First, the incriminating evidence…

Those are why I’m sore. Very, very sore. Those videos are just of Friday, and I only took pictures for a few minutes. The rest was hours spent shakin’ my groove thang and being generally ridiculous. We did this both Friday AND Saturday nights. Until nigh upon 2 a.m. Or so.

(Joy learned that Joy needs to get her backside dancing again. It feels SO good to feel SO sore. Need to start moving more. Hey. That’s a rhyme.)

All this dancing was after spending the days wandering around Rakkasah shopping, and stopping to sit and watch performance after performance. I saw so many wonderful dancers and groups, I can’t remember all of them…

Highlights… lets’ see… These are in no particular order… just as they come to mind…

Got to see Suhaila’s repertoire ensemble dancers doing the Unmata sword choreography, and they rocked it… of course. (Including her daughter, Isabella, who is only… what, 9 or 10?)

I saw Sabiba, who I always enjoy watching. She has an incredible mix of drama, showmanship and absolutely precise technique that is awe inspiring to me.

Finally, finally, finally got a chance to see Oreet again. So fantastic. I love her style.

Kaeshi Chi is so cool and smooth, but totally fierce, all at the same time. I love it when someone brings something unique to the mix.

Alfredo! Wow… to see a man dancing with a sword like a man! Fabulous!

Tanjora, of course, doing 3 of their numbers from the recent Rogue show. Jackie nailed her veil… and appreciative people kept telling her how cool, talented, beautiful she is throughout the weekend. (It also happened to be her birthday on Saturday, and how cool is that to have so many people admire you on your birthday weekend?) She deserves the kudos. She really is a fantastic dancer already, and she has so much ahead of her! I hope she never stops.

Jim Boz… he looks fantastic, and had the crowd eating out of his hands, as always.

Willow and the Sangha Dance Theatre put on a fun show, beautiful dancing, nice theme.

Fahtiem… as always, just gorgeous, so poised, so perfect and such an honor and pleasure to watch. Some day… SOME day I will figure out that side to side belly roll…

Heidi Alexander and the Naughty Knickers with Ava Fleming. What an adorable themed “can-can” show, that made the proper blend of fun, funny, and REAL bellydance. WITH absolutely flawless dancing.

Then seeing Suhaila Salimpour take the stage and absolutely OWN the room as she did… I’ve never seen that. A real Egyptian style set with her absolutely magnificent live band… the gorgeous duet of her taksim and violin… her absolute comfort on the stage, just dancing and dancing and dancing, the waves of love pouring from her audience and the way she reflected it back. Then she stepped into the wings and her tiny daughter absolutely filled the stage. The Salimpours really do represent American bellydance royalty; 3 generations of accomplished dancers. Like them or not, they are a huge influence on the direction the dance takes in this country. In my opinion, they have been good stewards of the responsibility of being so well-known and looked up to.

I know there were many other dancers and groups that I saw. Some I liked, some I loved, some weren’t what I like. That’s the way it always works at these festivals. Not everyone is going to like or appreciate everything they see.

The one thing I wish I had NOT missed was Nubian Moon Daughters from New York. I’m told they brought people to tears with the absolute truth and beauty of their dance. They did say they will have a DVD soon. I can only hope.

So there was the dancing, but there was also the SHOPPING. And I did do some of that. Not as much as I’d have liked, but I have a few treasures, and some raw materials for a costume that I’ve been working on for EVER so long.

Then there was the music. Pangia played, of course, and Helm… and I’ve definitely become a fan of Djinn. In fact, even if you aren’t really into the whole bellydance style music thing, you might find you like the music of Djinn. Because it’s just that groovy, man. (How can it not be groovy with a human beat box, a hurdy gurdy, and traditional instruments all mixed together?)

It was a good weekend, not least because I got to spend it with some really wonderful women that I consider to be very dear friends. We were a kooky bunch.

But I’m sore. Foot sore. Body sore.