cairo carnivale ??

[Lilladancer]

Any reports yet on Cairo Carnivale? How is everyone liking the set up this year? Performances? Parties? Please share!

[danidance]

I didn't make it to CC despite my desire and promise to go see Kimahri. I decided it was more important to get my last paper under control so that I could finish today (which I will by golly).

But, we went to Wahib's last night and celebrated Tahma's birthday (I forget your bhuz ID, Tahma) - all my action shots of dancing turned out badly so none of those, but here's our group anyway. We had a lovely time and of course great music and dancing!

Ms. Deborah/Casbahdance being studious:



The beautiful birthday girl and her sister and Neena Nour, a visiting dancer from Phoenix


Me and Carolynn in a self portrait: nice angle huh?


Deborah being silly:


and the singing of the Arabic Birthday Song at the table:

[tattood1]

i MEET kimihari HAHA!!. she's adorable & was rather over whelmed by CC.

i think they made huge improvements. it was more roomie. they took over the whole east wing of the track & centered the shopping more around gyspy stage. they had bazaar stage hooked to all the monitors bolted to the walls so you could shop & watch. the only down side to roomie was it was more spread out. lots of walking.

the shopping was to die for. little egypt, audrena, melodia, geisha moth, peko, bdss, iamed. i spent $$$ & so did my pals. we were there from 11:30 to uuh 3:30pm but then it was too hot & we left.

we saw/meet many people. the bhuzzers kimihari & monica. various friends. saw sahra, fahtiem, ansuya. i meet marliza pons. i will say in our OPINION it didn't seem well attended.

we liked it. tina

[t alexandria]

...better way to celebrate my birthday. I had so much fun & was great to meet casbahdance n' neenanour. Tamra-henna danced beautifully.

cairo carnival was cool, too. I didn't get too see much since I got htere at like 3:30, but my favorite performances were Davids and another dancer who's photo I've seen on bhuz...is it monica? wearring assuit and performing sometime between 3:30 n' 5:30. oh yeah, I also really like that mother-datughter duo amar and yasmine, they are both sooo pretty and really cute dancers. there were a couple of people that I wanted to see today, but I'm definately not gonna make it back out there.

[tahiradancer]

Yep, that was Monica! She was great!

Yesterday was very busy. While i would like to say that it was packed, I think attendence was down, but not horrid. the shopping was good. Didi sold my costume before I culd get my check book out, so I am Eman - less! :( Oh, well.

The evening show went well, I think. A few problems due to limitations of the venue, but overall, well.

{{{HUGS}}}

[Lilladancer]

I'm glad to hear the set up was an improvement over last year. Perhaps it didn't look well attended because it was so spread out, though?

I am sad to have missed the performances, and the shopping . I really want some new sparklies and I hate ordering without trying on. It's hard enough to find a good fitting costume when I DO try it on, let alone sight-unseen.

Sounds like a fun night at Wahibs too! At least those of us who didn't make the journey can enjoy vicariously through the reports of those who did...what else was fun??? New costumes anyone?

[tattood1]

well i finally own a pair of melos & yes they are bootilicious. two CDs from peko. an AEIOU skirt thing from geisha moth. i don't usually approach the cossies cause i assume they don't have D cups. we had NO problem getting to tables, finding seats to watch shows. maaybe it picked up after we left. tina

[nasila]

It felt like there were less people there to me too, but it could be the new layout. The indoor stage was right smack in the middle of a long corridor, MUCH bigger upstairs than last year. I think the stages were nicer too.

Kimahri was great - so much energy!! A lot of nice acts - Angelika Nemeth was very dramatic, Leela's troupe was lots o' fun (they served booze to the audience!) and I saw some wonderful performances by ladies whose faces I'd recognize but names escape me. My favorite of all was Jenna (but of course I'm already a HUGE Jenna fan). :)

I'm sorry I never made it back for your workshop, Jim...Karin Nagi wore me out!

Shopping rocked....I'm off to go play with my new Pebble Beach costume...

[yasmindiab]

I had SO much fun this weekend!!! My first Carnivale, and I am hooked.

My troupe's performance went well (in our opinion) despite the fact that we were hitting the top of the tent with our canes!

