Did 4 sets on Sat night. GV was slow but glad to have the gig. 2 set private party was split between those too embarrassed by their own presence to watch and the group of ladies who love to dance and joined in....and their little 5 year old boy who got down with some hip hop in the middle of the dance floor during the show.

The priceless comments from kids:
1. At my 1st gig, an afternoon lecture demo for a kids musical theater group. A little boy asked, after my sword act, "Do you have a magnet in your brain?"
2. After sword set at party another little boy asks, "Is that a trick headband?" Inquiring as to how I keep the sword on my head.

Yes, their are magnets in my brain, Wanna see? *fakes opening head like a horror movie*

Tags: belly dance, comments, gigging, gigs, sword

in the final hours of organization of the fundraiser for nadirah. i really hope we raise enough to be helpful to her.  thank you to everyone who donated the outrageously generous raffle prizes.
i've been elected mc, so have sewn crystals to a red dress.  that counts right?  that makes it official?
ok, now i have to decide on my costume, get all the prizes into one large bin, bet the bin into the generously loaned truck. get 1 cupcake for the birthday girl, pack the sana helwa cd (thanks bea and candi! ), pack my gear and be @ the theater by 7:30.  totally doable.
ready...go!  keep your fingers crossed that the people from the casino really do show up to check out the show.  can be *very* good for the performers
( fundraiser flier )

Tags: belly dance, free range show girl, fund raiser, fundraiser, gigging, gigs

Thanks to everyone who came out to the showcase. Thanks to the amazing performers. Thanks to the venue - especially for the cool new purple and lime super stylin sofa in the dressing room/green room.  A nice surprise & we like it!

Next month is the special Fund Raiser Showcase for Nadirah.  Band, dancers, drummers, awesome raffle prizes and a very important cause.
Wed. Sept. 9th 9pm Lestat's West Theater $10. Hope to see you there.  Will keep you updated.

Tags: belly dance, bellydance, gigging, showcase

For those who have expressed desire to donate to my friend Nadirah, who is battling cancer :
The first "Donate" button is up on my site.  I will put it on her site as soon as I have access.
http://sabrinabellydancer.com/news.html

If you wish to purchase fund raiser raffle tickets, please send $1 per ticket via the "Donate" button and send me an email detailing your:
Name
Email
Phone
How many tickets purchased

I'll keep all the fundraiser raffle info in a giant spreadsheet and notify remote ticket holders of what they won.
Thanks to everyone for your generous, speedy respones.
info at sabrinabellydancer dot com

Tags: belly dance, fund raiser, nadirah, raffle

My friend and beautiful belly dancer, Nadirah, has been diagnosed with cancer. She is having emergency surgery. So I am organizing a fundraiser for her,  which will be held during our normal Wed. Sept. 9th showcase at Lestat's West Theater.  Middle Earth Ensemble will be performing with some favorite local dancers. 

We will also have a raffle to help raise funds for Nadirah's medical care.  If you would like to donate a raffle prize please contact me directly. We will also be accepting monetary donations on her behalf.  Any help is appreciated.  Hope to see many of you at the show.  More details to follow.

info at sabrinabellydancer dot com  or 858.337.1728

Tags: belly dance, fund, fundraiser, nadirah, raiser, showcase

Tonight I had the honor of teaching 3 classes. I managed to turn this last weekend's two weird gig relinquishing incidents into teaching tools to help build my dancers "better, faster, stronger".

Lesson 1: If a house dancer suddenly takes you off the schedule because you "need to slim down" but you weigh less than when you auditioned and were hired, and the last time you danced there the audience stood up, clapped and shouted "Bravo"  A: something else is up  and B: this kind of stuff will happen in your career, its just a matter of when. You will be told you are too young, too old, too short, too tall, too pale, too dark, too smart, too dumb, too much of an accent though you don't speak on stage, one too many freckles, and all manner of other nonsense. Smile, wish them well and move on. Another venue will love you.

Lesson 2: If, on your first night at a gig, the owner explodes in anger when you ask to be paid, its a gift that it happened in the beginning and you didn't waste more time there or let the place become attached to your name / reputation.

Tags: belly dance, free range show girl, gigging, gigs, teaching

Due to artistic differences, there will be no show or dance lessons at Ali Baba's Cave on Sundays.
Difference = I expect to be paid for my work :/ 

If a venue books a dancer and the dancer shows up, the venue must pay, whether or not the venue has sufficient customers to cover their costs.  If there is no "call in policy" and the dancer shows up as scheduled, she is entitled to payment for her time.

Tags: belly dance, belly dancing, free range show girl, gigging, gigs

Fri: GT was 1/2 full. Faiz played beautiful music as I danced around the unsupervised little floor munchkins.  One little boy nearly stepped on my skirt, then announced he is 5 and was a baby when he was born. I laughed and said I was born a baby too.  Next table! 

