Photo by Roger Rix

This month we’re really excited for two awesome shows - MEDGE’s 3rd Annual Alternative Night, and Reigning Down on Oregon. The MEDGE show is February 19th and the Reigning show is the 20th, so it will be a jam-packed weekend! We are also teaching a workshop as part of the Reigning weekend, on Friday the 19th at 12:30.

In addition to Luminessah’s performance, MEDGE’s featured performer for the alternative show is Audralina, and Regina Anne will be soloing as well, along with 10 other amazing dancers!  This is a once a year show and not to be missed if you live in Eugene or close to it!

The Reigning Down on Oregon event is sure to be amazing, with workshops and performances by Unmata of Sacramento, Luminessah, Tribalation, Zephyr, Leslie of Raks Serpentine, and others.  For details, registration, and more please see Zephyr’s website.

The current class session ends February 17th, and we will be taking a month long break from teaching after that. The nest class session will start in late March, we will keep you updated on that! In the meantime we are looking forward to taking time to work on new things and continue to gel as a troupe.

Please see our events page for details on classes and shows, and if you’d like to be added to our email list please see our contact page. Happy dancing!

Skip November and December and go straight to January! I completely forgot to update here for a couple months, my apologies! But we’ve been staying busy with classes and performances, with a new session starting in two weeks.

Drills with Regina will continue on Mondays evenings at 6:30. Work on technique for all styles of belly dancers in a fun and supportive environment. This class is for all levels. Wednesdays will still be Beginner Tribal Fusion at 6:30 and Intermediate Tribal Fusion at 7:30. The Beginner class is for all levels and styles of beginners. Whether you’ve never had belly dance at all or have taken one or two sessions already, come join us and learn Tribal technique!  Intermediate level continues to expand on new combinations as well as work on various drills. Contact us here to save your spot!

On January 22 we will be performing in Global Infusion 3, a benefit to help raise money for a village in Ghana. There will be other dancers and more, including a set from DJ Layla!

Looking to February we are participating in two exciting events. We will be teaching a workshop in Salem as part of the Reigning Down on Oregon event on the 19th, then later that same night we will be performing at MEDGE’s 3rd Annual Alternative Night! The next night (the 20th) we will be back up in Salem for the instructor’s showcase for Reigning Down on Oregon. This show includes the amazing UNMATA from Sacramento, as well as Luminessah, Tribalation, Zephyr, and more!

So mark your calendars for some great classes and shows over the next couple of months and have a great New Year’s!

Details for classes and shows are here.

Our current class session ends this week, and our new class session will start Nov. 2 for drills and Nov. 4 for beginner and intermediate Tribal. Thank you to all our students who come and make classes so fun!

We have a really fun Halloween show lined up with Mood Area 52. They are playing an original soundtrack to the classic horror movie Nosferatu which will be showing at the Bijou on Halloween night. Luminessah will be performing with Mood Area 52 before the movie starts, with a beautiful backdrop of The Adventures of Prince Achmed! We are so happy to be working with these talented musicians!

Looking to November, besides our new classes we will also be performing in a benefit on the 15th for a member of Americanistan, as well as participating in a Grrrlz Rock! show at the WOW Hall on the 27th. Please see the events page for details on these shows.

We hope you are all enjoying the beautiful fall colors and staying warm!

Tomorrow night, Friday September 4th, we’ll be performing with Mood Area 52 at the Starlight Lounge. This will be around midnight, after the Eugene Celebration. We are so excited to dance with them and we hope this will be the beginning of more collaborations with this amazing group!

Then starting Monday and Wednesday the 14th and 16th, we have new classes! Regina will be teaching “Arms of Mass Seduction and the Greatest Hips”, a drills class to kick your booty! Wednesdays will be beginner and intermediate Tribal Fusion classes - a great  introduction to Tribal belly dance, or continue your studies in the intermediate class.

See our events page for all the details and we hope to see you soon!!

