her a vote: http://www.peta.org/feat/sexiestvegvote/indexVOTE05

Belly Dance article in Courier Post

Check out this great article from the South Jersey Courier Post, which heavily quotes Kristen Radden.

Click on article here.

January 2005
Premier of American Bellydancer from Miles Copeland next month
According to the Belly Dance Superstars website at www.bellydancesuperstars.com, the long-awaited "AMERICAN BELLY DANCER" documentary is set to premiere next month. No word on when it will be playing in the area, but will be hitting Hollywood and Miami on February 10 and 11th.

Here's a description from the website:

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Dance: an inside look at the exotic, riveting art of belly dance in the USA
This first-of-its-kind documentary follows the creation and rise of the Bellydance Superstars and the Desert Roses, including high profile performances in Bali, Indonesia, and on the US Lollapalooza Festival tour.
The male/female divide, the East/West dichotomy since 9/11, and the controversy surrounding the birth of the world’s first professional Bellydance troupe are all woven together amid interviews and performances, featuring many of America’s icons of the art.
American Bellydancer provides a first person perspective on how the dance and art is viewed in America and around the world. With strong characters such as Jillina, Ansuya and Rachel Brice, plus interviews with Morocco, Suhaila, Tamalyn Dallal, and many other dancers, viewers will learn how belly dance began, and is now transforming into the hottest art form today.
These fascinating, outspoken women talk about how empowering belly dance is, how it was created by women for women, and their lives on the road as The Bellydance Superstars and the Desert Roses.

December 2004
Farewell to 2 long-standing belly dance mags
(Cross posted with thanks from the Med Dance email list, originally posted by Alexandra Ahnide of NJ)

"Sadly, in 2004, two parts of our history as American Belly Dancers have said farewell.
Two magazines: The Caravan in Georgia, published for over 20 years, and Wiggle Hips (by Two Old Bags)in Nevada published for over 10."

Wow. I can imagine that publishing belly dance magazines must be tough, but still sad that two are out of business.

Excellent area newspaper article on belly dancing and those Superstars
Check out this pretty in-depth article about belly dancing and the Belly Dance Superstars' recent appearance in Wilmington, Delaware. While the author wasn't spot-on for everything, it's the first article I've read in a long time that describes the local dance scene, the history of the dance, and the sensuality (versus overt sexiness stereotype) of it well. Maya is heavily quoted too.

Click here for the article.

While the piece is well written and in depth, the author still used the word "wiggle" to describe belly dancing. This is such a pet peeve of mine. I have never wiggled to anything. Ever. Sigh.

November 2004
Review of Jewel of the Nile Pageant
Sunday, November 14th marked the second Jewel of the Nile pageant, directed by Alexandra Ahnide and held at the Cherry Hill, NJ Holiday Inn. First, I would like to thank Alexandra for a wonderful evening. Belly dance contests often come under a lot of criticism, but many in the local belly dance community appreciate the opportunity to showcase their art and have a chance to compete in the Belly Dancer of the Universe competition.

The facilities
The pageant itself was nicely run with a professional MC and sound system, a videographer, and photographer (though I believe the photographer was running a tad late). Especially fortunate that they did show up, as the audience was understandably not allowed to take photos during the performances (there's one way to foul up a dancer who's competing - have your flash go off right in her eyes!).

One problem that we've all encountered before was that the room was a banquet room in the Holiday Inn without a stage and so visibility was severely limited for anyone but the judges, and some people preferred to stand in the back to have a better view. (Or, if you're like me, you sit on your feet until they fall asleep.)

Who Was There?
Many people were a part of the event including a rainbow-haired Chelydra who taught a shimmyless drum solo earlier in the day, as well as judges Aisha, Tarik Sultan, and Simon Kassas, all of whom judged the first pageant. The room was packed with area students and teachers, and Lucy from Scheherezade Imports provided a wonderful selection of costumes and hip scarves that I am still dreaming about.

Amrazhi Couture
Azhia, who won the last Jewel of the Nile competition and went on to win Belly Dancer of the Universe, not only performed but also showcased various belly dance costumes from her company Amrazhi Couture (of which she is a partner with the Zeina Dancers - www.zeinadancers.info). The costumes presented were representative of the various collections that they carry. Students from her classes acted as models. I especially liked that a model came out between each soloist's performance, giving the judges a chance to write down their comments and giving the audience a nice, brief break.

There were 13 soloists competing, and I was impressed how quickly and smoothly the performances went - typically, I reach "glitter overload" after watching 3 - 4 dancers in a row, but having a model come out between performances was a nice respite to ooh and ahh over yummy costumes in vibrant colors. The creations that Amrahzi Couture presented were innovative and refreshing, and just a bit challenging (mini skirts anyone?).

