Lexington, Kentucky, July 23
Sponsored by Phyllidia, this workshop and show were dedicated to their late friend Robert Wade (Ahab), and proceeds went to the American Cancer Society. It was held in a church, which was converted to theatre space at night, and dance space by day.
Amazing Egypt Video Clip
Siwa Oasis - July 4-8
Tamalyn and Alexandra led a group of 18 women from South America, Italy, Japan, and the US into the remote desert to the Siwa Oasis. This is a wonderland of natural springs, salt lakes, sand dunes, magical ruins, and prolific date and olive trees. They stayed in an exclusive eco lodge called Andre Amellal where the food was organic and grown on premise and everything was built with traditional materials, from salt crystal walls to fossil tiles in the bathrooms of earthen, troglodyte cottages. There was no electricity, only candle light, and millions of stars. Activities included having eleven Bedouin musicians play for the opening dinner, a photo shoot in the desert, followed by a desert camp out with a lamb cooked under the sand, a womens party with the Berber women who are never seen unveiled by outsiders, cultural exchanges with Bedouins, Aqua bellydance class in a natural spring, makeup class, and more.
Egypt - June 27 - July 3, 2005
The famous "Ahlan Wasahlan" festival of Cairo, Egypt enjoyed another successful year with over 700 participants from all over the world. Tamalyn Dallal taught a veil dance workshop entitled "Veils, from one to Seven and the history of Salome". She had students from Japan, Korea, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, and more. There were star studded evening shows, which included famous Egyptian dancers, Dina, Mona El Said, Randa Kamel and more, as well as top belly dancers from around the world. It was a feast for the senses with classes taught by organizer Raqia Hassan, the legendery Mahmoud Reda, Farida Fahmy, Morocco, Cassandra, Jihan Jamal, and many more.
Nicossia, Cyprus, June 8-14
This week long series of workshops was taught by Tamalyn Dallal, Scheherezade, and Carla, and organized by Kattya Kritikos. There is a thriving dance community in Cyprus, which is where legend says that the goddess Aphrodite washed ashore. All classes, as well as two evening concerts were held at the Artos Foundation, an antique home turned art gallery, which had ancient Greek tombs from 200bc underneath. The people of Cyprus were warm, the dancers were very enthusiastic and soaked up information like sponges, and the audience wandted each show to go on all night. Talk about appreciation!
Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 26-30
Ms. Dallal taught a weekend workshop of bellydance, history and an ethnic dance sampler, organized by Iazmin Darwich at the Club Armenio, with a gala show on Sunday evening. The workshop and show were very well received by a variety of dancers and teachers from all over Argentina, and it brought together a variety of schools in a very friendly atmosphere.
New York City, May 6-7-8
Kaeshi of Bellyqueen, Pure, and the Bellydance Superstars brought Tamalyn to teach a wokshop and conduct a "Teachers Training" weekend intensive. Both Tamalyn and Kaeshi performed at Lafayette Grill, and Ms. Dallal lectured and showed a film on Pasha Umer and the dances of Xinjiang at Colombia University.
Seattle, Washington, March 17-26
Tamalyn taught a workshop organized by Zanbaka, and did two shows with her fathers swing band in the town of Lynnwood.
Tokyo, Japan, March 4-6
Mishaal sponsored Tamalyns performance at the alternative performance space "Museumtokyo.com", where she danced with the sword, seven veils, and did a Milk Bowl dance from Xinjiang in Northwest China.
She taught a two day workshop at Studionana, which was organized by Nanae. An international exchange of dance classes and ideas took place with Aochans Latin Dance Center , and Ms. Dallal travelled to Kyoto and Hiroshima, opening her eyes to Japans rich culture, then some of mankinds most tragic history.
Kuala Lumphur, Malaysia, Feb. 23-March 1
"The Secret Garden" was a name for this magical weekend of workshops and a very elegant dance concert, in conjunction with Canadian dancers Tahja and Taiya. Sherlyn Koh is playing an important role in putting bellydance on the map in Malaysia, and she organized the performance and workshop.
Singapore, Feb. 19-20
Sponsored by Samra El Said, this workshop was in conjunction with a drumming workshop by Algerian/Lebanese drummer Nasser Selemi. Samra's studio and shop is in the heart of Kampong Glam, the traditional neighborhood of Arab traders. It is located on Arab Street, which is lined with fabric stores and bauble shops.
Cambodia, Feb. 7-12
Chinese New Year is no time to work in Asia. Everything is in vacation mode, so Tamalyn decided to visit the ancient ruins of Anghor Wat in Cambodia. To read her newsletter/travel journal about Cambodia, click here.
Bangkok, Thailand, January 27 - February 7
Apple from salsabankok.com is a Harvard graduate who had put her passion and energies into ethnic dance. She teaches Salsa, Zouk, and Bellydance in Bangkok, and commutes between New York and Bangkok. Apple organized a crash course where Ms. Dallal taught the eight week beginners class in two weeks. Bangkok proved to be a land of culinary delights, foot massages, Thai massages in temples, shopping, amazing dances with fingers bent far back and gold laden Buddhist temples. There was lots of Salsa dancing on this trip and Ms. Dallal rented rehearsal space at a studio above the funky "La Rueda" dance club where people from all over the world converge to dance Salsa. La Rueda is second home to many expats, and Ms. Dallal performed there to raise funds for the tsunami victims.
Hong Kong, December 30, 2004 to January 27, 2005
Ms. Dallal rushed to arrive on time for a New Years Eve gig with a James Bond theme at the Aberdeen Yacht Club, but the new year was very sad because of the rising death toll of the tsumani, which sorrowed the entire world. On January 9-10, Tamalyn taught a Teachers Training workshop where dancers attended from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, and the Phillipines. It was very successful and they did an evening show at Jashan, a gourmet Indian restaurant that raised aboout 20,000 Hong Kong dollars (2500US) for the tsunami victims. The following weekend Ms. Dallal taught a weekend workshop in HK, and the following week, she performed with Mey Jen Tillyer and several other dancers for the opening of an Egyptian style casino in Macao.One of the most interesting gigs was at an outlying shopping mall in Kowloon, where Ms. Dallal did double sword in a show with jugglers and adagio dancers. After each show, the families would line up to have their pictures taken with the artists, and some never missed a show, which took place daily for one month, though the artists rotated. One elderly man had a photo for each day.
