journey of a Dancer
She absorbed the movements quickly,falling in love with the rich history and earthy spiritual energy of Oriental Dance.
Within one year, she was hired as a belly dancer actor for the Arizona Renaissance Festival. Habib spent the next year traveling across the U.S. belly dancing in "Gypsy Camp" at various festivals nation wide.
It was Larkspur,CO 1995 where she first came to develop "Belly Metal"... where Belly Dance meets Heavy Metal. " I would go and practice behind one of the stages every day and there was always this old flannel shirt that was left behind. I looked in one of the pockets one day and found an Metallica tape. It gets sort of boring practicing to Middle Eastern Dance music all the time so I popped in the tape just for some fun... "Enter Sandman" started to play and that was it.... "Belly Metal" was born..."
In the Fall of 95 Habib was flown to Amsterdam,Netherlands by "High Times" magazine to perform in the 1995 annual marijuana festival "The Cannabis Cup". She can be scene belly dancing at the festival in the documentary on DVD/video called "Weed".
Belly Dancing at the Shakopee MN Renaissance Festival lead to one of Habib's favorite memories... "
One of my favorite memories is the year and a half I spent as apprentice to Cassandra's Middle Eastern Dance troupe,"Jawaahir" in Minneapolis MN. We had four hours of class and two hours of troupe every week. It was like being in Belly Dance college! I just loved it!!"
While in Minneapolis Habib also had the wonderful experience of performing regularly with the Middle Eastern band, "The Electric Arab Orchestra".
In Spring of 1996,she traveled to Egypt and Turkey for the first time and turned a childhood fantasy into reality.
Habib explored the beautiful mosques,bazaars and of course.... the nightclubs, where ever traditional "Raqs Sharki" (dance of the east) was to be found.
December of 1997 found Habib back in Egypt to continue studying the Egyptian and Bedouin way of life. Pilgrimages to Sinai and Jordan helped enrich her understanding of Arab Culture.
"There was a brief stint I had dancing "Raqs Sharki " on a casino boat in Israel, but the particulars of the gambling scene didn't appeal to me "
Returning to Seattle after a four year absence, Habib began teaching Belly Dance classes and continued to perform and study Oriental Dance.
"DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL"
In July of 2000 Habib suffered a serious back injury
which kept her bed ridden for the next two years
"To see the positive
side of it, I like to say that it gave me a chance to work on the
energetic part of Belly Dance. WHY do we dance? What makes you want to
watch an Oriental Dancer? What draws you in and captivates you? How
does a Middle Eastern Dance routine flow from beginning to end?" I had
LOTS of time to ponder.
It was in Habib's "Dark Night", that she
began to study the folk dances of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey,
Iran and the Gulf States... in addition to Egyptian Raqs Sharki.
Regaining her mobility in the Spring of 2002, Habib returned to
performing and teaching Belly Dance and hostessing monthly dances
venues for the Seattle Middle Eastern Dance Community.
In June of 2003
Habib traveled to Morocco to seek out the "Schikaat", "learned"
woman who are a sort of Moroccan "Geisha".
She traveled from village
to city studying and copying their unique North African, or "Raqs
Shaabi" performance styles.
Going for It!
Habib moved to Sedona,AZ
in the Fall of 2003 to...."Go for all my dreams or die trying...! "
One of her dreams was to live in Sedona.... pretty much in the middle
of now where, it seems an unlikely place to accomplish much of
anything.
"They say Sedona, Arizona is the healing vortex center of
the world. Supposedly all the iron and crystal in the surrounding red
rock formations really focuses energy and seems to have the effect of
forcing you to deal with aspects of your personality which don't serve
you any longer... at an accelerated rate too!"
It was from her home
base in Sedona that Habib began to manifest her dreams.
"The main
thing I would like to do is tour the world performing in a Middle
Eastern Dance Show. I had this desire before the "Belly Dance Super
Stars" ever existed... so when they materialized it was a no brainer
to me to try and make it in their Belly Dance show."
Habib entered the
2004 "Belly Dancer of the Universe" competition in Long beach, CA and
swept the Fusion Category winning both first place and peoples choice
with "Belly Metal". She also placed third in the Universal category
by the judges choice and won the Universal title by the peoples choice
award.
"I entered the Belly Dance Superstars competition in Texas and
won my preliminaries in the Fall of 2004, but only came in fourth in
the finals. That was OK, but not good enough to make the Superstars".
