Spirit of the Tribes 2004

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…..I would like to thank you very much for letting us perform, we have always enjoyed performing at your show, we look forward to it every year.

I was very impressed with your Stage Manager, I thought she handled everything very well. Us guys were a little nervous but we made it through, and were very happy with our performance. As always we look forward to next year, if you ever need someone to do a drum workshop at one of your events, please keep us in mind. Jesse Rogers (Talisen) Alemah and Rhythms Herders

… I just want to tell you what a wonderful workshop this was! It was my first Spirit of the Tribes and I'll definitely be coming back next year. Thanks again, Diana Baker

……thanks so much for having this event! It is wonderful. Everyone on the list from this year was fantastic. We dance to live Drummers and we plan on performing at the next spirit of the tribes and I'd love to be a couple of different Drummers that would be beneficial to the dance troupes that perform to live musicians.

We had soooooo much fun...I loved your dance company and your performance. You are just a beautiful dancer…..Thanks so much for being such a wonderful promoter to Tribal Dance. By the way I just absolutely loved John Compton, Rossah and Yasmela. They were wonderful! thanks again, Sherry Morrison Gypsy Red Tribe

….We had a really great time at Spirit of the Tribes and learned a lot. I loved the originality of Circle Dance Co.'s combinations and really enjoyed Jane's teaching style (Kim was a great assistant too). Rachel's class was incredible and so inspiring. It really hit home the message that to dance as well as Rachel you have to condition your body to be strong and flexible, drill your isolations and dedicate yourself to progress.

It was great to know exactly what poses/exercises she does to target the right muscles for those moves.

I hope that people really got the message that you can't skip those steps. Since I am also an Occupational Therapist and stress these things to my students, I really appreciated Rachel's approach.

Urban Tribal- Wow! I would take whatever they were teaching over and over! They are unique in such a positive way and their teaching skills match up to their amazing dance and performance skills.

That talent is rare! I would take all these workshops again, and I will keep in mind teachers I would like to see at the next Spirit. I really liked having the shows split up; I was able to enjoy them more. Lisa and Nichole were excellent stage managers that kept it all running smoothly. The backstage area was great for the performers. It gave us a place to stretch, retouch our make up and get centered.

The site was easy to get to by taxi, though the cab fare added up. I'm not sure if a car rental plus parking fees would be the same or less, though. I would like to see a place that had inexpensive parking and/or a shuttle. The convention center was a nice venue. The only thing that made it uncomfortable was the air conditioning being up so high.

We appreciate all your hard work and dedication in bringing this Tribal festival to the East Coast. It is such an amazing opportunity to learn and share. Without you organizing and developing Spirit of the Tribes, all the festivals would still be out West and Tribal Bellydance may still be virtually unknown to this part of the country. Thank you for putting together such a wonderful event and furthering the Tribal Bellydance cause.

......I'm so glad you enjoyed our performance at this year's Spirit of the Tribes. We were excited to be able to demonstrate the wide range of the Tribal Spectrum that we represent. Last year we showed our folkloric/Tribal Fusion side and this year we were all about drama and mystery. We love that Tribal Bellydance is so versatile. We thought you might be interested in knowing about some workshops that we have developed in case you'd like to have Khafif teach at next year's Spirit of the Tribes.

Some of them include:

"Graceful Arms and Torso" (We taught a two hour class on this at Pennsic this year with great response), "Dancing to Live Music" (the Asheville workshop with this title was very well received), "Ethnic Fusion Bellydance" (using Ethnic movements and accents in Tribal Bellydance), and "Dancing with Drama" (Accents, body movement, facial expressions and attitude for dramatic Tribal Bellydance). We can also teach combinations with a Khafif flair- we taught a two hour class like this at Pennsic and got a great response. Not only was the feedback great, but our video sold very well at that class, and I think that speaks well of what we taught. Thanks again for putting together such a great event and for asking for our feedback! Love,Narah bint Durr (khafif)

BLUE LOTUS (IL)	Daveed Korup & Gaia Tribe
Gypsyville (TN, GA)	KHUL-KHAL (FL)
Maja & the Gypsy Goddess Tribe in the Orisha Dance	the Orisha Dance w/ the Capoeira
MANIPURA (VA)	RAEL DANCERS(FL)
ZAHARA TROUPE (FL)	Luna & Urban Goddess (FL)

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photolina@hotmail.com or www.bellydancephotography.com

…. I had a magical and wonderful dance experience over the whole weekend. Your instructors this years were absolutely amazing and all of the performances were so beautiful. Nichole and I are already talking about our performance and costumes for the next year! Your gathering is always wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed my teaching spot in 2003 with Awalim. Now that I am working with my good friend Nichole on our new tribal partnership, Gypsyville, I look forward to possibly working again with you in the future. And, of course, I look forward to seeing you next year! .Kelly(Delkash)