Soloists
13, that's right, 13 dancers from as far away as Florida and as close as New York, Philadelphia, and Boston competed. I won't break down each dancer's performance for the sake of brevity, but everyone did a wonderful job and each dancer brought something unique to the table - whether it was zil work, veils, props, technical precision or presence - I did not envy the judges their job.

Overall, just about everyone made an entrance with a veil, and two performers used double veils for part of their routines. Three performers had isis wings (two of which performed to the same song, which was featured on the Bellydance Superstars DVD with Jillina using isis wings). And just a few performers used zils for part of their performance.

Trends
Abs, abs, abs - has everyone been slaving away at yoga class or what? The amount of ab work was surprising - belly rolls, ab isolations, etc were in abundance. This took me by surprise - is it the influence of tribal? Is it the influence of the Bellydance Superstars? Is everyone but me actually using their gym membership?

Floorwork - Hello Turkish Drops! I haven't seen you in about five years, I thought you were on the endangered dance-move list. Apparently, you're back because we had girls left and right dropping to the floor after doing a backbend. I've missed you, Turkish Drop, welcome back. And you too floor work - I thought that you had long since left the scene but more than a few performers had some kind of floorwork. I credit tribal and those Superstars (again) for bringing you back. (Of course, it was also really hard to see floorwork and turkish drops, as discussed above.)

Costume mishaps - OK, this wasn't a huge trend, but I feel compelled to mention it. It's something that bears repeating and we all learn from it - be triple hooked into your belts and keep your hair ornaments on tight. No one had any serious mishaps, but those costumes always move more than we think they will. (And I will be the first to admit that I've had my body stocking roll down on me in front of 150 people.) And just a brief note on the subject, I saw a lot more underwear than I cared to see.

Azhia and Chelydra
Azhia and Chelydra danced between the soloists and the troupe performances. Chelydra, who I was delighted to see perform, is so light and saucy and her rainbow hair and rainbow personality shine through her dance. As usual, Azhia's performance was impeccable (she's not Belly Dancer of the Universe for nothing) and her costume very appealing.

The troupes
Four troupes performed, each with what I consider very different styles. All of them were spunky and fun, and all had stunning costumes. Again, I did not envy the judges their jobs. Oddly, I do not have much to say about the troupes, other than I was very impressed with all of them.

The winners
Enough idle chit chat, right? Here's what you've been waiting for - the results!

GRAND PRIZE: Dorit of NYC (www.Doritworld.com) Jewel of the Nile 2004
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Oreet of NYC (www.sharqui.com)
First Runner-up: Amustela of VA (www.amusteladance.com)
Second Runner-up: Najla of Florida (www.najlascreativedesigns.com)
Third Runner-up: Dellaneira of Philadelphia
Miss Congeniality: Seyyide, Massachusetts (www.seyyide.com)

TROUPE:
1001 Dreams (Jewels of the Nile 2004) (http://s95204971.onlinehome.us/1001dreams.htm)

Honorable Mention: Ruhiyyih, Najia, Amalia, Vasha Hatal, Shu�la, Raja and Sonziry (www.bellyd.com)
Honorable Mention Troupes: Belly Jam, Mystique, Hips of the Desert
Josephine Baker Award: Seyyide, Amustela, Azhia, Amalia
Best in Business: 1001 Dreams, Hips of the Dessert, Shu'la, Seyyide, Najia

Featured on ABC's 11 pm news
That's right, a cameraman showed up to the event and took some footage. There was a one minute story on ABC's 11 pm news that night (which, if you are into TV news, is a pretty long time). The anchor led in the story by announcing "They bared their bellies! (I know, gag on that line, huh?) The Jewel of the Nile Middle Eastern dance pageant took place today...." and they briefly reviewed where, when, and what it was for and how winners went on to other competitions. They showed footage of the first troupe that performed, Belly Jam, and then Azhia performing.

Wrap-up
Overall, I am so pleased with the winners - sometimes, during competitions, I get down when the dancers I liked don't place, but I was pleasantly surprised this time. Dorit was such a fantastic, energetic dancer who really connected with the audience - I felt that, as soon as I saw her, I knew she was the Jewel of the Nile grand prize winner.

Similarly, Oreet was such a personable, skilled dancer who I just loved to watch - the audience picked very well and I also felt that she was definitely the people's choice.

Dorit's grand prize is flight, hotel, and entry into the 2005 Belly Dancer of the Universe competition and 1001 Dreams received an expenses-paid trip to the 2005 East Coast Belly Dance Classic. Good luck to you all! We will be cheering for you.

Congratulations to all the dancers on jobs well done, and I look forward to next year's event.

Open Auditions at Little Marakesh
Email received from the Little Marakesh, please contact them directly:

The Little Marakesh Restaurant is offering dance opportunities to performers wishing to hone their dancing abilities and stage presence and perfect their craft through public performance.

