Our concept, our theme, our atmosphere, if you will, is

A History: As Told by DJ Amar
IN THE BEGINNING

It started with a blue-haired girl from DC, a DJ, a drummer and a couple of the bay area's proponents of the Gothic Belly Dance scene.

In the summer of '06, shortly after meeting Mavi at a Tribal Belly Dance festival, Amar saw a post on tribe and received an email from the said blue-haired girl about coming to California that November and wondering if there were any shows around that time that she could go to. Both Amar and Tempest replied and began discussing putting together a 'little' show in Oakland. Amar emailed a rather large group of dancers, figuring maybe 20-30% would be available and say yes. Oops! It turned out Every Single dancer he contacted said yes, and we had a potential show that was too big for the original little dive bar show we had in mind.

Later that summer, on a trip to Portland, Amar and Ariellah met at a dark fusion belly dance show that they were both performing at. Shortly after returning, Tempest mentioned bringing Ariellah in to put on the show together. How could that be a bad idea? Ariellah graciously agreed. We added Sooozhyq to the production team and began planning the show, booked the Oakland Metro and came up with the title "Shadowdance".

The first show was a sold-out success and an amazing night. We decided to do another the following year, which was just as amazing with completely new performances that were out of this world. 2007 added workshops and vendors to the mix. 2008 kicked it up another notch with a spectacular new venue, 2 rooms, theater shows and sideshows, midnight gallery, fire, an elixir bar and more. Ariellah and Amar produced Shadowdance 2008 together at Orbis Nex.

After 3 years of pouring their hearts into these spectacular shows, Ariellah and Amar's schedules called for a break to focus on touring and other creative projects, as well as Ariellah's marriage to Bruce.

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Shadowdance 2006 created and co-produced by DJ Amar, Ariellah, Sooozhyq & Tempest Performers: Mavi, Shawna Rai, Unmata, Zoe Jakes, Frederique, Clandestine, Tanja Odzak, Ariellah, Tempest DJ Amar with Sooozhyq, Kush Arora, DJ Layla, Mara Ann & DJ Traffic Zen Mystic on lighting & visuals, Cindy as stage manager, Photography by Brad Dosland.