Old School Jillina!

[midnight_star56]

It's so amazing to watch dancers grow...

[ame=http://youtube.com/watch?v=P7QD9s7KpPQ]YouTube - Today's No1. American BDSS dancing at an USAcompetition,1996[/ame]

[tattood1]

i *think* that was BDUC, egyptian catagory & she came in second. tina

[akashablue]

Hi,

Wow, what a difference!

Do you know the music that she uses for her opening number?

[ejaghana]

Hi,

Wow, what a difference!

Do you know the music that she uses for her opening number?

That's called Darb el Habaib. It is on one of Sahra Saeeda's CDs. You can get it from her website or from Dahlal I think.

I heart Jillina!!!

[perizaad]

Very cute and bouncy!
And I love the music selection too.

[laura 2]

I know a lot of people think Jillina's style is quite jazzy, and it's very apparent to me in this early clip. As she's grown, she's definately gotten softer and more internal. This is a great clip!

[Shaunte]

The dancer who won first place, can't remember her name at the moment, performed to the same exact song and did what looked to be the same routine. I'm assuming that was part of the competition? I'm personally not into comps but I kinda like the idea of everyone performing the same routine with their own flavor added to it. It's nice to see the differences.

[tabitha]

Shaunte, do you have the clip of the winner?

In my experience, performing the same routine is not normal for a comp. And if this is BDOU, it's definitely not the norm today. (I don't know but it could have been at that time, though.)

[Shaunte]

Found it Tabitha! Oops my bad, it is not the same routine just a few similarities, I just watched it again. Sorry, the last time I saw it was a couple of months ago . Her name is Farnush.

[ame="http://youtube.com/watch?v=1oGy3j_lpTg"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=1oGy3j_lpTg[/ame]

[tabitha]

Thank you! I enjoyed her dancing!

[tattood1]

the irony is from what i gather nobody ever heard or saw winner again. tina

[lotus]

Farah was in Ya Amar for a long time. Very popular with the middle eastern audiences. although not much of a promoter in the worlds of Bhuz, Tribe, etc. She was also one of Angelika's dancers. Last I heard about her, she was working at the Seaside palace...but it has been several years since I lived in LA.

[Shaunte]

I thought I saw a little Sahra Saeeda in her.

[Lilladancer]

I've known Farah since we started classes together many years ago and we danced together a lot back then. We're still good friends. It has been a long time since she danced at Seaside. She elected not to continue dancing - lost interest in the "scene". She's an incredibly natural dancer, but she wasn't into a lot of the other aspects of the bellydance world. I can't say I blame her. I asked her just the other day if she would ever consider dancing again, and she says she just has no interest in pursuing it.

When she won that contest, she had been bellydancing for only 2 years. I was there for the preliminaries (and weirdly, I do not remember Farnoosh and Jillina using the same music...I don't think they did in the prelims). Jillina's performance was strong too, but I think the difference was that Farnoosh/Farah had a lot more natural feeling and emotion, and it was the Egyptian category after all. From what I understand, this inspired Jillina to go to Egypt and study Egyptian style more intensively. Sometimes coming in second can really pay off!

[Lilladancer]

Wait - and that's not the costume Jillina wore in the prelims the year Farnoosh won either - it was white with jewels all over. Aren't they supposed to use the same music and the same costume for the finals? I'm wondering if this performance by Jillina was a different year....

[tattood1]

to my knowledge jillina only did bduc once.

yeeeears ago yes they used the same music but not anymore.tina

[tamrahennatx]

I really enjoyed Farnoosh's dance. :)

[Lilladancer]

It's really too bad these are so hard to see - maybe it's because of the transfer from VHS, and the VHS that these came off of had deteriorated? It wasn't that long ago, but the color seems very faded and the picture is fuzzy....

[MelanieLA]

Farah is in the Ya Amar "Al Dunia" vid I have. She sticks out in every number she's in. She was by far the best dancer in that show! I used to practice to that vid every day in 2000. I looked for her online a few years ago and only could find her on Sahra's site in the alumni section of Ya Amar.

[Lilladancer]

Farah is in the Ya Amar "Al Dunia" vid I have. She sticks out in every number she's in. She was by far the best dancer in that show! I used to practice to that vid every day in 2000. I looked for her online a few years ago and only could find her on Sahra's site in the alumni section of Ya Amar.

Oh yeah, the bandari number in that show was soooo much fun! She would be the one who stuck out in it.... (She is Persian, actually!)

I'll tell her you said this, if you don't mind! I think she'll get a kick out of it...

[lotus]

Farah is in the Ya Amar "Al Dunia" vid I have. She sticks out in every number she's in. She was by far the best dancer in that show! I used to practice to that vid every day in 2000. I looked for her online a few years ago and only could find her on Sahra's site in the alumni section of Ya Amar.

I liked Sahra the best, but I agree that Farah has TREMENDOUS star quality.