Highlights:

Buying my first pair of Melodia pants and a Melodia tie-top! I'm broke now, but I look GOOD!! ;)

Finally was able to introduce myself to Karim Nagi (after a few e-mails over the last 2 years)...what a super nice guy! and what an AMAZING performance Saturday night!! Can't wait till he comes to Vegas for IBDC!

Seeing Jim Boz perform! Saturday night was the first time I've seen you dance, Jim, and let me tell you...it was FANTASTIC! You have to come to Vegas sometime and dance with us! ;)

Amy Sigil and Unmata! Holy CRAP those ladies can dance! And I loved that they danced to NIN! ;) good stuff. Can't wait till Amy's workshop in Vegas, now! Woo hoo!

Also, I'm SO glad that I got to see Kimahri! I wish I could have seen you perform, but I'm glad we got to chat for the 30 seconds that we did. :)

So...those are the highlights of the weekend. I didn't even TRY ON a new costume (unless you count my melodia's and a fun tribal fringy "muppet" belt that I bought too...)...even though I was eyeing the lime green Abla at Turquoise International's booth! :)

Fun time. Can't wait for next year! :)

`Yasmin Diab

[ommia]

Happy to hear that Monica was great -- not surprised though...she can really rock an audience. Love her assuit dress and man, can she play zills! I know she has been on the road a lot with Raqs Habibi (www.raqshabibi.com) over the last few months -- it was a good chance for her to get down south and do some solo dancing....(and see some family as a bonus).

[gypsydanse]

I was set up in the Gypsy Camp which was nice, and I had plenty of room to spread my things out. I don't think the attendance was that good, people weren't spending much, and I didn't make much money for an event of that size. I also heard that from other vendors. I'll probably go back, but not as a vendor.

I got to meet Kimahri, Tahira, and Tanya. Tanya bought a costume from me, but it's not for BD, it's to wear in the magic shows. She said that she'll post a picture of her in it later.

The show was way too long (2 1/2 hrs), and it was getting really tiresome. Amy Sigil is great, though.

[Monica]

Hello! I had a lot of fun at Cairo Carnivale. I loved the venue...it felt very glamorous and 40s, and it was so nice to be able to go outside and stare at the track and the surrounding hills when I needed a break from the belly! Plus I like horse racing and got to watch my pick win at Belmont on the big screen Santa Anita has!

I was only there on Saturday, from almost the start of the event to the end of the day. I had to get back to SF that night which meant missing the evening show. I was sorely disappointed, especially walking by Sahra Saeeda and her cast as they were putting on make-up in preparation. I wanted to see their show (& Jim B. and Unmata, of course).

I recognized Tinah from the back due to her amazing ink which looks even better in person! Got to say hi to her, and also met Kimahri who was helping out at Jim Boz's table. Saw lots of other familiar faces and old pals, took interest in noticing the subtle differences between the Northern and Southern California dance scenes, and watched lots of dancers on both stages. The dressing room situation was...well, it was the bathroom, but folks were super nice back there. We all just made do, and I had some good conversations with fellow dancers.

from t_alexandria: ...my favorite performances were Davids and another dancer who's photo I've seen on bhuz...is it monica? wearring assuit and performing sometime between 3:30 n' 5:30.

from tahiradancer: Yep, that was Monica! She was great!

Thanks t_alexandria (and hey, happy belated birthday) and Tahira (hope your show and stage managing both went well!) and Ommia (not that you are biased, oh troupe mate-o-mine). :) I had fun dancing.

[yasmindiab]

Originally Posted by gypsydanse

I was set up in the Gypsy Camp which was nice, and I had plenty of room to spread my things out. I don't think the attendance was that good, people weren't spending much, and I didn't make much money for an event of that size. I also heard that from other vendors. I'll probably go back, but not as a vendor.

I got to meet Kimahri, Tahira, and Tanya. Tanya bought a costume from me, but it's not for BD, it's to wear in the magic shows. She said that she'll post a picture of her in it later.

The show was way too long (2 1/2 hrs), and it was getting really tiresome. Amy Sigil is great, though.

Ah, very glad to hear someone else shares my opinion about the evening show.
The bit at the beginning with the "priestesses"...I could have done it with them by the middle of the song, it was SO repetitive.

