Hooray!! Delilah is going forward with her Visionary Dance Hawaiian Retreat! Amazing when you consider the terrible weather we’ve been having in the Pacific North West. Anyone attending this retreat will not only get warm they will return home a better dancer.  Delilah is a real pro as a performer and dance instructor.

I had the opportunity to video record her when she performed at Columbia City Theater. This event was to launch the latest CD produced by House of Tarab. This is a CD you will want to add to your collection; really, some of the tracks are already being used by 3 dance companies in their DVD creations) anyway, I have the whole event recorded.  I wish all beginer and intermediate belly dancers would sit and watch the entire,unedited reels; no matter how clever the choreography is, or how many ‘Turkish Drops’ a younger dancer can perform… the skill that Delilah has in the real art of entertainment is worth being mentored by. She had them screaming with delight by just moving her head. I am not kidding.  You can really tell the difference when you see unedited footage; it’s soul satisfying to not only watch a stellar dancer, but also be entertained by someone who can discern what an audience wants and then give it to them!

Thank you Delilah; you make my job a joy.

From Hello world!, 2009/01/03 at 3:47 PM

Belly Dance lessons are in high demand - At least according to TIME.

In a recent article to be released in the August issue, Time Magazine reports that enrollment in Belly Dance classes is at all all time high, and sales of Belly Dance-related books and tapes are on the rise.

Time  correspondent COELI CARR writes:

Fahtiem is a master belly-dance instructor with no wiggle room in her schedule. She gives private lessons at her Los Angeles studio seven days a week, teaches at two colleges and is employed by three cities to offer group classes at their recreation centers. “I have enough work to keep me busy almost all day, seven days a week,” she says.

Carr goes on to explain that it’s not just about the culture or the sensuous movements - many people belly dance to get a good workout.  It seems Belly Dance is quite an athletic activity.  Writes Carr:

there are a host of new belly-dance videos with titles like Cardio Shimmy and Pure Sweat to show how it’s done. “What we’re doing is creating physical movement that has nothing to do with having an emotional connection with the culture,” explains Berkeley, Calif., instructor Suhaila Salimpour, whose Fitness Fusion series of videos was released early this year.

You can read this article in its entirety on Time’s website:

Belly-Dance Boom on Time.com

For more exciting developments in the world of Dance and Fusion, stay tuned to WorldFusionDance.com