January 2021 Virtual Classes

• I am transitioning to less frequent blogging as I embark on some exciting dance projects for 2021. The best way to stay in current with classes, performances, dance opportunities and cultural notes is to subscribe to my Monthly Newsletter. You get a new Playlist each month too!

Hello Dancers!

Online Registration is open for our Winter Term of Belly Dance Classes at the South San Francisco Parks and Rec. Classes start on Wednesday, January 13th, Beginners 7-8 PM and Intermediate 8-9 PM. We will be 100% Virtual this term so you can take part from anywhere, and maybe invite a long-distance friend to join in too!

South San Francisco residents can register right now, and registration opens for everyone else on Monday 12/7.

Please contact me if you have any questions about classes.

And if you haven’t been to a virtual class yet, I will leave you with a peek at our sparkly setting :)

Performance to Sev Acher by Artie Barsamian and His Orchestra

I am so happy today to present a beautiful Armenian song that has been used for belly dance. My friend Linda gave me a stack of vintage belly dance albums over the summer, all of them by Armenian musicians, and that’s how I found this lovely recording of Sev Acher (Black Eyes) by Artie Barsamian and his Orchestra.

I’ve been able to find out that Artie Barsamian was from Massachusetts. He was a very accomplished clarinet and saxophone player, and he performed both Armenian music and jazz. He recorded 13 78s and then another 14 albums over his long career, and he also loved to play live shows. In the YouTube clips below, which feature performance footage interspersed with interviews, he tells a very funny story about how his dad wanted him to learn to play Armenian music, but Artie wasn’t that interested in it. He would play a few Armenian songs with his father, who was a violinist from South Boston, in order to get permission to take the car out! But of course, he later loved playing it.

Here is my performance to Sev Acher for the Winter Cairo Shimmy festival this past weekend. Due to the festival’s time limits I had to cut short the beautiful clarinet solo at the beginning, but I hope to perform to this magical song again when in-person performances resume. Enjoy, and please subscribe to my Monthly Newsletter while you are here. I share class information, my dance research, music and cultural notes and more!

San Francisco Bay Area Belly Dancer Alisa Greer performs to Sev Acher by Artie Barsamian and his Orchestra for Winter Cairo Shimmy 2020.

The is the musical life story of Artie Barsamian with interviews live performances.

You can read a bit more about Artie Barsamian in this Boston Globe article.

And here’s something quick and free you can do to help preserve Armenian heritage - sign this Change.org petition asking UNESCO to protect Armenian cultural and historical sites.

Gana El Hawa - Abdel Halim Hafez

Hello Dancers,

This is just a very quick post today. This is the video clip for the song we were talking about and dancing to last week in Wednesday class, and we will talk more about it tonight!

Mona Said

Hi Dancers,

I am in the mood to escape reality today, and what could be better for that than a young Mona Said in a fluffy bubblegum pink costume dancing in front of the Sphinx.

Pure joy.

A friend sent that to me over the summer and I have watched it many times :)

More about Mona Said here.

If you like this, please subscribe to my Monthly Newsletter for more. I never share your email address.

Nov - Dec class information is up on my Classes Page. I hope you can join me for a class.

Have a great week xo

Belly Dance to Benefit Armenia Fund

Quick update today, I’ve added two Introductory Belly Dance Class Fundraisers to benefit Armenia Fund. These will be fun Introductory classes that anyone can do. My aim is to combine positive self-care with fundraising to help humanitarian relief efforts. Please help me spread the word. Contact me to register, thank you!