Gilded
Serpent presents...
A
Night at Wahib's
Roxxanne Shelaby's "Pure
Sharqi"
photos by Lynette
On
January 19, Gilded Serpent was in Los Angeles
for Pure Sharqi, a special evening of live music
and dance, hosted by Roxxanne
Shelaby (Hypzotica Productions),
at Wahib’s in Alhambra.
The evening featured the house band, led by Mouhamad
Salem, along with invited dancers Aubre,
Alexandra, the Lumina Dance
Company, Debbie
Smith, Sahra Saida, and Roxxanne
herself, in addition to the regular house dance
company the Sahlala Dancers.
Wahib’s
was full to capacity with a diverse and receptive
crowd, with members of the dance community, the
local Arab-American community, and friends and
family. With the support of Wahib’s owners and
staff, Roxxanne will produce this event on a
monthly basis. When asked about the genesis of
this performance series Roxxanne cited three
things: the legacy and example of her father Lou
Shelaby, legendary owner of Southern
California Arabic nightclubs The
Fez and The Cascades,
her desire to offer dancers the opportunity to
perform to live Arabic music, and the importance
of, in her words, “an authentic, high quality
cultural experience, with excellent food, in
a comfortable, down-home atmosphere of hospitality.”
Gilded
Serpent is expanding into new formats of reporting
with its first-ever podcast or video report,
a way for movement and sound to add dimension
to
text and image-based articles about Middle Eastern
music and dance. |
Debbie
Smith reports |
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2-20-08
7:39 pm PST
This is the new hopefully improved
version of this
video. It is being processed by youtube now and
should be available soon. Thanks!
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Aubre's troupe the
Lumina Dance Company starts
the night |
|
|
Heather leads Jillina's
troupe the Sahlala Dancers |
Mouhamad Salem's
band
Mouhamad on keyboard, Vartan, Nazo, and Amir
Sofi on tabla |
Debbie dances
and Samir the maitre d' enjoys his
work |
The band watches Debbie closely |
|
Roxxanne in
the spotlight
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The Lumina Dance Company |
Donovan, Angelika and Paul's
table |
Tracy Farmer,
Oshun, Parveneh, La
Shondra and Cynthia |
Suzy Evans,
Francesca, Saeeda & husband
Dave, Peri, Carolynn, Kira, Celeste |
Roxxanne with her family-
Roxxanne,
sister in
law Linda,
nephew Jordan, mom
Edna,
sis in law Aisa and brother
Chris
|
Roxxanne with friends- Francesca, Sahra,
Marcie, Kira and Roxxanne |
Wahib's
kitchen staff hard at work!
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Have
a comment? Send us a
letter!
Check the "Letters to the Editor" for
other possible viewpoints!
Ready
for more?
2-18-07 Its Not Your
Grandmamma's Zar By Roxxanne Shelaby
Luckily at some point we hear the distinct rhythm for
a Zar and follow the drumming right to the front door of an apartment
house.
1-16-08 Backstage
with the Reda Troupe by Debbie Smith
Seeing
the company in performance six times was truly a wonderful experience,
because each time I saw some new detail or subtlety in the movements,
the costuming, the structure of the dances, and in individual performer’s
presences on stage.
2-16-08 An
Invitation to Haiku the Bellydance by Najia Marlyz
Haiku
often does not take itself or its subjects too seriously and is simply
word images and sensory feelings conveyed by means of three lines
only.
2-14-08 Photos
from Carnival of Stars 2007- A-Z Page 2- L through Z
photos by Carl Sermon, Duane Stevens, John Kalb,
Murat Bayhan, Christopher Erickson, Lynette Harris
Novemenber
10 & 11, 2007, produced by Alexandria and Latifa Centennial
Hall in Hayward, California
2-11-08 Photos
from Carnival of Stars 2007- A-Z Page 1- A through K
photos by Carl Sermon, Duane Stevens, John Kalb,
Murat Bayhan, and Lynette Harris
Novemenber
10 & 11, 2007, produced by Alexandria and Latifa Centennial
Hall in Hayward, California
2-8-08 Amina's
North Beach Memories, Chapter 7: Yousef –Black
Lights and Veils by Amina Goodyear
It
was kind of hard to compete with this kind of action when we kept
our clothes on.
2-6-08 The
Secret of Saiidi Song and Dance-Straight from the Horse’s
Mouth by Keti Sharif
"Saiidi".
Say this word anywhere in Egypt (including El Saiid) and colloquially
it implies someone who is funny, backward - a loveable, gullible
character with salt-of-the-earth village simplicity. To call someone “Saiidi”is
a local term or endearment for a likeable buffoon!
2-5-08 My
First Mid East Gig by Yasmina Ramzy
Once
we landed in Amman, we were greeted on the tarmac by solid lines
of soldiers on both sides leading to the doorway of the airport,
machine guns pointed towards the passengers. I don't recall ever
seeing even one Canadian soldier in the flesh and blood, let alone
a gun, let alone so many big guns and pointed at me. I don't think
I blinked during that endless walk. We were clearly not in Hawaii.
2-1-08 MECDA
Breaks Its Silence by Rachel Lazarus Soto
Thomas
agreed that this was a good idea, and Schill volunteered to do
the paperwork, presumably on the behalf of MECDA. |
