Rakkasah West 2009

The Rakkasah Belly Dance Festival is reknown as the world's largest belly dance festival. This year it fell on the weekend of March 13-15. This was the 29th anniversary of this extravaganza of dancers, muscians, vendors and much much more. For years it has been held in Richmond, California at the downtown Civic Center, but while this is undergoing a some refurburbishing, for the last two years it has been held at the Solano County Fairground in Vallejo, California. While this is a little further afield for some of us, the Indian bazaar-meets-cabaret-meets-deep-tribal-roots-meets funk character of the event is more than worth the trip and even the sometimes bitter March winds that rip through this area!

Belly dance is an ancient dance form performed by and traditionally for women that celebrates the woman's body, her curves, important life events, her biological and spiritual rhythms; it is essentially a dance form born of the people. It was only in the 20th century that it became a dance form performed in clubs by women for men and often got associated with burlesque and therefore looked askance on in "proper" circles. While there are many more women dancers than men, men are making some remarkable contributions to the form. One of the things that distinguishes its character from say ballet or modern dance forms is the emotion conveyed and shared directly by the dancer in a dynamic relation with his or her audience. There are many sub-genres of the genre known as belly dance or Danse Oriental, these include folk, cabaret, tribal, gypsy, and then fusion of all sorts. There is always room for creativity and most of all joy!

I finally have video from my performance. This dance is entirely improvised. I give thanks to my improv teachers at Tamalpa Institute and beyond for sharing their love of improv and to my dance teachers in all genres and to the divine inspiration that animates our every breath!

Improv for Rakkasah / Rakkasah 2009

This must have been my 5th year at Rakkasah, the world's largest belly dance festival. This year has been so full of surprises, like my trip to Kentucky just days earlier... It was down to the wire, on Friday, the evening of the 13th, I wasn't sure if I would perform on Saturday, but dear friends and members from the troupe I used to dance with, Desert Heat, encouraged me to go for it. I'm so glad they did! I'll post a video soon, until then, here are a couple of shots. I was lucky enough that the gifted dance photographer, Raymond Van Tassel, happened to be in the front row and took these pictures.

Friend, architect and artist, Kevin Stong was in the audience too. He surprised me with the following poetic aesthetic response to my dance:

Her arms gracefully outreach
Quietly do they teach
Embrace our feelings in a trance
In the movement, music and dance.

Smiling peacefully at our eyes
Glancing back with our sighs
Transcends her happy soul
As she moves toward her goal.

With ease she floats above
The floor like a weightless dove.
Happy are we
Who give thanks to thee.


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Este tiene que haber sido el quinto año que participo en Rakkasah, el festival más grande del mundo del baile oriental o baile del vientre. Este año ha sido tan lleno de sorpresas, tales como mi viaje a Kentucky hacía pocos días antes... Así que dejé todo para el último y el viernes, noche 13 de marzo, no estaba segura si iba a presentar un baile para el sábado, pero mis amigos, miembros del grupo Desert Heat (Calor del Desierto) con el cual bailaba antes, me animaron a hacerlo. ¡Estoy muy contenta lo hicieron! Pronto colgaré un video del baile, pero hasta entonces tengo estas fotos. Pues, tuve la suerte de que el talentoso fotógrafo de baile, Raymond Van Tassel, estuvo en la primera fila y sacó estas fotos.

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Fotos de Sharif.

Bucovina Dance Video

Anastasia & Phaedra's Dance Night

November 1, on a pitch black night, through the driving rain, in which the only illumination was that of headlights and sheets of rain that shimmered in their light, I found my way across the San Mateo Bridge to Millbrae to the warm and welcoming home of the renown Greek twins Anastasia & Phaedra where dancers and their guests from around the Bay were gathered to honor the intoxicating joy of the dance.

Oasis 08 - Somos Luz

Saturday October 18, when the moon was in its waning gibbous phase, at a distance of more than 364,500 kilometers from the Earth, dancers from around the Bay gathered at a place known as "The Small Hill", or "El Cerrito." Here, at a special site built to commemorate the warriors of past and present generations, also known as the "Veterans' Memorial Building", the dance troupe Desert Heat, hosted their 6th Annual Oasis Dance Night. My dance was an improvisation inspired by the words "Somos Luz" and "Estado Ingravitto" from the songs of Spanish band Macaco.

Lineage & Inspiration for the Dance - Oasis 07