NOVEMBER 14TH (WEDNESDAY), 2007
Valizan (Saraab by Simon Shaheen, Alf Leyla Wa Leyla, Maqsoum Musings by Helm)
Harem @ Casbah Lounge. 306 King Street West.
9 p.m.
Hamilton, ON.

Hey all, a rare home show as I dance at the Casbah Lounge in Hamilton for Eshe. If ever there was proof that Tribe has been a networking tool, this is it. Eshe (Waves at Eshe!) put together this midweek show with some totally talented folks. I'm honoured to have been included! The talented and stunningly beautiful Melissa from Arabesque (under her new name Maysaa) will be there along with The Tabla Guy.

Rumour is that I may get to do a second set as improv with him. If I do, I'm gonna Tribal up for that one. The first set is going to be in my Egyptian!

An evening of bellydance and music featuring Eshe, Maysaa, Valizan, and The Tabla Guy - Gurpreet Chana.

WEBSITE
shadesofaraby.valizan.com/

Maysaa
She began her formal dance training in Ballet with six years of study at the Canadian Conservatory of Dance in Toronto. Her love of dance has led her to explore various dance styles such as Folk, Latin, Modern and eventually classical Raks-Sharqi. She began training in Middle Eastern dance at the age of 16 with instructor Raven Crow and is continuing to refine and master her technique at Toronto's Arabesque Academy with instructors Yasmina Ramzy, Emese and Mary. She has also had the pleasure of studying with famous Egyptian dancers Momo Kadous, Tito, and Aida Nour. Her newest venture in Middle Eastern arts is learning to play the Dumbek (Arabic drum) with instructor Suleiman Warwar. Melissa started her apprenticeship with Arabesque Dance Company in 2005, and was proud to be a part of their most recent production, Asala.

Eshe
Canadian-born Eshe began belly dancing in Tokyo, Japan. Since then she's been featured in Japan's oldest English newspaper, The Japan Times. Career highlights include performing for crowds of bellydance enthusiasts at Japan's national belly dance festival-Maharajan and appearing on Zubari Iuwayo! with pop superstars the KinKi Kids and Grand Sumo Champion Asashoryu.
She is the founding member and creator of the Afet Collective- a group of socially concerned bellydancers who raise awareness and funds for women's charities.
Eshe was a member of P.U.R.E Tokyo, a global community of dancers who aim to spread healing and peace. Eshe held classes at Mishaal's Devadasi Studio in Omotesando
In September 2007 she studied intensively with the top instructor in Cairo, Egypt Raqia Hassan. During her month there she was even filmed there for a segment airing on Business News television.

WEBSITE
www.eshebellydancer.com
VIDEO (lil weird, no sound)
youtube.com/watch

The Tabla Guy - Gurpreet Chana
The travel along this path began 22 years ago as Gurpreet began to learn Indian Classical Tabla in the Punjab Gharana (style) from his Ustad Ji Professor Parshotam Singh. He started by playing at the Gurdawara with kirtan and continues to do so, but as of late he has added a unique flavour to his music and mesmerizes crowds with Tabla Fusion.

Growing up in Canada, Gurpreet had the fortunate opportunity of being subjected to various types of music. The music he creates and performs is an expression of the cultural diversity he experienced growing up in a multicultural society. This musical experience is expressed by taking the exquisite rhythmic patterns of the tabla and merging them with all genres of music. Gurpreet's passion for percussion instruments has lead him to experiment with other world beats playing the djembe, congas, dhol, zarb, doumbek, daf, or anything he can get his hands on!

Gurpreet's music is a thought provoking journey of the soul and mind, emancipating fears, ignorances, and systematic beliefs by always pushing the envelope of continuous learning of the self. Come with what you may but leave with the greatest KUSHI. There?s a new journey of sound and passion?make sure to taste some for your self!

WEBSITE
www.thetablaguy.com/
VIDEO
www.thetablaguy.com/sitev2/s...Raptors.m

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NOVEMBER 18TH, 2007 (SUNDAY)
Shades Of Araby (Santa Maria de Buen Ayres by Gotan Project)
Rhaehana Recital.
German Continental Club
Main Street.
3 p.m.
Cambridge, ON. (Galt actually... if you're picky about details...)

An afternoon appearance for the delightful Rhaehana. A lot of the area teachers will be in the show along with Kassia from St. Catherines.

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NOVEMBER 23rd, 2007 (FRIDAY)
Shades of Araby (Skudrinka by Wolgemut)
Mish Mash Belly Bash 07
Guelph, ON.

