Rakkasah Part Two

Today I wanted to share a few of my photos from the Rakkasah West Festival in Concord, CA last month.  Rakkasah is the first of the bellydance festivals in the US and I believe it is still the biggest.  It is always an inspiring and fun day!

This year I was incredibly fortunate to get a slot with one of my favorite bands, Pangia.  They play classic American-style belly dance music, which is really a blend of many traditions- Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Armenian etc.

Here are a few of my photos from this great day:

Dancing with Pangia:  Pat Olson, Denise Olson, Reda Darwish, Tim Bolling, Shady and Linda Grondahl

It's always an honor and just so much fun to dance a drum solo with the great Reda Darwish

One more at Rakkasah West 2018 with Pangia!

Finally, I also wanted to share a bit of the tribute to Zelina/Elaine that I mentioned in my previous Rakkasah  post.  This is the last minute or so of the show where we all blow are dear friend a kiss.  (The great music is Kuli Banat by Nazir Latouf).  I was so happy I got to be a part of this celebration of our beautiful friend and her love of dance.

The last 1.5 minutes of El Asaab's tribute to Zelina/Elaine Arneson at Rakassah West 2018, where we blow are dearly missed friend a kiss.

I'll just close with a few reminders!  My summer belly dance classes at the South San Francisco Parks and Rec will start on Wednesday, June 20th.  You can register online at the brand new SSF website here.  If there are any problems you can call the office at 650.829.3800.  Complete class information is available on my classes page and you can also always contact me!

And then I will be performing at Tannourine Restaurant in San Mateo to live Arabic music as part of a belly dance show put on by the one and only Khalil Abboud and band on Friday, June 1st.  Complete information about the show is on my Shows page. 

Rakkasah!

Just the word Rakkasah makes the pulse of any belly dancer race!  Imagine immersing yourself in a world of belly dance for a full day or even the entire weekend!!  I look forward to it every year and this past weekend did not disappoint.

There are always many highlights - seeing old friends and greatly admired dancers, listening to beautiful music all day, being inspired by everyone's costumes and cover-ups, shopping and browsing for belly dance essentials and of course performing too!

This year my most favorite moment was getting to be a small part of a tribute to Elaine Arneson (Zelina), a dear friend and beloved Bay Area belly dancer who passed away earlier this year.  Truth be told, it was very difficult to know I would be going to my first Rakkasah without her radiant smile and matchless sense of humor to greet me.  But getting to be a part of her tribute meant the world to me.  I have danced with the troupe El Ashab once before, with Elaine, and it was so much fun.  Here is a photo with Elaine on the left.

El Ashab - Photo by Carl Sermon

I will look forward to sharing pictures and video from her tribute as soon as I have them.  In the meantime, it was wonderful to share memories of her with the other dancers yesterday.  She inspired us all and the best way to honor her is to never stop dancing, because she danced all the way through her life and it was such a privilege to know her.

That's all for this time.  I am working on updated the Classes page and I will post again when I have the new information ready.  SSF classes start on 4/25.