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Rakkasah East-10/16/09-10/17/09 Somerset New Jersey
For the 10th year, Rakkasah East took place from 10/12/09-10/18/09 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Somerset New Jersey. The weeklong event includes 7 days of workshops taught by belly dancing elite and 3 days of show stopping, eclectic performances, shopping, and networking. Every July, I watch my mailbox with anticipation of receiving the official list of workshops and instructors. As soon as I opened it, I sent a text Zahirah to ask if she got hers. We received our packets on the same day, which led to a hyper discussion of what workshops we want to attend. If you are like me, your first instinct is to sign up for every workshop you like, and if it is financially feasible, you purchase the weeklong workshop package (which includes a dance slot, something that is difficult to come by). This option is very appealing but it’s also very expensive when you factor in lodging (for 7 days), spending money for meals and shopping, and time off from work for the whole week. There are three other options if you wish to take workshops: the single class option, weekend festival and tickets plan, and the day rate special. I choose the day rate special for Friday the 16th, because I wanted to take more than one workshop with different instructors. Also, signing up for the day rate is often financially better than signing up for 2 or 3 workshops separately. And since Zahirah would be with me, I had no worries about being by myself. Zahirah and I made a very gallant attempt to get a dance spot, but it was not meant to be. We were put on the wait list.
Morning Workshops-The Green Goo and the Princess
As I mentioned above, Zahirah and I signed up for the day rate special price for $80, which entitled us to attend 4 workshops. However, Zahirah and I are both recovering from serious injuries. Back in May, after we both had our first surgeries, we assumed that we would be healthy enough to take as many workshops as we wanted. By the time it was August, we had doubts about our health, but we still had high hopes since Rakkasah was 2 months away. Neither of our doctors would have sanctioned this belly dance workshop marathon of 4 workshops in a row with only an hour break. Thankfully, neither of our doctors will be told about this trip. As the day went on, we started to regret that decision as well. At 9, we took our first workshop-Pop, locks and drum solo tricks with Saqra, who is one of my favorite workshop instructors. I’ve taken workshops with her before and I always come away with knowledge and new technique tricks. She could do a workshop on anything and I would attend. Saqra normally provides handouts to workshop participants, but was unable to do so this time. Instead, she asked for emails addresses and promised to send notes to those who signed up. Additionally, if she felt that something was important to point out, she would give everyone the opportunity to grab some writing utensils and take notes. Her ‘Green Goo’ analogy for dancing was humorous, but spot on. I asked if I could record her voice with my digital voice recorder and she said why not. The combination of my written notes with her voice recording really made for a ton of information. At the end of the workshop, Zahirah and I were pumped. We couldn’t wait to check into our hotel room and go over some of the combos.
Alexandra King taught the 2nd workshop on adding flourishes and decorations to your routine. I had never taken a workshop with her but I’ve been interested in doing so for over an ear. Alexandra is a beautiful, elegant instructor whose workshop techniques provided each dancer with something new to add to any future routine. I was most impressed with her breakdown of hand and arm movements including the proper technique for lotus hands and the difference between Arabic and Persian snake arms. Alexandra’s instruction emphasized that regardless of your style of dancing you should always be graceful and carry yourself in a ‘Princess like manner’. At the end of the workshop, I wished it had been longer because I know there was more she wanted to teach and there was more information I wanted to learn. Instead I went to lunch. This was the first chance my friend and I had gotten to sit down since 9. We were excited about what we had learned, but our bodies were started to get tired. Zahirah’s hip was popping a lot and my neck and shoulder muscles were tightening up from all the arm movements I had learned. Still we felt that we were ready for the afternoon sessions.
Afternoon Workshops-I give you Drills & Thrills
Fahtiem, another instructor that I have wanted to study with for quite some time, taught the third workshop, Level Changes. She is a legend and if it wasn’t for Rakkasah, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to study with her. When she walked into class, I was surprised to notice that she was my height. It’s a silly observation, but nonetheless, one that I have been paying attention to since I took Artemis’ Romany Intensive. Many professional dancers have the ability to look taller than they are when they perform and that is intriguing to me. Sorry, I’m moving on. Fahtiem’s workshop was very intense and upbeat. She has a killer warm-up routine that was fun, and despite being in good shape, was a little painful for my body. When I looked around the room, I noticed that other participants seemed to be a little tired as well. By the end of the workshop, I was sore and started to have trouble turning my head. Still I pushed on, a mistake that was costly later on. I enjoyed taking Fahtiem’s workshop because of the quality of the information she presented. My only gripe is that there was too much information packed into an hour and half workshop. This made it difficult to keep up with. Overall, I am glad I was able to attend her workshop.
At the conclusion of Fahtiem’s workshop I tried to do some additional stretching in preparation for what I knew would be the most challenging of the workshops-Taqseem layering drills with Suhaila. Still, there was nothing I could do stop the cramping. I had no intention of missing the drills, so I choose to step outside to call my doctor (un-related to my injuries) and continued to stretch and tend to my muscles. I went back to the workshop and participated into what I would call military like hip layering drills along with level 3 upper body moves. The class was filled (Michelle Devine told me that 70 people registered for the workshop) with dancers of all levels. Several already well-known instructors were enrolled in the class as well: Nyla (from the Philadelphia based Animus), Mia Naja of Maryland, and Kim Leary (who is known as Alexia, the director of the Drum and Dance Learning Center in Bordentown, New Jersey). I have great respect for Suhaila and for anyone who is certified by her, because her method is considered to contain the most complete knowledge of Belly Dance. Since this was my first workshop with Suhaila, I was happy to say that I survived and that I picked up some new moves. I was also un-happy to say that I think my injuries held me back quite a bit. Once I am completely healthy, I plan on taking another workshop of hers in the future before I decide whether I will pursue certification.
