Atria Seville "Belly Dance Celebration!"

 



We always enjoy dancing for (and with!) our friends at Atria Seville, and our "Belly Dance Celebration!" in July was no exception. Thank you for celebrating the joy of Middle Eastern music and dance with us. We're looking forward to seeing you again soon!!







 

College Park Cinco de Mayo Celebration!

We had a wonderful time dancing for our friends at College Park to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! We don't get many opportunities to perform our favorite Mexican choreographies, so we thoroughly appreciated the chance to do so. !Muchas gracias, amigos y amigas!

NADHC Eastern "Spring Fling!"

Hello everyone! We had an amazing time performing for -- and particularly, with! -- our new friends at NADHC Eastern yesterday. Ladies and gents, you are terrific stage mates, and we're looking forward to celebrating music and dance with you again soon. :)

Veil It Up for Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is this weekend! Would you like to dazzle your sultan(a) with a few sultry veil moves? Here's a brief primer on veil basics, and a few easy-but-effective veil moves. Even if you've never danced with a veil before, you can pick up these moves in just a week!

First, you'll need a veil. Veils can range in size, shape, and material. The moves we'll be discussing are best with either a chiffon or silk veil that's roughly 36" wide x 48" long. (The exact size that's right for you will depend on your height, but to get started, these measurements work for most women. If you have any questions about what's right for you, leave me a message.)

Once you've got your veil at hand, here's how to do the Basic Hold: Pinch the top edge (the long edge) with your first finger and thumb, with the veil in front of your body. Leave about as much space on each side past your hands. For most veil movements, the veil should be draped a little between your hands, as though your veil is giving you a little smile.

Got it? Great! You're ready to start dancing with your veil! Let's take a look at three basic movements, and some ways to vary each one:

Poses: This is the easiest of veil movements, but it packs a powerful visual punch. All you do is bring your hands together over your head! With the veil behind you, it creates a sensual background for any movement. If you drape the veil in front of you, it creates a mysterious curtain. To vary this movement, make a V-shape with your arms, instead of bringing your hands together. This variation is particularly effective with moving or traveling steps, as the veil will float up and out as you move or travel.

Turban Veil: I've heard this movement referred to by many names, but I call it this because essentially, you're wrapping your hands around your head, as if you were putting on a turban. To do the Turban Veil, begin with the Basic Hold. Bring your right hand around in front, then up and over your left ear. As your right hand passes behind your head, follow your right hand with your left hand, passing your left hand behind your head and over your right ear. Once you've got the hang of it going from right-to-left, be sure to experiment with reversing direction (bringing your veil from your left hand over your head, past your right ear, then bringing your right hand behind your head and past your left ear).

Here's a picture of me bringing my left hand behind my head, to my right ear:

The Turban Veil is incredibly simple, but effective, and you can vary it up in a number of ways. Try alternating directions; experiment with hesitating just a moment before switching directions (this creates a little whirlpool shape in the veil); or add in a level change by going up on tiptoe, then bending your knees. Try experimenting with a Turban Veil in each direction, then pausing in a Pose.

Turban Arm Veil: Once you've got the Turban Veil down, you're ready for the Turban Arm Veil. Begin with the Basic Hold, then bring your right hand and arm over your left hand (it helps to bring your left hand and arm forward a little), then place your right hand on the back of your left shoulder. When you're comfortable with doing the Turban Arm Veil to the left, experiment with going to the right (bringing your left hand and arm over your right hand, bringing your right hand and arm forward, and placing your left hand on the back of your right shoulder).

Obviously, you can do the Turban Arm Veil from right-to-left and repeat this movement, creating a sense of a bullfighter's cape. Or, you can intersperse Poses, Turban Veils, and Turban Arm Veils.

My favorite thing to do with Turban Arm Veil, though, is to work the extended arm. If your right hand is on your shoulder, your left arm will be extended...and you can use that left hand to create figure 8s, swooshes, or simply turn in place with your arm extended. (If you turn in the direction of your extended arm, the veil floats in front of your body. If you turn in the opposite direction, the veil floats behind you. Experiment with both directions!) Here's a picture of me turning in the direction of my extended arm, using the Turban Arm Veil:

Now that you have these three basics in your veil dance vocabulary, it's time to put on your favorite Valentine's Day music and get to dancing. :) Enjoy!

2015 Year in Review

2015 was a wonderful year for Desert Gypsies, and we are looking forward to another year of sharing the joy of Middle Eastern music and dance with you! As we begin this new year, we wish you a healthy, happy year ahead -- and hope your year includes an abundance of music and movement that delights you, body and soul. Happy new year!

