Belly Dance Off ⭐ 2025

Photo from Belly Dance Off 2025 by Chris Yetter

Enormous thanks from my heart to all who attended and participated in Belly Dance Off 2025! Having worked on it nearly all year, it's hard to realize it is now in the past rather than in the future.

As always, our audience was a diverse spectrum of regular attendees of belly dance and music shows as well as absolute newcomers and/or people who've barely been out since 2019. I know the effort and expense of attending anything these days is a lot and I was very honored by your presence . It was wonderful also to see such a mix of new and familiar friends. As I've been overseas, I was delighted to see many I haven't seen in almost a year, and in some cases much more. If this is you, know that I appreciated your presence greatly and lament that we couldn't have time to chat and connect. Directing and also hosting/emceeing absorbs every single percent of my attention and energy.

Congratulations to ALL of our 2025 dancers Ali/Alosh Albasrawy, Psyche/Jamie Star, Elinore Edge, Eldika, Mariana, Sahaila who put on an amazing show with a stunning array of talents! Mariana won the 2025 champion title with a glorious trophy, tiara, and cash, and Elinore won Runner Up with a full pass to Emerald Sanctuary Retreat 2026.

Our judge panel was remarkable and one of our best! Indigo, Heather Louise, and Ian Howe each delivered a very vibrant and distinctive style with rich and insightful feedback for every dancer, and so perfectly articulate. I don't know how they do it!

♫ Music for BELLY DANCE OFF is 100% live and we were particularly blessed in this 2025 show to have a stage packed with top musicians Stephen Elaimy, David McGrath, and Jane Hall of House of Tarab plus guest artists George Sadak on tabla and Daniel Shaheen Moltke on violin. During the show and in the days that have followed, I continue to hear rave reviews about the band.

It was great to also bring this show back to Harissa for the second time (the first time was 2015). The space has developed so much since then, bringing an elegant and cinematic vibe. And it was great to pair this event with exactly the right cuisine!

Yet none of the above would have been possible without our new core production team of myself, Fateen, and Kat Ross. The formation of this team has been a huge victory for the sustainability of this event and the community and individuals it enriches. Fateen, Kat, and I each have different talents and styles which we've forged into well-oiled machine. It's been one of my best collaboration experiences! I'm equally grateful for our additional talented team members Brandon Campbell (tech), Amina Aisha Samb and Elisa Gamal (door hosts), photographer Chris Yetter, and videographer Ryan K Johnson.

This marks our 27th show. Stay tuned for what comes next by following the BELLY DANCE OFF on Facebook and/or joining my email list!