Suhaila Unveiled Editorial, April 1, 2007

April 1, 2007

Suhaila Unveiled Editorial

1. Greetings
2. Editorial by Suhaila
3. Workshops
4. Workshop Testimonials
5. Booking
6. Working in the Middle East
7. NEW! Just Arrived...!

8. Sale
9. Highlighted Products
10. Classes
11. Special Events
12. Contact
13. Unsubscribe

NEW! Just Arrived...!

Finger Cymbals with

Jamila CD

Now Available!

The anticipated, remastered version of Jamila Salimpour's popular finger cymbal CD available today! Now with seperated tracks and new design. A must have instructional tool for any dancer, teacher or musician!

Available Now!

Buy Now

Now On DVD!!

Jamila Salimpour Archive Series, originally released in 1980...now available on DVD!! Learn the Salimpour Technique from a Salimpour.....

Buy Now

Suhaila's Instructional and Performance videos now available in DVD. Eight new releases in the DVD Collection of previously enjoyed titles......

Instructional Buy Now

Performance Buy Now

NEW!!! REMIX CD......

The anticipated title now available! Rich sound with infused beats and Arabic music overlay. Great for classes, dancing or just pure listening pleasure.

Available Now!

Buy Now

NEW!!! Tranquil CD......

Soft, sensual and moody. Get one of the three new cd titles recently added to the Suhaila Salimpour Music Collection...

Available Now!

Buy Now

NEW!!! REPERCUSSION CD......

Hot new release from Suhaila Productions. Designed with a variety of drum solos from 1 1/2 to 10 minutes in length. High powered and dynamic.

Available Now!

Buy Now

Logo Wear!!!

New Suhaila logo wear...including the sought after "Got Technique" tanks, in white & black.

Buy Now

Suhaila Design Pants...
New Colors!!!

The "Harem Girl" style Suhaila Design Pants available in black, plum or navy blue. Side slit, flare legged jazz pant with ankle drawstrings to give the option of a belled or pantaloon look.

Available now!
Buy Now

Suhaila's Hippeze!!!

The first of Suhaila Designs Hippeze. Enjoy new styles of the versatile, layerable hip wear.....

Available now!

Buy Now

Margaret Cho's Hip Wear!!!

One of a kind hip belts made by the hands of Margaret Cho. Don't miss out! Each design the one and only....!
Supplies Limited!
Buy Now

Sale!

Navy Blue Harem now 20% off!!!

Vary your style with the versatile jazz pant's belled or pantaloon look!!!

Buy Now!!

Baby Hoodie...

Limited Offer

They're almost gone. Get now to add to your Suhaila Designs collection. Now at a discounted price!

Buy Now!!

All Suhaila VHS on sale for....$9.95!

While supplies last......

Suhaila Salimpour Instructional and Performance videos sale continues.......All titles only $9.95!*

Instructional Buy Now

Performance Buy Now

*Except for "Bal Anat in the Beginning"

Give the gift of choice! Gift Certificates available from $25-$100.

Buy Now

Zoe and Me

Sheherezade

DVD..... now available

Experience the show that is revolutionizing the art of belly dance. Suhaila Salimpour's Sheherezade......
Available now!
Buy Now

Suhaila Solo NOW AVAILABLE on DVD!!!

Enjoy an evening of a live solo performance bySuhaila......
Available now!
Buy Now

Suhaila Design Drawstring Pants!!!

The favorite Suhaila Design Pant available in two classic colors.....!! Get the drawstring pant in black and olive.

Available Now!

Buy Now

Bellydance Fitness Fusion is here!

Suhaila's newest fitness series, Bellydance Fitness Fusion. In this four DVD set Suhaila fuses Bellydance with Yoga, Pilates, Jazz, and also presents her signature Buns workout! Available individually, or buy the whole set and save!

Order Yours here!

