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)

O.C. Bellydance Festival -- Oct. 12, 2008

If you haven't already heard, the first-ever O.C. Bellydance Festival, which took place at the Fountain Valley Recreation Center on Oct. 12, was an amazing success. The ladies from Troupe Incognito did a terrific job organizing, and they had everything so under control, you'd never know this was their first event of this size. (Right: Incognito gals Nikki and Renee.)

Although the event started at noon, I rolled in around 8:30 a.m., along with the other volunteers, to help them set up. We checked people in, posted signs, offered help to the vendors who were setting up inside the main hall, where the performances took place, and to those that were set up on the patio just beyond the workshop room.

I had to cut my volunteering short, though, so that I could get ready because this festival also marked the first time Marlena Shaw, Enala and I performed together. Despite being able to practice together only a few times, our troupe Al-Sukkar managed to pull off a choreography. A lot of credit goes to Marlena, who filled up a good chunk of our allotted time with her drum solo :-) (And thanks and credit go to Richard Lowe for this photograph of us dancing.)

After our 12:30-ish performance, we changed back into our street clothes and got busy shopping, visiting the vendors both inside the hall and out. There were lots of familiar faces -- Tribal Bazaar, Melodia Designs, Geisha Moth, Enchanted Designs, and so many more. There was also a definite slant toward tribal style, both in the vending and in the performances.

For anyone who might've had doubts, I don't think there's any question that tribal style is alive and well in O.C.

And my favorite part of the day? Watching all the great performances on the stage.

Here's just a sample:


Almase Arabesque


















Kashmir, dancing to live drumming by Gorkem and Vernon

Desdemona

Alexiis

(In addition to be a terrific dancer, she's one of the great coordinators for the weekly Shimmy Showcase at Coffee Haven in Long Beach.)

Troupe Masala

Sooz & Azuluna

(I love that they incorporate Carolena's dance prayer into their performance!)

Om Sisters

Politti

(Doesn't she have the most amazing hair?)

Edenia

(This is the first time I've seen her dance. Wow, can she pop and lock!)

MC Laura Sutherland (who, BTW, was nonstop funny all day long) introducing Tribe Roman Morga -- who are always a favorite. Drumming in the back is one of my favorite people in the world, Katerina.

And the final performance of the day, our hostesses, Troupe Incognito.

Thank you for a great day, ladies!

Gypsy Groove showcase in action

For some reason, YouTube doesn't want to play nice with my computer today so I'm giving Vimeo a try.

My disclaimer on the video is that it is entirely my fault Winnie gets a collage instead of real-time video. I got caught up in the moment and forgot to tape! So, as you can probably guess, the music is not what she performed to, it's a piece I have the right to use. I hope she can forgive me.... But she looks great nonetheless, doesn't she? As do all the terrific dancers, as you can see for yourself :-)

Gypsy Groove Belly Dance Showcase -- Oct. 4, 2008 from DeAnna Cameron on Vimeo.

Gypsy Groove showcase debut

Oh, what a night! Last night's Gypsy Groove showcase was a blast, and I still can't believe it went as well as it did. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous about how it was going to go. What if no one came? What if these wonderful dancers and drummers had no audience? Or worse, what if people *did* come, and then I had to speak in front a roomful of people! (I have a deathly fear of speaking in public and fainting on the spot seemed like a very real possibility.)

Well, people did come -- enough to pack out the House of Grind coffeehouse and spill out into the courtyard actually. I saw many familiar faces, including a few of the wonderful members of the O.C. Bellydance Connection meetup group and other dance friends. (No one supports a belly dance event like our own belly dance community!) And the fliers we handed out at the coffeehouse brought a lot of newcomers.

Everyone loved the talented lineup. Our terrific drummers -- Ed Lee, Jennifer Laemmer, and my wonderful husband, Austin -- got the crowd in the mood with some live drumming, and then Winnie Rafael of Santa Ana, who teaches beginning belly dance classes in Irvine, started things off. She looked gorgeous in her red and silver costume.

Next up was Enala, a beautiful dancer from Westminster who has been my dear friend since we were in tribal troupes together a few years ago. She's focused more on classical Egyptian style these days, and performed a terrific number in a sparkly gold and burgundy costume.

We took a short break after Enala's performance to give people a chance to order coffee or a glass of wine from the counter and enjoy the free, freshly made strawberry crepe hors d'oeuvres the House of Grind passed around. Wow, were those crepes good.

