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Superstar of belly dancing to participate in USU 'Soiree'
By Sarah Ali
December 1, 2005 | Belly dancing,
the art associated with the sultans and sheikhs in the
deserts of Arabia, seems hardly fit to be found in the
snowy mountain valley of Utah.
Neverthelss, the USU Middle Eastern Dance Club USUMED has more than 50 members this year,
most of which are beginners who started belly dancing
for the first time this fall.
At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, all club members and two USU
dance troupes, Zivah (intermediate) and Shazadi (advanced),
will come together with other Utah belly dancers to
perform at the Caine Lyric Theater for the fourth annual
Shazadi Soiree.
"Never before have we had such a big beginner class,
the dance is going to be a tight squeeze," said Traci
Hanzalik (a.k.a. Sumra in the belly dance world),
the club director.
Hanzalik said that she received countless calls from
people all around the state requesting to be part of
the Soiree. Of the many who called, only a few were
permitted performance times. Of the few were Salt Lake
City's Kashmir Dance Company.
"What will be cute is if Kashmir brings their
little dancer to perform too. She's like 5, the company
director's daughter," said one of the members of
the Zivah troupe who called herself Janan.
Every year the club finds one recognized belly dancer
to be the closing act of the Soiree and also the host
of the workshop held earlier in the day. This year they
chosen superstar Ansuya. Ansuya has performed with
USUMED and was excited to stop by Logan again on her
national tour.
"Last year was so exciting with Ansuya, I can't
wait to have her back again," said Zivah member
'Laila.'
Bobbi Thompson, or Anisah as she is known by her troupe
mates, said she was unable to see Ansuya last year because
she was out of town.
"I'm very excited for the workshop and performance,"
she said. "I'm a little nervous for own performance,
but the nerves go away once I'm on stage. I'm an adrenaline
junky. Even though it scares me I still do it cause
I like it."
Tickets for the Shazadi Soiree were going fast with
Hanzalik getting calls from people all over the country.
"I even got called by a couple from New York who wanted
tickets," she said.
For non-USU students the tickets were being sold for
$15, but with student ID the price is $10. Tickets will
be sold at the USU ticket office until Friday.
The Ansuya workshop is open to the public and will
be in the HPER Room 215 from 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.
The fee is $65, which includes refreshments. After the
workshop there will be many local vendors selling belly
dance costumes and accessories.
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