Melina and Piper
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Gilded
Serpent presents...
Revisiting
BellyPalooza
the Daughters of Rhea Belly
Dance Festival
August
4, 2007
Baltimore Museum of Art
Baltimore,
Maryland
by Elaine
Most
photos by Allen J Becker
(except where indicated)
This
summer I took the opportunity to revisit BellyPalooza,
the belly dance extravaganza produced by the Daughters
of Rhea. The weekend of dance workshops
and performances took place once again in Baltimore
on the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, one of the
most elegant venues imaginable for such an event.
I
knew Rhea from
the Greek
Taverna in San Francisco, where she was a featured
dancer in the early 1970s, as well as a number
of other clubs around the Bay Area. Rhea filled
every corner of the Taverna when she danced on
Saturday nights with her energetic spins, dramatic
drops and vibrant smile. It was as though a tornado
went through the room, wrapped in brilliant reds
and golds. She was one of the few who managed
to stay well above the fray in those crazy, competitive
years.
Things
haven’t changed much since then, all the years
aside, except that her daughters are grown and
are as adept at dance as their internationally
acclaimed mother. They also hold impressive academic
credentials, as if their beauty and talent weren’t
intimidating enough!
Belly
Dance Magic – an Evening with the Daughters
of Rhea and Friends
This year, DoR (Daughters of Rhea) brought
back some of their old favorites and added several
new acts as to their Saturday night show, Belly
Dance Magic. Melina and Piper did
a repeat of their beautiful Pharoanic dance, moving
in synchronized fluidity while draped in shimmering
gold. Artemis, who is one of the best Turkish-style
performers around, did a repeat of her Turkish cabaret
and Romany-style dances – and was as energetic as
ever. Melina and husband Sacha returned with
their sensuous trapeze act, keeping the audience
on the edge of their seats and applauding wildly.
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Ranya of New York |
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DC
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The
show was interspersed with some new performances,
as well. The tall and exotic Naimah was truly
spellbinding, looking a little like a feminine Shaka
Zulu in tribal gear with some primitive fur touches.
Naimah demonstrated excellent control in her isolations
and fine artistic judgment in her choice of music, Shisha
Room by Solace. I imagine she is a real knockout
in the clubs, too.
The
cabaret-style cane dance by Yasmin was
a definite highlight. She was tall and elegant and
had hair down to her knees. She wore a sexy, yet
elegant, cabaret costume, slim and spangled and slit
up to there. Yasmin taunted and teased as she danced
through the audience spinning her cane, and the audience
thoroughly enjoyed her. It felt as though we were
all magically transported to an elegant Middle Eastern
nightclub right there in Homewood.
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| Piper’s
Beginners Class performed a very enjoyable Tambourine
Dance, and it looks as though tribal is making a big
comeback. Nouvelle diva and teacher Lisa Zahiya did
an interesting tribal/jazz fusion dance. Rhea also
closed the show this year with Melina, Piper and students
in a well-synchronized Sibek number, furthering the
emphasis on tribal and bringing the show to an energetic
climax. Rhea then danced among the audience, and it
really took me back to those North Beach days when
she held the audience in the palm of her hand while
she joked and gyrated her way through the aisles. |
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Melina |
Chellcy
of Fringe Benefits from Illinois
click
for enlargement
Sword/Dagger Melina
Inspired by the spectacular “point to point”
circus sword acts of Europe, Melina takes
the balancing of a sword to new heights:
by balancing it on the tip of a dagger gripped
in her jaws.
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Hiba of Ontario 
Gypsy
Lyra by Melina
Combining dance and aerial tricks on
revolving lyra (aerial
hoop) and scarlet silks |
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Stray
Cat Strut - DoR Ensemble |
Goblet Dance Deniz
Charismatic master of the slow tsiftetelli, what
Deniz can do on goblets, few can do on their feet
alone! Done in the classic cabaret style, this nightclub
routine is adapted for stage.
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Drum Solo
Issam & Kostana
Issam & Kostana perform a live drum solo
based on Issam’s "Tabel Ya Issam" CD
with Sidqi on back-up percussion.