- One audition per evening will be held: 11/12, 11/13, 11/19, 11/20, 12/17, 12/18
- Contact Sharifa on 609-274-1474 to be scheduled for one 15-minute performance, in full costume and zils, which will serve as your audition
- Please leave a number at which you can be reached; do not call the restaurant directly
- We have no objection to scheduling dancers currently performing at other venues
- The Little Marakesh dance schedule is created on a rotational basis, six months in advance
- Dancers will receive confirmation in December and scheduling for 2005 will begin immediately

Please, only those serious about performing in public and honoring y/our dance dates at The Little Marakesh Restaurant should schedule an audition.

October 2004
Shelby Pizarro and students featured in this month's Susquehanna Life
Congrats to Shelby Pizarro and her class - featured on the front cover of this month's Susquehanna Life. They are also featured in the main article "The True Nature of Belly Dancing." Susquehanna Life is Central Pennsylvania's premiere lifestyle magazine.

Edmond Joseph
Philly Raqs sadly announces that Edmond Joseph passed away on Saturday, September 25th. Check out Belly Dance NY for more information.

September 2004
Local Performers Nominated for Zaghareet's People's Choice Poll!
Zaghareet magazine has announced the Golden Belly Award Nominations for 2004 and we have a few local performers on the scene!

Habiba is nominated for Favorite Cabaret/Oriental Dancer and Favorite Ethnic Dancer, while the Habiba Dance Ensemble is nominated for Troupe of the Year.

Kassar of New Jersey is nominated for Best Kept Secret of 2004.

With over 10 categories to vote in, get yourself over to Zaghareet's Poll page and vote for your favorites - this is a People's Choice poll, so you help pick the winners. Hurry, you can cast your vote through October 15, 2004. The winners will be announced in the November/December, 2004 issue.

August 2004
Please bear with us as we are experiencing technical difficulties :)
So, I pay out of my own pocket to host Philly Raqs and am trying to move to a better host with more bandwidth and memory (that is much cheaper than what I pay now). However, changing web hosts is akin to changing cell phone carriers - fraught with red tape, bureaucracy, frustration, spotty availability and the like, etc etc, gray hairs ensue, etc.

It is taking me longer to move hosts than I thought, so you may not be able to access this page once in a while, and updates will be sporadic for the next few weeks. I apologize for the commotion, but I am looking forward to announcing some exciting new features when I finally transition over. Thanks for your patience.

On a side note, it's been a slow summer, which is usual, but September is fast approaching, as are Halloween haflas and new events for 2005 - so keep me posted with all your news and events. Please? Puleeeeze? Thanks, you're a doll.

All Hail the Bellyqueen!

Can Bellyqueen do no wrong? Amar Gamal, one half of Bellyqueen, placed 2nd at the annual Ahlan Wasahlan festival in Egypt. And then there's Kaeshi, the other half, and her work with Pure - http://www.bellyqueen.com/pure/info.html.

And ohhhhhh, the gossip! Gossip, kids - I can't stand it this gossip is so good. Rumor has it that Kaeshi was approached by Playboy for an upcoming "Girls of Bellydance" issue. That's right - Playboy asked her to pose nekkid. I hear that she refused.

Let me clarify - this is all speculation and I cannot confirm anything here. But do you think it's true? Playboy featuring real belly dancers (not cheesecake models with an "I dream of jeannie" costume on)? Is this good? Bad? A joke? Who'd pose? Will we stone them at haflas? Would you do it, if they asked you? So many questions....so many unconfirmed rumors....the scandal!

June 2004
Fifi Abdo produces and stars in Tahiya Carioca
Egyptian belly dancer Fifi Abdo has asked a scenarist to transform the life story of one of Egypt’s legendary belly dancing idols Tahiya Carioca into a film. Fifi revealed that she will produce and star in the film, which will tell the life story of Tahia from her early beginnings and journey in the dancing world, her relationship with a number of figures from the political and entertainment world, and how she ended her career by resigning.

According to the UAE based daily, Al Bayan, Fifi has always wanted to portray Tahiya on the big screen and so decided to begin works on the film herself. Fifi added that she is willing to financially pay for the making of the film, wanting to do it as a tribute to the late legend.

Tahiya Carioca, an oriental dancer of extraordinary range and daring, and a celebrated actress, died in 1999. Her original name was Badawiya Mohammed Karim Ali Sayed, but later on renamed herself after the "carioca" dance--a modified version of the samba. Her fierce choreography spectacularly merged the elements of baladi dance (the traditional form of women's solo belly dancing) with modern floorshow dance. This fusion of styles was her own innovation, and through it, she created a dance vocabulary of curves, arm movements, and resonating hip movements that became dominant forces in belly dance for decades.

