The circus, Columbia Alternacirque, is gearing up to put on a reprise of our summer production, A Midsummer Night’s Cirque, on July 23rd… and on the morning of the 24th, Natalie Brown and I head to Atlanta, Georgia, to teach the first running of our joint intensive, The Devil in the Details. On Saturday we are teaching two low-key workshops: Mine, a workshop on hair and makeup for dark fusion dance, and Natalie’s a workshop on flattering and appropriate costuming for fusion performance.  Then, we get all dolled up and perform along side some of the Southeast’s best belly dancers.  Then, on Sunday, we teach our pairing of my “Pops, Locks, and Tick Tocks” and Natalie’s “Elegant Extension and Poses.”  To register for this weekend of dancing, head on over to Beledi Boutique.

Weekly classes are ongoing:  Wednesday nights I’m teaching Suhaila Salimpour format bellydance at the Old Mill in Lexington, and on Thursdays I’m teaching my mash-up of old and new belly dance at Gyrotonic Vista in downtown Columbia.  More information on my classes page.

And during the days, working on new solos, preparing for the Level 3 weeklong workshop in Berkeley, California, with Suhaila, and trying to keep cool in the summer heat…

See the rest of the images here!

June 7th: Bloomington, Indiana. Workshops with Asharah and Tempest, followed by Motif ritual gathering.  Register at Dark Drummer Productions.

June 9th: Cincinnati, Ohio. Workshops with Asharah, Tempest, and Tim Rayborn; followed by a Medieval hafla.  Register at Zahara’s Tangled Web.

June 10th: Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Workshops with Asharah and Tempest.  Register at Unveiled’s website.

June 14th: Woodstock, New York. Workshops with Asharah and Tempest, followed by an evening show featuring Asharah, Tempest, Tim Rayborn, Willow, Shivati, and other performers.  Register at Willow’s website.

June 15th: Boston, Massachusetts. Workshops with Asharah and Tempest.  Register at Badriya’s website.

Schedule:

9:30am: Registration
10am-noon: Pops Locks Ticks and Tocks
1-3: Danse Mècanique

8pm: Solstice Hafla. Free admission with workshop attendance!

Full Day: $70 before May 15, $80 after, $90 at the door
Individual Classes: $45 each

Register now!

I’m honored to be teaching along side some of my biggest inpirations and dearest friends in the belly dance community. Seriously… this event is going to kick some major gluteus max!

This year’s line-up includes: Myself (Asharah), Mira Betz (CA), Elizabeth Strong (CA), Natalie Brown (SC), Romka (DC), Shakra (DC), Sooz Hall (CA), Dave Hall (CA), Rose Harden (CA), and Urban Gypsy (TX).

Check it all out on the Tribal Alchemy website.  Hope to see you there!

I’m honored to be part of the “Gothfia” this year, helping to plan Gothla US with my partners in crime, Tempest, Sashi, and Anaar.  Not only am I helping to organize the event, but I’m also teaching a workshop and performing in the star-studded gala show.  Fellow instructors include the my fellow Gothfia members as well as Shakra (DC), Callisto (Sweden), Marjhani (CA), and Lee Ali (CA).  If you are at all interested in the global phenomenon that is gothic bellydance, this is an event that you don’t want to miss.

Last year’s theme was “The Conjuring”… bringing into existence a full-size Gothic event for the bellydance community – we put all of the ingredients together, made a lot of sacrifices, spilled some blood, and did a lot of mumbling and invoking – and BEHOLD! We did it! Magic!

This year, our theme is “The Divining” – to practice divination means to look into the future and try to ascertain answers that will aid one’s journey. So with the second year of Gothla US, we’re getting a taste of the future of Gothic Bellydance…

This year’s Gothla will take place at the Cal Poly Pomona “Bronco Student Center”, in Pomona California, March 6-9.  For more information, visit the Gothla website.

I’ve got two performances coming up in January, and you definitely don’t want to miss them. My fellow performers in each show are phenomenal!

January 10th, Richmond, VA

Featuring the Mezmer Society

A bellydance and sideshow extravaganza featuring the Mezmer Society, Romka, Mab Just Mab, Fire in the Belly and more! At Art 6, 6 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia. $10 advance tickets: send payment to joharadance[at]hotmail.com via PayPal.

January 17th, Columbia, SC

Special performance at Art Bar

Performance at Art Bar in Columbia, SC, featuring Asharah, Natalie Brown and Delirium Tribal, members of Awalim Dance Company, and the Mezmer Society. 9pm, $5 at the door. You don’t want to miss this one! Art Bar is located at 1211 Park Street, Columbia, South Carolina.

Hope to see you at one of these incredible events!

I’ve been teaching a new choreography to Maduro‘s song “Glass Eaters” to my Tribal 3 students, and they’ve been working so hard on it to get it ready for this weekend’s show. I’m really proud of this choreography, and I’m especially proud of my students. They never cease to amaze me, and they’ve tackled this choreography head-on. I love that. I’ll be performing the choreography with my students.

I’ll also be performing a Christmas/Holiday-themed solo, because I never miss an opportunity to dance to my crazy remixes of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and “Carol of the Bells”.

Tickets are still available! There are two shows, one at 5pm and a second at 8pm. Come see the Saffron Dance students and faculty perform what they’ve been working on this autumn!

Reserve your ticket now!