The Updating Continues...

We've just finished a new choreo for Ren, and wow, are we excited! We agree this choreo is one of the best we've come up with yet. We hope you'll stop by to see us in October, so you can judge for yourself.

Between now and then, we'd like to invite you to stop by our just-updated About Us page. Feel free to introduce yourself with a post on the page!

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

Grab Your Calendar...

and put our first Clark County Library performance on it! We're delighted to be one of the "local belly dancers" performing on Saturday, May 11th, at 2 PM at the West Charleston Library. And not to worry...although the flyer below highlights the sisterhood of belly dance, Anthony will be performing, too. The performance is free and open to the public, so grab your calendar right now and put in the date and time. We'll see you there!

Recipe: Slow Cooker Kebsa in Dakkous

I'm fond of converting recipes to slow cooker recipes. Here, I've combined kebsa, a traditional Saudi dish made with chicken and exotic spices, and dakkous (a flavorful tomato sauce served with kebsa) into one recipe, making it fast and easy to prepare.

Kebsa is traditionally served with rice made from the poaching broth used to cook the chicken, so if you'd like to enjoy your kebsa with rice, I suggest preparing the rice using chicken broth instead of water.

You can enjoy kebsa as is (as in the picture), in a sandwich, or served on rice or mashed potatoes, but my favorite way to enjoy it is on a pita, like an individual pizza. It's hardly traditional, especially if you add cheese, but it's delicious!

Slow Cooker Kebsa in Dakkous

Ingredients:

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 (4-ounce) can mild green chiles
1/2 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins

Directions:

Combine tomatoes, paste, chiles, onion, coriander, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in slow cooker. Add chicken and cook on LOW 4 - 6 hours, until chicken is cooked through.

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!