Classes

The Suhaila Salimpour
School of Dance
10082 San Pablo Ave.
El Cerrito, CA
(510) 527-2400

Suhaila Salimpour Format Belly Dance, Jamila Salimpour Format Belly Dance, Jazz, Ballet, Hip-Hop, Adults, teens and kids!

Classes offered Monday through Saturday

For complete class listing, visit our website for our new schedule
or call (510) 527-2400

The Salimpour Technique
taught by Rashid

Located at Studio Gracia
19 Heron (off of 8th St.)

San Francisco, CA
Between Folsom and Harrison St.
(415) 307-4782

Level 1/2 combination classes are offered on Wednesday from 6:00pm-7:30pm
$12.00 Drop-In (class cards available)

For complete information, contact Rashid at:

raksrashid@aol.com

(415) 621-0669 (415) 596-0990

Events

Belly Dance Nights
at Montero's Café
A night of performance with dancers from the Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance

First Sunday of every month
6:00 pm

$7.00
1106 Solano Ave., Albany, CA
(510) 524-1270

Not a member?
If you received this newsletter from a friend, and you would like to sign up to receive it every month, visit www.suhaila.com

When the phone rang, the second I heard my mothers voice, I knew something was uncomfortable. I was worried something was wrong with her or she wasn’t feeling well, but she quickly assured me that she was fine. She then began to explain that she heard a male voice outside our gate calling my name “Suhaila” with a thick Arabic accent, as he was trying to climb over our fence. She wasn’t scared but more curious. This male voice kept calling my name and saying that he just wanted to talk. My mother tried to hide in the house so as not to be seen and still be able to listen to the words of this man, she told me it was the owner of the club I worked at in Lebanon. “What does he want” I asked my mom. “I don’t know, but I’ll call you back” and she hung up the phone.

No one believed, especially the owners of the clubs, that I just quit working in nightclubs cold turkey. Everyone thought that Andre, being the Arab/American, asked me to stop dancing in nightclubs, but it was my idea. I was 27 and felt that I was on this endless tea cup ride that both made me feel sick to my stomach and full of adrenaline all at the same time. I wanted off this ride and felt that my dance was going to have to go to another level in order for me to become creative again. I wanted to open my school, begin teaching my format, and raise the level of the dance. There was always this desire to have my own dance company to be able to explore all the creative options that my mind had been percolating.

I always took what my mother did with Bal Anat totally for granted. The troupe, the community, the choreography, the education, the creative “fusion dances” and theater integration, it was just what I thought everyone did. I have always loved the work that goes into groups/troupes and I felt that everyone should do both continuously; be in a troupe and solo. So while I was in the Middle East I was surprised to learn that being in a group was somehow “more respectful” than being a soloist. That “folkloric” was more respectable than “belly dance”. I mean I knew dancers were the lowest man on the totem pole, but I didn’t know that even within the dance world, belly dancers were at the bottom of the bottom. They couldn’t believe that I didn’t understand that. So as my time dancing in the Middle East grew, so did my vision for creations that I had inside me. It was almost like being confined is what created a path and a vision that could break out of the “norm”. It really saved me from feeling totally unappreciated as an artist in “their eyes”. I knew that what I had inside of me was waiting for the opportunity to bust out. I took notes and had one hell of a journal.

In the early mid 80’s I was dancing in the L.A. nightclub scene. During this time there were no “shows” in L.A. and I had a nice show with two background dancers and a variety of dances from North Africa and the Middle East. We rehearsed with the band and our show was to live music and we had many costume changes. The audiences loved it and we all had fun. We danced in two nightclubs and would run back and forth with wet hair from one gig to another. The experience was very fulfilling and the bands we worked with always felt proud of the productions. My desire to bring this format to the Middle East grew each day I was in the Middle East since they did not have a “belly Dance Show”, but only “Folkloric Shows”. They don’t really have “Belly Dance” shows in between the belly dancer, they have singers or folkloric dancers/groups dance (mostly while she is changing into her next costume), but to have a group of belly dancers in a troupe was not seen. I know that the 40’s in Egypt had this fashion, but since then the troupe/groups all became more folkloric and changed the vibe of the belly dance group. I grew up watching old Tahia Carioka movies and with them came a long line of girls all in “cabaret costumes” doing choreography (or trying to). So I brought back this style to the L.A. nightclub scene in the 80’s and wanted to do even more when I got to the Middle East.

