New York Theatrical Bellydance Conference

New York Theatrical Bellydance Conference

July 8-11

Dance New Amsterdam (and other locations)

280 Broadway (near Chambers Street)

Stage performances will feature a diverse array of professional bellydance artists. Participants of all experience levels will have the opportunity to perform in open-stage nights at local bellydance hotspots, along with live bands from New York’s vibrant local Middle Eastern music scene. The conference is co-directed by Ranya Renee and Anasma Vuong, both professional bellydance teachers and performers.

Over the course of three days of intensive instruction, students will participate in workshops with fifteen teachers whose styles run the gamut of the bellydance genre, from modern Egyptian to hip-hip fusion and Gothic. 

Conference registration is available for single day and three-day packages; tickets may also be purchased separately for the evening theatrical performances. 

For more information, to register or to purchase show tickets, click here.

Leila Haddad to debut in New York City

The Queen of Oriental dance--Le Parisien

Leila Haddad (France) and The Gypsy Musicians of Upper Egypt will perform at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, New York University, March 6-7, in a program presented by World Music Institute.

Haddad, one of the world's premier Oriental dancers, performs traditional dances of the little-known Ghawazee (Gypsies) of southern Egypt in the popular style. Born in Djerba, Tunisia to a Berber family, and now living in France, Haddad has studied many of the Arab world's dance forms by traveling from village to village. With her performances she has revived the dignity and tradition of Oriental dance and conveyed its latent sensuality as a tribute to femininity rather than subjugation to male images of women.

Her performances have taken her to major festivals and cultural institutions in Europe and the US. A highly respected teacher, she opened her first Paris Oriental dance class in the mid-1980s--a bold move at a time when the dance form was unknown or poorly understood.

Today she travels widely to teach dance and train new teachers. She was the first Oriental dancer to perform at the Salon de la Danse festival in Paris (1988). Her works include Dance of the Seven Veils, Rouh, A la Recherche de Tanit, Aquarelles, L'Orient d'une Danseuse - Rêveries sur le Nil, Nomades, and Zikrayat, her work in homage to Oum Khalsoum which premiered at the Théâtre Mogador in Paris (2000).

In the Trail of the Ghawazee was first shown in its current form in February 2006 at the Theatre du Trianon in Paris; it was later presented at the Images of Middle East Festival in Denmark, the Middle East Festival at the National Museum in Singapore, the Mediterranean Festival in Hong Kong, and many cities in France.

For tickets and further information on this program, call 212-545-7536 or click here.

For information on all Skirball Center events, click here.

Classic Egyptian dancers highlighted in film series

On Sunday, March 30, San Francisco master teacher Sausan (Sausan Academy of Egyptian Dance) will launch a weekly lecture and video series--Dancing in the Golden Era of Egyptian Film--including screenings and discussion of technique, performance, era costuming, biographies and more. Refreshments will be served, and videos will be available for purchase.

Time: 1pm-3PM

Location: Al-Masri Restaurant, 4031 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA

Schedule

March 30: Taheyia Karioka, Samia Gamal, and Na'eema Akef

April 6: Katie, Na'met Mokhtar, and Zinaat Aloui

April 13: Samiha Tawfique, Nebawiyia Moustafa, Hoda Shams El Din

April 20: Hend Rostom, So'ad Hosny

April 27: Nadia El Guindy, Nabila Ebeid, Lebleba

May 4: Nagwa Fouad, Zizi Moustafa, Suhair Zaki

Admission per session: $35 in advance/$40 at the door/$200 in advance for entire series

For additional information, click here or contact Sausan at sausanacademy@gmail.com or 415-262-0175.