Elena Lentini this Weekend (and the Athenian Corner)

I'm so excited to return to my old Boston area and dance at the Elena Lentini workshop organized by Amy Smith and others!  I'm also dancing at the Athenian Corner in Lowell on Friday, an old haunt.....for information on the workshop which takes place on Saturday and Sunday:
http://www.facebook.com/events/113947918718831/
The Athenian Corner is in Lowell at 207 Market Street.
http://www.atheniancorner.com.  Come by on Friday night.....

Alia and Thalia at D'Jam Under Je'Bon

Alia Thabit, Earth Goddess of Vermont

I'll be dancing on Wednesday, February 1 with two of my students and the lovely Alia Thabit of Vermont!  Alia is a dance friend and writer who I always happy to see at classical Arab music events and dancemeditation classes with Dunya.  I'm thrilled to share the stage with her and Carmine and Casey and other live musicians....the whole event is hosted by Kaeshi of Bellyqueen (of course!)  Also performing..... two students from NYU!  Aakriti, who knocked everyone out at the Lafayette Grill last fall and Shely (live music debut!).  Please join us:

Full info:  http://bellyqueen.com/events/2012-02-01/ 

February 1, 8:30-10:30 p.m.

Je'Bon Noodle House

15 St. Mark's Place

New York, NY

$10 cover/$5 table minimum

Show: Aakriti and Misty at Lafayette Grill!

We had a great time on November 6 with solo performances by Aakriti and Rachel, both founding members of the new belly dance club at NYU!  The live music was provided by Scott Wilson and band, performing every Sunday at the Lafayette Grill.

Layla Tayeb who taught classes last summer also performed. Everyone was amazing and we had a great time!

Sisters of Bast at Je'Bon, May 4

We had a great time at Je'Bon dancing with D'Jam hostess Kaeshi Chai and the music of Djinn. We danced to two songs: the introduction to Alf Layla wa Layla, the classical version, and to the pop song, Mayagoreshk.
These photos came from my Ipod and contain mostly pre-show jitter shots. If others have some to share, particularly of the dance, please send them in!

Thalia and the Sisters of Bast at J'Bon on May 4

D'jam at Je'Bon
Je'Bon Noodle Shop
15 St. Mark's Place
NYC, NY
Reservations: 212-388-1313
Cover: $10; table minimum: $5.

With Kaeshi Chai and live music by Djinn.

Thanks to lovely Kaeshi Chai, we'll dance once more this semester at Je'Bon before classes end! Kaeshi will dance as well. Please come and dance or watch or both..... (Photo: Peter Turco)

Maureen Fleming at Flushing Library in Queens

Axis Mundi and Other Works:
A Tribute to Kazuo Ohno
By Maureen Fleming
Artistic Director and
Choreographer

Saturday, August 21 7:00 p.m.
Flushing Auditorium, Lower Level
41-17 Main Street
718-661-1200
(Directions below)

One of my favorite dancers and teachers performs and lectures this Saturday in Queens. This free show is a rare event. If you're in town, it's worth the effort to get there!

Maureen Fleming was born in Japan. After extensive study there with Kazuo Ohno, co-founder of Butoh, an avantgarde movement developed in post-war Japan, Ms. Fleming went on to perform with Ohno’s son, Yoshito, and tour internationally with performance artist/ choreographer Min Tanaka. This lecture/ demonstration includes excerpts of Ms. Fleming’s work and will be presented with intermittent videos, photographs and narratives that deal with the crucial relationship in her Japanese-influenced work to the changing role of art in society. Photography and visual design by Christopher Odo. Admission is free.
(Photo taken Aug. 2009 at La MaMa Galleria).

Train: 7 to Main Street (last stop) LIRR: Port Washington Line to Flushing-Main Street Bus: Q12, Q13, Q17, Q19, Q20A, Q20B, Q25, Q27, Q34, Q44, Q58, Q65, Q66, QBx1

King Tut in Times Square

King Tut in Times Square? Totally Orientalish. This recent review in the New York Times talks more about the show as spectacle and commodity in addition to its undeniable grandeur. It is a money making venture for the Egyptian Department of Antiquities and rightfully so. It's in Times Square because the Met couldn't afford it. The review in the New York Times is an educational first read for this event,"Mystique of Tut, Increasing with Age". But for a better exploration of the political and historical and comical profile of Hawass, the New Yorker's December article, "Letter from Cairo: The Pharoah".

Performance: Mezzo Mezzo on May Day

May 1, 9:30 p.m.
Mezzo Mezzo
31-29 Ditmars Blvd (at 33rd)
Astoria, NY 11105
Reservations: (718) 278-0444.
Musicians: Elias Sakar, Chris Marashlian, Robert Boghosian, and Amir Noum
Table minimum: $25

Photo: Aristo

Sisters of Bast at Je'Bon, Part 2

Sisters of Bast at Je'Bon, Part 1

Thanks to all of you who performed and who came to support us. We had a great turnout and a great time!

Venus Uprising: The Zoo

Venus Uprising is presenting one of their fantasy belly dance events this April and I'm very happy to be part of it. I'll be the hoopoe, the guide in Attar's 13th c. work: The Conference of the Birds. Other dancers are choosing other animals to embody for the night.
Show: April 16-17th pm
www.venusuprising.com

Performance @ J'Bon on March 31

This Wednesday I'm dancing with my students from NYU at D'Jam under J'Bon produced by Kaeshi of Bellyqueen. Ninette, Carrie, and Allison will do solos and we'll have a group piece by the Sisters of Bast. Djinn is playing this week!