When I returned home from Lebanon, which was my last performance tour in the Middle East before I got married, it was only suppose to be for two weeks. I was given a break to go home and visit my mother while the nightclub I was dancing in was going to be used for filming. I jumped at the chance and took the first flight home. I left all my clothing and costumes in Lebanon knowing that I would be returning soon. When I came home I had no idea that I would not return to Lebanon and that would be the end of my nightclub life.

Andre and I had been childhood friends. Our mothers were friends and we got together and played, throughout the years we always kept in touch. When I returned from Lebanon I phoned him to wish him a happy birthday and to come visit me in Berkeley, and the rest is history. I had my clothing and costumes sent back to me and I had closed that chapter for good. I was planning my wedding and into a whole other mind frame. When the nightclub owners would call, I just didn’t pick up the phone. When they would write, I just never wrote back. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to dance anymore, but I felt that I was just going in a circle and I had more to say in my heart so I didn’t want to allow myself to get back into old patterns especially in a community that didn’t truly understand or appreciate me.

In my vision, I saw a long line of belly dancers all synchronized and strong with technique. Not just a few dancers, but a long line. I wanted to have the show be belly dance based and didn’t want to hide or camouflage the fact that it was belly dance based in order to gain respect. I saw the future of belly dance and the direction it needed to go. So when my mother called me back and told me that the owner of the club I worked in wanted me back and would do anything I asked for, my one eyebrow lifted. Anything?

As we negotiated for the contract to go back to Lebanon I was very clear that I would not set foot back on the stage unless I had “My Show”. That meant with my choreography, my dancers, my vision, and all Belly Dance. The show was with a live15 piece band and I sent the music so they could get started rehearsing. It was then that “The Suhaila Dance Company” was born.

My husband and I thought long and hard on the name since it was not the belly dance tradition to call a dance company by the name of the director/choreography/creator. Besides, if I hear another “magic carpet dance company” I don’t know if I can be responsible for what I might do.

We never made it back to Lebanon. I got pregnant and gave birth something even better. After Isabella was born, we gave birth to “Sheherezade” with the Suhaila Dance Company (I finally got my long line of belly dancers too), revived “Bal Anat” (the first tribal dance company in America created by my mother in 1967), and started my school, certification program, production company (Suhaila Productions, LLC), and a long list of DVD’s and CD’s. So to look back I can thank the Arab mind for the motivation to create a world based on belly dance…yes… belly dance. My vision is now a reality.

Upcoming Workshops

Workshops

August 13-17, El Cerrito, CA
Multi Leveled, Weeklong Workshop
Content: Suhaila Salimpour Technique
*Optional Level I and II Certification Testing Aug. 10
Time: 9:30am - 3:30pm
Location: Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance
Contact: Suhaila Productions, LLC (510) 526-4344, suhaila@suhaila.com www.suhaila.com
Send Checks/MO to: PO Box 8612, Landscape Station, Berkeley, CA 94707

September 14-16, El Cerrito, CA

Level I, 3-Day

Content: Level I of the Suhaila Salimpour Format

Location: Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance

Contact: Suhaila Productions, LLC (510 526-4344,

suhaila@suhaila.com www.suhaila.com

Send Checks/MO to: PO Box 8612, Landscape Station, Berkeley, CA 94707

2007 Workshops:

April 28-29, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Master Class

Content: Layering and Drum Solo Choreography

Workshop Location: War Memorial Auditorium, 800 NE 8th St., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33304

