Market at the Casbah 2011

Market at the Casbah is a wonderful belly dance festival that takes place every spring at the Fullerton Senior Multi-Service Center. This year's event took place Satuday, April 2, and offered a full day of performances, shopping and food, thanks to the amazing organizational efforts of Wanda Lee Sundberg and Deborah Peterson. Here's a peek:

Shopping!

Below is my festival buddy, Alane, and drummer Ed Lee, who was scheduled to perform later in the day with Saf Mavi, accompanying Katerina and the Kabuki Dolls.

Azure Moon is the lovely 3-lady troupe who kicked off the performances just before noon.

Next up was Celia, a soloist with loads of style and grace. Not to mention an awesome costume...

How cool is this jeweled foot cover?

Ah, Azuluna -- I always love to watch these ladies dance. They are the student troupe for Sooz, who teaches ATS in northern OC.

Marla is more often seen as half of the Raks Bahlam duo, but today she performed an exquisite Egyptian solo. Gorgeous!

Roz and the Dancing Sands are always popular. The three young girls also performed a Bollywood-style choreography on their own, which they choreographed themselves. It was fun to watch their enthusiasm--and talent!

Essence of the Orient came up next, and yes, they raq'd it!

Cynthia is such a talented dancer and she just gets better and better every year. And I love her costumes! This one is a show-stopper. I wish my photos did it justice.

JJ and the Habibis -- It is impossible to watch these ladies and not have a good time. They are so much fun to watch!

And JJ (Jeri St. James) performed a terrific cane solo, too.

Next up was Medea and the Desert Mirage Dancers. And not only did they fit 12 dancers on this tiny stage, they performed with zills (and sounded great) and veils, too! Just to give you a flavor of their fun act: They opened with Red Elvises' "I Wanna See You Bellydance"

Gabriella from San Diego was next up, and she really shined in this lovely minimalist belly dance costume. Stunning.

Mariposa, who studies with Sylvia Xica Gitana, danced a Spanish-Arabic flavored tribal fusion piece.

And each dancer wore an amazing crocheted hip scarf. So pretty!

Taji and the Johara dancers came out next, and they were a lot of fun to watch. Great dancers, and they play zills, too!

A bit later in the day, Cyriana danced to live music provided by the legendary John Bilezikjian and his band.

So that's a bit of what you might have missed. If I misspelled anyone's name, please drop me a note and I'll be happy to correct it.

Happy dancing!

Pics from the Ren Fair

I missed the fair last year, but it seemed to me that there are a lot -- a lot -- more belly dance-type costumes roaming around this year. And there were new troupes (but many familiar faces) dancing at the Trader's Market stage.

The musicians of Baba Ku (including Gorkem Somer, far right, and Ed Lee beside him)

Baba Ku dancers and musicians

Baba Ku dancers and musicians

Baba Ku dancers and musicians

Bey Abi dancers and musicians (Yes, that's Sooz dancing far left)

Bey Abi dancers and musicians

Bey Abi dancers and musicians

Hanging out with Long Beach-based dancer Katerina

My baby belly dancer's first faire! (Yes, we're pretty proud parents...)

Pics from NAMM 2010

Mr. Scribbling Gypsy (my darling husband, Austin) was awesome enough to take these snaps at this year's NAMM Show, which is one of the largest music product trade shows in the world. It was held January 14-17 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

These are some scenes from the Remo booth:

Master drummer Donavon Lerman and Ed Lee

and international drumming star Issam Houshan

Update on the Halloween Hafla at Merry's

You aren't going to miss tomorrow's Halloween Hafla at Merry's Fashion with Passion boutique in Long Beach, are you? I didn't think so :-)

And the lineup has grown since my last post (as lineups tend to do...)

Here's the latest:

Katerina
Ra'essa
Sarah al Nour
Om Sisters
Troupe Bastet
Tehani
Stasiah
Kabuki Dolls
and very special guest Fahtiem

And you won't want to miss the Middle Eastern music by Marc Cornelius and Brett Bowan of Kara Nomadica, along with guest musicians Ed Lee and my husband, Austin.

The event will take place from about 5 to about 8, at Merry's (2747 E. Broadway, Long Beach). The music and dancing will get underway about 5:30, and you can bet they'll be drawing a crowd. You should plan to arrive early to avoid the parking crunch and to be sure to get a good spot to see the entertainment...

Photos from THE BELLY DANCER Book Release Party & Benefit

Is there any other way to celebrate a book about belly dancing than with a night filled with belly dancing and belly dancers? I think not.

We had dancers, lots and lots of dancers, as well as drummers, belly dance costume models and even pirates! (Oh yeah, and some of them were even extras in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies).

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Merry's Fashion with Passion boutique in Long Beach for allowing us to take over her store (and her sidewalk, and her alley, and the street in front of her shop...) on Saturday night to throw this party for our friends, family and folks who wanted to get their own signed copy of THE BELLY DANCER.


We had a phenomenal turnout -- at least 200 people at one point packed the store and back patio, where the guys from Hana Lima Industries set up the most amazing Moroccan tent. The crowd was so thick, it spilled out onto the sidewalk and street. My husband says he watched as the traffic on Broadway had to maneuver around the crowd, and at one point a city bus slowed down to a crawl so the driver and passengers could get a good look at the dancing and drumming taking place on the sidewalk.

We sold out of the books that Laguna Beach Books so kindly provided!

The event was such a wonderful success because of all the help and support from so many people.

The dancers: Katerina, Sarah al Nour, Enala, Sooz & her troupe Azuluna & the Om Sisters!

The musicians: Ed Lee, Donavon, Austin Cameron, Marc, and their friends


Andrea Farese of Stellar Advantage for providing the belly dance costumes for the fashion show.


Rachel from O.C. Bellydance Connection for taking great photos!

And of course, my parents, who kept my 9-week-old daughter fed, dry and entertained during the madness, and my dear friends Alane & Diane, who were the first to arrive and the last to leave, and stepped in to help me fix all the little problems that popped up throughout the night.


Honestly, I can't thank everyone enough. You're the best :-)

(Photos courtesy of Rachel of OC Bellydance Connection)