Community Belly Dance 03-08 - Zarifa's Events

Zarifa's Community Dance First Anniversary

March 9, 2008 - COMMUNITY DANCE FIRST ANNIVERSARY. Sunday marked the first anniversary of the Zarifa's Community Belly Dance, presented by Zarifa's Touch of Egypt and hosted by the G Street Bar and Grill in Grants Pass, Oregon, held the second Sunday of every month. Wow, what a show! Everything from tribal dance, sword work, veils to live drumming in one evening. Full details and video to be posted soon, thank you all for coming and we're glad you enjoyed it!

Since March 2007, Zarifa and her husband have spent Sunday evenings presenting Zarifa's Community Belly Dance, a free monthly event hosted by the G Street Bar and Grill on the second Sunday of every month. The requirements are simple: bring a music CD, come in dance costume or not, and be ready to dance. The year has brought many surprises and hundreds of performers to the dance floor at the Grill, and has become well known in local circles.

Zarifa's Touch of Egypt opened in April of 2005, a small brick and mortar store in pursuit of Zarifa's two passions, belly dance and Egyptian appreciation. Shortly thereafter, she launched zarifas.com and developed an ecommerce store which has gained popularity as an easy to shop economical source for belly dance costume, Egyptian decór, and metaphysical supplies. In 2006, she expanded the store into the next suite for a use as a small dance studio to teach beginning and intermediate Egyptian style dance.

Promoting her business locally has presented a challenge. Grants Pass is a relatively small town and the esoteric items offered by Zarifa's are only of interest to a small group. But the Internet response has been overwhelming, bringing sales from all over the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. This required some serious upgrades for reliability and professionalism. Zarifas.com now operates on a fully dedicated web server with a secure certificate and a dedicated merchant account.

There are hundreds of dancers in the Rogue Valley, ranging from casual hobbyists to professional dancers and teachers, but there has always been one missing element: a place for dancers to meet, greet, and DANCE. Zarifa got the idea from her experience with dancing in Reno, Nevada. "Many of the women I met there attended these workshops and paid the fees just so they could have a dance afterward. What we need is a place where everyone can come and dance, for free."

Shortly thereafter Zarifa met with Vicki, the owner of the G Street Bar and Grill. The recently remodeled restaurant, formerly the Owl Club, was the perfect venue for a free-for-all dance. It has a 40' X 20' dance floor, stage, and stage lighting in a family-oriented, non-smoking restaurant atmosphere. Sundays were slow nights for the Grill, and Vicki welcomed Zarifa to come in and set up between 5 and 7 PM.

The only advertising was through fliers, word of mouth, and public announcements placed in local newspapers, which barely made their way to the Community page, but the first dance went very well with a house full of dancers and a full evening. It was a little disorganized and confusing as most first time events are, with only a small boom box for sound and a loose organization, but everyone got to dance.

It wasn't long before Zarifa realized that she was going to have very little time to dance and the evening would become more stressful than fun. She also needed better equipment. At this point her husband stepped in to help organize the event and cue up dancers' songs, freeing up Zarifa's time to network with other dancers and enjoy the evening. She picked up a small PA system for announcements and a larger stereo system with a bass booster and larger speakers. Not exactly "The Forum", but much better.

Over the last year, Zarifa's Community Dance has brought the widest range of performances possible, with dancers coming in from as far away as Portland OR, Florence OR, and Yreka, CA. We have seen sensuous sword dances; graceful improvisational dances with fans and props; traditional and tribal style variations of dance; troupes and duets with canes and zill work; and dancers as young as 7 years old have come and gotten a taste of stardom in front of a captive audience. Zarifa's Community Dance has been a great place for performers to experiment with different ideas and try out something new, and even break down some barriers between some of the competing troupes and groups.

Most importantly, the Community Dance has offered a low-pressure environment for dancers to display their costumes and hard training in front of an audience, and bring the fun back into belly dance.

"And that," says Zarifa, " is really what it's all about, and why we do it."

We never know what's going to happen, which is what makes it all the more exciting. This month's Community Belly Dance will be held on the Second Sunday in March (March 9th) between 5 and 7 PM as usual, with a few surprises.

 

 

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Zarifa's Touch of Egypt · Boise, Idaho 83646 · Contact