Music and Dance Classes, Vendors, Performances, & a Fundraiser for
Spokane Women’s Farms
Saturday, February 4, 2017
9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Focused Fitness Community Center
2426 S. Dishman Mica Rd., Spokane Valley, WA
Despite the snow, everyone had a great time. Sudden Exposure Photography shared event photos on its Facebook BellyFest Album.
Event Schedule
Time |
Classroom |
Studio |
Gym |
9:30 am – 10:30 am |
Floorwork with Gaylene Dover | ATS® Veil with Courtney Rowland | Mini Photo Shoots & Vending |
10:45 am – 11:45 am |
Drumming: Beyond the Basics with Roger Sumner | Bollywood: Shaking and Dhumkas with Sapna Basy | Mini Photo Shoots & Vending |
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm |
Drum Solos with Celadon Wood | ATS®: Dancing in the Round with Lulu Martin | Mini Photo Shoots & Vending |
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm |
ATS® Sword with Sandy Rainey Maras | Turkish Orientale Technique & Combinations with Nefabit | Mini Photo Shoots & Vending |
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm |
Children’s Fan Dance with Nadiyah | Shameless and Sultry with Nickie B. | Mini Photo Shoots & Vending |
3:45 pm – 4:45 pm |
Zar with Yasmin Edwards | Vintage American Cabaret Veil with Stephanie M. | Mini Photo Shoots & Vending |
4:45 pm – 5:45 pm |
————— | Dressing Room | Mini Photo Shoots & Vending |
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm (approx) |
————— | Dressing Room | Hafla & Vending |
For those attending all day, we will be holding a potluck. Food and non-alcoholic drinks will be kept in the kitchen, and perishable food can go in the fridge.
(Scroll down for class descriptions and instructor bios.)
Classes, 9:30 am – 4:45 pm/ $15.00 per Class
Please note: There are no refunds unless the event or the class in which you’d like to attend has been cancelled.
Evening Hafla, 6:00 pm/ $5.00 or Garden Gloves, Trowel, or Cultivator Donation for Spokane Women’s Farms
The following ladies and gents will be performing:
Aurora Fox Tribal Dance
- Blue Amber Belly Dance
- Bridget Roberts
- Cimarron Tribal
- Deanna Benton
- Devotion Tribal BellyDance
- Katya Tsokur
- Keisha and Tino
- LC Valley Belly Dance
- Mystical Phoenix
- Nah’Joom
-
Safar Band
- Sarah and Myles Brahme
- Sultana Dancers
- Tribe Zaghareet
- Troupe De Jour
- Ul’fire Tribal Dance
Shopping, 12:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The following vendors will present their wares:
- BellyDanceMall.com
- Carissima Vita
- Eco Green Designs
Kim Long Art
- Roja Mala
- Sudden Exposure Photography
- Susie Hicks
(Photo by Sudden Exposure Photography)
Our charity this year is a new non-profit, Spokane Women’s Farms, currently seeking 501 (c) status.
This organization helps battered women transition through farming by providing them with a place for reflection, hope, food, and new trade skills.
The organization is asking for garden gloves, hand shovels, and cultivators; tools that the women take with them as they ‘graduate’ from the shelters or dangerous environments. For more information on the organization, visit SWFarms.org. If you’d like to donate $ to their cause, please click here.
Donate $20
Donate an Amount of Your Choice
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Class Descriptions
ATS®: DANCING IN THE ROUND
A Class Presented by Laurie Lulu Martin-Self
ATS® with a Sword
A Class Presented Sandy Maras, Ph.D.
Performing ATS® BellyDance while moving with a sword brings a new dynamic of strength and power to the ATS® dancer. All ATS® moves are modified to include a sword allowing the dancers to lead and follow as in any other ATS® performance. This workshop will introduce sword basics and have you dancing within the hour. Prior knowledge of ATS® vocabulary is very helpful.
ATS® WITH VEIL
A Class Presented by Courtney Rowland
Veil is a newer prop on the ATS scene, and it’s such a lovely addition to the repertoire. In this workshop, Courtney will cover the veil technique developed by Kamalah Tribal. This style aims to combine classic veil techniques with ATS slow moves in the least invasive way possible, keeping the steps true to the originals. Bring a veil if you have one (preferably half-circle silk). Intermediate ATS familiarity preferred, as the original steps will not be reviewed before adding the veil.
BOLLYWOOD: SHAKING AND DHUMKAS
A Class Presented by Sapna Basy
Sapna will present the Bollywood dance form and cover Bollywood shaking and Dhumkas.