"After hearing the difficulties of their touring schedule, I was sort of
less disappointed to not have made it. "
Another dream of Habib\'s,
included appearing on David Letterman's "Late Show" for "Stupid
Human Tricks".
"Belly Dancers are always doing coin tricks and I just
got a little goofy with it..... I like to make people laugh."
In late
April of 2004, Habib went to an audition in Phoenix for the "Late
show". She was selected to be on the show for "Stupid Human Tricks"
by flipping a little hamburger from her lower abdomen up to a bun on
her chest using only her stomach muscles. Habib was asked to stay on
and be on the show for two more days, but each day she got bumped by
bigger stars. So only ended up being aired on May 2nd 2004.
I had
always wanted to be in a Belly Dance Troop and so I started dancing
with a Flagstaff AZ. based Alternative Belly Dance Troop called "The Gypsy Chicks".
I officially became a "chick" in January of 2006.
Not
only did we have a great time entertaining at events of all sorts,
we're truly close friends on and off the dance floor.
Habib left the Gypsy Chicks in late Summer of 2007 to hit the road travelling with the Renaissance Fair Circut .
"My mission was to find and recrute musicans and dancers for my travelling show "Circus Hipnotica". ( Still under production)
In the Spring of 2005,
Habib became the owner of the international Belly Dance Costume
Company "Ganesha Bazaar".
In the winter of 2006 she set out for India for
the first time on a Belly Dance Costume buying trip for "Ganesha
Bazaar".
She had several opportunities to perform while abroad and
also studied Bhangra and Bollywood that winter while in India.
She is currently residing in Flagstaff, Arizona, but is prepareing
to
hit the road once again with her snake "Axl", to "Run away
with the Circus"....
Actually to travel with the Renaissance Festival
for a few months as she performs
with the touring fair which
roams the US through out the year.
She will be at the Colorado, Larkspur Fair in June and July of 2007
as she creates
a new "Belly Dance Carnival" show known as
"Circus Hipnotica". Circus Hipnotica will consist of many
of the
most "Flashy" elements of Belly Dance such as a Zeffa
(Egytian
Wedding procession), Tahtib (stage combat dance)
a Dionysis Wine Dance, as well as such oddities as knife throwing,
bull whip tricks, fire
dancing and more!
Habib is
an eternal student of Middle Eastern Dance.
She attends as many Belly
Dance workshops by master instructors as possible and travels to North
Africa, the Mediterranean,
Middle East and Asia yearly to study the
native dances.
MISSION STATEMENT :
Habib strive's to perform Middle
Eastern Dance nationally and internationally.
Teaching and studying as
she criss crosses the globe performing on stage, television and film.
Habib feels it is important to help preserve the native dances of
Morocco,Algeria,Tunisia,Egypt,Saudi Arabia, the Gulf
States,Iran,Iraq,Lebanon and Turkey.She helps keep these dances alive by
performing and teaching them the world over,
By doing so,Habib believes we can help
reach a better understanding of human kind.
"We can dissolve
communication barriers. Not with words, but with a glimpse into the
hearts of all people. For we all dance when
happy...celebrating,singing,laughing... Just as we all cry when we are
sad.... all of this, is expressed in the Dance."