This photo and the 3 below by Elaine
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Admiral
Fell Inn |
Duda's Fell point
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Fell's
Point Harbor
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Workshops
and Bazaar
The
weekend also had a full array of workshops
that were very well-attended, and the bazaar
had a wonderful selection of costumes, DVDs,
veils, zills…you name it! I bought a shimmery
red veil and navy chiffon hip scarf with
silver coins and multicolored beads. Also
picked up a couple of instructional/performance
VHS tapes (while they’re still around!) by Rhea, Jillina and Aziza.
The
Romany/gypsy style costumes were exceptionally
gorgeous this year and helped to further
whet my appetite for the Turkish/Romany
style of dance. I can’t imagine why there
were any left after the weekend, they
were so elaborate and beautiful …and
some of the cabaret costumes looked as
though they were inspired by Bob Mackie
himself!
Because
I drove down from New York Saturday morning,
I was able to catch only a couple of
classes before running back to my hotel,
the Admiral Fell Inn on Broadway,
to change for the show. I arrived in
time for the Beginning Turkish class
with Devra. She had everyone
dancing and sweating almost immediately,
a good enough reason to drive 200 miles
to Baltimore. Brava Devra!!
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Surfing
HabibiHon.com online- a resource website
for local dancers |
Harv
imagines himself in green ("that’s
my uncle, Rhea’s brother Harv (Becker,
" says Piper) |
I
followed with the Beginning Romany class
with Kostana, who spent
much of the class demonstrating the rhythm
and movements of the Romany style and her
excellent isolations. We then danced for
the remainder of the time utilizing what
we had learned in her lecture.
On
Sunday morning, I took the Ancient Greek
dance class with Rhea. I really enjoy this
class, which I also attended back in 2004. I
find that it helps to promote graceful arms
and fluidity, as well as opening up the chakras
and preparing for dance. It is really a
wonderful warm-up, too. Rhea gave a background
lecture on ancient dance, the Apollo/Aphrodite
positions and how they are incorporated into
dance and art in general.
I
then participated in the Chiftetelli class
with Rhea that followed. It was a great opportunity
to learn the proper body positions and basic
rhythm for this popular dance, as well as
to hear some of Rhea’s stories about living
among the Greeks – one of the things about
BellyPalooza that makes it really unforgettable!
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visit to BellyPalooza gave me an opportunity
to further explore the Turkish style, which
seems to come a bit more naturally to me. The
fabulous Romany costumes really impressed me
and inspired me to delve into that style of
dancing a bit further, too. Thanks to the
Bellydance Magic show finale, I found the tribal
style utterly fascinating this time, but unfortunately
didn’t have time on this trip for Rhea’s Sibek
class. Hopefully, I can catch that one next
time |
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Check the "Letters to the Editor"
for other possible viewpoints!
Ready
for more?
10-10-04 BELLYPALOOZA!
Goddess Power Comes to Baltimore by Elaine
This
ancient art could successfully incorporate modern styles and music
while still getting the same feminine empowering message across.
10-17-03 The
Greek Scene by Elaine
There
were the usual politics at the Taverna, of course, and if management
felt that a dancer was holding back on her tips, she rarely made
another appearance.
4-17-07 Finger
Cymbals by Melina of Daughters of Rhea
Above
all this cross-cultural cacophony soared my mom’s perfectly
paced zills, right left right, right left right, right left right
left right left right. If you put me in a room blindfolded, I could
distinguish her playing from any other dancer on earth.
7-5-04 Cabaret:
Is it a dirty word? by Piper Reid Hunt, PhD
American
Cabaret, the original fusion belly dance, is accessible and fun
for everyone, regardless of one’s dance education.
9-28-07 Learning
the Language of Belly Dance by Shems
A
dancer’s path should be the same, moving from technique to
refinement to pure inspiration.
9-26-07 Lifting
the Veil by Yasmina Ramzy
I excused myself first and then asked her “why
on earth would someone obviously not of Middle Eastern heritage
actually choose to wear the veil?”She smiled knowingly
and gave me an answer that still keeps me thinking today.
9-25-07 My
Teacher, Fahtiem by Lucia
As performers, we tend to often dance improvisation
with moves that are ‘safe’and comfortable. It is
often difficult to step out of the box.
9-20-07 The
Passage of Time by
Amel Tafsout
Her performance brought tears to my eyes; not only was
she technically outstanding, but she had a whole persona, stage
presence and her aura…no younger dancer could be compared
to her. Many times I went to see the show to watch her again
and again!
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