Apex Peakfest 2010

Dancing for the third year at the Apex Peakfest! Wings of Isis to 'Pharonic Odyssey' and danced lived to the 'Lost Nomads'.

Albannach ROCKS the NC Renn Faire

Albannach made a surprise appearance on Sunday, the last day of the NC Renn Faire. They are so AWESOME!

Colorful Waves Bellydancers and Albannach!!!

NCRF

Shimmying at the Pinhook

Experimental Orientale at the Pinhook was a huge success this month. There were performances by many local students and professional dancers as well as music by the Lost Nomads.

Dancing at Taverna Nikos

I had so much fun tonight dancing at Taverna Nikos in Durham. There was a big birthday party celebration and everyone was so much fun.

Haflaween '09

This was a blast! It was my favorite one yet! I think the Halloween shows are my favorite ones of the year. The bigger venue let many more people attend and the atmosphere was so energetic! Their was live music by the Lost Nomads, tons of food and drinks, and beautiful costuming for sale.

I made the skirt, bra top, and headpiece.

A wonderful dancer, Hayat al Hakim, came up from Fayetteville to do my makeup for this performance. She did a wonderful job!!

Carolina Casbah

Carolina Casbah was a huge success! The show was so much fun and I am so glad I was a part of the team to help organize it. All the performers were great and the live music by the Lost Nomads was a great treat!

Photos by Megan Freeman

Shimmabulous Drum Solo

Celebration of Rhythm Drum Solo

Performing and original choreography at the 40 Days and 1001 Nights Gala Showcase

Pink Gypsy

My friend Mara got me a beautiful Gypsy style costume that she got at Spirit of the Tribes last weekend. She came home with about 11 different costumes so it took a while to narrow it down to only 1. I absolutely love it and can't wait to dance in it!

Apex Peak Fest

I was invited to dance again at the Apex Peak Festival. The weather was nice, a bit windy, but our performance was inside so that didn't matter. Shahzaadee, Hiya-Sahra, and Kitty also danced with me. We got to dance on stage in the new Halle Cultural Arts Center in Apex. Afterwards we walked the streets and danced on the corner while listening to "Children of the Horn" ..they ROCKED!

Peak Fest Video

Warrior Goddess...

This year at the NC Renaissance Faire I bought a chainmail bra and belt from Pendragon Chainmail. I took apart a tribal kuchi belt I had and had him add some coins and pendents. I bought some bells and attached those and will be adding some more coins. It is great..and really noisy! LOL!

Jewels and Silk....

A'Kai Silk Veils and jewelry from the NC Rennaissance Faire.

my newest beauty...

This is a beautiful red and black Bella that I got from a trade with another dancer. It came all the way from New Zealand. I love it because the belt is separate and it looks great with a black chiffon skirt too.

Raleigh Drum Circle 6th Anniversary Bash

We had a blast at the Drum Circle Bash this month! Andrew, John, Brian, and Aaron did Middle Eastern Drumming and Jenny and I danced. We did some veil, sword, cane. All was improved. There was also Native American Drumming and storytelling, Sufi whirling, songs, poetry, African drumming and the drum circle. Fire poi, hooping, ect.

Amara's Dance

Drum Circle Performance Clip

Photos

NCBellydance Show

The NCBellydance workshop with Zhaleh Feresteh was GREAT!! She is so sweet and we had so much fun with her. I performed with Colorful Waves and we did "Full of Grace" and I did a solo to Abdel Kader by Khaled. All the performances were amazing and the musicians RAQ!!

Wild weekend workshop...

So I drove out to Winston-Salem today with a friend to the workshop with Sadie. The trip was interesting...but we made it there in one piece. The vendors had some great stuff, but I was good and didn't buy anything this time. Sadie was awesome! She taught us pops and lock and "drum solo secrets". She also taught a 3 min choreography which was very challenging with alot of layering. I loved it!! Even though I am exhausted. My girls and I went to lunch and met Betty Boop...
I am sad I couldnt stay for the show, but my little ones were missing me.

Studio Update

The studio is almost done, so I thought I would post the progress. It has been a few months now since we first started. I will be so glad when it is done and we can use it.

**latest updates at the end.

May 28, 2008

June 5,2008





June 6-9, 2008







June 10, 2008









August 1, 2008

















August 3, 2008- painting





August 10, 2008- floors



August 12, 2008- mirrors and lights







August 16, 2008- decor

















August 2008- Open House