The Austin Belly Dance Convention is proud to present a variety of Middle Eastern dance styles. Performers include ABDC instructors and hand-picked guest dancers in this high caliber and dynamic show.

Join us for live traditional music with Badrawn, internationally renowned headliners, and our convention teachers.

The Gala Show is opened to the public (with purchase of a ticket), where they will have accessed to our vendors and countless beautiful international products.

• Gala is at the Ballroom at the Holiday Inn Midtown.

• Doors and shopping open at 6:00 pm

• Showtime at 7:00 pm

The ABDC will be taking Gala performer applications until Mar 1, 2019.

An isolation junkies dream! Come break down isolations with me, and then put them together for some truly mind bending layering! We’ll discuss muscle sharing and proper technique for initiation of all movements covered. This workshop will work both the brain and body, so come ready with a beginner’s mind.

Skill Level: Intermediate - Advanced

More About: Michelle Sorensen

Grab your audience’s attention and leave them wanting more! Learn a choreographed section of an exciting and vibrant entrance and finale. Bahaia will also include concepts such as stage skills and etiquette that you can apply to your own routines for a more polished and confident result. Please bring a veil and a notebook.

Skill Level: All Levels

More About: Bahaia

This interpretive ensemble choreography is inspired by sacred fire rituals from ancient Persia and draws from contemporary Iranian dance technique and vocabulary. Best performed in low lighting, dancers will hold (battery-operated) candles; floating, twisting, and swaying in graceful and intricate configurations.

Skill Level: All Levels

More About: Hannah Romanowsky

The ABDC Showcase is an all-levels show, where you can see professional to student talent. In fact, it is a great opportunity for those newer to performing.

Invite your friends and family to attend for FREE during the ABDC Showcase hours!

Take some time and visit our wonderful vendors!

Open Stage performance spots are on a first come, first served basis to dancers registered for at least 4 hours of ABDC workshops.

We will be accepting Showcase applications through June 1st, 2019, or until spaces are filled.

Showcases are held at the Holiday Inn Midtown Ballroom.

Infuse your dance with mesmerizing Turkish elements to diversify your style! On the modern and global bellydance stage, you can pull from all your inspirations of classic styles and create something totally new and innovative! We will be working with an original piece of music created specifically for Athena by international musician Matias Hazrum. A dynamic Arabic style mejance (entrance piece) combining elements of Turkish musicality (taksim, chiftetelli and 9/8 rhythm) and even includes a drum solo section!

Skill Level: All Levels.

More About: Athena Najat

The ABDC Showcase is an all-levels show, where you can see professional to student talent. In fact, it is a great opportunity for those newer to performing.

Invite your friends and family to attend for FREE during the ABDC Showcase hours!

Take some time and visit our wonderful vendors!

Open Stage performance spots are on a first come, first served basis to dancers registered for at least 4 hours of ABDC workshops.

We will be accepting Showcase applications through June 1st, 2019, or until spaces are filled.

Showcases are held at the Holiday Inn Midtown Ballroom.

Have fun with fun fluid arm patterns and simply smooth layers. Designed for the beginner dancer, but open to all wanting that look of effortless expression in their movement.

Skill Level: Beginner

More About: Michelle Sorensen

Learn and practice 4 different kinds of 3/4 shimmies! On the OUT, DOWN, UP and TWIST. Then drill the shimmies with challenging yet cute combinations!

Skill Level: All Levels.

More About: Sa’diyya

Don’t let your cymbals play YOU! Take control of your cymbals with confidence and ease. Stacey will show you different practice techniques and tips that will lead to more relaxed playing. Receive personalized feedback and apply cymbal patterns to both choreographed and improvisational movement. Please bring finger cymbals.

Skill Level: All Levels

More About: Stacey Lizette

Explore a combination of strength, control, and fluidity in this original tribal fusion style drum solo choreography. Discover what it means to make a drum solo choreography tribal fusion style. Lily will breakdown the rhythms in this drum solo composition and movements step-by-step so that you can bring home this choreography and understand the rhythms in this piece.

Skill Level: All Levels

More About: Lily

Vanessa will cover several styles of Egyptian Folklore dances, discuss the music, appropriate costuming, go over the basic steps, and teach a short combo for each of them to give the students a further understanding of each topic and concept. This class is designed to give a general overview and introduce the participants to a taste of the dances inspired by the various regions and people of Egypt. Depending upon workshop participants’ interests and time permitting, Vanessa can review the following topics: *Nubian *Falahy *Gawazee *Eskenderani (meleya or veil would be helpful) *Saiidi *Bambouti. Sample some of the dances you know and love—as well as the ones you don't see often or have an opportunity to practice every day! Please bring a veil or melaya and a cane or stick. If you would like to purchase one from Vanessa, please pre-order.

Skill Level: All Levels

More About: Vanessa Raqs

Start your day with a nurturing 45 minute stretching and movement routine to gently wake up the body and mind. Join Nessa as she utilizes her studies in yoga and dance to help prepare dancers for the day's activities and events. Saturday we will create a deep connection of the mind and body using breathing exercises and focused movement designed to warm-up the body and focus the mind.

More About: Nessa

Ready to shine on stage? No matter your level of technical skill, you can open up to that connection with your audience. We will dance our way out of the box and into performance artistry so that you can embody these invaluable lessons.