On a different note, Abdo has denied circulating rumors that she plans to end her belly-dancing career after the death of her father. She also denied thinking that life no longer has a meaning and that she has become careless about everything, especially her outer appearance. Fifi revealed that she has been praying for years and undergoes the religious pilgrimage to Mecca Umra several times a year, a matter that has nothing to do with the death of her father. The actress added that she does not have a problem with talking to the press and is always ready to make interviews with journalists and different television stations.

Fifi stressed that she never thinks of quitting her career, for the mere fact that it is her number one passion in life. She noted that her life has no meaning without belly dancing. Abdo revealed that she is in the process of preparing a new video featuring numerous dances all specially created by her. Fifi added that her new dance video will be released and she is very hopeful that it will be a success, especially since people are so amazed by her style. With regards to her gaining too much weight in the recent months, Fifi stressed that it was caused due to her staying home beside her ill mother, but she is planning on going on a very strict diet to return to her normal size

May 2004
Review of Pop Raqs - Unusual Performances of Belly Dance to Non-Traditional Music held on May 8 at the Kumquat Theater

So I admit it, I was a bit surprised when Monet, a local belly dance student/teacher/performer, mentioned that she was interested in throwing a show that would have dancers dance to anything but Middle Eastern music. What would the ethnic police say? How would it turn out? Silly me, what was I worrying about, anyway?

The show, presented at the intimate Kumquat Theater on Drexel's campus was both fun and entertaining. It was great to see area students, teachers, and performers in the audience. And I loved the yummy Middle Eastern snacks provided. (As an aside, we all really need to get together more often, don't we?) Good people, good food, and great dancing comprised the night.

The show consisted of 16 performances by area performers and the range of music ran from Prince to Incubus to Jimi Hendrix, reggae to R&B, while costumes varied from the traditional to the interpretive. While I wish I could discuss every performer in detail because they all did phenomenal jobs, I'll just have to settle for highlighting a few here.

Who knew that a candle tray dance would go so well to Soul II Soul's "Keep on Movin'"? Khady showed us it could, and her control and poise enhanced the music perfectly. When I saw "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers on the program, I was intrigued. Farida's excellent veil work turned that delicate song into a poignant moment of dance. Fairouza's interpretation of Reverend Horton Heat's "In Your Wildest Dreams" was a representation of isolations at their finest.

And I was so pleased that Hayet chose They Might Be Giants' "Istanbul" - how could it not be included?! Her light steps and humor matched the song's fun spirit. And I bet you didn't know that zills could be played to Sly and the Family Stone? I didn't either, till Aisha A'Noor showed us all so well. Lastly, Azhia's mixing of belly dance and cheerleading to Cake and her double veil performance to Britney Spear's "Toxic" showed her creativity, versatility and her excellent dance background.

Does this mean that any of us at the show will stop dancing to Middle Eastern music? Will you go to an area restaurant and the dancer will come out to Spears and not "Aziza?" The answer to both questions is an emphatic "no." I think that we all love dancing to Middle Eastern music, and firmly believe that this dance is best when accompanied by Middle Eastern music. But presenting the moves and sequences we have learned from the Middle East and interpreting them to Western music is a creative and fun exercise - and done in a proper context (where it is advertised that this is unusual), it provides inspiration and food for thought.

Most of all, this show highlighted that good dancing is just that - it is good dancing, regardless of costume or music. For each dancer, their expression of the music, whether fun or serious, transcended lyrics or genre, and enhanced the music (or message, or mood). When I get lost in watching someone dance and they seem to be the music dancing in front of me, there is no better entertainment.

Thanks to all the dancers, I wish I could mention everyone, as each of them were fantastic and creative and wonderful. And special thanks to Monet and everyone who helped her with the event - you all did a wonderful job and provided the audience with a great evening. I hope to see more Pop Raqs in the future.

Call for Dancers

My friend Roj runs the Mid Atlantic belly dance calendar (and he takes some darn good photos of dancers, too). He recently emailed me this request to share with Philly Raqs readers -

"ok, i'm going to go ahead and make this official, put it out in public and see what happens....
i'm looking for dancers for a project. it's a big project. it involves a lot of travel.
so, i'm looking for dancers with several years' experience in oriental/american tribal/folkloric dance traditions (bellydance in many flavors, flamenco, indian, polynesian and suchlike), who really, really want to perform, really want to share their stuff with new people, aren't afraid of fusion in dance and music and don't have too many ties that keep them in one place (family, mortgage, high-powered career track, etc) and are mature enough to handle interpersonal relations for an extended period of time. yeah, that should narrow it down quite a bit :)
the short version: amazing dancers that want to run away with the circus, only it's not really a circus.
so, if you are, or if you know of such people, i'd like to chat with them. soon.
please get in touch (i'm easy to find)"

(See the full text of this message here, on his blog.) Contact him by going to the dance calendar or to the post, or email him at dancecalendar@rojisan.com.