Times: Saturday, April 28 *Layering

3:15pm-4:45pm

Times: Sunday, April 29 *Drum Solo

10:00am-11:30am

Contact: Maja "Spirit of the Tribes" majanile@aol.com

More Info

May 2-6, 2007, Somerset, NJ
Spring Caravan
Workshop/Performance/Festival
Wednesday, May 2: 1940's Egyptian Style Choreography

10:15am-1:15pm

Thursday, May 3: Belly Dance/Jazz Technique and Combinations

7:00pm

Friday, May 4: Drum Solo Choreography

2:30pm-5:30pm

Saturday, May 5: Folkloric Fusion

9:30am

Sunday, May 6: Taqseem Concepts and Combinations

9:30am

Location: Ukrainian Cultural Center

135 Davison Ave., Somerset, NJ

Contact: Phone: 510-724-0214
Fax: 510-724-4367
Email: rakkasah@att.net www.rakkasah.com

May 25-27, Toronto, Canada

3-Day Workshop/CEC Workshop

*Taught by Tiffany Bisconer (Authorized Instructor from the Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance)

Contact: Audra Simmons (800) 431-0418

audra@cleopatrasbazaar.com

May 26-27, 2007, San Diego, CA
Workshop/Performance
Content: Saturday, Jamila Salimpour Format and Folkloric Fusion

Sunday, Suhaila Salimpour Format and Choreography

Time: TBA

Contact: Meleah meleahandco@cox.net

June 7-10, Trois Rivieres, Canada

Encore Festival of Dance

Workshop/Performance

Contact: Claire Mayers (877) 533-2673

c.mayer@festival-encore.com, www.festival-encore.com

June 14-17, 2007, Paris, France
Workshop/Performance/Festival
Contact: Amana amana@club.fr

June 21-24, 2007, Milan, Italy
Workshop/Performance

Content: Suhaila Salimpour Technique, Jamila Salimpour Technique, Choreography
Contact: Olivia olivia@rosedeldeserto.it

June 27-July 3, 2007, Cairo, Egypt
Ahlan Wa Sahlan in Egypt
Workshop/Performance/Festival
Contact: Raqia Hassan 2027482338, 20123292386, raqiahassan@hotmail.com

July 6-8, 2007, South Korea
Workshop/Performance
Contact: Lee Dong Min angel78477847@yahoo.co.kr

July 13-18, 2007, Taipei, Taiwan
Workshop/Performance
Contact: Kerim Alyot kerimalyot@yahoo.com

July 21-22, Somerville, NJ
2-Day Workshop
Times: Saturday, 2:00pm - 8:00pm (with a 1 hour break)
Sunday, 11:00am - 5:00pm (with a 1 hour break
Location: Indigo Ballroom, 17 Division St, Somerville, NJ
Contact: Suhaila Productions, LLC (510) 526-4344, suhaila@suhaila.com www.suhaila.com
Send Checks/MO to: PO Box 8612, Landscape Station, Berkeley, CA 94707
Register Online

August 6-10, El Cerrito, CA - SOLD OUT!!!
Multi Leveled, Weeklong Workshop
Content: Suhaila Salimpour Technique
*Optional Level I and II Certification Testing Aug. 10
Time: 9:30am - 3:30pm
Location: Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance
Contact: Suhaila Productions, LLC (510) 526-4344, suhaila@suhaila.com www.suhaila.com
Send Checks/MO to: PO Box 8612, Landscape Station, Berkeley, CA 94707

August 13-17, El Cerrito, CA
Multi Leveled, Weeklong Workshop
Content: Suhaila Salimpour Technique
*Optional Level I and II Certification Testing Aug. 17
Time: 9:30am - 3:30pm
Location: Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance
Contact: Suhaila Productions, LLC (510) 526-4344, suhaila@suhaila.com www.suhaila.com
Send Checks/MO to: PO Box 8612, Landscape Station, Berkeley, CA 94707

August 20-24, El Cerrito, CA

Level III, Weeklong Workshop

Content: Level III of the Suhaila Salimpour Format

**Must be Level II Certified to Register

Time: 9:30am-5:30pm (1 hour break)Location: Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance

