There are quite a few things we’ll be getting into this year. We’re looking forward to participating in lots of shows and events through promotions and sponsorships. First on our promo list: Suhaila Salimpour Intesnive Weekend with Atlanta Fusion Bellydance.

We’ll be open on the days the AFBD team & Suhaila are in the studio and all are welcome to shop with 10% off on $50 purchases (15% off if you are registered with the workshop). We encourage everyone to take full advantage of these opportunities to study with legendary teachers and artists. Take a few minutes to go through their sites, their videos, testimonials and experiences from other dancers, and then, go to the workshops and form your own opinions and share them. This is how we build ourselves as students, performers and teachers. Sitting in front of a computer is not enough. One needs to get out and be on the scene to experience a true raqs dream.

Let us know where you’re going this year and stop by and say hi Salimpour weekend!

Keep Shimmying
-TeamMBD

We’re always happy to have Suhaila Salimpour in the studio. Our dear friends and family at Atlanta Fusion Bellydance hosted another successful Salimpour certification weekend and weeklong event. One of our friends in dance recaps the weekend with pictures and a few videos. Enjoy! More to come on the Atlanta Fusion Bellydance tribute page on Facebook.

Click here to read…

Watch this space for the info on the next AFBD sponsored event… Bellydance Fashion Week Atlanta 2015 

Resident Archivist shares a memory…
“I can remember being a teenager, just old enough to hang out with my friends and watch bellydancers on television. We would go to my friends’ houses in our big immigrant and international community for tapas and snacks while staring at a cocktail of raissat until dark. It was really cool to watch the dancers spin the cane, leaning back with their hair sweeping the stage. They’d swing back up to a hail of praise and zaghareets.

One of my friends was 18 and had just gotten engaged. I couldn’t wait for her wedding. We must have practiced for hours because I would wake up sore some mornings. Her sisters and I rehearsed what we were going to do at the henna party for months. I decided I’d mimic Samara’s, a famous dancer at the time from Syria, cane routine. Years later I find myself using the cane in performance at events with my friends. Each time I’m brought back to those moments and channel those living room impromptu haflas where my joy and obesession for this dance flourished.” -MBD Archivist

Assayahs are the female version of the tahtib. It is a fascinating show when ‘the cane’ comes out. Colourful and sleek, sometimes a strong wooden stick, these are more than props, they are piece of history. Learn more about the assayah and Saidi dances from workshops with those like Karim Nagi Mohammed and Mohammed Shahin.

Thanks for reading!
-Team MBD