Tower offers belly dance books, Borders has 'zines

Thanks to the lovely Lisa, a Tower employee and great dancer who is always sure to email me with events, news, etc. She recently informed me that Tower is now stocking a few belly dance books in their world music section, usually near the belly dance section. (Yes, they do have a belly dance CD section - look towards the end of the Middle East section.)

The Tower Records in Philadelphia (15th and Chestnut and South St locations) currently have Belly Dancing Basics by Laura Cooper and Belly Dance: The dance of mother earth by Tina Hobin. Stop in, pick up a treat for yourself for practicing so hard, and mention to a Tower manager that you love the belly dance section and that they should stock more.

At last look, Lisa also spotted the latest issue of Habibi magazine at Borders, so check it out and gush to a Borders employee that they should stock more stuff too.

April 2004
News of Delaware County Article

Check out this great article describing a recent hafla of Najia's - it mentions many familiar Philadelphia names, and is a very nice piece about area dancing.

March 2004
An insider's account of the Bellydance Superstars tour

So the Bellydance Superstars came to Philadelphia in the beginning of March, and it was definitely an event. Amazing dancing, gorgeous costumes, and wonderful performers - it was truly an amazing night. A few things that bothered me (and that were not the fault of the dancers) included Miles Copeland's introduction, the lack of introductions for most of the dancers, and a rather low attendance for both shows, despite write-ups in several papers and the large belly dance community in the area. Where was everybody?!

But I'm not the insider referred to in this news item. I'll leave that to Dondi - one of the performers and the MC of the tour. She shares her insights into what it is like to be on tour, worries she has on the effect of the tour, and the wariness that many dancers show for the tour itself. Click here to read her tour diary, "On Being a Superstar."

Philadelphia Inquirer belly dance article from 3/11/04

I ask you why, oh why, do articles about belly dance always seem to have dumb titles? They always mention wiggling and jiggling as if we were all bowls of jello. For instance, check out this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer entitled "Shake, wiggle and roll hooks new generation."

Written to assist in promoting the recent Bellydance Superstars show, the article is excellent (title aside) and is filled with names from the area.

February 2004
Belly dancing robot steals my thunder

Check out this article titled "Robot belly-dancer shakes her stuff" from Nature magazine. Yeah, the ROBOT can do a backbend, but I can't.

Basically, it is a robot with a flexible spine that mimics fish nerves to create dancer wriggles. What? I'm not kidding - even better, the Japanese inventor gained inspiration watching Lucy Liu sashay her stomach in the film Charlie's Angels. The sight prompted him to sign up for dance lessons of his own.

This article really freaks me out for some reason, perhaps because of the picture of a headless robot wearing a yellow "skirt."

NYT weighs in - Symphony in Motion? Ancient Tradition? Or Just Tacky?

As of January 1st, 2004, foreign dancers are banned from performing in Egypt. Is it because foreign dancers steal the limelight from native Egyptian belly dancers, or because some were plying the oldest profession?

While many claim that only Egyptians have the "it" of dancer, Egyptians are torn on the subject - between pride in the dance and distrust as an indecent act. Click here for an overview of the situation, reprinted from the New York Times.

Belly dance is mainstream - Part III

February seems to be the month of mainstream for belly dancing - from the NYT to science magazines, everyone's got something to say about belly dancing, it seems.

Next up, the Village Voice, which predicts that �mesh musci� which incorporates smarter hip-hop and Gypsy-Turkish-Romanian-Bulgarian-Indian-dance music will be the next big thing, bringing a new style of oriental fatalism and languor mixed with raw hip-hop vitality into the club scene. Check out the article here, and put on your gypsy skirt and hit the dance floor.

Belly dance is mainstream - Part IV

We all know that belly dancing is a great workout, and Dr. Weil confirms it. Check out this nice, short article on the health benefits of belly dancing. I especially like the no-nonsense explanation of oriental dance in Middle Eastern society.

top top January 2004
The Josephine Baker Award

Jewel of the Nile Presents:
THE JOSEPHINE BAKER AWARD

"Since I personified the savage on the stage, I tried to be as civilized as possible in daily life." Josephine Baker

Azhia, the winner of the first Jewel of the Nile Pageant, went on to become Belly Dancer of the Universe 2003 also passed her bar exams the same year. In recognition of her achievement in both areas, we have created a special award in her honor. This award is open to any dancer anywhere who enters a competition recognized by the Seattle Competitors' Club and also achieves an advanced degree or maintains a career requiring an advanced degree during the same time frame. Please send nominations along with a short bio or resum�, photo in costume, name and date of your competition:

THE DANCE COOPERATIVE
P.O. BOX 160
VOORHEES, NJ 08043
TheDanceCoop@hotmail.com

Azhia�s website: www.azhiadance.com
Seattle Competitor�s Club (under construction): www.kitiera.net
Josephine Baker�s Official Website: www.cmgww.com/stars/baker/home.html
The Dance Cooperative: www.geocities.com/alexandraahnide

top Will the Belly Dance Superstars turn our dance mainstream?
Interesting question, huh? Will belly dancing go the way of leather jackets, tattoos, and piercings - all cutting edge in their day, boring and trendy now. And what happens after a major belly dance trend?

