Community Dance - 10-10-10 - Zarifa's Events

October 2010 Community Belly Dance

October 10, 2010: The changing of the seasons to October brings with it other winds of change as Zarifa's Touch of Egypt prepares to move to the sunny shores of San Diego. This month's community dance marks the last dance in Oregon, but dancers, fear not - we already have several San Diego venues in mind and with any luck we will be ready to stage our first dance as early as December!

Zarifa's Touch of Egypt has long needed a setting in an area that would expand the brick and mortar business to it's fullest capacity. Zarifa's husband was fortunate to be invited to work with a company voted as one of the top five companies to work for in San Diego. The universe has spoken and we are listening; we look forward to dancing with you all, sand between our toes, under the sunny skies of San Diego!

This month's venue was one of the fullest dances ever, with nine dancers in the first round and eight in the second. As always Zarifa started the evening off with a traditional dance, handing out sistrums for audience participation as she danced throughout the audience. She was followed by Devi Safir, then Hina in a skeleton mask makeup with a macabre cabaret style interpretative dance. Thanks for bringing Halloween a little early, sorry we'll miss it this year!

Raqs Ahroosh once again took the floor with a well choreographed veil dance, followed by Dawn Sturgeon's high energy veil dance to a chiftitelli tune, Idena's Tasseled Camel, and a new dancer, Saida. They were followed by the largest troupe of the evening, Zarifa's students the Gypsy Dancers with a fall themed dance with masks. Each of the dancers made their own masks and contributed the the choreography and atmosphere. We're going to miss you ladies, you are all so much fun!

The highlight of the first round was the "Broom Dance" started by Zarifa, Darby, and Debbie, one of the members of the Gypsy Dancers. To a drum-based tribal beat they took to the floor with brooms, accenting the beats with taps and sweeps of the broom, inviting other dancers to join them. As they did they would pass the brooms to the dancers entering the floor, dancing away, until the entire floor was filled, the brooms passing from dancer to dancer, eventually leading into the middle dance around. It was a powerful thing to watch, see an excerpt in the video.

The second round was a bit slow to start, we were waiting on a surprise guest appearance from a professional dancer from Hollywood, Lu Lu. Apparently she was having trouble getting her costume together, or maybe the accommodations weren't to her expectations. The dancers who understood the community dance had no trouble filling the floor during the extended dance around. Finally without rehearsal or practice, the announcer began drumming and Lu Lu emerges, dressed in a sleek evening gown under a black themed bedlah and skirt. Yes we're putting you on . . . watch the video, Zarifa had a lot of fun with this one. :-)

The second set brought Devi Safir, Dawn Stugeon, Idena, Cobra Lily, and Taroob to the stage, and the evening ended with one of the most touching and memorable dances ever at the community dance by Darby. Zarifa was set in a chair in the middle of the dance floor, blindfolded, and was then handed . . . a safety pin with a bit of ribbon draped from it. Darby enters the floor in a sheer costume, completely covered in balloons with a flier that read only "San Diego or Bust." The music starts - "California Girls" - and the blindfold is removed to shouts and laughs of joy as Zarifa - still in her Lu Lu personna - chased Darby around the dance floor with the pin, one by one popping the balloons, ending the community dance with a bang (pun intended!) Darby, we thank you, in one performance you summed up the love and community that is Zarifa's Community Dance.

There were hugs and tears from all the dancers that will miss Zarifa, but this was not a day of sadness, it was a day of metamorphosis, new beginnings, and change. We will miss you all, but there will be many new and exciting things in our future for both the company and Zarifa herself. You will always have friends in San Diego and Zarifa's Touch of Egypt will be there waiting for you. Until then, see you under sunny skies and warm beaches!

Although there is no set date for the next dance and venue, we are personally investigating venues in the area and several of them look extremely promising. Once Zarifa's Touch of Egypt is relocated, we will make an announcement on the location of the next Community Dance via this web site. Please check back soon!

 

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