2018 Cairo ShimmyQuake comes to Glendale Civic Auditorium

The CSQ 2018 Belly Dance Festival at the Glendale Civic Auditorium. (Courtesy of CSQ)

The 2018 Cairo ShimmyQuake Festival will be at the Glendale Civic Auditorium June 1 – 3, 2018. The annual event will have music, dance, cuisine and exotic merchandise from the four corners of the Earth, along with dance workshops, a Friday opening party with dance, and a Saturday night Gala evening of performances from Southern California’s largest talent pool of belly dancers from across the country.

Turkish, Indian, Fusion, & Egyptian, Cairo ShimmyQuake 2018 will feature a presentation of all sorts of styles and fashions. The workshops are headed by instructors in various belly dance styles and disciplines whose studies and practice come from all over the world.

The workshops on Friday, June 1, 2018, will include instructors Tito Seif and FatChanceBellyDance®. Self-taught performer Seif, born in the Shobra district of Cairo, was the first professional dance artist in Egypt to create, produce and star in a show featuring a male cabaret soloist as well as the stellar performance of his signature folkloric-cabaret based creations.

American Tribal Style® Belly Dance (ATS®) is a modern style of dance created by FatChanceBellyDance® director, Carolena Nericcio-Bohlman, credits her style as influenced by dancer Masha Archer of the SF Classic Dance Troupe and her eclectic blend of classic Egyptian, Folkloric, and any dance “she found enticing.” Carolena and her students performed at tattoo shows and conventions and became well known in the City by the Bay.

The workshops on Saturday, June 2, 2018, will include instructors Seif, Mira Betz, Sadie, Edenia, Susu Pampanin, Neena & Veena The Bellytwins, Michelle Sorensen, Dawn, Shoshanna, and FatChanceBellyDance®.

Mira Betz, a teacher and performer of Traditional and Contemporary forms of Middle Eastern dance for over 25 years, has been instrumental in the emergence of a new style known all around the world as Tribal Fusion. With a  dance background in Salsa, Modern, Jazz, and Flamenco, Betz “empowers students to cultivate curiosity, find their own unique voice, and brings the notions of artistry and integrity to every class.”

Sadie Marquardt (America’s Got Talent), founder and director of the “Raqs Flow” training program, is a global Bellydance sensation who has spent the last ten years conducting workshops around the world. The “most-watched Bellydancer on YouTube” with over 30 million hits on one of her videos,  Marquardt serves to empower people through the captivating art of Oriental Dance (Bellydance).

Edenia (Belly Dance Super Stars, Club Bellydance LA) is The original West Coast Fusion Bellydancer/Popper, known for her completely unique style through her use of popping. She credits Fusion bellydancer Rachel Brice as an influence as well and has studied Tribal Fusion Bellydance instructor, Zahreen.

Neena & Veena, known as the “BELLYTWINS” have danced Bollywood and Bhangra since they were children and their East Indian heritage led them to later formally study several classical Indian dance styles (Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Odissi, Kuchipudi) as well as other styles of Indian folk dances in both India and the US, where they came to pioneer Bollywood dance and fitness classes in Los Angeles in the 1990’s. Some of their clients include Tim Burton, Brad Pitt, Kevin Costner, Jennifer Aniston, the Prime minister of India, Disney, Microsoft, and Universal Studios, and have performed, choreographed, and directed on numerous television shows, music videos, and commercials including American Music Awards, Hell’s Kitchen, The View, Bollywood Film Awards, and Citibank.

Shoshanna directs Ya Habibi Dance Company, and she dances, teaches, and produces events in Arcata, on California’s northern redwood coastline, where she is dance faculty at Humboldt State University.

Workshops on Friday, June 1, 2018, include Tito Seif, Mira Betz, Neena & Veena The Bellytwins, Sadie, Michelle Sorensen, DeVilla, Susu Pampanin, Shoshanna, Ma*Shuqa Mira Murjan.

DeVilla is extensively trained in classical Egyptian and folkloric styles of Middle Eastern dance, but her style is a blend of classical raks sharki, fusion, camp, a love of drama, costuming, makeup and the glamour of Old Hollywood. She performs as a soloist and with her troupe Sehkmet Dance Company, for whom she functions as an Artistic Director.

Susu Pampanin began playing Arabic drum at the age of 12 and has grown to become a respected musician in the genre of Arabic music. After her first album, “Susu and the Cairo Cats”, released in 1990, she traveled to Egypt where she recorded with an all Egyptian ensemble to released a new album, “Nostalgia, Susu and the Cairo Cats with Safaa Farid” and also performs with the Arabic musical and singing ensemble, ASWAT, Georges Lammam’s Band and the Pasha Band.

Ma*Shuqa Mira Murjan is known for instructing dancers in the Art of Bellydance and is world renown as the first performer with Isis Wings – creating and dancing with them 30 years ago.  The Ma*Shuqa Method that she teaches provides dancers a unique structure for creating their own signature performances and dancing with finger cymbals (sagaats) that capture the musicality of Middle Eastern music. Her dance style and teaching repertoire reflect years of study and dance to Egyptian, Greek, Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, Moroccan, Persian, and Lebanese music.

June 1, 2 & 3
The Glendale Civic Auditorium
1401 N Verdugo Rd
Glendale, CA 91208
Advanced Admission is $13.00
CSQ Saturday Night Gala Show $25.00
12 and under are free