the second annual arabesque belly dance competition was so much fun.  the turnout was decent considering the current economic state.  the audience was mostly full during the evening categories.  the vendors unfortunately did not fare well.  most packed up 3/4 through the day.  i stuck it out because i was there till the end anyway.  i sold 2 videos.  paid for gas there and back . lol!

the winner of the cabaret solo category was sumaia  sumaiabellydance.com
a beautiful dancer from san francisco by way or argentina! she was really nice and great to watch.  very elegant lines...and a killer bod

i was only supposed to give the cabaret soloist trophy, but was asked to give them all out.  it was so much fun.  i must have given 15 trophies.  there is a really special energy given by the happy winning performers.  it was so cool to give them their awards and help them off stage into the wings where they finally broke composure and got really excited in a pedestrian way. 

one of the best things was that i was reunited with tonya and atlantis, producers of the belly dancer of the universe competition which i won in the past.  i hadn't seen them in a few years and they were as warm and lovely as ever.  tonya is a very special lady.  she sang a song she wrote with  john bilezikjian for her daughter atlantis, as atlantis performed.  it was very moving.  and atlantis is the consumate entertainer.  she is so much fun to watch. 

i danced a traditional egyptian beladi and did a short drum solo in the pros showcase. i'll post video when i finally learn how to get the video from my camera onto youtube :p  thats a project for this week for sure. 

as i was packing up the merch table after the showcase, an egyptian couple asked for my card for party engagements.  whoot!  and tonight i got a really nice note from one of the contestants. "I watched you perform last night in San Diego.....you have the most wonderful, beautiful and sexy facial expressions that I have ever seen on a dancer!!! I aspire to one day be able to radiate that to the
audience. I look forward to hopefully seeing you perform again....thank you so much for being there!!!" - omg that totally makes it all worth it :)

great day!

Tags: arabesque competition, belly dance, sabrina