Middle Eastern Hookah Night 2/9/08 in Greensboro

The Tandoor and Grill Restaurant, located across from Panera Bread and near the Palladium shopping complex on Hwy 68, is having their third big hookah bash and Middle Eastern Dance Party on Saturday night, February 9.

There will be kickin' music by a local Middle Eastern DJ, a separate room for smoking, food and drink available ala carte, and dancing, dancing, and more dancing.

Everyone is invited for what we hope will become a regular event in the area.

Party is 8:00-until. $10 cover at the door.

For more information contact Ali at (336) 882-0255. Tandoor & Grill: 401 Penny Rd, High Point, NC 27265.

Classes resuming at Raks Sharki - 1/15/08

Greetings everyone!

For those of you who are interested, I will be resuming classes at the Raks Sharki Studio in Reynolda Village on 1/15/08.

The Level I class will start at 6:15 rather than at 6:00 and the Level II class will begin at 7:15.

I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things after my extended travels in the Middle East and elsewhere, and am REALLY looking forward to spending time with other beeee-oooo-tiiii-ful women to dance and have fun. As you can see, I have new inspiration from the land of the Pharoahs.

Winding down

Wow! What an incredible trip I have had! I haven't been on tribe for a while, though I tried in Dubai. Would you believe the computer gave me a message that the website was blocked because the content wasn't in line with the moral values of the people of Dubai? In any case, if you haven't stopped by to see what I was up to, you are welcome to visit www.sylvanas2007adventure.blogspot.com. Its an extensive repository of photos and musings on the last 7 weeks of my life in which I have been roaming through North Africa, the Middle East, and southern Europe. Can't wait to be home...although I am not sure why. I love travel!

www.sylvanas2007adventure.blogspot.com

Travelblog

I embark upon my transcontinental travels in less than two weeks! For anyone interested in keeping up with me, I won't be posting in tribe, but rather have set up a separate travelblog at www.sylvanas2007adventure.blogspot.com. Feel free to visit it anytime. I am working hard to figure out how to get photos up there while I am on the road!

Enjoy the fall. I'll miss everyone!

My new International Phone Number

Since I am going to be away for so long AND since I will be alone for three of my eight weeks away, I have been on the computer day and night researching the how's and how much's of international cell phone use. My mother can't figure out who I think I am going to be talking to while riding on the back of a camel in the Western Sahara, but I am VERY comforted by the thought of having a phone. Add to that the fact that all incoming calls will be free and I can use the new phone to upload photos to a soon-to-be created travelblog, I am very excited.

So if anyone wants to call me while I am away, the direct dial number will be +011 372 5338 7242. For those of you that know me well, I will hook you up with a real cheap calling card number, so if you happen to have insomnia in the middle of the night, you can call me and we'll chat over breakfast in a Cairo internet cafe.

Yippee!

Human pin cushion

In an attempt to start getting myself prepared for my two-month trek over to the other side of the pond, I visited the WFUBMC travel clinic for some precautionary vaccinations. It was probably a bit of overkill since I will mostly be in cities or on organized tours. However, since I'll be camel-camping in Morocco and hopefully horseback riding in Oman, I decided I better go for it....

....and boy are my arms sore...BOTH of them. My right arm got polio and meningitis shots, while my left arm suffered through Hepatitis A, typhoid fever, and tetanus vaccines. I wish I had known what the side effects of vaccines were going to be before this afternoon, or I might have scheduled better. So far, I have experienced tiredness, sore throat, aches, dizziness, and the inability to lift either arms overhead. And this is just the first day!
I hope it clears up by this weekend, or the dizziness and arm-raising issue may interfere with my Aziza weekend!

Oh well. I guess this is but one small price to pay for a potentially kick-a** trip.

