Thread: Las Vegas Belly Dance Intensive Recap!

OK, the event is still officially going on, but I thought I would get started on the Intensive recap, and the other dancers can join in to fill in the many spaces I'm sure I'll miss!!

Workshop attendance was great, my differentiating Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish Oriental Dance workshop sold out, and my drum solo class was quite full!
All the classes seemed to have really strong attendance, and there were a lot of happy dancers, which is a good sign!
I didn't get to see much of the Friday show, but judging from the audience's reaction, it was a hit, John Compton, Sabrina, Dilek, Hannan Sultan and Farasha were just a few of the stars!

I was fortunate to be able to see the Saturday show,
Samira Shuruk perform beautifully to Talisman, in a stunning salmon colored flower costume, that my Mom now wants!!
Lotus Niraja and the NDC did a sassy number with double tahtib's and jumbo Las Vegas playing cards, and some awesome edited music including "Can't Touch This"
Lee Ali is such an amazing folkloric dancer, I wanted to do private Berber classes with her on Sunday, but she was seeing her family that day.
Fahtiem was stunning as usual, I don't think I've ever seen her do a bad show!
Tabu, as usual has a totally different show for us each year, they were excellent,
Karen Barbee did a fun upbeat debke/oriental piece
Sabeya's Bollywood piece was very beautiful, she could have just stood there and picked her nose and we would have been happy, she is just stunning!
Shabnam and Mandanah wowed everyone with their sword and zill number in gorgeous Eshta costumes!
Steven Eggers---WOW!!!!
Princess Farhana looked like Ann Margret, and the fun surprise at the end was Tanya coming out and doing a magic trick on stage and sawing the Princess in half, in a vintage, old Vegas style, it was sooo fun to watch!!

It was great to see people from bhuz at the event, Ozma, Shira, Artemisia, Makeda, Haleema Chandani, Leyla Amir, Amaya, and all the great dancers from Canada that I had the pleasure of sitting with Saturday night! Canada was definitely representing!

I know I've forgotten a ton of names, but my brain is truly fried!!

The contest went very well, the dancers all did great as did the choreographers, I am so happy my protégé' Dahab took 3rd place, she has really turned into a beautiful, well rounded dancer!

OK, I'm going to stop here, congrats Samira for an excellent event!! Everything ran very smooth, and you have a great team of people with you!!

I hope people will start posting pictures, I lost my camera ..cr.: so I need photo's!!

Also, I'm extremely jazzed about Cassandra coming in 2011

I loved your differentiating Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish Oriental Dance workshop!!!! It was fabulous to see you dance Friday night also!! My husband graciously went with what I wanted to do but actually enjoyed himself!! LOL

Originally Posted by poohbear

I loved your differentiating Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish Oriental Dance workshop!!!! It was fabulous to see you dance Friday night also!! My husband graciously went with what I wanted to do but actually enjoyed himself!! LOL

Awww, thank you Poohbear! I felt like I was having an out of body experience during my Friday show, it always feels good to connect with the music on a whole other dimension/level, and I hope the class motivates dancers to seek out the other influences in Oriental dance to become well rounded.

So who won the competition?

A girl from Edmonton called Aurora. Second was Alisha from South Korea. And I was 3rd :)

Thanks Aradia!!!! So much of what I know has come from you...and I know there is still so much I can still learn from you. You are awesome! You never cease to amaze me.

The event was amazing. And I really liked the flamingo hotel, it is totally an improvement. The teachers were great. I got to spend lots of time with Ashtalea and Cera Byer and they were just surprisingly talented and kind to us. It was such a great experience!

The theater was beautiful, the stage was perfect, the lights, the sound system, it was a pleasure to perform and compete.

And the festival was so much fun!!!

I can certify that Aurora's students and fellow dancers here in Edmonton are incredibly proud! She's a gorgeous and knowledgeable dancer, and we are lucky to have her excellent instruction.

Her website is Edmonton's best Belly Dance Classes and Professional Performers

Way to go, lady!! ..g.: ..g.:

Thoroughly enjoyed all the workshops, vendors, and performances. The Sunday night It's a Wrap party was so much fun. Congrats to Aurora--you did us proud!

Thanks so much for posting this thread!
Samira Tu-Ala and her team did an AMAZING job! It really was a stellar event all around. I was delighted and honored to be a part of it.
Everyone was SO warm and happy- really wonderful to be around such positive people all weekend long.