For those of you interested in the mainstreaming of belly dancing, check out this article from Ad Age.

top Belly dancing Mummers?!?!
Everyone in Philadelphia loves the Mummers, right? And this year was one of the best parades in recent memory, as the Mummers returned triumphantly to Broad Street. Don't know what the heck I'm talking about? (Click here for the lowdown on Mummers, it's way too hard to explain here if you're not from the area.)

Even better, for those of you who watched the fancy brigades walk to the Convention Center for their performances, or for those of you who watched the performances in person or on TV, you might have caught the Avenuers as they presented "Arabian Nights."

The fancy brigades put on an extravaganza at the Convention Center, performing choreography to pre-recorded music for 4.5 minutes, tied to a theme. The Avenuers presented "Arabian Nights" including bellydancer/harem girl-esque women in gorgeous costumes.

The best part? Someone in the area belly dance community must have helped them with their choreography, as shimmies, snake arms, back bends, and shoulder shimmies were done beautifully and in abundance. Before anyone reading this worries that the show was done in bad taste, the costumes that the belly dancers wore were tasteful and modest, their moves were great and the fun they were having was infectious.

Congratulations to all the Mummers on a wonderful day, and a special shimmy to the Avenuers (who came in third place) for a great show - they were number one for me. (Any Mummer reading this, please know I would die to be in a fancy brigade, come on, I'm a belly dancer - I love the costumes!)

top November 2003
Congrats to Azhia, the area's latest attorney/bellydancer!
Congratulations to area dancer Azhia, who is not only a stunning dancer but who is also being sworn into the Pennsylvania bar on on Thursday, December 11, 2003.

Azhia graduated from Temple University Beasley School of Law (while also Visual Arts Director at the Painted Bride Art Center - talk about straddling two worlds). She is currently a judicial law clerk, and is interested in many areas of practice, including entertainment/art law.

Azhia would like to invite the area belly dance community to come out to Cafe Zesty (www.cafezesty.com), 4382 Main St., Manayunk, PA for her post swearing-in gig, on Sunday, December 14, 2003. Make your dinner reservations for 5PM (mention you'd like to be in the same room as the band) and the festivities will start at 6pm, with music by Animus, followed by Greek dancing.

Azhia is an oriental dance performer, costumer, and teacher in the Philly area. You may remember a previous story on Azhia from the January Philly Raqs news. Azhia won the Jewel of the Nile contest and went on to win Bellydancer of the Universe 2003! Azhia proves me right again - we dancers are attorneys, librarians, software engineers, biologists, the list goes on and on. We bring home the bacon, and shimmy while it cooks!

top Philly Raqs rocks - with over 1000 visitors a month!
That's right - I am so proud, you'd think this site is my baby. Well, it kind of is. Since the launch of this site, over 7000 people have visited Philly Raqs, and it had over 1000 visitors a month for October and September. On a daily basis, an average of over 30 people check out the site.

Even better, people from all over the world have checked out Philly Raqs including visitors from the UK, Norway, Germany, France, Spain, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, Morocco, Lebanon, and Turkey. Overall, visitors have come from over 20 countries and the list keeps growing.

The most popular page is the events page, with the instructor list running a close second. Most users use Internet Explorer and find Philly Raqs using every major web browser - from Google and Yahoo to Hotbot and AOL Search. (Want to track these stats for your site? Check out NextGen Stats.)

Thanks, all 6,999 visitors, and shimmy on.

top October 2003
Habiba nominated for two Golden Belly Awards - cast your vote now!
Philadelphia's very own Habiba is nominated for two Golden Belly Awards - Favorite Cabaret/Oriental Dancer and Favorite Ethnic Dancer. These awards are "People's Choice" awards, and rely on votes from people like YOU.

Please send your votes by October 15, 2003 to: Zaghareet!, P.O. Box 1809, Elizabeth City, NC 27906-1809 or e-mail: zaghareetmagazine@earthlink.net. Please vote only once; multiple e-mails from the same address will not be counted! The winners will be announced in the November/December, 2003 issue! Direct any questions or comments to ZaghareetMagazine@earthlink.net.

Zaghareet Magazine began as a belly dance trade publication but has evolved into a Middle Eastern arts and culture magazine. In addition to great feature articles on dancers, troupes, music, musicians and personal experiences of professional development, it includes recipes, travel articles, and reviews on books, music, videos, and events that relate to Middle Eastern culture.

