Gilded
Serpent presents...
Fahteim
in Vegas
by Neferteri
The Las Vegas
2006 belly dance season is off to a phenomenon beginning! We have
scheduled workshops, visiting instructors, visiting dancers, haflas,
and more. This season was kicked off by none other than the fabulous
Fathiem.
Fathiem’s
show was sponsored by our own blonde bomb shell, Azizza
of Las Vegas. This year’s show was held at The Café Hookah.
Fathiem danced to a sold out crowd! We had people lined up at
the door trying to get in!
Our
resident divas, Aradia and Ashtalea,
opened for Fahtiem; what a wonderful performance they did! As
always, Aradia performed a stellar, high-energy show, and Ashtalea’s
unique, talented dancing kept the crowd leaping to their feet.
The night was full of variety; one delight was an impromptu drumming
from an unassuming woman whose name is Avivva.
She is a little known talent, but she was awesome at this show.
When she played the dumbek, we could have heard a pin drop!
A male Bellydancer,
Alfredo, was a surprise guest at the show. He
came all the way from Oregon to perform for us and put on a great
show. Alfredo sang, drummed, and danced. People from everywhere
are coming to our town, and you never know who will show up at
a Las Vegas show.
We
had Mr. Harry Saroyan and the editor of The
Chronicles, Ms. Isis, grace us with their
presence. It was a pleasure to have two such distinguished guests
in Las Vegas.
Our first
community hafla was a success and kept the energy going.
Samira sponsored our community haflas along with The
Arthur Murray Dance Studio. (Additionally, Samira is sponsor of
“The All-Intensive Bellydance Seminar”). As always,
Samira provides a good forum for dancers, drummers; however, this
hafla had a couple more interesting surprises:
- Our first
surprise was a petite, exotic-looking dancer, Tiffany,
who stopped in the middle of her show and sang an operatic number!
Her voice was unbelievably beautiful! I imagine that I will
be writing more about this amazing singer, as she is a unique
addition to our Middle Eastern dance community.

- Our next
showstopper was a five-year-old girl named Chelsea,
who brought down the house! I hope Miles
Copeland is paying attention, as I predict that
this child will be part of the next generation Bellydance
Superstar! She executed each move perfectly; she knew her
music, and her facial expressions had us all enthralled. She
had great rapport with the audience. Chelsea is a dynamo and
a student of Ashtalea in Las Vegas.
There are
several new venues here in Las Vegas, currently featuring some
of our desert divas. It seems that the Las Vegas Bellydance community
is both up and coming and is beginning to make its mark in the
world of Bellydance.
Have
a comment? Send us a
letter!
Check the "Letters to the Editor"
for other possible viewpoints!
Ready
for more?
4-28-04
Belly Dancing
in Las Vegas (part 1 of 2) by Neferteri
I am pleased to introduce a few of “The Divas of
Las Vegas!”
3-3-04 Belly
Dancing with Snakes by Neferteri
My snakes have their own room with a scenic view of Las Vegas, and it
is temperature controlled.
3-16-06 Giza Awards 2005, A Cultural
Odyssey, by Rebecca Firestone
Can
it be that the West has been so involved in learning technique
and choreography that the very soul of the dance has been left
to those in the Middle East who are desperately struggling to
keep their art alive?
3-14-06
Hosting Australia’s Leonie
and Alpen Sukan by Samiya
What
was going to be another dance choreography workshop weekend turned
into a weekend of dancing and drumming. It is now over year later,
and people are still talking about that weekend.
3-10-06
"Just Dance," Says Aida,
A conversation with Aida Nour by Lynette Harris
She
likes improvisation, and says that if a dancer has very good technique
and a good ear for the music she should “just dance.”
3-7-06
Streets of Cairo- Egyptian Rhythm, Language
and Dance by Keti Sharif
Cairo's
streets are much like its dance – streams of freestyle movement
guided by intuition rather than rules. There are no 'principles'
as such in both circumstances – it’s the organic-ness
of Egyptian life that creates order in chaos. |