Desert Gypsies
2015 Year in Review

Christmas at College Park!

We had a fantastic time celebrating the season at College Park Rehab last week, as you can see from our picture below. Ladies and gentlemen, we wish you a very merry Christmas, and a healthy, happy new year!

NADHC Belly Dance Celebration!

We had a tremendous time dancing for -- and in particular, dancing with! -- our new friends at NADHC today. Wow, you ladies and gents know how to get up and shimmy! Thank you so much for inviting us to celebrate the joy of music and dance with you. We look forward to dancing with you again soon...!

Throwback Thursday!

We're busy gearing up for the Las Vegas Renaissance Faire in October, and we're excited to share that we'll be introducing new music, choreography, props, and costuming. Naturally, that's keeping us busy until October, so today we'd like to call your attention to our recently updated Photo Gallery, where you can enjoy a sampling of the shows we've done since Desert Gypsies hit the road as a professional troupe back in June 2012. We've done holiday shows for Mardi Gras, Halloween, and Christmas; themed shows ranging from Arabic to Spanish to Mediterranean; and we've performed at venues as varied as the Las Vegas Belly Dance Intensive to the West Charleston Library.

Enjoy! -- and we'll see you soon at Ren Faire 2015!

Atria Seville -- Arabian Nights!

We enjoyed a marvelous evening last Thursday, celebrating "Arabian Nights" with our friends at Atria Seville! It's always a pleasure dancing with, and for, our friends there...as you can see from the pictures!

Atria Seville
"Arabian Nights!"
June 2015
 

West Charleston Library's "An Afternoon of Belly Dancing!"

Hello everyone! Desert Gypsies had a spectacular time performing at the West Charleston Library's "An Afternoon of Belly Dancing" back in May. We also thoroughly enjoyed the other shows, too. If you didn't catch the performances, you missed a terrific opportunity to see a wide and wonderful variety of belly dancers, from cabaret to tribal to Indian. If you made it to the show, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Speaking of variety, we'll be exploring a variety of musical styles and dances at Ren Faire this year, from flamenco and Gypsy to traditional Arabic to Eastern European. We'll let you know where and when we'll be performing as soon as we know. In the meantime, we're still reveling in the fun we had at the library. Enjoy!

"An Afternoon of Belly Dance!"
West Charleston Library
May 16, 2015

Thursday Throwback! -- Atria Sutton 2013

As the middle of March approaches, I'm thinking green! -- and I found myself thinking about one of our first performances at Atria Sutton. Although this performance was in March, the theme wasn't St. Patrick's Day; it was "Dance Like You've Just Won a Million Dollars!" We had a terrific time, as we always do at Atria Sutton. Enjoy!

Mark Your Calendars!

Desert Gypsies is proud to announce that we're among the "local belly dancers" performing in "An Afternoon of Belly Dancing with Cat Maihen." This event promises to be a visual and aural spectactular, as the various groups and soloists performing will be sharing a wide variety of styles of belly dance. (And yes, although the flyer below highlights the sisterhood of belly dance, Anthony will not only be performing with Desert Gypsies -- he'll be showing off his stuff in a solo!)

So pull out your calendar right now, and be sure to be at the West Charleston Library before 2 PM on Saturday, May 16th! You'll want to snag a good seat in the library's comfortable theater so you can enjoy the show. We'll see you there!

Throwback Thursday: Flamenco-Gypsy Fusion!

We're already hard at work on new choreography for the new year, and right now, our focus is on enhancing our Spanish shows. We're developing some exciting new choreo that includes more flamenco footwork, more Spanish gypsy skirt, and more stick work! For now, we're keeping what we're working on under wraps. :) In the meantime, here's a throwback to one of our earliest performances as Desert Gypsies, back in August 2011.

Happy New Year 2015!

We're delighted to ring in a new year! -- but not because Desert Gypsies didn't enjoy 2014. We had the opportunity to share the magic of music and dance with old friends, and make some new friends, too.

We had the exceedingly good fortune to celebrate several holidays -- Mardi Gras, Father's Day, Halloween, and Christmas -- with our friends at Destinations Oakey, Atria Seville, and North Las Vegas Care Center. We also had the privilege of performing many themed shows this year, ranging from gypsy-flamenco to Egyptian to Greek.