More live music & dance in Winston-Salem: August 5, 2007

This is just a reminder to everyone within driving distance of Winston-Salem that the live musicians of Majnoun are going to be back in action in the WS Arts District on Sunday night after a two-month hiatus. The evening of live music and dance coincides with "Half-Price Wine-Night" at local restaurant and wine bar 6th & Vine (209 W. 6th Street). From 7:30-9:30 pm, Matthew Beasley, Gwen Young, Mary Ellen Watson, and Omid Aghamaleki will be performing music from all over the Middle East. Indira and I will be the costumed dancers, but we invited anyone else who shows up and is moved by the music to join us on the dance floor! We are looking forward to another kick-a** evening. Hope to see everyone one there!

Aziza Raks

As I mentioned in response to Haala's latest blog post, if you have the chance to go to one workshop this summer (or even this year!) and you live close to Winston-Salem, you should consider coming to Aziza. A consumate professional, Aziza is charming, knowledgable, easy to digest, and an amazing dancer. I am sure it will be a fun workshop.

RUBY SCARAB has just extended the early bird deadline to JULY 31 for anyone interested in attending the AZIZA WORKSHOP/SHOW - AUGUST 11 AND 12 !!!!!
(They are also including the free yoga mat to the next 10 full-package/registrations from today's date). You can go to Paula Stump's website at www.shimmies-r-us.com to get the registration information.

See you there!

Raks Assaya / Tahteeb Dancing

For a few short hours yesterday afternoon, Ayla and I were ready to start recruiting boyfriends, husbands, and sons to learn a simple Turkish folk dance to perform with us for an upcoming Multicultural performance. As it turns out, we don't have enough stage time, but the incident got me thinking more about men's dancing.

I think most of my dancers' partners are thrilled that the women have found their own dance outlets. They are relieved they don't have to be dragged kicking and screaming to salsa lessons and swing dance parties. However I think a few of them might enjoy the opportunity to learn something a little different and...!!...put on a costume perhaps.

I have recently been thinking about men's dances from the Middle East. I already fascinated with Kurdish men's dancing. We have been holding hands and hopping around class for a few weeks now during our warm-ups (and it is quite a warm-up)! I see us one day putting on a brown salwar kameez , some white sneakers, and a fake mustache and performing a dance for a multicultural event. But then a comment by Azara*, whose husband is a devoted Martial Arts practioner, made me think of Raks Assaya.

According to www.shira.net, Raks Assaya, a woman's dance, is the playful imitation of the stick or cane dancing that that men in upper Egypt do using a long staff, also known as Tahtiyb. (Pronounced "tah TEEB"-it is sometimes spelled Tahtib or Tahteeb.) It is a martial arts dance, in which the men enact fighting with the long sticks as a weapon.

Below please find a link to an energetic tahteeb performance and also information on Karim Nagi's upcoming workshop in Charlotte. I think several of us are planning to attend, and will be attending the Raks Assaya workshop on Saturday. This is a formal invitation to any of you menfolk around Winston-Salem to join us in Charlotte on September 1. Then if there is any interest, perhaps one day we can learn a version of the YouTube dance performed by the Reda Troupe.

youtube.com/watch
www.magic-hips.com/TurboMan...shop.html
www.alliancemartialarts.com/tahtib.html

*Azara's comment: "John doesn't dance. LOL. Or at least he says he doesn't. Unless you can convince him it's a form of martial arts, I don't think it will happen"

Photo credit above: www.turbotabla.com

Astryd Farrah deMichele in Winston-Salem?

I recently contacted renowned Raqs Sharqi performer and teacher, Astryd Farrah deMichele, to see whether she would be available for classes when I travel to Cairo this fall. Though based in Oregon, she lives about 6 months out of the year in Cairo, teaching , performing, and learning.
Unfortunately for me, she will not be in Cairo during that time, but possibly fortunately for everyone else, she will be in the States and is very interested in coming through NC on her way to Rakkasah East for a series of workshops. (It also would allow her and her husband to stop in to say hello to a long-time friend, Matthew Beasley). Thus, we are considering a low-key series of workshops for the weekend of October 6-7 here in Winston-Salem. Stay tuned for more information, and please let me know if this is something you would be interested in. It might help with some decisions about workshop location, etc.

Get more information at www.danceastryd.com.