~by Dena Burroughs

Carl Sermon photo
 

THE BELLYDANCE SUPERSTARS "THE ART OF BELLYDANCE" TOUR - Review

   Imagine a woman of long hair as wavy as her figure, adorned by soft flowing fabric from which shiny, noisy, coins hang.  She can move any muscle in her body to the beat of a drum while enchanting you with the elegant, serpent-like movements of her arms...  You are seeing a bellydancer. 

   And if you see 14 women just like her, then you are seeing the Bellydance Superstars, the dance troupe that performed this week in North Hollywood as part of “The Art of Bellydance” tour. 

   In two acts, the dancers performed to fusions of Middle Eastern sounds with Indian, Polynesian, Hip Hop and Reggaeton music.  Nine of the dancers performed the American Cabaret style, with the movements and the look that generally comes to mind when one thinks of belly dancing.  The other five followed the less popularly known, yet truly beautiful, American Tribal style, for which the dancers dressed in heavier, darker, masculine-like outfits, and accessorized with large jewelry, headpieces, and tattoos printed on their stomachs and backs.

   While each number was eye pleasing by the collaboration of the dancers, the colorful visuals projected on a screen behind them, and the lighting, a particularly impressive performance was Petite Jamilla’s “Wheel Within a Wheel” dance, inspired by Sufi spinning, a meditation ritual practiced by the Dervishes of the Mevlevi order, in Istanbul.  

   The dancers were joined on stage by drummer Issam Houshan, a Syrian artist who has a long list of credits, including an appearance with Sting at the Grammys and his own line of signature drums with Remo.  The bellydancers moved to the beat of his drum and more than that, have been taught by Houshan to use the instrument, so that a few of them were able to accompany him during the show.

   “The Art of Bellydance” tour has moved on to Arizona and other U.S. cities, but they will be back in Los Angeles in April for “RAQS LA.”  Information on both events can be found at http://www.bellydancesuperstars.com and http://www.raqsla.com

Carl Sermon photo