Area dancer featured on NBC's "Moms on the Move"
Patricia Czapp Rotondi, of Schwenksville PA, was featured on a one hour NBC special called "Moms on the Move" on September 3, 2003. Robin Leach introduced her as "The Belly Dancing Grandma" and she, along with her three-year old granddoughter, belly danced!

Patricia is definitely on the move - she has been the owner of Bellygrams Incorporated since 1975 and she performs locally and internationally. For the last few years, she has taught, choreographed, and performed with passengers and entertainers on cruise ships from Australia, Turkey, Croatia, Greece, Italy, and the French Riviera.

Patricia also performs for Womans Groups & gives dance lessons too. She's involved with the Eastern Pa Middle Eastern dance club, where the members are her dance students. Besides dancing, she is a full-time Accountant, a Martial Arts Instructor, and a Grandmother.

top September 2003
Philly Raqs has a whole new look!
I hope you like it! I wanted a cleaner, more simple design - so here you have it! All the content from the previous layout is still here, just with a new look. Navigation is easier - pages with local information are now at the top each page (events, restaurants, etc) and there are some great features on the left.

Now, for information about updates on the site, check out the Site News, detailing what is new with the site. For regular belly dance news in the area and beyond, continue to check this page.

Or, check out the Polls page - with four polls for fun and information - you can see how previous visitors have voted after submitting your vote!

Now, you can send this site to friends right from the website, and even email me from the site just by clicking on the Email Form.

I even have a mailing list now - submit your email addy and you'll get an email every time this site is updated as well as any special Philly Raqs announcements. I promise you'll get no spam, I won't share this list, and I won't fill up your inbox with constant messages (expect one or two a month).

The Events page is also easier to read - just click on a month to get a drop down listing of events going on that month.

These new features were created, at least in part, with help from wwwToolz, Hotscripts, and OSWD.

And thanks to everyone who emails me with updates and announcements - I appreciate it! Haven't emailed me information yet? Don't be shy - email me today, I look forward to hearing from you.

top August 2003
New Philly Raqs page - About me
People who email me about the site often ask me about my dance background - who am I? Do I belly dance? Why did I start this site? The truth is always much more boring than fantasy, so you can read the boring details on my new About Me page here on the site. No pics there, though - I'm too shy ;)

Get your belly dance gossip straight from the source
I love Al Bawaba. They have comprehensive news about the Middle East, and their Entertainment section is the best. Full of dishy gossip about which Egytpian actress divorced/married/stole a man, which singer denies taking the Hijab, who is suing who about which contract/album/TV show and who is starring in/dropped out of/refused or was fired from which movie. You just can't beat Middle Eastern gossip on Al Bawaba.

Check out this story on belly dancer Fifi Abdo, and check their site often for the latest news on Fifi, Dina, Lucy, and all your favorite dancers. (Or search their site for "Belly dancers" for lots of past news articles.)

Dina is going to be here in the States!
Yep, that's right - Dina is performing in Dallas, TX on September 5,6,7. Book your flights now. I know this isn't exactly local news, but it's Dina! In our country! Dina is described as "Cairo's reigning belly dancer" and she is offering 2 workshops and 2 shows in Texas. Little Egypt is sponsoring Dina's first USA performance and seminar, so check out the details at their site.

top

July 2003
New Philly Raqs page - News Archives
So I was SICK of looking at this (formerly) messy news page. It had tables everywhere and looked terrible. Kind reader, I finally took some time and fixed it up just for you. Go to the new News Archives for past news from this page, organized by month. Tons of good information. Love ya.

Penn prof bashes Utah crackpot about belly dance
Ok, so I sensationalized that headline a teensy bit. Call me Fox News. Great article, though, from the Salt Lake Tribune about a Utah professor who proclaims that belly dancers are strippers and prostitutes to anyone who will listen. Penn professor Barbara von Schlegell is quoted in the article, refuting the outrageous claims.

Bellydance Superstars at Borders in Philly!
Special appearance of the Bellydance Superstars and Oojami at Borders Books at Avenue of the Arts (Broad Street) and Chestnut Street in Philadelphia at 12:30 pm. This in-store appearance at Borders promotes upcoming instructional DVDs. (Jillina Level 1, 2, 3 and Bellyqueen's "Bellydance Jam".) Click here for more information.

top June 2003

Liquid Kohl Liner

Ok, I am getting slightly obsessed with finding the best eyeliner to wear while performing. I found a new favorite eyeliner to obsess over - Physician's Formula Retro Glow liquid kohl eyeliner. Great for sensitive eyes and contact lense wearers, and comes in a gorgeous little antique-y vial. Oh, and they have loose kohl liner, too. I am so over promoting my makeup fetish now. Thanks.