When we started back up, I taught a few good sports in the audience a simple 8-count combo with the drummers' help, and then it was on to our next featured performer.

Katerina from Long Beach, who's been a dear friend since our high school days, was the tribal gal for the evening. She entered with a slow taxsim and mesmerized the audience with her poise and snaky moves. When she picked up the tempo with live drumming, she pulled a couple of her students out of the audience to dance in true tribal improvisation style. They looked they had a good time, and the audience loved watching the interaction.

Our show culminated with Marlena Shaw, an exquisite performer and teacher from Westminster, who also happens to be the director of Al-Sukkar, a new troupe she formed with Enala and me (more to come on that later). She is a master at the classical Egyptian style, and her talent and grace captivated the audience.

It was during her performance that I got my one big scare of the evening. I'd been watching the shopping center's security guard hanging around the open doors for a while and worrying that he was going to complain about the loud music. When he motioned me over, I thought I was in for it. But no! He handed me a wad of bills (a wad!) and asked me to add it to our tip pail. Then he smiled and wandered away. How amazing is that?!

When Marlena's performance came to an end, I don't think I was alone in being a little sad that it meant the show had come to an end. Most people didn't rush off. There was a lot of chatting and visiting afterward. Newcomers inquired about lessons, people ordered from House of Grind's tasty menu of Russian delicacies, and dancers hung around and talked about dancing.

And our wonderful friend Diane Becker (who loves belly dancing almost as much as she loves her horses, and who is doing all she can to save Hollywood Park from being torn down -- check out http://www.savehollywoodpark.com/ to see what I mean) took this group photo and donated adorable bindi sets as gifts for all the dancers:

Announcing: Gypsy Groove belly dance showcase

Here's the flier for my upcoming dance showcase, which will be held at House of Grind in Foothill Ranch. You can see a bigger version of the flier here.

Parking is plentiful and free, the cafe is comfortable and casual, there are lots of comfy seats, and there's no cover charge. So, if you're in the area (or planning to be), I hope you'll mark your calendars and come out to join us for some great dancing.

Raqs L.A. -- the day after

I thought I was playing it safe by taking just one workshop yesterday. But I'd forgotten how many drills, combos and plain hard work Ansuya can pack into two hours! The workshop ran from 11:10 a.m. to 1:10 p.m., but my great friend Enala and I arrived a few minutes early. While we waited, we watched a little of the workshop taught by acclaimed dancer and instructor Morocco as she taught from the main stage of the Glendale Civic Auditorium. When our session with Ansuya began promptly in the Terrace Room, she kicked it off with a warm-up. Then the hard work came: She ran us through an Indian combination, then moved on to a Spanish combo, then a gypsy combo, then a tribal combo and finally an African combo. Phew! We definitely got our money's worth. She was tough, but she was also great about taking questions and breaking down moves, and her sense of humor also made it fun. And thank goodness for the handouts! They break down each move and make it easy to continue practicing on our own.

Ansuya also shared some exciting news with us: She's planning to offer an online instruction series through her Web site that will allow her to demonstrate technique, as well as interact with students, perhaps as soon as August. Isn't technology great?

After the workshop, Enala and I met up with our other great friends Diane and Mara to watch the performances on the main stage and do some shopping. The event's layout was basically the same as it was for Cairo Carnivale during the years that event was held at this venue. Performances ran throughout the day on both the upstairs main stage and a secondary stage downstairs. We saw Bellydance Superstar/Desert Rose troupe member Jayna perform, and Petite Jamilla was on the printed schedule but didn't appear. We were a little disappointed because we'd been looking forward to seeing her. Other beautiful performers we did see were Fahtiem, Angelika Nemeth's Dance Ensemble, students from Anisa's School of Dance, to name just a few.

Vendors were also set up on both levels, and many of the most popular belly dance vendors were represented: Dahlal International, The Velvet Gypsy, Artemis Imports, L. Rose Designs, and many more.

The crowd was quite a bit sparser than has been the case for past Cairo Carnivals, but it was certainly strong for a first-year event. A popular topic of conversation throughout the day was if or how this new event will affect next month's Belly Dance Carnival (which is the new name MECDA has given the event formerly known as Cairo Carnival).

Guess we'll have to wait and see...