Contact: Suhaila Productions, LLC (510) 526-4344,

suhaila@suhaila.com www.suhaila.com

Send Checks/MO to: PO Box 8612, Landscape Station, Berkeley, CA 94707

September 7-9, Las Vegas, NV

Content: TBA

Location: TBA

Contact: Suhaila Productions, LLC (510) 526-4344,

suhaila@suhaila.com www.suhaila.com

September 14-16, El Cerrito, CA

Level I 3-Day

Content: Level I of the Suhaila Salimpour Format

*Optional Level I Certification Testing Sept. 16

Location: Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance

Contact: Suhaila Productions, LLC (510 526-4344,

suhaila@suhaila.com www.suhaila.com

Send Checks/MO to: PO Box 8612, Landscape Station, Berkeley, CA 94707

September 21-23, Washington D.C.

Level I 3-Day

Content: Level I of the Suhaila Salimpour Format

*Optional Level I Certification Testing Sept. 23

Contact: DC Tribal info@dctribal.com

September 28-30, Bagnor Regis, England

Workshop/Performance/Festival

Content: Suhaila Salimpour Technique

Contact: Josephine Wise 11442075020934

jo.wise@jwaad.com, www.jwaad.com

October 12-14, 2007 Somerset, NJ

Rakkasah East

Workshop/Performance/Festival

Location: Ukrainian Cultural Center

135 Davison St., Somerset, NJ

Contact: Phone: 510-724-0214

Fax: 510-724-4367

Email: rakkasah@att.net

www.rakkasah.com

October 22-26, El Cerrito, CA

Level II, Weeklong Workshop

Content: Level II of the Suhaila Salimpour Format

Time: 9:30am-5:30pm (1 hour break)

Location: Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance

Contact: Suhaila Productions, LLC (510) 526-4344,

suhaila@suhaila.com www.suhaila.com

Send Checks/MO to: PO Box 8612, Landscape Station, Berkeley, CA 94707

October 26-28, Charleston, SC

Master Class

Workshop/Performance

*Taught by Tiffany Bisconer (Authorized Instructor from the Suhaila Salimpour School of Dance)

Contact: Eastern Winds Oasis, Mary Johnson

info@easternwindsoasis.com www.easternwindsoasis.com

November 2-4, Vancouver, Canada

3-Day Workshop/Performance

Content: Suhaila Salimpour Format

Time:Workshop:

9:30a.m.-3:00p.m. (with one hour lunch break)

Perfromance:

7:30-10:00p.m.

Performance/Workshop Location: The Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St., Vancouver

Sponsor: Martina 604-241-4371 martina@bellyfringe.ca

November 15-18, Toronto, Canada

4-Day Workshop

Content: TBA

Time: TBA

Performance: TBA

Location: TBA

Sponsor: Audra Simmons (800) 431-0418

audra@cleopatrasbazaar.com

Workshop Testimonials

Congratulations on becoming certified!!!

Level 1

Emily Alrick

Rachelle Erin Bertumen

Barbara Chadsey

Alice Cowens

Tracy Dewey

Shari L. Feather

Silvia Foster

Camille Manansala-Garnett

Marcela Gomez Gonzalez

Coral Hanson

Karen Hersh

Jane Yee Shan Chung How

Adriana Jansen

Olivia Mancino

Bridey Patterson

Lynda Rosner

Christina Thompson

Level 2

Alexandra Doppelt

Jenifer Stewart-Grimes

Kim Nicol

Toni Rapini

Attending this Workshop has been an inspiring life changing experience. Suhaila is a warm-hearted woman whose passion is the dance, and has become my inspiration. Through this experience, she has helped me internalize every moment, and has taken me to a new level of the dance. She and her staff are down to earth, and you can tell they all love their work. I can’t wait to take another workshop to further my dance knowledge and have a great time and meet new friends, who all share the same love.

-Roselee Kislowski

Bristow, VA