In the meantime, Desert Gypsies wants to extend to all our friends our deepest thanks. We have enjoyed every moment of sharing the magic of music and dance with you this year! -- and we look forward to new adventures with you in 2015.

A special shout-out to our friend Shane Fairburn, who took the picture of Alexa and Angela at the Las Vegas Renaissance Faire (in the purple skirts on the outdoor stage). We think you'll agree he's an amazing photographer!



Desert Gypsies 2014
 

North Las Vegas Care Center: Celebrating the Season!

Merry Christmas! We celebrated the season in style with our friends at North Las Vegas Care Center this past Friday! We not only had a wonderful time performing, but we had a terrific time dancing with everyone afterward. Thank you! -- and we're looking forward to seeing you again soon!



"Christmas Celebration!"
North Las Vegas Care Center
December 2014

Throwback Thursday: Silver Hills!

As we near the end of the calendar year, I find myself thinking ahead to my plans and goals for the upcoming year. I've been reflecting on the many performances we were fortunate to enjoy this year, from several Greek-themed shows and an Egyptian show at Atria Seville, to our holiday shows for Mardi Gras and Halloween at Destinations Oakey, to PirateFest, Ren Faire, and the Las Vegas Belly Dance Intensive.

All that reminiscing has me both looking forward to celebrating the joy and magic of Middle Eastern dance next year! -- and thinking back to the many, many wonderful shows we've enjoyed. Today, I'd like to share with you some pictures from my very first show, which was a volunteer show at Silver Hills Care Center.

In some ways, I consider this a run-through for my first "real" show, which was a year later, at Atria Sutton. I say this because, although I'd stopped by a few weeks in advance, when I arrived at Silver Hills, no one was expecting me! (In contrast, when I arrived at Atria Sutton, they had arranged the common area for our performance, and had a sign out in the lobby to direct residents to our show.)

Anyway, although they'd forgotten about me, the staff at Silver Hills found a space for me to perform and rounded up an audience. I put on my music and started to dance...and, as they say, the rest is history.

So, for a real throwback this Thursday...

Silver Hills Care Center
September 2008

Recipe: Hot Spiced Cider

While this recipe isn't especially unusual, it's incredibly popular with guests when I serve it, so I'd like to share it with you. It's one of my favorites for get-togethers, because it's made in the slow cooker. So, I can prepare it in advance, and it's ready for company when they arrive...and it fills the house with the aroma of spices, too!

When I make it for company, I use apple juice, but when I prepare it for myself, I use a sugar-free apple juice drink mix. I'm okay with sugar substitutes, and it's a calorie-free holiday option.

Hot Spiced Cider

Ingredients:

8 cups (2 quarts) apple juice
3 (3") cinnamon sticks
3 whole cloves
3 allspice berries
1/2 orange, thickly sliced
1/2 lemon, thickly sliced
Brandy or rum (optional)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on HIGH until boiling. Reduce heat to LOW. If desired, add a splash of brandy or rum to each glass before serving.

Destinations Oakey -- Spanish Spooktacular!

As always, we had a fantastic time visiting with our friends at Destinations Oakey! Happy Halloween, everyone...We're already looking forward to seeing you all again soon! :)

 

Las Vegas Renaissance Faire 2014!!

We're seriously excited about Ren Faire next week, in part because we're looking forward to sharing some exciting new music and choreography with our audiences! Here's our schedule on the Shifting Sands Belly Dance stage:

Friday, October 9th, 3 PM -- "Mediterranean Delights"
Friday, October 9th, 5:30 PM -- dancing with Tribe Al-Wadi
Friday, October 9th, 8 PM -- "Spanish Nights"
Saturday, October 10th, 4 PM -- "Arabic Dreams"
Saturday, October 10th, 5:30 PM -- dancing with Tribe Al-Wadi
Sunday, October 11th, 3 PM -- "Mediterranean Delights"

We look forward to seeing you at Ren!! :)

Las Vegas Renaissance Faire 2014!!

The Ren Faire is definitely one of our favorite places to perform, and this year, we're excited to share that we'll be performing more often than we have in previous years. Desert Gypsies will be on the Shifting Sands stage as follows:

Friday, October 9th, at 3 PM
Friday, October 9th, at 8 PM
Saturday, October 10th, at 4 PM
Sunday, October 11th, at 3 PM

We'll also be dancing with Tribe Al-Wadi on Friday and Saturday from 5:30-6:30 PM on the Shifting Sands stage. We hope to see you there!

"Juntos"
Las Vegas Renaissance Faire 2013