Rakkasah
East 2001 Report
part 1
by
Zulieka
Zulieka here, reporting
back on my trip to Rakkasah East on October 19th, 20th and 21st of 2001,
in New Jersey. I went to the event to see Rhea (my Belly Dance
teacher who lives in Greece) and her two daughters, Piper and Melinda.
Rhea and I timed our flights so that we arrived at the airport around
the same time and Piper picked us up. We all stayed at the Marriot in
Somerset, New Jersey, which is a very scenic town. Fall colors were in
abundance, and Somerset is not a bit like Richmond California where Shukriya
holds Rakkasah West.
The Ukrainian Cultural
Center where the festival was held was literally across the street so
we walked to classes and the festival, which was convenient. The hotel
was 100% sold out with lots of different events. Somerset is a "happening
town" apparently. Melinda, her daughter, Zoe (who is 19 months now
and the cutest girl in the world), and husband, Jamie, arrived the next
day.
Melinda and
Jamie have produced a creditable professional teaching video and CD
for Rhea to sell at events in which she teaches or performs.
We
had a sales booth with flyers and literature about Melinda and Piper too.
They have a web site and are marketing themselves as: www.daughtersofrhea.com
Rhea was scheduled
to dance on Saturday. Melinda, Piper and Piper's students were scheduled
for 20-minute slot on Sunday with seven different numbers featuring costume
changes. In addition to manning the booth, shooting pictures and shopping,
my job was to be the dresser/nerve calmer on that day.
Rhea's first class
was "Finger Cymbals for Dummies." Class participants were guaranteed
to be able to dance and play cymbals by the end of the lesson.
I've known
Rhea for thirty years and have taken many classes from her, and still
she can tell stories that make me laugh that I've never heard before.
She is so knowledgeable
about history and the culture of the dance! People were really impressed
and her video sold like "hot cakes"! When
she danced on Saturday, everyone in the room was riveted. She has pioneered
a new type of costuming. It is part Indian, part Turkish, part Egyptian.
She wears hats and veils and the colors are maroon, orange, gold and red.
She came out and looked
like no other dancer! She wore a veil across her face and began her presentation
with a slow dance. Then she went to the side of the stage, removed her
veil and one of her hats and returned to continue her dance. Again she
went to the side stage and removed more of the veils. At one point, she
returned to the side where Melinda handed her the dance sword. Each time
she went to the side you wondered what was coming off next!
When
I saw the sword, I thought, "oh, jeezzz! Here comes my 100,000th
sword routine!" But, no. Rhea did tricks I've never seen. She balanced
it on her finger, and executed a dramatic spin. She did all kinds of stomach
moves with the sword. She did the only Turkish drop at the Festival! Rhea
went to the side stage again and Melinda handed her a glass of wine, which
Rhea put on the floor, put her hands behind her back like the Greeks,
and while arising from a deep back-bend, drank down the wine! People were
howling. What an entertainer! When she was done, the Master of Ceremonies
said, "
Rhea will teach all of you that on Sunday morning in
an hour and a half!"
And do you know what?
On Sunday morning at 8:30a.m. Rhea filled the ballroom at the Marriott
with students. I thought that was phenomenal. 
Then it was Piper
and Melinda's turn to "kick some butt"! It was stressful for
me, but it was great. I'll have to see the video because I was backstage
pinning people in costumes. At one point in the show, Piper had a minute
and a half to change her costume. We did it in time! They began to dance
in the sexy gold costumes and did a two-woman routine that got three rounds
of applause. Their performance was both provocative and entertaining.
Piper's beginning
group performed and her advanced group also performed. The advanced group
danced a choreographed a routine to Aretha Franklin's song "Respect",
which I look forward to seeing. The show ended with Piper and Melinda
doing a drum solo challenge. They were very popular and did a great job.
All of us were all glad it was over.
Most
of the dancers at Rakkasah East were student quality but there were some
standouts. I tried to take pictures of my favorites or anything unusual
or different. Leila Haddad and Dalia Carella were the highlights
of Friday night. They were both teaching at this Rakkasah. On Saturday
I enjoyed Zarefah from Germany. Artemis' wacky, inventive
costume was a hit. (Check out my pictures of her.) Rhea, Jamilla
Al Wahid, and Suzanna Del Vecchio were all great. Troupe
Miraj was outstanding, costumed in jeans, tattoos and blinky navel
jewels. Sunday's highlight was the music to which "Dancers of
the Pharoahs" danced. Totally hot as were Piper and Melina! I
loved Jihan Jamal, the Rakkasah teacher from Florida. She wore
a fall colored costume that was gold, orange, and red. It reflected the
colors of the leaves outside. Morocco danced with a cute guy [probably
Tarik]. They had matching costumes in Royal blue and gold. Mashuqa
Mira Murjan is always wonderful.
One of the biggest
differences between Rakkasah West compared to Rakkasah East was that the
show in New Jersey ran early. Rakkasah West always runs late. The venue
of R.E. is smaller, about the size of the Scottish Rite Temple in Oakland
where R.W. was
originally held. Seats were plentiful, which was nice. (I can never find
a seat close up in Richmond.) They also had a decent food vender, which
I appreciated.
I'm glad I went. We
all had a great time together. I always swear I won't spend any money
at these belly dance festivals and what happens? I'm like a heroin addict.
Melinda found a used Turkish costume for sale. The dancer who owned it
was retiring. Costumes
of this caliber go for $550. to $850. It was marked $250, but for Melinda
she'd sell it for $200. It was an unusual shade of pink, more like a salmon
color. I went with Melinda to the bathroom to watch her try it on and
she hated the color on her. However, the color
was "perfect for you", she declared, and the next thing I know
I'm buying this "Belly Dancing Barbie costume". I have never
before owned one of those fancy-dancy rhinestone costumes. I've only owned
costumes I've made; so this was a treat. It fit perfectly. It was strange,
however. It had the skirt sewn to the girdle with matching underwear.
I've never seen that before and the first thing I did was to cut that
underwear out! When I tried the costume on, I found out why underwear
had been sewn into it. The skirt is squished up in front, there is a gap,
and then the skirt hangs in the back. In other words, your legs and posterior
are exposed, making for a very sexy look, but, "Hello!" That
is more than I care to share, if you know what I mean. Fortunately, I
inherited a veil in the same material as the skirt, so I'm going to cut
up the veil to make skirt panels for each side. And of course I need to
re-fit the bra. But it's worth it. It's gorgeous! So that's my souvenir
of Rakkasah East.
I hope you can all
go and check out a fun time at a reasonable price. I loved the Somerset
area, it's a beautiful time of year and we need to support our East coast
sisters/brothers in dance. Remember, Zulieka says, "Check it out!"
Stay tuned for
Part 2- More of Zuleika's pictures from Rakkasah East!
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Ready
for more?
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