[SamarDahab]

i love jillina too but wow that farnush is so natural. it's really a shame she doesn't dance anymore.

[Lilladancer]

Who could not love Sahra? (Of course I'm biased... I was in Ya Amar too... ) I never, ever get tired of seeing her dance.

I'm also a big Jillina fan.

In case anyone's totally confused, Farnoosh (that's the way she spelled it) was her name at the time of the contest (birthname) but she now goes by Farah. Yeah, believe me, we've all been trying to talk her into going back to dancing again for years. I've given up. I'm just gonna accept her as she is, as a beautiful dancer and person, who doesn't want to dance. Of course, she's still young and has plenty of time to change her mind.... (Now I can't tell her about this thread, because then she'd read this! Are you lurking, Farah??? LOL)

[sabrinabellydancer]

i was in angelika's class with farnoosh/farah during that time as well and farnoosh/farah is tremendously talented.

lilla, please tell her i said hello.

that year i believe the finals were done to music pre-determined by the organizers, as it was the following year when i competed.
i remember when hallah was making that gold costume for jillina [in video]. there must have been millions of pieces and jewels. wish the video quality was better so you could see it. it was fantastic.

[Lilladancer]

So you think that video IS the white and gold jeweled costume Jillina wore, Sabrina? Jeez, the quality makes it look like it's animal print or something! It was a beautiful costume.

*dusting off the cobwebs* Wow, Sabrina.... didn't you, me and Farnoosh (and Charlotte) do a show together with Angelika in L.A. once, as an opener for some Egyptian singer? I'm sure I would cringe to watch myself on that video now... Though if anyone wants to see more of Farnoosh/Farah, I could go through my archives one of these days.... hopefully the videos have held up better than this one - maybe I should check!

[sabrinabellydancer]

So you think that video IS the white and gold jeweled costume Jillina wore, Sabrina? Jeez, the quality makes it look like it's animal print or something! It was a beautiful costume.

*dusting off the cobwebs* Wow, Sabrina.... didn't you, me and Farnoosh (and Charlotte) do a show together with Angelika in L.A. once, as an opener for some Egyptian singer? I'm sure I would cringe to watch myself on that video now... Though if anyone wants to see more of Farnoosh/Farah, I could go through my archives one of these days.... hopefully the videos have held up better than this one - maybe I should check!

i would bet a bedlah that the costume in the video is the one at the bottom of this page: [scroll down to jillina section, gold with jewels, 2nd from left]
Hallah Moustafa - Custom Costumes for Belly Dancers & more.
i remember it well, as i was in hallah's workshop at least every other week and had the opportunity to watch it [and many others] come together then go on stage. i think you are right that the video quality makes it hard to tell. but another indicator is the multi-colored half circle veil in jewel tones. that was made for the costume in question and is a little easier to see in the video.

ot:[sorry]
yes we did that show in l.a. together. it was an album release party or something? wasn't lucy there & pregnant too? i don't really want to watch myself in that show either ..l;, we couldn't have been too scary though or angelika would never have let us go on.

if you do dig through the archives and find any of our old shows with angelika, please make me a copy and i will pay you for the trouble. i don't have any of those. not even the student concert.

[Lilladancer]

i would bet a bedlah that the costume in the video is the one at the bottom of this page: [scroll down to jillina section, gold with jewels, 2nd from left]
Hallah Moustafa - Custom Costumes for Belly Dancers & more.

Well that definitely looks like the one in the vid, but the one I remember from the prelims was mostly white with big gold jewels, or so I thought! Maybe it was just the lighting.

O/T I'll see what I can find in my VHS stash. Some of my old VHS have deteriorated as these clips have, unfortunately. They don't really last very long. ,f::

[ouroboros]

Farnush is lovely!

[carolynn]

Lilla, what year was this? i know it was no later than 1997, but i'm thinking it was earlier, like 1996. It was before she did the Jeannie number in Common Threads at Cairo Carnivale. i met her in late summer 1997, and i think Jeannie was more than a couple months before that, b/c i d/n remember her from that.

if i remember correctly, Zahra told me Jillina had been studying Egyptian style only about 6 months before the competition.

[Lilladancer]

Lilla, what year was this? i know it was no later than 1997, but i'm thinking it was earlier, like 1996. It was before she did the Jeannie number in Common Threads at Cairo Carnivale. i met her in late summer 1997, and i think Jeannie was more than a couple months before that, b/c i d/n remember her from that.

if i remember correctly, Zahra told me Jillina had been studying Egyptian style only about 6 months before the competition.

1996 sounds about right. I'm not positive, though....I'd have to check my old daytimers to be sure. I think I was at the Common Threads show (with John Compton, right?) and I don't remember that being the same year as the contest, because Jillina had started to become known by then, so the contest could have even been '95. Now I'm curious... I'll dig up my old calendar and see if I made a note of it.