Ishra has invited me every year for the last two years and it has constantly conflicted with something else (last year it was Arabesque's Asala) but this year Shades Of Araby will be there.

This is the fifth anniversary show for Ishra and the Invoke-tress dance company as they celebrate with an eclectic bellydance fusion show. Join us for a night of wild abandon!

Invoke-tress pushes the envelope with original innovative works, fusing bellydance with modern, stick and staff dancing, Kathak (East Indian), jazz, cabaret and hip hop.

Other acts include:

Stephanie Gamble
Lavish
Ambre McLean and Denise Mireau
Rhaehana
Khizmet & Karma
Kara Kulpman


Friday, November 23, 2007
8:00pm - 11:00pm
River Run Centre
Guelph, ON
Contact Info
1.877.520.2408
ishrablanco@yahoo.ca

$26.00 Adult
$23.00 Student and Senior
$21.00 14 and under
$5.00 eyeGO (High School Student - valid ID required)

A dollar of every ticket will be donated to Breast Cancer of Canada.
www.invoke-tress.ca/

Waving back at you!!! :)

Have you seen this yet?

monkeybiz.ca/inside/features.php

Also just added to the bill on the 14th Meaghan Shields

omlailacommunity.ning.com/profi...lyMega

Some past stuff, some current stuff, some upcoming stuff... If you like to read, there's plenty for you here:

JUNE 21st, 2008.
With Shades Of Araby ("Desert Rose" by Sting)
Skrew.
Toronto, ON.
(I'm feeling dodgy about SoA dancing at this Gay dance party. They was 80s-90s pop. We aren't 80s-90s pop dammit! Why do I feel we're going to be treated like go-go dancers? :/)

Friday JUNE 20TH, 2008.
Solo. ("Dum Uh Nos" by Suleiman Warwar.)
Albright-Knox Gallery.
Buffalo, NY.
(Finally can dance at this show sponsored by the delightful Nedra in one of my favourite art galleries. BuffBuff girls galore at this show.)

MAY 31st, 2008.
With Shades Of Araby (No music chosen yet)
Shimmy For A Cure.
Erie, PA.
(Charity show in Pennsy!)

MAY 10TH, 2008.
With Shades Of Araby ("Tabla Rise" by Blood & Fire)
+ Solo. ("Likan" by Blue Planet.)
Hipnosis.
Burlington, ON.
(Charity show for Halton Women's Centre will feature some the professional teachers from Burlington, Oakville, Hamilton and beyond: Arabesque's Denise Mireau, Joharah, my old friend Robin DeDannann, Emilia and more.)

APRIL 23rd to 27th, 2008.
Solos, duets with Shades Of Araby.
Wednesday April 23rd - Remix 2007. Shades Of Araby (duet with Sofia)
Thursday April 24th - Main Stage. The Righteous Rogues of Raks. ("El Wad Albo.")
Saturday April 26th - Gala Stage. Arabesque Dance Company. ("Arab Habibi" & "Bene of Beinak.")
Sunday April 27th - Open Stage. with the glamorous Melissa Gamal. ("Msafer.")
International Bellydance Conference Of Canada.
Toronto, ON.
(Well... Just like last year, it hasn't started and I'm already overwhelmed. Like last year, I had only planned to dance once at the conference, with SOA. Now I'm dancing once with SOA, once with the Righteous Rogues, once with Arabesque Dance Company and "Valizan Ali Akbar al Gamal" will dance with "Melissa Gamal" on Sunday. Should be a fun year though. I'm on the "Men In Bellydance" Panel and I get to hang with Jim Boz and Unmata's Amy for a few days each.)

APRIL 19TH, 2008.
With Shades Of Araby ("Astrosexy" by M-Flo, "Trinket" by Beats Antique)
Inversions.
Toronto, ON.
(Audra invited us to take part in her show. She is trying something a bit experimental: We all get to do one song of our choice, then we all dance to the same song that she chose. In the spirit of the night, we are trying something a bit experimental, yet ATS-y too. )

APRIL 12TH, 2008.
With Shades Of Araby ("Skudrinka" and "Dodetium" by Wolgemut, "Snake Dance" by Blue Planet)
Blackthorn Medieval Feast.
Guelph, ON.
(An old SCA buddy, Aelric Blackthorn invited us to perform at his medieval feast where we will appear as "spoils" from his trip to the Middle East as a crusader. Definitely will be wearing our Turkish coats for this one.)