CHILDREN’S SPANISH FAN DANCE
A Class Presented by Nadiyah
Nadiyah will show the children techniques of working with the Spanish fan and a brief choreography. Participants will have the option of performing in the hafla. Fans will be available to borrow or purchase.
DRUM SOLO!
A Class Presented by Celadon Wood
DRUMMING: BEYOND THE BASICS
A Class Presented by Roger E Sumner
FLOORWORK IN-DEPTH – Class Cancelled 2/1/17
A Class Presented by Gaylene Dover
Participants will illustrate their starting point, so that Gaylene can add combinations and other moves to their knowledge. Some of the movements may include shimmy turn/ layback , suspended layback, layback crawl (only for very advanced floor dancers), body wave, body whip, whip/ wave combination, half-moon sway, body 8/ taxim combination, oasis body wave taxim, stomach dancing, and floor dancing. Participants will dance the floor rather than just doing the movements.
SULTRY AND SHAMELESS
A Class Presented by Nicole Shek aka Nickie B.
How often do we feel barely aware of our sensuality? Despite being belly dancers, and despite the sex-driven media that surrounds us, why do we still hold back those deep, delicious aspects of ourselves? What stops us from being a little more giving as performers? Sensuality, in all appropriate uses, should never be punished or shameful. It should equate with confidence. This class is NOT about being sexual for the sake of it. This class is about bringing out the distinction and empowerment that comes with allowing yourself to feel exposed. Its about making it OKAY. This workshop is a performance enhancer. In a culture submerged in sexuality, what will make your performance unique? How will you stand out? What keeps you in the realm of professional sensuality versus blatant sexuality?
This class is about having fun with these concepts, building on them for empowerment and refining your skills. We’ll focus on the nuances that bring out the richness and breadth in your dance. This is a mixed-level technique class that will fuse elements of other performance styles that are notoriously “sultry” with applicable and often overlapping belly dance movements.This is about bringing out the treasures within – articulating what’s behind your movements. Its about building confidence, because confidence is attractive and sexy!
TURKISH ORIENTALE TECHNIQUE & COMBINATIONS
A Class Presented by Nefabit
Turkish Orientale Technique & Combinations Turkish Orientale is a lively, extroverted style of bellydance that has dazzled and captivated audiences for decades. The style is fun, fast and showy, with lots of dizzying turns, lively hops, and big, juicy hip isolations. In this class, participants will first learn some of the distinguishing elements that make Turkish bellydance unique. Participants will learn about some of the Turkish rhythms and musical styles and how to move with them. Then, they’ll put theory into practice, learning combinations with classic Turkish flair that you can incorporate into your own movement repertoire. This class is open to dancers of all levels, with modifications for beginning or advanced dancers. Participants will learn some basic zill patterns to accompany the combinations, so please bring a pair if you would like to play! A few extra will be available.
VINTAGE AMERICAN CABARET VEIL – THE ART OF UNVEILING
A Class Presented by Stephanie M.
Participants will create mystery by beginning their dance with soulful taqsim of arms and body while covered by the veil. Then, they will learn the artful and dramatic unveiling technique to reveal the dancer and costume beneath. They will finish the enchantment by playing with the set-free veil.
ZAR
A Class Presented by Yasmin
We get confused when we hear the word Zar. Is it a rhythm? Is it a dance? Yasmin will explain the difference between Zar and Ayoub. She will also explain Zar as a ritual, not a true dance. Class participants will also explore how Zar is used when performing. Participants will be on their knees at times, so please bring something to protect the knees.
Instructor Bios
Celadon Wood is a second generation Oriental Raqs Sharqy dancer and has been performing, choreographing and teaching in Los Angeles for the past five years. She’s trained with A’isha Azar at a young age, then had the pleasure of learning from, dancing with and experiencing the magic of other legendary greats such as Zahra Zuhair, Fahtiem, Kamala, Helena Vlahos, Tito Seif and Katalin Schafer, to name a few. In addition to bellydance, Celadon performs and teaches many dance styles with ease. On stage since the age of 2, Celadon is known for her innovative choreography and musicality with a dynamic stage presence that captivates audiences with an enthusiasm, adventurous spirit and warmth that can be felt both on and off stage
Courtney Rowland has studied American Tribal Style® belly dance for ten years, and she is a certified Fat Chance Belly Dance® Sister Studio. After dancing as a founding member of Kamalah Tribal in Phoenix for 7 years, Courtney returned to her hometown of Spokane where she hopes to grow the ATS® community. Courtney’s style focuses on elegant, lifted posture and the details of technique.
