Rakassah West and the After Party: L'Amour De La Danse

Five of us piled into a large vehicle and headed over to Richmond for Rakassah Saturday. Then there was the anticipated after-party in Oakland we looked forward to that evening. Rakassah was lively and exciting. Fun dance performances by talented dancers and a lot of wonderful vendors. Prepare to shop. I bought two pairs of earrings, a glowy pink to purple peony antique button pendant, a flowery blue and green wrap-around skirt made from recyled cloth, a large 3 -ring, shiny, gun metal gray marcasite bracelet, lavender and cardamom chocolate, dark sipping chocolate, and a feather arrangement for my hair by Wicked Smileys. Thanks Sarah! We walked around shopping and watching dance performances for 4 hours.

Then the anticipated party, L'Amour De La Danse. We had dinner down the street from The Oakland Metro Operahouse which looked nothing like an opera house. It was more like a warehouse. Buttercup is where we had dinner. It looked kind of like an upscale Denny's. It was fine. We all had chicken tostada salads and cheap wine. L'Amour De L Danse was worth the wait and standing for 3 hours. The "operahouse" had no seating. All of the dancers and performances were fantastic but I do have a few favorites. Of course it is always fun to watch my teacher, Malia DeFelice, referred to by the organizers as the "Foxy Siren of Belly Dance". Unfortunately, we arrived late as she was already performing. Jill Parker is also a favorite, watching her perform for the first time last weekend. Gina Bruno is a certified dancer from Suhaila Salimpour's school. Gina is breathtaking and mesmerizing. Tanja, closely tied to both Suhaila Salimpour and Jill Parker, is an award winning dancer and choreographer. Unmata is an amazing group of dancers and they were the most unique group. It seemed like lyrical dance and tribal fusion mixed into one. They used chairs and round metal circles as props. Ariellah gave an interesting performance gothic style. She was referred to as the "supreme dark fusion gothic goddess" I think that says it all. I wish I remembered who danced on two glass goblets! I believe it was Shabnam but not 100% sure. That was fun to watch. Google all of their names under "bellydance" and check out their websites. I hate to leave anyone out because they are all worthy of high recognition. I look forward to seeing them all dance again.