Thread: My New Akai!

I'm probably preaching to the choir here but...I just got my new Akai veils today and they are beyond amazing. I ordered a matched set of the rectangular Butterfly Merkaba pattern for a duet. The colors are unbelievably vibrant and rich. I can't wait to show them to my duet partner & to use them for the performance. I will definitely post pictures/video after the show.
If you don't own an Akai yet, you're missing out!

I can't wait to see the photos! I love mine - I can't help but feel pretty when dancing with such beauty.

And the choir says 'Hallelujah'

For real, there is nothing like an Akai.

thanks you guys, today started out really rotten but it's quickly becoming memorable in a good way..thank you!!

Amen! I took some Akais to a photoshoot on Tuesday, and the photographer said: "Wow. That takes tie-dying to a whole new level!"

Mad props to Jes.

Originally Posted by jesennia

thanks you guys, today started out really rotten but it's quickly becoming memorable in a good way..thank you!!

And Thank YOU, madame!

WooHoo! Akai junkie here ..g.: If my checkbook would allow I'd own a whole lot more ..l;, Someday...

I'm an akai ho, current favorites are butterfly merkaba, shay's jewel, volcanic, tickle me teal, orange/pink ombre, aqua and purple with turquoise

Hi, my name is Steffi, and I don't have an Akai problem. No, really, I don't, I could give up silk any time if wanted to. Just not today (I got a delightful envelope with a lovely surprise today - thanks Jes!!!!)

I have waaaay too many Akai skirts, I even got married in one. Hey, I don't need a custom-made Bella, but I have to have my silk from Jes.

Oh, and my favorites are wine merkaba, sunrise merkaba, and hummingbird.

I sell my costumes regularly -- with only a twinge of regret -- in order to buy new ones. But I've never EVER sold an Akai veil. I've told myself I have more veils than I need, I don't even own costumes that go with some of them anymore, but I just can't let them go.

And I never, ever loan them out. I've loaned my Pharonics before, but not my Akais.

Originally Posted by steffib

Hey, I don't need a custom-made Bella, but I have to have my silk from Jes.

lol ditto ^^ i have yet to get a real, pro costume, but akais are something else!

raise your hand who doesn't regularly take your silk out to drool over? ^^
(me, addicted? nooooooooooo...)

-Wiggle- I can't wait for my matched half circles get here.

I have decided I'll quit buying Akai's veils when I own two of every color. Now to hit the lottery to support my silk habit....LOL!

They look so wonderful. I've been looking at the site forever now, but keep telling myself I do not need a veil.
Hm a skirt I could use ;) No, seriously, I know at some point I will not be able to resist.
The colours and colour combinations are wonderful

Originally Posted by dinavienna

They look so wonderful. I've been looking at the site forever now, but keep telling myself I do not need a veil.

Correction, you DO need a veil. Trust me! ..l;,..l;,..l;,

mahalo to everyone

i've cut my own collection down to just a few and need to start making more again..inspiration is born from boredom :)

yes Dina you need a silk veil even if its not an akai but i do infuse mine with magic powers :)

Dina, you need one, you just don't know it yet ^^ if you love the colors on photo, you'll die when you see them in real. it happens to me every time i open one of those envelopes from hawaii ^^

Jesennia I so believe they have magic powers judging from those pics!! Must be Hawaian magic!!

Hmm I haven't taken up veil dancing. Since I do most of my practice in my minuscule living room (for now) I haven't felt the time was right!
But I do fall for the magic of the veil more and more :-)

I know already now once I get a veil it will be one of those Akai silk veils.. I cannot resist multi colour patterns!

Of course I'd then need a skirt to go with it ,r:;

Originally Posted by dinavienna

Of course I'd then need a skirt to go with it ,r:;

That's the spirit!

Akai's are the best and I think every dancer should have at least 1 of Jes's veils. Whenever I show up in class with a new Akai all the girls take a pause to admire it.

Dina you know what's funny? I named the business A'Kai Silks (a'kai is Hawaiian for 'by the ocean' ) when I still lived in Colorado. It was during a turning point in life when I visited Maui for the first time and decided no matter what it took I would live on this chain of islands. The silks are truly dried by trade winds of Hawaii.

