Thread: can anyone talk to me about eugene or. ?

one of my best dancers is moving to eugene or.her husband got a cheery job!
so, where would she fit in? who should she avoid ?
of course.,if you know about me, you know what her dance is about.
good zills, good veil.extensive fire skills, poi, etc.
can anyone fill us in?

How exciting! I grew up in Eugene and have been involved in the BD scene here for the past 10 years. We have a thriving, friendly and harmonious (for the most part) community and there are several styles of BD taught and performed here. She should absolutely check out the Middle Eastern Dance Guild of Eugene (medge.org) as most of the ''big events'' and community stuff happens through them.

Eugene is great for belly dancers looking to make new friends and have some fun dance adventures along the way, but not so great for dancers looking to make a full time living off of BD. There is one restaurant that has dancers at the moment, but most performance opportunities are at community events or the (rare) occasional paid show. We have two great ME bands in Eugene: Americanistan (Dunyah is on bhuz a lot) and Ala Nar, who play mainly for Astryd Farah when she's not in Cairo. Americanistan tends to do a lot of shows and they are usually really interested in having new dancers.

If your student is interested in teaching then patience and perserverance will get her far in this town :) Actually, we have quite a few Egyptian/Cabaret style teachers moving out of town this year (myself included) so there will be a gap in that chunk of teachers....... Finding realiable studio space and a solid group of committed students can take a long time here, but again, patience will help. As will a good attitude, lol! That, and coming to as many of the MEDGE/community events as possible. Having a ''presence'' makes a big difference here, as dancers and students tend to seek out what's familiar to them. We're not that small of a town, but sometimes it really feels like it!

If she is looking for more paid opportunities or just to get out of town occasionally, we are a two hour drive from Portland, which is home to some amazing dancers and events, as you know. Corvallis isn't too far from us and they also have an active (though smaller) BD community.

When is she moving here? I'd love to meet her if possible, and you're welcome to send her to my website if she'd like to email me with more questions!

wow, thanks!
we "do" a very diciplined old school caberet, heavy zills, veil, floor.
and she does all things fire

Oh, and to answer your question more specifically, I can't think of anyone she should avoid, but I can only reiterate that she will do really well in the Eugene BD scene if she is active, involved, patient and friendly..... but I guess that's kind of obvious :) Just to give you a very loose idea of who does what in Eugene, should she be interested in contacts:

Myself, Astryd Farah, Dona, Lola, Marah, Amani-- Egyptian style
Myself, Elena Villa, Heather, Marah, Inanna-- Cabaret style
Sabine-- ATS and some Turkish
Innana-- Turkish Oriental style
Luminessah, Amy Peccia, Regina-- Tribal fusion
Elena Villa--Arab/Flamenco fusion, Flamenco

Most are contactable through the MEDGE site.........

Originally Posted by zamora

wow, thanks!
we "do" a very diciplined old school caberet, heavy zills, veil, floor.
and she does all things fire

How exciting for Eugene, then, as we tend to love the ''old school'' flavor! And there is an active fire community here too, as I understand it...... We're a hippie town, lol!

would like to clear one thing up.the word "student".
yes, she was a student.started with me, BUT she is now a dancer i coach.students grow up here .

Ditto to what Razia said. We are "old school" friendly here.

She should also try to attend the Oregon Country Fair in July. The Gypsy Stage has continuous live-music shows with fabulous dancers. Last year we had Aziza, Colleena, the Indigo, and local faves Elena Villa, Claudia, Salome, and probably more that I am forgetting right now. There is a website for the Fair but it doesn't always have much info on Gypsy Stage b/c there are SO many stages going on out there - a lot of live music bands and vaudeville acts, and all kinds of entertainment. It's pretty mind-blowing and something everybody should see at least once in their life!

Excellent, well hopefully she finds a happy niche here. Tell her welcome :)

When is she coming here? She should definitely contact MEDGE - I am currently on the board - and she can audition for our shows via video if she likes, a youtube clip or a DVD. Or she could perform in our student show in June as her audition if she likes.

As Razia said, it's a great dance community but most performance opportunities don't pay. Paid performances are rather few and far between. Building a student base takes time but it's not impossible if someone is committed to teaching.

Good morning, Dunyah!

Hey Razia. I'm on my second cuppa joe and got to get to work packing for my trip! Yikes!

Zamora: if there is anything else your friend would like to know about the community, I would be happy to talk with her and show her around. Send me a PM and I will give you my email addy and phone #.

As an outsider who regularly visits Eugene and jumps into the dance scene, I can attest that the community is very welcoming, diverse, and supportive!
Eugene is a great town, I love visiting!

she will be there in 2 weeks.husband already there.got big job, forgot name, but it has to do with motor cycle parts

duh, ..she is melissa perinchief !

Cool, I look forward to meeting her. We have a big event coming up April 16-18 with Amel Tafsout, including a free lecture, a show, and two workshops. Hope she will attend! Details at medge.org

I was so excited when Amel told me she was moving there!

I'm moving to Portland-new projected date is July. So I'm keeping a sharp eye on the boards.

Hi Kahaz, feel free to email me at jewelsdances@aol.com I live in Portland and dance in the restaurants.

Hey Dunyah, I'd love to come down to dance at a Medge event, I sent you a PM.

Hi Razia!!

Originally Posted by kahaz

I was so excited when Amel told me she was moving there!

I'm moving to Portland-new projected date is July. So I'm keeping a sharp eye on the boards.

Hi kahaz

Welcome to portland when you get here.....

thank you all so much! i have so much good news for melissa! did i mention she is great with a sword too?
i am excited for her, i am always excited to see a daughter or son go out and spread the word.