Thread: Washington DC dancers . . a few questions

I am here until Wednesday, although the way the flight situation is, it may well be a lot longer!

Does anyone know anything about the Casablanca resturant in Alexandria, VA? Its a couple of blocks from my hotel . . . . who dancers there, is it the sort of place I could go by myself? I'm guessing if I'm going to billy no mates it, it may be less awkward wating for a weekday and not tonight . . the live music sounds tmepting but I don't think the timing si compatible with seminars at 8am tomorrow morning!

Any other tips for a solo bellydancer in DC this week? I'm based at the giant convention centre at Mount Vernon place by day and my hotel is in Alexandria.

Is the bellydancestore in Maryland accesible by public transport?

Thanks

Zaf

Hi Zafirah,

I would contact Vasha Hatal (Shahrzad) as she is one of the house dancers at Casablanca. She lives near there too and is an absolutely lovely and wonderful person and dancer. She is teaching a workshop in DE tomorrow, so I'm not sure of her schedule. You could call Casablanca as well to ask. I believe Bonita dances there too...

Shahrzad Raqs - Professional Bellydancer in Baltimore and Washington DC - Links

I think it is safe enough to go alone if you like--Raffi won't let anything inappropriate go down, but then again, I don't live in Alexandria so maybe someone from there could chime in, and I usually meet people there to hang out with.

Tricky--how to get to Bellydance store from VA? Hmmm. I think you would have to take a patchwork of buses. What you could do I guess is take the metro out to MD partway and then find a bus to Severna Park. But Sharzhad (the owner of the BD store) lives in a suburban community there and operates out of her house there (super sparkly house at that!!). Maybe you could hook up with someone to meet you at a metro stop and take you there? The metro that would be most likely be closest to our end is the orange line to New Carrolton--all the way at the end and opposite of where you are. I'd offer my services, but I work during the week and we have a big show tomorrow.

I'd say that Casablanca is fine for going alone. Alexandria is fairly touristy, so the streets are gonna be busy. The place itself seems orderly and safe. The food is so-so, in my experience. It may not be a bad idea to call and make a reservation.

Thanks for the answers! I have just been on an emergency volcano related poster printing mission and I think tonight is going to be spent looking at the conference programme and working out how I can be all 4 lab members who were supposed to be here at once . .

But I will investigate having some dance adventures over the next few evenings.