I also didn't see much Middle Eastern Dance as I saw Modern Dance. Kinda disappointing.

but yes, Amy and Unmata, Jim Boz and Karim were awesome!!!!!

[tahiradancer]

Just FYI: The show started at 8:10 and ended at 10:20. RA was a total of 1 hour and 20 mins long. And htere was a 15 min intermission.

Ra was hard to produce in that space. We actually cut a few scenes which, while interesting, would have made it even longer. The Temple dance also had a bout 2 mins cut from it.

As for the style of dance. . .

All I can say is that this has been performed a couple of times, so Marta, who requested that Sahra stage it, knew what was to be expected.

yasmin: I'm not saying you are wrong about RA being modern. It definately had those elements. But there are people who could argue that what Amy and Unmata did was more modern than belly dance as well.

{{{HUGS}}}

[tattood1]

i've been to wiggles of the west & YES there is a difference between S. CA. & N. CA. scenes. tina

[casbahdance]

I got to CC much later than anticipated on Saturday, but I managed to see Kimahri's last couple of minutes. Quite a little firecracker, that one!

>waves to Kimahri< It was great to meet you after your show!

I announced Nasila for her performance on Sunday. She did a great job -- looked very self assured -- certainly one of the best dancers I saw on Sunday!

Took Jim's workshop and Saturday; we had a grand time heckling each other. Thanks for visiting with me for a few minutes after the workshop, Jim! So now I know . . . it's true what they say about Jim's workshops -- a great time was had by all!

I think this year was a definite improvement over last year (although it took me 15 minutes to find that danged hot dog vendor!); the Bazaar Stage (inside) still is a bit problematic, but the vendor areas were much, much better!

I haven't danced at CC for at least 3 years and will try to get my act together early enough to participate in 2008. I hope my daughter can dance, too. She's really awesome! (Proud mother)

Deborah

[TanyaLV]

I went and had a great time as always! I too, was excited to meet Kimahri.........sooooooooooooooooooooo cute, I even got to "pet" her snake costume that was for sale! Also the fantastic "gypsydanser".........was there and yes I tried on several of her costumes and bought one! Ran into many dancers and new dancers as well! Yasmin from Vegas and all the Vegas diva's.......really fun event!

[rainadance]

Hi all! I vended at Cairo---if you attended, I am the perfume and incense seller who was right next door to the Gypsy stage. I had the pleasure of having an unobstructed view of the dancers. There were so many incredible performances, but I'd have to say that my favorite was Delilah's unannounced performance with the Feldthouse family & Uncle Mafufo at the end of Sunday. She always blows my mind, and having those amazing musicians backing her was gilding the lily.

Second runner up was the Unmata performance at Saturday night's gala show. Wow---those ladies blow my mind. The two soloists in the show were also wonderful. Ra definitely was different from the usual shows you see at Cairo---dramatic, almost like a pageant or play. I would have loved to have seen it on the big stage at Glendale where there was a more traditional stage and a darkened atmosphere. The vending areas around the stage staying brightly lit during the entire show made it really hard to get into an intense mood piece like Ra. The dancers were impressive and they did their best with the space they had. I just got distracted by mannequins and tarp-covered tables in full lighting right outside the stage. :(


I was surprised to see Tempest wasn't there. She has been a highlight of my last 3 or 4 CC's.

Sales for me were strong. Mornings both days were somewhat slow but the afternoon really brought out the buyers. I was upstairs last year and it was very uncomfortable and stuffy and crowded. This year I picked the outdoor vending area and it was great--I'll definitely stay outdoors from now on. From what I saw of the upstairs area, it was greatly improved by the change of layout---much less hot and stuffy than last year and more room for each vendor.

I always feel sad when Cairo's over, but there's always next year!

[tattood1]

tempest has moved back east.

[yasmindiab]

Originally Posted by rainadance

Hi all! I vended at Cairo---if you attended, I am the perfume and incense seller who was right next door to the Gypsy stage. I had the pleasure of having an unobstructed view of the dancers. There were so many incredible performances, but I'd have to say that my favorite was Delilah's unannounced performance with the Feldthouse family & Uncle Mafufo at the end of Sunday. She always blows my mind, and ha