Sunday APRIL 6th, 2008.
Solo. (Turkish hiphop with a name I can't pronounce.)
Rhaehana recital.
Cambridge, ON.
(Another little Sunday afternooner with Rhaehana. This time I'm going solo as I'll be dancing with a variety of my students from my Cambridge and Oakville classes. )

MARCH 7 to 9th, 2008.
With Shades Of Araby ("Astrosexy" by M Flow.)
Tribally Yours/Tribellement Votre
Montreal, QC.
(Shades of Araby return to Le Centre Marcel Dulude on Montreal's South Shore to take workshops at Tribellement Votre. Teachers this year were Unmata, Bellyqueen and Kajira Djoumanha.

If anyone ever needed proof of our devotion to our art, this event would be the proof! We drove 12 hours (Montreal is usually only a six hour drive!) in the worst blizzard the region had seen in 30 years. Driving at 40 mph to Montreal is no fun whatsoever, trust me on that. Doing it in a snowstorm makes for some serious white knuckle driving. We passed at least five cars in the ditch, including a rolled over SUV that had hit a minivan. As a result, we didn't make it to the hotel until 4:30 a.m.

If we thought the weather was bad the night before, we woke up to find out it had gotten worse. White out conditions with the snow blowing sideways. :( We skipped the first workshop on Saturday because we needed the sleep.

This was where we debuted our new tribal fusion choreography, Astrosexy, a bit of Japanese HipHop that Maral really liked. We also had our new white costumes for this. Mine wasn't quite finished, despite Maral handsewing in the car, and me doing some work with the sewing machine two hours before the show. But I was presentable. No bits flashed! We made quite the splash in the show because the music is upbeat. That and the girls got to paddle my backside during the choreography! I like to think our dance brought a happy mood to people who knew they would have to shovel their cars out after the show.

The dance was the highlight of the weekend though. First they closed the entrance ramp to the highway on us, then Maral and I got stuck in a snowdrift on the way back to our hotel. We lucky to have roving gangs of Quebeçois boys who helped pull us out, but it meant another VERY late night.)

NOVEMBER 23rd, 2007.
With Shades Of Araby ("Skudrinka & Dodetium" by Wolgemut.)
Mish Mash Belly Bash
Guelph, ON.
(First time dancing in Ishra's Mish Mash show, and it was a load of fun. Again, there was a small mishap. We got lost getting to the gig. We ended up somewhere north of Guelph in Fergus and drove past a lot of cows in the dark to get back where we were supposed to be. Luckily we were in the second half because we arrived just as the show started and spent most of our time getting dressed. However, we got superb footage of the show thanks to Alex sitting in the audience, and we got a compliment from Wolgemut on YouTube for our interpretation.)

Sunday NOVEMBER 18TH, 2007.
With Shades Of Araby ("Santa Maria de Buen Ayres" by Gotan Project)
Rhaehana recital.
Cambridge, ON.
(A little Sunday afternoon something for Rhaehana that went delightfully well. As usual, it wasn't without a mishap. We were heading out the door to get on stage and I held the door open for the girls. As i backed up to let them through, I gashed open my Achilles Heel on a low shelf and then proceeded to bleed all the way through the performance. Blood, sweat and tears I tell you... ;-))) We did Santa Maria and it was singularly spectacular to watch, even from where I was standing! I missed the cue for a spin, but the two girls spinning while I stood and mugged for the crowd looked grand.)

NOVEMBER 14TH (WEDNESDAY), 2007
Valizan (Saraab by Simon Shaheen, Alf Leyla Wa Leyla, Maqsoum Musings by Helm)
Harem @ Casbah Lounge. 306 King Street West.
9 p.m.
Hamilton, ON.
A rare home show! If ever there was proof that Tribe has been a networking tool, this is it. I've only ever met Eshe on Tribe. She (waves at Eshe!) put together this midweek show with some totally talented folks. I'm honoured to have been included! The talented and stunningly beautiful Melissa from Arabesque (under her new name Maysaa) will be there along with The Tabla Guy, Gurpreet Chana and Meaghan Shields from Toronto.

WOW! That was smashing fun. Ya... Casbah Lounge was only about the size of a broom closet, and the Battle of the Bands [Picture pimply teens shrieking badly while trying to cover Slayer...::shudder::] happening in the Main Room did not help with our music, but MAN I think I did pretty good! I felt good about the performance. The best part was getting to improvise to the Indian Tabla guy Gurpreet. He played and I channeled a little Indian/Tribal fusion.