Posed for a few pics with the other large family table.  Did 3 laps in total :)  1/2 way through the show, Sakti's son appeared in the doorway with a white bag.  I knew my black costume was in there. Yay! So I danced my way to the door, quickly asked him to drop the bag next to the keyboard player, thanked him for dropping it off and kept dancing.  Owners were appreciative. Got a to go box of dinner. I gave some customers my card. The little boy wanted one too.  I gave it to him and he announced to his mother, "I have her phone number!" Changed and drove to FPP.

FPP wasn't busy till after 9pm so they held the show 1/2 an hour.  House dancer (who makes our schedule) accidentally double booked me with another dancer again.  But it worked out ok because the other dancer wanted to go home and study for a final exam.  Glad that resolved itself easily with no hurt feelings.  Show was good.  The owner declared he likes my copper and gold bedlah with full chiffon skirt and sleeves costume I'm wearing, much more than the lime green Egyptian spandex number from last time I danced there.  Well of course! The copper and gold cost nearly $800!  The green was $200 + extra rhinestones.  At least he has good taste! Haha! I stopped on the way out to take some pictures with a couple and their  baby.  They were stoked! I think I was the baby's first belly dancer.  Awesome! They gave the baby a dollar to give to me.  When I took it, the baby started to cry so I gave it back.  We all laughed... and they gave me a better tip :)

Was supposed to go to Ana's party after, but it was late and I felt a major headache coming on so I didn't get to go. Needed some sleep.

Sat: Wedding gig.  Wore the purple and gold Abla to match their wedding colors.  Was a very nice family.  I thought the kids scrambling on the floor were going to take my tips. (sometimes it happens) But they were so sweet, they arranged all the $1 bills (thrown money shower style) in neat little stacks on the edge of the dance floor.  It was so sweet. My assistant picked them up at the end of the show, along with my sword, 7 foot Isis wings and what ever other glittery stuff I left on stage :)

I knew it was a good show because the ladies wanted to take pictures with me afterward and the elderly ladies gave me the double cheek kiss, thanked me and asked for my cards.  A man followed me to the door to ask for cards and my party rates.  It feels really good to go into a job and create an accurate representation of the hosts' cultural dance in a way that makes them happy. When the elderly ladies like it, you know its good ;)

The videographers had the big cameras on trolleys and chased me around the dance floor during the show.  It was really funny.  I asked them for a card but they said they didn't have any.  So I wrote down their website.  "Under construction" with no contact info.  Noooo!  I must get a copy of that video!  Will hunt down their info from the bride after her honeymoon.

Tomorrow is a very early brunch, visiting with cousins and then the 8pm show at ABC (for future reference, ABC is Ali Baba's Cave in Sorrento Valley) I'm at ABC every Sunday in August.  If Sundays stay busy, they will keep having me for a Sun. show.  Please keep your fingers crossed! We are trying a new format there.  The show will be a little shorter and will be followed by a mini belly dance lesson, free to patrons.  Its good for the restaurant because its something unique to offer and its good for me because it takes the same amount of time as a full night club show (so no loss) and helps advertise for my regular classes.  Its an experiment.

Stopped at the all-night store to get some juice for the brunch in the morning.  Ran into an interesting scam. A woman at the register holds up the line asking if anyone has change for $100 bill.  If you say yes and give her the change, she texts someone waiting in the parking lot to mug you for the $100 on the way out.  Fortunately, I've heard of this before.  Lo and behold, there was a lone guy waiting in  a nondescript truck. When I got near my car, he got out of his truck. I quickly got in my car and went home. Be careful out there! People are crafty and more desperate every day.

I am so lucky and feel very grateful that in these tough economic times, I can drive to work, do what I love most, wearing something sparkly and outlandish, have a nice restaurant dinner (most places feed the dancers), go home and take a hot shower.  My class is full and I'm  starting 2 new ones at Cuyamaca College Sept. 10 (Beginning and Int/Adv if you are interested send me a message please) Even have inquiries about teaching workshops at upcoming festivals (2010 & 2011) I am truly blessed and appreciate the opportunity to be gigging and teaching full time. Thank you Universe ++

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! Good night.

Tags: belly dance, free range show girl, gigging, gigs, teaching
Current Location: san diego

 preping the acid green egyptian lycra for cairo caravan. fingers so tired of crystal chain. waist band and hem will wait till morning.  

open note to egyptian costume beaders:  "please please please knot the ends of your threads so i don't have to spend hours finishing your work!" why can they do the most exquisite hand beading and keep the stretch in the fabric but neglect to knot the end of the thread to secure the design on the fabric?

the latest show/festival dvds ripped for your viewing pleasure :p

the custom jazz fusion costume from miss kate.  most comfortable costume ever!  thanks again

Tags: bduc, belly dance, belly dancer, belly dancer of the universe, bellydance, bellydancer, casbah, fusion, jazz, jazz fusion, kashion, market, market at the casbah, sabrina

 

Tags: belly dance, bellydance, sabrina, showcase