Gaylene Dover started dancing in the 70’s through the community college in Salem, Oregon. She eventually started teaching several nights a week and making some skirts, pants, and more. Her style is American Cabaret with floor dancing and stomach dancing, which was a required part of belly dance at that time. She owns Gaylene’s Boutique and can be found vending in belly dance festivals throughout the West.
Laurie (aka Lulu) Martin is the director of Blue Amber Belly Dance and offers certified FCBD ATS® instruction as a Sister Studio Continuing Education (SSCE) Instructor based in Tri-Cities, Washington. For more information on Lulu and Blue Amber, visit www.blueamberbd.com and find and like the Blue Amber Facebook page!
Nadiyah has been involved in music, dance, and body conditioning programs since she was 4 years old. Her training includes belly dance, folk dances, and ball room dancing from America, Argentina, Armenia, Canada, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, Hawaii, Hungary, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, New Zealand, Persia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. She also studied percussion, piano, saxophone, and sang in a choir. She has also earned a MBA, a Medical Assisting Certificate, and two Arbitrator’s certificates. Nadiyah started selling dance supplies in 2003. Since then, she has taught “The Camels and Cobras Club,” a club for lower-income youth; directed Hasna Haddiyah and Troupe Shalimar; danced with the Sisters of Selket and Baharat!; contributed articles to dance magazines; and sponsored numerous instructors in workshops and shows. Nadiyah teaches Belly Dance, Bollywood, Flamenco, and various folk dances at The Warehouse Athletic Facility and Satori Dance Studio in Spokane, WA. She also studies and performs with Spokane Hula.
A second-generation dancer, Nefabit has spent her life under the tutelage of her mother, Delilah Ra. Growing up in a professional company that she went on to direct herself has given Nefabit years of experience to pass on to her students. Nefabit has over 22 years of dance study, with 10 years of professional performance and teaching experience. She has studied many forms of dance, including ballet, jazz, hula, Tahitian, Irish step, flamenco, Bollywood, musical theater and modern dance, but bellydance has always been her greatest passion. She continues to study the many styles of bellydance extensively, from classical Egyptian, American cabaret, Turkish orientale, tribal fusion, and folkloric styles such as Khaleegi and Raks Assaya. She finds happiness in sharing her love to as many people as possible. For more information, visit northwestbellydance.com, nefabitbellydance.com, or call (509) 481-1533. (Photo by Austinspace)
Long time dancer and artist, Nickie B. has spent the last several years performing in professional belly dance shows, variety shows, cabarets and burlesques. Some of her recent appearances include Northwest Belly Dance’s “Soiree”, The Vaude Villain’s “Creepshow Peepshow” and La Petite Marquis Burlesque’s “The Bees Knees.” Her own works as director and producer include “Down by the Bayou” and “L’amour.” Nickie B. loves choreographing and conceptualizing beautiful, bizarre and substantial pieces. Provocative and playful, she brings a trademark fusion flavor to her work.
Roger E. Sumner has over 45 years of drumming experience. Being classically trained has brought him many band experiences from marching, concert, orchestra, big bands, 50 and 60’s Rock n Roll, classic rock, country, blues, etcetera. During this time he has also been studying/taking lessons on hand drums from around the world and is currently enjoying teaching and playing the doumbek for the Bellydance community. He is also working on a project to bring live drumming and Arabic music to the Bellydance community as well. He can be reached at 509-301-7153, sumnerroger123@hotmail.com, or on Facebook.
Sapna Basy is studying business at Eastern Washington University, having come from India. She has participated in several Bollywood competitions.
Sandy Rainey Maras, Ph.D., has been studying American Tribal Style® Bellydance, as created by Carolena Nericcio-Bohlman of FatChance® Bellydance, since 2011. For over 6 years, Sandy has worked and studied to master this dance and bring it to others. Sandy became Director of Sandpoint’s Ul’fire Tribal Dance, a FatChance Bellydance® Sister Studio, in 2015 and is proud to call Carolena Nericcio–Bohlman her mentor.

Sudden Exposure Photography is the featured event photographer. Here are two photo albums showing last year’s event:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/SuddenExposurePhotography/photos/?tab=album&album_id=943819335738374
and
https://www.facebook.com/pg/SuddenExposurePhotography/photos/?tab=album&album_id=964027547050886