…The workshop was wonderful, the instructors were great, I liked the convention center also. Sydney Landry

… Thank you Maja for such a wonderful event. i had the best time and it was wonderful to see some of my west coast friends. The classes i enjoyed the most were Domba!, Urban Tribal, and Rachel Brice and would love to see and study with them again. Thank you again for putting together such a magical east coast event. SamiTe' NC

Thank you again for your hard work and energy. The Spirit of the Tribes 2004 was a great success. I have never seen so many people in a workshop! I know that there were a lot of people, but it wasn't too cramped, really, especially since they let some people up on.. TUARI FL

… Thank YOU for all your efforts & I'm so glad we got together with love and not misunderstandings! We had a great time & thought the workshops & shows were laid out very well. I like your format much better than all day performances at the same time as workshops. Your festival was very professional & wonderful.

The convention center worked perfectly & was extremely convenient.

All the comments I heard were that people were having a great time.

We really appreciate the immense amount of work this was to get everything together, and the little things you did for us too,. Thank you, you were very considerate and accommodating. Thank you so much Maja, I do hope we can come again soon. We are excited to receive the video of the show, when you have the opportunity.

Jane The circle –OR

…You did a great job. The workshop and show were a real success. Sold out show

Also, you don't have to pay for parking. I know I spent $18 in parking over the 2 days I was there. Anyway, I had a lot of fun and it really went smoothly…..I wish I could have gone to the Friday show. Nili said it was very good. That all the groups were good this year. Great job and please keep sponsoring these workshops.

By the way, I really liked your dance this year and your group was more together than usually and the costumes were beautiful. Nice job! Amy DOYLE FL.

FULL MOON ( NY)	RAKS CARAVAN WEST (DC)
DANDASHA (TN)	ALEMAH & RHYTMS HERDERS (FL) The Women
ALEMAH & THE RHYTMS HERDERS - The Men	ONCA & BARAKA TROUPE (NC)
BARAKA TROUPE MUSICIANS	MAJA & THE GYPSY GODDESS TRIBE (FL)

ALL PICTURES ON THIS PAGE are by LINA JANG (NY), professional photographer.
YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO COPY. To order PICTURES please connect with Lina at

…..Thanks for having us, and you and your stage managers did a wonderful job, and your staff working the sign in tables were pleasant, organized and helpful from what I saw, and you and troupe performances this year were very interesting, especially the Friday night one...that was great!!!!! Lisa Myers The Rhythm Herders –

…. I am brand new to bellydancing. The Spirit of the Tribes was so inspirational.

Your performance the first night was exquisite. All of your dancers should be proud of their performance. It was enjoyable to see the different forms of dance from all the dancers.

Again you did an outstanding job with your event. If you decide to change nothing, it will still be well worth time and the money to attend. Melodie Winston FL w/ Stephanie Medina

….Thanks to you and your people for making Tribes such a grand affair!!!! I can't wait 'til next year! Suzanne from Sahara Silk

…….Overall I had a FABULOUS time. This was my first introduction to tribal besides what I have seen on the web, and though I have been taking dance lessons for four years, I have had no desire to get up and dance public ally until now. Thank you for giving me the gift of dance and music that really touches me :) Joyce – Baltimore MD

…….i think you managed things VERY smoothly (the whole check-in process took 2 minutes at the most--the best i've ever experienced at any conference/ convention), and was VERY grateful the instructors were featured up on a high stage so everyone could see. the room was spacious and comfortable and access to both bathrooms and food to eat between workshops was so appreciated! all in all, don't change the venue!! looking forward to next year's event!! Thomasina Muckenfuss (CA)

….I knew within the 1st five min. of the first workshop I attended , this would be the best weekend of performances and workshops I ever attended… Spirit four exceeded my expectations and I hope to attend every year. Thank you so much for all the work and love you put into Spirit…..REBECCA NOKES (VA)

….Thanks for the compliments, The troupe really enjoyed themselves. I also have another troupe, The Gypsy Chicks and they want to come next year too!

Thank you so much for putting together such an awesome event, I know how much work it takes to pull it off, a thankless job. But we really enjoyed it and are grateful for the opportunity! ILYA

……it was a really great line-up this year; i learned so much from so many styles of dancing. i would LOVE to see jill parker come back, STACEY ONEIL (MIAMI

….This was my first Spirit of Tribes and I am a new member of Baraka Mundi. I really enjoyed the variety of teachers. . Selenah Seabrooks NC

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