Rakkasah 2010

Hello There My Little Shimmies,

So this weekend I went to Rakkasah here in the SF Bay and performed. For those of you that don't know Rakkasah is the biggest bellydance festival in the world. It is a bellydancer's wet dream, and vendors, teachers, dancers and audiences all come together to exchange money, lessons, merchandise and performances. Anything you could think of relating to bellydance, Rakkasah probably has it. So many different costume ideas, props, makeup and so much more. I blew a lot of cash this weekend and I don't regret it at all. I found some good buys that I am very happy with.

I had a blast. I went with my friend and we drove up together. I performed my sword routine and then went shopping after. My favorite photographer was there and was photographing the dancers and I am still waiting for the pictures to come back. I do have the DVD of my performance, but I am not posting it up here because: 1.) I don't know how to post it and 2.) You can kind of see the crack of my ass and I don't really feel like showing that.

People were really nice, and I got a lot of compliments on my performance. I also ran into former teachers and troupe members. It really is a supportive environment where dancers and audiences come together to cheer eachother on. You can find beginners and advanced dancers on stage. So many dancers with gorgeous costumes.

I felt kind of bad because my costume was really simple. Dancers were spending the big bucks and probably had people staying up all night to make it, yet I just threw mine together. I wore a black top with an open back that exposed my stomach. I think it's called a choli. I also wore black pants. It was really simple, but I wore a lot of makeup and did my hair and used my sword. It's just that my routine involves me getting down on the floor, and I would ruin an expensive costume if I wore it on the floor. Also, my sword was the main feature and I wanted to draw the attention to my sword and my face.

I have been dancing off and on since 2002. Back then, it was still kind of new and mysterious for the public. It was around the time Shakira was getting really famous. And back then, it was harder to find teachers, and getting costumes happened by word of mouth. Also, there were virtually no Bellydance instruction DVDs. Now anyone can just go online and buy costumes and find DVDs. Plus, here in the SF Bay we have so many great teachers. It is much easier to get involved with dance than it was in 2002. But I still have the old VHS tapes of the famous Egyptian bellydancers from the 1960s and 1970s.

Below is an old clip from Souhair Zaki for those of you who are interested in the famous Egyptian bellydancers from back in the day. I've also always liked Dina and Lucy. Unfortunately the Egyptian government later stepped in and many of these dancers dissapeared. It is said that they offered these dancers money to stop dancing. I am not sure what it's like now. I think it's gotten more relaxed. I know I would love to travel to Egypt one day. Some of my best teachers were from Egypt.

Anyway, enough talking. Here is the clip.......




I still have my first costume, a red beaded sequined costume from Egypt. It was from my Egyptian teacher