• Little -ages 5-9 years
• Junior -ages 10-17 years
• Divine -20 years experience
• Fusion

• Egyptian
• Universal
• Troupe

When Karawan came out in her liquid gold dress with red rhinestone accents, I thought she looked like an Egyptian queen. She was classy and regal, with her hair in an elegant chignon. Karawan, who is married to one-third of the Lammam Brothers Arabic music ensemble, is a classical Arabic music maven, so I wasn't surprised that she picked a lesser-known Umm Khalthoum song, "Esaal Rohak". I noticed that she was really working a lot of the subtleties in the music in her dance. She really knows how to work the dynamic in a dance: going from soft to hard, from kitten to lioness as the music takes her. She mimed and mouthed the words to the songs several times, although it was not a vocal track. I wonder if that's wise if you have a non-Middle Eastern audience and can't be sure that the audience and judges are familiar with the lyrics.

Inaya was the Princess of Cairo in a black skirt gored with fuchsia with a diagonal fuchsia strap on the bra and belt and a pretty headband framing her smile. It was an excellent interpretation of this popular Egyptian dance tune, with fluid transitions, and assertive traveling moves. I like it when a dancer goes on the prowl. At times I thought she was channeling Fifi a bit, with her radiant, yet calm and beautiful face.

Veronica wore a purple chiffon skirt with fuchsia insets that flared beautifully when she danced. She started with her back to the audience, which can be hard to pull off. During the kanoun taxim she did hip shimmies while following the bass drum background with big chest drops. She also had a fake ending. We thought she was done, but she picked up her veil again and gave us a swirling, fast finale with lots of audience eye contact.

She was smooth and dramatic in emerald green and gold. Nice interpretation of another old Egyptian dance favorite. I think it was Sitt El Hosn. Another audience favorite and another dramatic back drop finale.

Sumra, in vibrant orange chiffon over a gold lamé underskirt, got the audience rocking to the Saidi part of her dance. When she moved to the back of the stage and paused for that old familiar boom-boom tekka tek drama of the drum, she pulled us all into the drama with her. As Bobby Farrah used to say, "there isn't an Arab in the world that doesn't know what to do when they hear and see that". As in put your hands together and GROOVE with the dancer.

Jade was in shocking fuchsia chiffon with a ruched bra and a flower over her ear. The skirt had a fringeless belt with cut-outs. She seemed a bit tentative to me at times but had a nice soft quality. Again, the audience seemed to like the Saidi part, and it seemed to be her favorite, too.

Sa'adiyya was the winner of the 2003 Belly Dancer of the Year contest. She was also runner-up in the fusion category that day. In fuchsia chiffon with flowing sleeves that enhanced her arm movements, she manipulated a beautiful fuchsia, teal and mauve veil with great drama. Later in the dance she became playful and outgoing. The whole effect was graceful, youthful, and fresh. Yet another music problem caused some bad sound system feedback during her dance.

As the person in the seat next to me said, "when you go to Egypt, you see dancers that dance like that all the time." This dancer and her performance were the embodiment of the Egyptian concept of "Eshta"*. In a bubble-gum pink bedla and skirt, she was butter-smooth with really clean technique that was a joy to watch. Someone told me that she is the daughter of Lou Shelaby, one of the brothers that owned the famous Fez and Cascades nightclubs in Los Angeles. Lou Shelaby was also a violinist, I believe, so talent apparently runs in the family. Roxxanne must have been watching great dancers since she was small, and it shows. She also performs with and is Assistant Director of Sahra Kent's "Ya Amar! Middle Eastern Dance Company". No wonder her Egyptian chops are so well-honed.
*Eshta: creamy, rich, often used to mean deliciously voluptuous in Egypt.

Ed note- So sorry the pictures we obtained are not turning out very well! We will continue to show you what we have, but your photos are welcome and appreciated, especially as we try to fill out the categories below. Thanks!

BDOU 2005 Category Photos yet to come
-Divine
-Fusion
-Universal