Showtime: 7:30-10:30 p.m.

at J'Bon (downstairs)

15 St. Mark's Place, New York, NY
Reservations: 212-388-1313; Cover $10; $5 minimum at the tables
For information on the show and Kaeshi: http://www.bellyqueen.com/djam.html
For information on Djinn: http://www.djinnnyc.com/

Cairo! December 31, 2009

I land at 12:15 p.m. on New Year's Eve day! Ranya and I plan to go to the Cairo Marriott to see Soraya dance the new year in........best to all.

Video Clip of Soheir Zaki

After many mentions of Soheir Zaki as one of my favorite Egyptian style dancers in class, I'm including this link to her work, but there are many on YouTube to see. As with all clips from the 70s, the camera work is bizarre, but her dancing and musicality (and hip accents) stay clear. Please watch over the break!

Video: Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon (NYC)

Thalia09a1 from wlinden on Vimeo.

NYC Events: Two Shows Celebrating Women

(Photo: Paul B. Goode)

This week, I'll perform in two divinely feminine shows on Monday, Oct. 26 and Thursday, Oct. 29:

Monday, Oct. 26, @ 7 p.m.
The Metropolitan Building
44-01 11th Street,Long Island City, NY
718-784-3716
I'll dance with Alembic, Dunya's Dancemeditation company, as they begin this season's monthly dance series.

Thursday, Oct. 29 @ 7 p.m.
PURE Pandemonium Halloween Birthday Benefit Je'Bon Restaurant15 St. Mark's Place, NYC (btw 2nd & 3rd) N/R/W to 8th Street, 6 to Astor Place $10-20 Suggested Donation 1 food/drink item minimum

This evening includes a roster of dancers including Kaeshi, Tandava, Jaida, and me (Thalia) raising money for another successful performance. PURE's summer show emphasized the transformative potential of belly dance to enable women to accept their bodies and confront confidence issues. This show at Je'Bon is to raise money for a next performance.

Sisters of Bast 2009

We had a beautiful day at Fort Tryon. The weather was perfect and tens of thousands of festival goers strolled by. The Sisters of Bast danced at 1:30 and 3 p.m. and everyone performed beautiful solos to the music of "Sir Scott Lancelot" aka Scott Wilson. Though the knight (pictured below) turned out to be a bit pompous, we left inspired for more shows.

Sunday, October 4th: Medieval Festival

The 2009 Schedule for the Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon has been announced! The Royal Procession begins at the Front Gate of the Gardens at 11:30 am. After that, I'll dance with Scott Wilson at the Triangle Pub at 12:30 p.m. Then we'll roam to the Riverside Market Theatre to perform with my fabulous group the Sisters of Bast at 1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. This year's Sisters include: Carrie, Carolina, Hana, Lateefah, Alexandra, and Mariana. At 5 p.m., I'll dance with the cast of dancers and musicians at 5 p.m. on the Pageant Wagon Stage.

Purists ask: How does belly dance fit in with Medieval Europe? It doesn't. But nevertheless, I'll be wearing a chain mail costume for the occasion.

The Festival is free and maps are available when you arrive at Fort Tryon. Please note that while there is subway service to 190th street on the A train, there is no shuttle bus running to the Cloisters. Expect a good 1/2 mile walk to the museum and to make your way through the festival. In addition to belly dance performances by Manhattan Tribal and Aleeyzah, make time for jousting, mead, Medieval and Celtic Music, dance lessons from the SCA, and purchasing homemade goods from the many local craft vendors. And oh yes, Medieval fried dough. Though last year's rainy weather made for gorgeous pictures, I hope this year's Festival will bring sun.

For Festival transportation information:
http://www.whidc.org/directions.html
For a detailed program: http://www.whidc.org/MFProgram09.pdf

Current Class Music: NYU

For current classes running at NYU and beyond, we are using a song from the album Ah W Noss by Nancy Ajram. We're using the second track on that album, Baddala3 alek. I couldn't find the song on Itunes, but you might be able to find the track or the full album on other sites. Nancy Ajram's website is www.nancyajramonline.com. For those working on the routine at the Medieval Festival, we are using Hossam Ramzy's Baladi Plus album for rehearsal. For new students, please see previous posts for music recommendations: http://orientalish.blogspot.com/2008/07/music-recommendations-for-students.html

I couldn't resist this perfect "orientalish" picture from Wikipedia.

Maureen Fleming: Dances from Home

This week, Aug. 14-21, I'll working in the Catskills with Maureen Fleming and Chris Odo. I'm taking their certification course for Fleming Elastics. For those of you in NYC, Maureen is performing and exhibiting photography in the East Village beginning on Aug. 22. Information follows, but you can also go to their website: www.maureenfleming.com

DANCES FROM HOME
La MaMa E.T.C. presents DANCES FROM HOME,
the first gallery installation/performance art piece by choreographer/performance artist Maureen Fleming.
This unique performance and installation will feature a
retrospective of photography, video and live performance
spanning her 25 years as an artist in residence at
La MaMa E.T.C.

DANCES FROM HOME is on view August 22 - September 4,
6:00 - 10:00 PM daily with live installation presentations
Saturday - Monday August 22 - 24, at 7pm, 8pm & 9pm.
La MaMa's LA GALLERIA is located at 6 East 1st Street,
between Bowery & 2nd Avenue in Manhattan.
Nonprofit contributions for photography will be donated
to La MaMa E.T.C.

Reservations: 212.677.6998