Habiba noted for generosity

Philly's own Habiba was noted in Shira's recent Gilded Serpent article about Ahlan wa Sahlan 2003 in Cairo. Read the complete article, "Breaking News from the Ahlan wa Sahlan 2003 in Cairo" and look under "Loveliest Act of Generosity" for Habiba.

Belly dance articles on CNN and in local newspaper

We're famous! We're famous! Well, kinda. Check out this recent article from CNN titled "Belly dancing: Swivel your way to fitness" (yeah, I gagged reading that title, too).

And check out another recent article about belly dance, this time from the Harrisburg, PA Patriot - "Women rediscover femininity in dance." It features information about Shelby Pizzarro of Camp Hill, PA and her classes.

top May 2003

New dance group forming in the area - Kundalini Rising

Will it ever get sunny again? Such terrible weather is making my dancing rather introspective and moody.

In other (more important) news, I was contacted about this new dance group forming in the area. Here is a brief blurb about Kundalini Rising, please contact michellecherrytart@hotmail.com for more information.

A new group is forming in the Philadelphia area. Kundalini Rising will be a spiritually-focused (mostly amateur) bellydance troupe. We will meet weekly in or near Philadelphia/Bryn Mawr.
This group is for women who wish to dance in a non-authoritative, non-hierarchical setting and who incorporate Spirit or the Divine into movement. Dancers of all faiths and spiritualities welcome; all we ask is that you come with an open mind and open heart! (Atheists and agnostics CAN be spiritual people!) Kundalini Rising is LBGT-friendly. Kundalini Rising will be a safe space, in which each woman will express herself, her spirit, through dance. Women will gather together and commune through dance.
Unlike classes, there is no cost because we are gathering to share with each other. Kundalini Rising values the divine within every individual. All levels of experience welcome. Location/meeting time TBA. To get involved, please e-mail michellecherrytart@hotmail.com
Tell me a little bit about yourself, your spiritual/dance background, and your ideas for Kundalini Rising. PLEASE mention that you heard about us through the Philly Raqs website! Since we are a new group, those who participate now will be most influential in Kundalini Rising's practice.

top April 2003

April 25th, 2003
Belly Dance Superstars join Lollapalooza

Bellydance Superstars with the Desert Roses will perform both on the main stage preceding Jane's Addiction show-closer as well as the second stage. Jillina, Rania, Amar and Kaeshi of Bellyqueen, Sonia, Ansuya, Bozenka and the Desert Roses troupe will perform.

The tour is being filmed for a documentary DVD to be released in October, and will also be part of the full-length feature documentary being filmed for release in 2004, "American Bellydancer," directed by Jon Brandeis and produced by Miles Copeland.

Lollapalooza, and the Bellydance Superstars, will be in the Philadelphia area on Sunday, July 27th, at the Tweeter Center on the Waterfront in Camden, NJ. Go to Ticketmaster or the Lollapalooza website for more info or to get tickets, on sale now. top

April 24, 2003 Dina takes off hijab and returns to belly dancing!
Check out this great chronology of articles from Belly Dance NY about Dina's announcements, recent scandals, taking of the hijab, and early return to dancing

April 6, 2003
Announcing Philly Raqs!
This website began as a final project for a class at Drexel University for an MS in Information Systems. However, I am happy to bring this site to the web (with a proper URL - I had to use Drexel's servers originally and the URL was too obscure for anyone to ever find this page). Help me make this site indispensable to area dancers, and thanks for checking it out. top

April 5, 2003
Ok, this isn't exactly a news flash, but if you are a dancer like me and always want to use real kohl (the kind you apply with the little stick) but are wary of using products that may not be monitored like U.S. makeup, then I have a solution for you!

Sally Hansen (the company best known for nail products) has started a line of makeup called "Healing Beauty," which includes Professional Kohl Liner - it comes in a lovely vial and includes the small stick needed to apply it. And it's safe for sensitive eyes and contact wearers. top

March 13, 2003
Dina done with dancing? Say it isn't so!
Check out this great chronology of articles from Belly Dance NY about Dina's announcements and recent scandal. top

January 2003
Congratulations to the winners of the Jewel of the Nile Belly Dance Pageant, held in January 2003 in New Jersey!

Click here to go to the Jewel of the Nile Middle Eastern Dance Cooperative site for more info about the Pageant and belly dancing in the South Jersey area. top


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*Jennifer, webmaster of Philly Raqs, is thrilled to present this article, written by the lovely Fairouza. Please contact Jennifer at webmaster@phillyraqs.com if you are interested in writing a news item.*

Jennifer, webmaster of Philly Raqs, is thrilled to present this article, written by the lovely Fairouza. Please contact Jennifer at webmaster@phillyraqs.com
if you are interested in writing a news item.