Nothing restores my faith in the world than a wonderful evening of dancing, celebration, and a wicked Improv Contest! Whoop!! The Halloween Hafla really is one of my all time favorite nights of the year, and 2009 was no exception.

Amy's young troupe started the evening with 2 numbers. The first piece was with 3 adults and 3 young girls. Then, the 3 young ladies did a halloween story telling piece about vampires--complete with fangs! They were incredibly ingenious and creative. After the troupe performances, Malika did a very breathtaking and powerful piece. I was so excited to watch her as you could see that she was really in her element and dancing from her heart. It was da** near intimidating to follow her with my own comedy piece as a "Ghostbuster".

The second set started with a magnificent tribal fusion piece from Latisha. She really was breathtaking and did some amazing backbends and pop/locks. She was followed by Reema, who did a very hawt chacha fusion piece. Mmmmm...Reema can move! After Reema, we were all in for a treat as Leyla & Sacha danced a very energetic Egyptian piece as a duo.

Following the second set of performers, we had the costume contest which was judged by Carolee Cameron & Nicki Lloyd. They gave out 8 prizes for various costume themes, including one given to the cutest little Darth Vader you've ever seen (Alex, age 6).

After the costume contest, we were treated to the "Ashtalea" set (named thus as she was the choreographer for all of the routines). Mylissa danced a routine in a traditional shimmery Egyptian costume to a traditional piece of music. Myschivia followed immediately with the exact same routine, only danced in a fusion jailbird costume to non-traditional music. It was a very interesting juxtaposition. And our third piece in this set was a performance by Ashtalea, herself! She was dressed from head-to-toe in day-glo orange & white--including her hair! (You've never seen such a lovely creamcicle!!). As usual, her Halloween routine was quite creative and impressively executed.

Then it was time for my favorite part of the Halloween Hafla! The Improv Contest! This time, our theme was Sci-Fi music...and we had a whole collection of movie themesongs and other songs with sci-fi lyrics. The contest judges were Hanna, Ashtalea, & Mandanah (and they were appropriately bribed by many of the contestants).

We had 12 contestants who all won awards. Special thanks to Toni (Martha Stewart Award), Reema (Intergalatic Drama Award), Treasa (Darkside Award), Mylissa (Prop Specialist Award), Kali (Aliens Prefer Blondes Award), Melika (Pole Dancer Award), Mischevia (Hottest Alien Award), Sandi (Blast Off Award), Noble (Not Like a Virgin Award), Lupe (Gillette Razor Award), Letisha (Tom Cruise Cocktail Award), and, of course...Serena (Miss Universe Award)!!

Our final set of performances for the evening started with a cute number Treasa did from the movie Grease 2. Her costume, as usual, was fabulous. Aurora (age 9) did an improv piece to the Monster Mash, which was stellar. She really is a talented budding young dancer. I can't wait to see how her art develops. And then our final solo of the evening was by Serena, who was wickedly hilarious.

I genuinely appreciate the many folks who show up and support the haflas. It was an especially good evening and I really couldn't be happier with the turn out.

Happy Dancing Everyone!

Samira Tu'Ala

www.bellydanceintensive.com
Sept. 9-12, 2010 at the FLAMINGO Hotel
1-888-LV-RAKS-U/1-888-587-2578