Resume
4/07 - Sedona AZ - "Pagent of the Sedona Masters Ball" with Anthony Mazzella
3/07 - Sedona AZ - "Pagent of the Sedona Masters" with Anthony Mazzella
2/07 - AZ Renaissance Festival - "Jamila Lotus"
11/06 - Los Angeles - IAMED - "BellyDance-o-Rama" & "My Big Fat BellyDance Show"
09/06 - Las Vegas-NV-"Las Vegas BellyDance Intensive"
06/06 - Seattle WA - "Billion Belly Bash"
03/06 - Seattle WA - "Beyond Orient"
01/06 - Pune, India - Variety Show
08/05 - Los Angeles - IAMED shows - "Ford Theater"
08/05 - Portland OR - "Tribal Quest"
07/07 - Oakland CA - "Summer Caravan"
06/05 - Los Angeles, CA - Cairo Carnival, Bazaar stage - "Super Belly Metal"
05/05 - Seattle, WA \"Folklife Festival\" arab show (Raqs Assiya, Ouled Nail, Tunisian)
05/05 - Seattle, WA - \"Beautiful Africa\" ( Tunisian )
10/04 - Dallas TX- \"Belly Dance Super Star Star Search\" Finals (4th out of 17)
09/04 - Dallas TX- \"Belly Dance Super Star Star Search\" Preliminary (winner)
07/04 - Reno, NV- \"Wiggles of the West\" Belly Dance Competition
05/04- New York, NY - "Late Show" David Letterman
05/04- Los Angeles CA - IAMED "Belly Dance Rocks"
02/04- \"Belly Dancer of the Universe\" (winner)
07/03- Seattle WA - \"Bellevue Arts Fair
07/03- \"Lollapalooza\"
05/03- Lyon France- Hotel Novotel
04/03- Seattle WA- \"Rishi\'s Egypt\" dinner show (featured dancer)
03/03- \"Zanbaka\'s Showcase\" (featured dancer)
10/02- \"Hafla North VII\" (featured instructor/dancer)
10/02- \"Cafe Solstice\" (featured dancer)
09/02- \"Pho Saigon\" niteclub (featured dancer)
07/02- \"Mediterranean Fantasy Fest.\"
07/02- \"Bellevue Arts Fair
04/00- \"Hafla Gaia\" (featured dancer)
04/00 - \"Mystic Nights\" casino (featured dancer)
03/00 - \"World Dance Concert\"
11/99 - \"Journey of the Soul\" (sacred dancer)
10/99- \"Arab Festival\"
09/99- \"Bumbershoot\"
09/99- \"Autumn Bonfire\" & \"September Harvest\"
08/99- High Definition TV Promo
07/99- Sit and Spin (niteclub)
05/99- \"Hafla A\'Naar\" (featured dancer)
03/99- \"Belly Dancer USA\" (peoples choice winner)
02/99- Middle Eastern Instruments lecture & performance, University of Washington
02/99- \"Sky Cries Mary\" concert
10/98- Egyptian Exhibit, Seattle Art Museum
1998/99- \"Caspian Persian Grill\" & \"Kolhbeh\" (reg. monthly gig)
08/98- Yelm WA Gnostic Art Exhibit
03/98- Wadi Rum, Jordan \"Ministries of Tourism\"
03/98- Aqaba, Jordan \"The Wadi Rum Club\"
02/98- Eliat, Israel \"Sunjo\" (casino boat)
01/98- Dahab, Egypt (private parties)
06/98-12/97 Minneapolis MN \"Electric Arab Orchestra\" (belly dancer for this live band)
06/96-11/97 Belly Grams
08/97- Shakopee MN- MN Renaissance Festival- 7 weekends-four 30 min. shows daily
11/95- Amsterdam, Netherlands \"The Cannabis Cup\"- annual marijuana festival
09/95-11/95 Davidson,NC - NC Renaissance Festival - five 30 minute shows daily
Dance Education:
Habib constantly continues to study this art form and has since 1993.Some highlights of her education include:
Mendocino CA 08/02 & 99 - "Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp" - one solid week of non-stop music and dance classes.
Egyptian Cabaret- Sahra, Dalia Carella
Persian- Robyn Friend
Maghreb- Amel Tasfout
Moroccan Shikaat- Helene Ericksen
Tunisian- Helen Ericksen
Guedra- Katarina Burda
Debke- Hassan Harfouce
Turkish- Dalia Carella
Mizmar- Omar Tekbilek
Minneapolis, MN 05/96-12/97 "Cassandra's School of Middle Eastern Dance\" 4 hours of class weekly.
Levels 4&5. Plus 2 hours of weekly practice with Cassandra\'s troop "Jawaahir".
More instruction by: Suhaila Salimpour, Jamilla Salimpour, Ultra Gypsy, Delilah, Rashid, Suzanna Del Vecchio, Eva Cernik, Hadia, Tamalyn Dallal, Racheal Brice, Aradia, Nadia Hamdi, Raqia Hassan, Jajouka, Elena Lentini, Sabura, Hossam Ramsy, Jillina, Meleeha, Aisha Ali, Angelika Nemeth, Yasmina, Rabia, Magdy El Leisy, Margo Abdo O'dell.... and many others.
Other dance skills: Jazz, Egyptian Folk, Tahteeb, Persian, Turkish Rom, Tunisian, Saudi, Shikaat, Ouled Nail, Debke, Fire Dancing and of course Belly Metal.
Musical skills: Zils, Mizmar, Riq, Dumbek, guitar.