The entrances we make are the most important thing we can do when making a great first impression -- and keeping the audience with you every second of the journey! Students will be guided through recognizing musical cues as well as utilizing a variety of vocabulary to interpret the different segments of the song. We will listen to the music and learn how to identify phrases, repeats, accents, changes, and variations of phrases, as well as knowing when to move and when to stay in place. As the choreography is set, the dancers will understand WHY the elements are placed where they are. If there are places for improvisation, the class will be guided to choose the elements which are most appropriate for the musical representation. A veil will be used at the beginning of piece. Please bring a veil.

Skill level: Intermediate-Professional

More About: Vanessa Raqs

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.

The chikhat are professional female entertainers of Morocco hired to dance and sing for weddings and other family celebrations. In addition to playful partnering, rhythmic footwork, complex shimmies and torso articulations, and characteristic hand gestures, a dancer may show off her skills through acrobatic floor-work and tray-balancing. Participants will learn a sweet choreography incorporating these stylistic elements.

Skill Level: All Levels

Performance Opportunity - This class will have a chance to perform the choreography learned during the ABDC Showcase.

More About: Hannah Romanowsky

Benjamin will break down and teach an original tabla solo, both lead and rhythm parts and participants will have the choices to perform the solo together immediately afterwards at the ABDC showcase. The workshop will also feature a review of technique, as well as discussion on the components of a typical dancer-focused tabla solo, the process of composition, and tips for successful performances. Whether you're a total beginner, eager intermediate, or confident advanced tabla player, you will walk away with things to work on and inspiration for learning more and creating your own original performances! Come drum with us! Please bring a tabla.

Opportunity - This class will have a chance to perform the choreography learned during the ABDC Showcase.

Skill Level: All Levels.

More About: Benjamin Alderson

Sa'diyya took home 1st runner up at the 2005 Belly Dancer of the Universe competition with this moving choreography. Come learn an artistic and emotional veil dance that will take both your breath away, as well as the audience's.

More About: Sa’diyya

Expand your costuming possibilities by creating a costume masterpiece using unusual materials such as leather and tapestry! Paula Grace, owner of Gilded Gypsy and assisted by members of Totem, will guide you with insider experience in leatherwork and costume design to conceptualize and construct a unique costume. All costuming skill levels are welcomed. You can bring your current costume project, sketching materials or purchase a base from Gilded Gypsy and learn how to personalize it. Paula will also discuss costuming considerations for body-type, skin tone, artistic message, stage lighting, sound, and movement.

You can purchase a base from Gilded Gypsy and learn about how to make it your style, but this is NOT required. As prices and materials for a base vary, Please contact Gilded Gypsy for more details.

Skill Level: All Levels

More About: Totem

Learn a gorgeous and powerful choreography to an Arabic classic “Batwanes Beek.”. Breaking down the music’s melodies will help us really listen and internalize the music for a heart-felt presentation. Working with slow powerful internal movements will also get us in touch with our inner abs and hearts.

Skill Level: Intermediate - Advanced

More About: Adrianne

These fusion combinations are deadly and delicious. You'll be a smooth criminal with a hard edge when we layer flow and locking isolations. Tricky and fun, you'll leave feeling like a badass!

Skill Level: Intermediate - Advanced

More About: Michelle Sorensen

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. Sunday will emphasize opening the heart and embracing the joy that is belly dance!

More About: Nessa

Build up those improvisational skills to become a better performance artist! Steven will lead you in playing a variety of improvisational games and exercises that will boost your confidence, help you gain your own trust as a dancer, and allow you to be vulnerable in a safe and controlled environment.

Skill level: Advanced beginner to Intermediate.

Learn the tricks to massive belly flutters, flutter layers, rolly polly undulations, and poppin' abdominal isolations. Can't do a belly roll? No problem! This course is appropriate for all levels and you are guaranteed to get one heckuva ab workout!

Skill level: All levels.

Explore the exciting elements of Modern Egyptian style with quick turns, attention grabbing accents, and bold dramatic movement inspired by Cairo's hottest performers. Along the way, you will learn tips to help you modernize your own dance style as you discover the qualities and characteristics that make modern Egyptian style "Modern."

Skill level: Advanced

Go under the hood with acclaimed producer Jef Stott to learn tools and techniques for producing world fusion music with an emphasis on Near Eastern musical styles and influences. Focus on building compelling arrangements in a variety of styles, recording and mixing traditional instruments, audio editing, writing for choreography and performance/ DJ technique.

Skill level: All levels.

Z-Helene has been posting her 20 second Zill Thrills on the internet for two years now with great acclaim. In this workshop, she will give you the basics of her user-friendly zill technique. Z-Helene will teach you several of her favorite “riffs” from her online Zill Thrills and then guide you through exercises to develop your own expressions with the finger cymbals so that you can do your own zill solos.

Skill level: All levels.

Belly Samba Fusion is a unique blend of dynamic hips and Near East rhythms with the vibrance of Brazil and dance moves from Rio Carnival. Join us and learn Samba technique for Belly dance! Understand how to combine these two beautiful dances to create exciting combos and performances that will make your artistry shine!

Skill level: All levels.

An integrated journey into classic Oriental dance design, from the ground up! Many dancers stick with just the rhythmic cycles and the usual counts of 8, but focusing on the melody line brings out the romantic essence of the dance and allows for greater personal expression. From in-place taqasim to around-the-space traveling combinations, we’ll explore deep, satisfying Egyptian technique expressing the forward motion of the melody line in the body—movement evolution driven by musical phrasing, which enables the dancer to encompass both the rhythm and the melody in her visual storytelling. With muscular technique practice designed to control and guide the movements to keep abdominal work smooth even when traveling.

Skill level: All levels.

This lecture-participatory workshop examines trance and embodied healing rituals from Central Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East, including Zar, Guedra, and Sufi mystical practices. Topics include how indigenous traditions have interwoven with the dominant religious paradigm to create the variety of spiritual expressions that characterize the Islamic world. We will explore the trance-inducing movements themselves, relating them both to somatic therapy techniques and esoteric concepts to more fully appreciate the healing and spiritual dimensions of dance and embodied ritual in the greater Middle East. Dance slippers or sticky socks are recommended for ease with turns.

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.  Sunday brings a focus on hip and shoulder opening~gently stretching the muscles that we have worked during the weekend. 

Skill level: All levels.