Originally Posted by halftruths

I can certify that Aurora's students and fellow dancers here in Edmonton are incredibly proud! She's a gorgeous and knowledgeable dancer, and we are lucky to have her excellent instruction.

seconded!

The journey was fantastic to watch unfold. The "So, You Think You Can Belly Dance? Contest" at the Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive & Festival was a tremendous success and we are proud to present the winners:

1st Place--Aurora Ongaro, Canada (Edmonton's best Belly Dance Classes and Professional Performers)

* $500 cash
* 2 Music CDs from Hollywood Music Center
* An engraved award plaque
* A full package to the 2011 Meditteranean Breeze Festival in Morocco.

2nd Place--Alisha Lee, South Korea

* 2 Music CDs from Hollywood Music Center
* An engraved award plaque
* A full package to the 2011 Raqs Congress event in Brussels, Belgium

3rd Place--Dahab, Columbia & Canada (Dahab » Performer specializing in Middle Eastern dance)

* 2 Music CDs from Hollywood Music Center
* An engraved award plaque
* A full package to the 2011 Yaa Halla, Y'All event in Dallas, TX

Additionally, we were excited that there was a story in the Las Vegas Sun about the contest as well. You can see the photos that were in the paper here: So You Think You Can Belly Dance? - Las Vegas Sun

A profound thank you to Ashtalea & Cera Byer, the contest choreographers. These ladies set the tone and atmosphere for the entire contest experience, and it was a powerful journey for everyone involved.

Additional thanks to our exceptional judges: Fahtiem, Princess Farhana, Carrie Konyha, Moria Chappell, Lee Ali, and Karen Barbee. Your keen eye and understanding of the dance certainly helped choose the winners.

And lastly, thank you to the voting audiences. Your participation gave this contest a very real and exciting element that certainly influenced the outcome. The final results were so close that we counted the ballots twice to be sure they were accurate.

We look forward to seeing where this contest evolves to next year. If you are excited and ready, we have already opened up the audition registration for 2011. The cost of the Thurs. Sept 8 audition is only $25 and can be paid via paypal on our Super Early Bird Registration page. The cost for the audition may go up, but currently we will honor the 2010 prices.

Registration, September 8-11, 2011, Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive

Thanks again for a fabulous year. We look forward with great anticipation to 2011.

Gracious...I am so sorry it has taken me so long to check in on this thread. Some of you may have heard that 4 days after the event was over, my husband Bart, had a heart attack and wound up in the ICU. The good news is that he is home and doing well. Needless-to-say, I've been a bit preoccupied. I'm glad to finally be settling into the routine again. I have so much follow up work from the event, and I'm buried in emails...so if you haven't heard from me, please be patient. I'll get there.

I want to thank all the Bhuz folks who came to the event. It was a treat to meet so many of you in person this year. My only wish would have been to have had more time to go to the Liberace museum with you and lounge by the pool.

Here's a few of my favorite "What Happens In Vegas, Happens at the Intensive" memories:

--Princess Farhana telling dirty jokes to my conservative Dad. Hahahaha (way to go Princess)

--Eating Momo at the Mint Indian Bistro (ahem, yeah! hahahaha)

--Naughty photo ops with Fahtiem and the life-sized Donny Osmond cutout. ROFLMAO.

--Lotus Niraja at 3am in line at the Burger Joint..(is that really you?)

--Backstage shots of Vodka (thanks Princess!!) & Toni's flask! Whoot!

--OH! I really appreciated Coronas and limes!! Thanks Paul!

--And I was uber excited to meet Samira Shuruk. We've shared a name for so long!

--Walking down the hotel corridor to my room and watching 5 sexy dancers strutting towards me (mostly Kamuda girls, I believe). It was a very Charlie's Angels sort of moment. Hahahaha.

--Oh yes...and AMAYA!! Her performance was the final one of the whole weekend, and it was breathtaking. And then everyone getting up and dancing to the live music from Of The Earth!! Definitely one of the best moments ever!! Not just at this event...but ever!

Yes, we definitely have a wild time in Vegas. Check out the magical and epic antics of Princess Farhana at the 2010 Viva RAKS Vegas show. This video also features Tanya (yes, of Bhuz fame) and Sacha Biondi.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxjvChRG8PM]YouTube - Princess Farhana At The Las Vegas Belly Dance Intensive 2010[/ame]