Rakkasah Performances-10/16/09
When I wrote my entry on the Northeast Belly Dance Competition, I was torn when it came to spotlighting performers. There were just too many good performances. Rakkasah was an even bigger task. I arrived at the Ukrainian Culture Center a little before 7 because I wanted a good seat and I wanted to scout the vendors and their inventory. This is part of my Rakkasah shopping strategy (see my Art of Rakkasah Shopping Guide). At 7:20 p.m., the sounds of Pangia began to echo thru the room. Shortly thereafter, 2008 Jewel of the Nile Runner up, Attiya, from Rochester New York, took the stage. She is so younger and so good, its remarkable. After that, the good performances kept on rolling. 3 performances later, the very beautiful Yasmine took the stage and of course, was stunning. I took breaks to walk around the venue and talk to spectators and dancers. There is no shortage of fun for the evening. Sahara’s Treasures, a troupe I wrote about in my NEBDC entry, closed out the show. I took another quick walk around the vendors before deciding at 11:02 p.m., to try on a two metal coin belts, which led to an eventual purchase. Feeling what I call a ‘Bargainer’s Glow’, I went back to my hotel room to review all of my notes instead of attending my first after party. My body was too sore and I think my neck muscles called me a bad word that I won’t repeat. Despite the fact that Day 1 contains the shortest number of performances, I had 7 pages of notes from the 4 hours of dancing. I decided to finish organizing my notes in the morning and pick out a few performances that I wanted to spotlight.
Kelebek’s Friday Spotlight
I would like to shine the spotlight on the Troupe, Mystic Wiles, from Mount Laurel New Jersey. This was my first time seeing them perform and I was very impressed. I liked the tribal music with the carnival over tones. Bravo ladies. I also like to spotlight dancers Nina Amaya, Attiya, and Anasma. If you have not seen Attiya perform, try to do so because she is definitely a rising star in the Belly Dance Universe. Nina Amaya, from Maryland made one of the most unusual and memorable entrances that I’ve ever seen. How she managed to belly dance for several minutes while wearing a big bear suit (seriously she wore a brown bear suit) is reason enough to spotlight her. Once the bear was slain (nice touch having the little boy slay the bear), the remainder of her performance was very a treat to watch. Anasma, from home borough of Queens New York was my favorite performer from Day I. Her tribal technique was tight (that’s a good thing) and her graceful mixture of hip-hop stood out from all the other performers that evening.
Rakkasah Performances-10/17/09
Day 2 was a non-stop 12-hour marathon of performances that are so good it became difficult to track. I arrived early so that I could make a quick sweep of the vendors that I didn’t get to preview the previous night. Zahirah and I checked in with on of our Egyptian Cabaret instructors Fatima, (you may know her since she is a beautiful dancer and webmaster for this site) who was working at the Turquoise International booth and then we proceed to our seats. Our other Cabaret Instructors, Nancy Ahmad, was performing with her dance troupe, Raqs Helm, from Woodbury Heights New Jersey. Their performance featured classic cabaret essence and in my opinion set the mood for the day. I watched the next 7 performances before I started to get antsy. See-on the previous day, I was eyeing this beautiful feather top and velvet and lace hip sash from Geisha Moth. I resisted the temptation to buy it for over 16 hours (and I am extremely proud of myself), but the emotional pull was just too much for me. The outfit was calling me in a very seductive voice and I could resist it any longer.
Needless to say, the gorgeous top was purchased by Chelcy (I’m not mad, I’m envious), but I did buy the lace velvet hip sash-that has pockets. Yes, pockets. To keep the belt from taunting me for the remainder of the day, I bought a fierce pair of gloves to match the belt because I believe that an incomplete look is just stylishly wrong. Thoroughly satisfied with my purchase, I set my sites on finding seating again to watch more performances. Zahirah and I had not decided when we were leaving, but we knew that we needed to decide soon because we were both still tired. I enjoyed the diverse dance styles and costuming and I couldn’t write down my notes fast enough.
Then it was time for open floor dancing which is one of my favorite activities to participate in at Rakkasah. In between performances, the stage is open to dancing with the live bands. Despite the lingering neck and shoulder pain, I grabbed my new purple sequin coin hip scarf (Purchased the day before) and jumped on stage to dance to the sounds of Djinn. I love dancing on stage with dancers that I’ve never met to music that I’ve never heard because it is something that I only get to do at Spring Caravan and Rakkasah East.
Kelebek’s Saturday Spotlight
I regret that I was unable to watch all of the remaining performances, but of those that I watched. I would like to spotlight troupe little Egypt of Connecticut for their entertaining performance and good use of different props. Lili of Somerville New Jersey is being spotlighted for her performance and her diva like animal print costume. Lastly I would like to spotlight Melanie of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania who as added as a last minute replacement in the line up. Melanie’s performance contained sharp technical movements along with beautiful emotional expression. I hope to see her perform again.
This was my first time being at Rakkasah for more than one day. I loved it. Calling all foxy dancers, try it for yourself. If I am truly healthy and have enough extra money, I would like to stay for all 3 festival dates. I am sure I missed some dynamic performances Saturday evening and all day Sunday. I’ll be back next year. I hope to see many of my good friends there as well. top