Skill level: Intermediate.

When it comes to expressing yourself through dance, your arms have a huge and powerful voice! Stacey will share the Top 5 arm work issues that she has experienced in her 20+ years of study, and teach you tips to overcome them. Turn up the volume on your arm work, and your audience will definitely notice, even if they aren’t quite sure what you are doing differently…

Skill level: All levels.

Let’s get our Robot funk on. Begin with a basic intro to popping such as muscle contractions, arms pops, legs pops, and neck pops. Our main focus will be basic robot aka dimestop. Movements of the robot are normally started and finished with a dimestop (a very abrupt stop) which we will fuse it with bellydance. We will make it slow, weird, poppy and creepy. Edenia will also teach you some of her own daily drills and combos. Let's get funky!!!

Skill level: All levels.

This presentation will offer practical onstage applications for dancers, inspired by Ranya's master's research in cognitive psychology, which focused on aspects of confidence and evaluative processes in performers and their audiences. How brains work, at the neural level, affects impressions of a performance, and this is worth considering in framing our choreographed and improvisational work. We’ll address concepts of “top-down” vs. “bottom-up” influences on sensory perception; “feedback loops” that shape the evaluative process in performers and audiences; and how preconceptions and preconscious processes can trigger unconscious evaluations in performers and audiences. You’ll leave with a better understanding how you may be seen by your audiences, and a “cognitive checklist” to apply to your creative work, to enhance your chances of making a great impression.

Skill level: All levels.

Learn a high speed and spin-tastic fusion fan veil choreography to some awesome 80s electronic retrowave! Hyperspins, barrel turns, windmills, you name it! Fast and fun, students of all styles will take away some interesting and beautifully transitioned combinations for their own dancing purposes, as well as a full performance. This choreography is beginner/intermediate level and is not recommended for students with inner ear problems.

Fan veils will be available to borrow and purchase for students that don't have their own. 

Skill level: All levels.

A dancer’s comprehensive guide to learning and understanding Oriental dance. Created by Georgia Michelle to provide a fun and easy way for you to absorb this beautiful and sometimes even sexy living art form. We’ll cover “Foundation” level movements and how to blend them into our “Layers” level technique. Let’s chat about the origins and culture of the dance, while discovering how Middle Eastern Belly dance relates to you and unleash the artist within. Venture to design the dance your soul desires. Yalla! Let’s get ready to move, and find yourself in dance!

Skill level: All levels.

Participants will learn a Persian dance choreography to the song “Cheshmat” by Iranian-born pop artist Mehrnoosh.  Movements characteristic of Persian dance include elegant and intricate arm patterns, coy facial expressions, and expressive hands.  Lyrics will be supplied and taught as time allows, giving dancers the opportunity to sing along and learn some Persian vocabulary.  This darling dance and song are accessible to all levels and can be a sweet piece to pull out at Persian parties or use as a class cool-down.

Skill level: All levels.

Join world fusion composer and producer Jef Stott and renowned dancer and instructor Rania Kandil as they explore and demonstrate how dancers and composers can work together for fruitful collaborations in this highly interactive hands on workshop. Rania and Jef will discuss and demonstrate valuable techniques used for character and story line development for both sound and movement and how to build and amplify these themes with very powerful impactful results for stage performances and media collaborations.

Skill level: All levels.

An aromatherapy designed with the dancer in mind. Mother-daughter team, Hannah and Rosanna Setu bring their full collection of essential oils for a hands-on experience in creating an EO blend as unique as fingerprints! We learn how essential oils calm, energize, focus, balance or bring mystery. Then our unique selves select and mix the blend best suited for our own needs, waking, sleeping, performance or in between! Handouts provided.

Skill level: All levels.

Learn how to add soft, gooey moves to your routines in Sara’s signature curvilinear style! You’ll learn combinations that incorporate graceful arms and hands, create long lines and challenge your strength and balance using level changes.

Skill level: All levels.

Lamma Bada Yatathanna” is a song with a hauntingly beautiful melody and an uncommon rhythm that has stood the test of time. Dating from the 10th century Andalusian era of Moorish Spain, this composition is exemplary of the secular musical genre known as Muwashshah. For most bellydancers, this beloved song is their first introduction to Samai Thaqil, a 10/8 rhythm. The enduring popularity of Lamma Bada practically guarantees that you will be presented with the occasion to dance to this song - no matter which style of bellydance you follow. In this workshop you will learn to identify the Samai rhythm and listen for its nuances, while learning dance combinations to Lamma Bada that you can personalize to suit your own style.

Skill level: All levels.

Everything you need to know about belly dancing with veils plus more! Learn 3 unique combinations for silk and chiffon veil. These combinations include wraps, reveals, floor work, and secondary veil variations. Explore how to take back control when the veil misbehaves and how to care for your veils to get their most vibrant appearance.

MUST BRING- 1 silk and 1 chiffon veil to use during this workshop.

Skill level: All levels.

The morning yoga sessions at ABDC will utilize Hatha Yoga to deepen the dancer's connection to the body and the breath and to gently stretch the muscles used in bellydance.  Saturday we will explore alignment and heart opening stretches to open our hearts to the joy that is to follow in our dance class sessions. 

Skill level: All levels.

More about Vanessa.