First of all for our Corvallis friends, the Aug 15 benefit show has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control.

Secondly, we’d like to announce some changes in our troupe. LeeAnn is now safely back in Minnesota with her family, and we wish her many blessing on her new ventures! Jeannie is also no longer dancing with Luminessah, and we continue to love and support her dancing as well. At our show on July 24th we announced our new troupe member, Regina!! She now has a bio posted to tell you all about her, and we’d just like to say that we are thrilled to have her! She is a beautiful dancer and a beautiful soul.

This month we’ll be doing a photo shoot with the new line-up as well as gelling as a troupe - dancing, dancing, dancing! We’re very excited to see the creativity that we know this change will bring and we hope you’ll join us in welcoming Regina!

More updates will come soon - class and show dates, photos, and more great stuff! Thank you everyone who came to our Farewell Party - we love you all!

The big news isn’t really news anymore - LeeAnn is moving to Minnesota with her family, so this month is all about getting the most of her as we can! We performed at MEDGE last Friday which was a really fun show, and LeeAnn’s last. She did a beautiful solo as well.

We are putting on a huge show to send her off this coming Friday, the 24th. We have a fantastic lineup including Middle Eastern band Americanistan, amazing Corvallis Raqs Sharki performer Janikea, Tribal Fusion master Regina Anne, hillarious and talented Grey Matter Jugglers, and Eugene’s favorite old-time bluegrass band The Conjugal Visitors! Luminessah will perform three times throughout the night, first with Americanistan, then a set of our own, and finishing with a few songs with the Conjugal Visitors. The other highlight of the night will be announcing our new troupe member!! Who will it be? Come find out and help us celebrate this transition!

We will be posting more details and information about our troupe’s changes at the beginning of August, so stay tuned for that. On August 15th we will be performing in Corvallis for a fundraiser for Chintimini Wildlife Center (see events page for details), and we also have an excellent and expanded class session planned for September.

We hope to see you this Friday to help us say good bye to LeeAnn and welcome our new member. We hope you are all having a beautiful summer!!

After taking a two week break after Tribal Fest, we’re back in the game again! Our latest class session started June 3rd and will run through July 8th. There’s still room so come on down and check it out!

Our show at the Oak St. Speakeasy with Priyo and Gypsy Moon was wonderful, thank you everyone who made it out! Thank you also to the amazing Monica Metzler and her band for opening the show!  We’ll be doing more shows in the future with Priyo and Gypsy Moon, we think it’s a good combination!  ;)  Keep your eyes peeled for that!

On the 21st we’ll be dancing at an event for the Eugene Birthing Center. They are being moved to new premises and the building they’ve been in for years will no longer be their home. We’re very happy to be a part of this celebration of all the good that has been done at the Center. We will have more information about this event soon, check the events page for updates.

On the 26th we’re excited to bring out our disco selves again for Layla’s roller-disco birthday party at Skate World! This is going to be off-the-hook fun!

Also mark your calendars for Friday July 24th, we’re planning an amazing show that you won’t want to miss! An evening of fusion belly dance PLUS some of the best bands in town!  More info TBA!

May means one thing to us: TRIBAL FEST!! We are just spazzing out in anticipation! It also means we’re taking a mini-break from teaching classes - our new class session will start June 3rd. Stay tuned for details on that! You can get on our mailing list by emailing us at luminessah@yahoo.com, or check back here!

When we get back from California we’ll be jumping back into performing, with the first show on May 27th. We’re happy to be a part of “Raq Your Saqs - A Belly Dance Benefit for Ian Means.” Our dance sister’s 15 year old son has been diagnosed with Leukemia and the belly dance community here in Eugene is coming together for an amazing show and raffle to help raise funds for his medical costs. The performers include Luminessah, Razia, Tribalation, Raka, Regina Anne, and more! It will definitely be a phenomenal show, and for a very good cause as well.

