Shimmy Showcase is back!

I know, it's not exactly news to many who love Shimmy Showcase that those clever organizers have found a new home for their weekly belly dance gathering at Viento y Agua Coffee House (4007 East 4th Street, Long Beach). It was announced about a month ago, but I've been writing my brains out for NaNoWriMo for the past month and am just now coming up for air. (Yes, I did make it to 50K words, thank you for asking!) If you aren't familiar with NaNoWriMo (short for National Novel Writing Month), you can find out more about this craziness here. But you're probably more interested in who will be dancing at Shimmy Showcase, right? I thought so...

This Sunday, starting at 5:30 p.m., Abraiha will present Tahma, IrinaXara, Nadirah, Jade, and May.

On Dec. 11, my good friend Katerina will present a program that includes live traditional Turkish and Sufi music by Saf Mavi. The featured dancers will be Katerina & the Kabuki Dolls, Strawberry Butterfly, Akasha Star, Sarah al Nour, Taji, Lee Ali and Marguerite.

Enjoy!

Shimmy Showcase, RIP

Katerina called last night with the sad news that her special Shimmy Showcase planned for Sunday evening would not be taking place because iCandy was closing. I know, I could hardly believe it myself. Local belly dancers and fans of belly dance have been so fortunate for so many years to have the weekly Shimmy Showcase at the coffeehouse formerly known as Coffee Haven (1708 E. Broadway).

It seems every dancer in Southern California has performed there at one time or another. For the past nine years, under the nurturing care of its team of showcase coordinators, it has been a welcoming and friendly environment for new dancers; a casual, no-fuss venue for veteran dancers; a stage for experimental and innovative interpretations of belly dance; and a place where anybody with the desire could enjoy a few hours of Middle Eastern-inspired dance and music.

In an email, showcase's administrator Xandra said that while upcoming shows have been canceled, the coordinators will work to find a replacement venue and would welcome any leads. You can reach her at shimmyshowcase@gmail.com.

You also might want to check the group's blog for updates: http://shimmyshowcase.blogspot.com.

Photo: Katerina performing at Shimmy Showcase in March 2009.

Sunday trip to Merry's and Shimmy Showcase

We headed down to Long Beach on Sunday afternoon to share in Merry's celebration of the New York Times bestseller THREE CUPS OF TEA, about author Greg Mortenson's efforts to build schools and reduce poverty in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Shop owners Merry and Dallas hosted the three-hour party, which featured tribal belly dancing by the Om Sisters and male dancer Marked Khalil, along with dancing and live music by tribal troupe Oojahm. In addition to enjoying the live entertainment, guests were treated to belly dance lessons, nibbled on gingerbread camel cookies, sipped champagne, and made donations to Pennies for Peace, Mortenson's humanitarian foundation.

This was such a great event, and I can't wait until July 25, when Merry and I will be celebrating the release of my debut novel, THE BELLY DANCER, with another big belly dance party at her shop. I'll have more details on that very soon! (Here you can see Merry with me and my ever growing pregnant belly! And if it looks like I'm holding onto that new purse for dear life, it's because I was not going to set it down for one second -- even to take a picture -- because I didn't want anyone else to snatch it up. It's my new favorite thing...)

The THREE CUPS OF TEA celebration will continue at Merry's at 6 p.m. March 11, when Jamshed Rasul will speak on art and culture in Pakistan, and a silent auction will raise more proceeds for Pennies for Peace. If you're in the area, stop in and check it out!

And of course, since we were in the area, we stopped in at the Coffee Haven to see the Shimmy Showcase. My very good friend Katerina was dancing in true ATS fashion with Sooz and Alexiis, along with four of their students, to live music performed by the Ansuz ensemble, led by Fernan Cobian. The dancing was awesome and the live music was concert quality. It was such a terrific way to end an already terrific day.