My work and dance with veils was heavily influenced by Loie Fuller, Eva Cernik, and Adnan Sarhan. I believe in the veil as a meditative dance partner and an extension of the human energy (an aura field) ..not just an accessory. Veil dance has been hugely influential on life, I love to make silk veils for dancers of all types but also make some for practioners of healing work and therapy. I donated veils to a nursing home once, and they used the veils with a group of people who were still ambulatory and you should have seen them light up. I have always believed that Adnan Sarhan, one of my mentors, has instructed me not only to dye and color the veils but to move into instruction and teaching with them. Production has taken up 75% of work time over the past 8 years and if I can afford to cut back now , to travel and teach using some of the bellydance teaching and also Adnan's teaching, I would love to do so.

Thank you, Dina, and others, for reminding me why I do this. It's not about the next color pattern or how many wholesale accounts or being the fastest distributor. This 'business' has been so much a heart and soul project since the very first veil.

Dina..I understand small living rooms. Do you have a park near by? Or do you go to dance class ..maybe you can show up early and practice with the veils? When I can safely move my neck again without fear of it falling off at the seam I will be back in dance class and going to the local park to dance again. :)

Originally Posted by jesennia

Dina you know what's funny? I named the business A'Kai Silks (a'kai is Hawaiian for 'by the ocean' ) when I still lived in Colorado. It was during a turning point in life when I visited Maui for the first time and decided no matter what it took I would live on this chain of islands. The silks are truly dried by trade winds of Hawaii.

Goodness, is that possible! I somehow thought you must have grown up there! You seem so "rooted" there the way you talk about your life in hawai!!

Originally Posted by jesennia

Dina..I understand small living rooms. Do you have a park near by? Or do you go to dance class ..maybe you can show up early and practice with the veils? When I can safely move my neck again without fear of it falling off at the seam I will be back in dance class and going to the local park to dance again. :)

Hmm.. I will take a new teacher's class this fall at uni. After an injury that kept me from dancing I'm in for something new. I have a feeling she might be doing veil. The park I would not shy away from in principle (although Austrian people, as likeable as they are in many respects, are VERY judgmental and in this country you pretty much are a freak when you do anything but jogging or walking in a park!) - but I'd need some veil experience before I'd be so daring .w.:
I'm really tempted by it though. I used to not be so much because it's not "typically Arab". I realize lots of those rules hold back quite some creativity. On a thought-freer level I feel very drawn towards it, and, ironically, one of the very first bellydance products I ever saw online were your veils Jesennia!! I think I saw them on Isidora Bushkovskis's link site 2 years ago. I stumbled across her site searching for bellydance dvds. I saved lots of pics I liked on my computer and watched them regularly. I just love beautiful things, and colourful things - BRIGHT multi colour things - I can never resist ..l;,

What you say about veil dance sounds intriguing.
I kind of feel drawn to it at this point of my life because I've been incredibly stressed out over my dissertation project, and think it could somehow help me slow down.
Definitely on my to-do list! And since it's your veils only, honestly, I've been fantasizing about for 2 years now, guess who I will be orderin from once I get a chance to practice it somewhere!

hi Dina, I've lived in Hawaii just a bit over 4 years but consider myself a local now. I love the people, the culture, of course the beauty of the island but living here is not for everyone..a few times I've wanted to go back to the mainland but then after a couple of months I gravitate back here..i figure I'll be here until I run out of money to live on or the island is taken over by Pele

Isidora and I are good friends, when we lived near each other in Colorado Springs we spent a lot of time together. Her dance always encouraged me to push the envelope. I probably learned more about dance and framing and snapshot posing from her than any other instructor. A two hour private lesson with her was very enlightening. I miss her terribly..she's as hyper as I am hehe. We used to shop and do sewing nights together watching videos, sometimes we'd go out. When I was a baby dancer I used to open for her.

One night she stayed the night at my house, I had this big beautiful house with enough room for two people to dance with wings in the living room, we made..get this..french fries and brownies and then giggled til around 2am. I miss her.