On June 5th we’re very excited to be performing with one of our favorite musicians, Deva Priyo with Gypsy Moon! Luminessah will open the show with a set of our own, and will also join Gypsy Moon for a Spanish-inspired set as well! The show will be at the Oak St. Speakeasy where there is never a cover charge, so come on down and enjoy some amazing music!

For details on these shows, please see our events page. Here’s to spring!

But that’s in May, and we have some fun stuff going on this month too! We have a new class session starting April 8th which will run five weeks instead of the usual six, since we’ll be at Tribal Fest that sixth week. Our beginner class this time around is geared towards beginners of all levels. We’ll be adding to the Level 1 movements while also continuing to work at getting comfortable with them. Students who’ve had a beginner class or two will also start leading movements, and we’ll be working more on body mechanics and technique as well. Intermediate students will continue solidifying movements, leading, transitions, and will be using zills again too! There is also a performance opportunity in June for our student troupe, and our intermediate class will be working with that in mind.

Also in April, we are happy to be performing in MEDGE’s annual Spring Celebration, featuring the amazing Amel Tafsout! Amel will be giving a lecture/slideshow presentation, two workshops, and dancing in the gala evening show as well. Other performers include Luminessah, Janikea, Elena Villa, Deena, Tribalation, and more! From Amel’s website: “A native of Algeria, Amel Tafsout, whose name means “Hope of Spring”, is an acclaimed international choreographer, performer and master dance instructor of North African Maghreb Dance. She has mesmerized audiences in the Middle East and North Africa as well as in Europe, the U.S. and New Zealand.”  For more information about the lecture, workshops, and show, please see MEDGE’s website.

Lastly we just want to thank again all the dancers who performed in our Tribal Fusion Extravaganza show in March. The show was an even bigger success than we had hoped! The venue was packed and all the performers were AMAZING!!! Hopefully this is something we’ll be doing again in the future, so keep your ears open!

For details on the classes and Spring Celebration, please see our events page. Enjoy the sunshine and we hope to see you soon!

Our new class session started February 25th and will run through April 1st. If you’d like to sign up for this or the next session please contact us.

On Saturday March 7th we’re very happy to be dancing at an International Women’s Day Celebration, a benefit for Sophia Sanctuary. This is an incredible all-day event with workshops, healings and readings available, and performances during the lunch hour. This is an empowering event by and for women!

Then on Friday the 13th we’ll be performing at a benefit for our friend Solala Towler, who recently had his car totaled. Solala is a local musician, teacher, poet, and so much more. There will also be performances by Bindaas, Forrest McDowell, Windhorse, and Fearless Love, who Luminessah will be dancing with. Also I hear there will be treats from the Sweet Life and Coconut Bliss, as well as a silent auction!

Saturday March 21st finds us out at the beautiful Oregon Coast, for the Florence Dance Guild’s Spring Belly Dance Celebration! We’ll be teaching our Signature Combinations workshop in the morning and performing in the evening show with Americanistan. Razia will also be performing and teaching, and the evening show will include other beautiful local dancers too! With dancing all day, vending, food, and workshops, this is a full event not to be missed!

Lastly for March (Friday the 27th) is a show we are spazzing about! We are presenting an evening of Oregon’s finest Fusion belly dance! We’ve asked amazing tribal fusion performers from all around the state to be a part of this event and it is going to be incredible! Nothing like this has ever happened in Eugene before and we just can’t wait! The fabulous performers include Luminessah, Circus Tribal from Ashland, the Bijou Project from Bend/Albany, Shellece Millison from Corvallis (former co-director of Troupe Salamat in Prescott, Arizona), Rachael Blanchard of Roseburg/Eugene, and Amy Peccia of Eugene! As if that weren’t enough, we are also so happy to present the premiere performance of our student troupe as well! I just can’t put in enough exclamation marks, this really is going to be a show to remember!

We hope this last month of winter is treating you all beautifully and that we see you soon!!

For details on all these shows and classes, please see our events page.