Belly dancing is the vivid art of weaving together athletic prowess, confidence, and thousands of sequins. Northwest Villa Fest rented the Shoreline College’s theater and some of the courtyard from the morning of Friday the 10th to the evening of Sunday the 12th to share their love of belly dancing. Sprawled across the courtyard were many stalls selling a wide variety of personal accessories and household goods.
Heidi, a vendor whose stall specialized in upcycled goods, had this to say, “I think it went fairly well. The attendance was probably a little low. This is my first time vending for the Northwest Villa Festival, but I enjoyed myself.” Her business was called HeiD-IY Productions, in addition to the upcycled goods they also sell balms and salves.
She was also there for more than just the vending and had performed on the previous day, “I was involved in the belly dance community for like 14 years. I was in a performance troupe, but I took kind of a long hiatus from it, right around before the pandemic. I kind of wanted to split off and start my own art business. So it was kind of nice to be here and see some old faces that I hadn’t seen in a long time and just reconnect with people.” While vending at another event one of NW Villa Fest’s staff had reached out to her and told Heidi that she’d be a good fit for the event. Heidi not only ran the booth but also performed belly dancing on Friday.
One of the belly dancers from the closing show, Chloe, said this when asked how she prepared for her set, “It didn’t take me long to prepare for this number; I just did my makeup. I always improvise for my work because Egyptian dance is supposed to be improvised with a good understanding of this music. Choreography is great for duets of group numbers, but the essence of Egyptian dance comes from really well-structured improvisations, so I don’t prepare, I just know the music and listen closely.” In addition to performing she also teaches others how to perform belly dancing.
She also added that, “Everybody here is so friendly. The show is really sweet and the college campus itself is really, really nice. Next year, maybe you guys can put mirrors in the classrooms for us.”
The organizer of the event was Shelby O’Neil and I spoke with her mother, Jan Burnham about how belly dancing has impacted their lives, “Shelby has been involved and interested in dance since she was eight years old and dancing and this event is a lifetime dream of bringing different people together and enjoying the art and culture of fusion belly dance. Especially this time of the world when we need to appreciate each other’s differences.”
She also spoke about her prior experiences at Shoreline College, “It’s been an honor to volunteer for a second year, and we all look forward to a third year of the Villa Fest, and we love Shoreline Community College for hosting it…I taught off of campus here for 22 years—parent education.”
The final restaurant at the event was Kavita’s Kitchen and they had great Indian food. They served great butter-chicken and chai, and there was enough food that it lasted for two meals.
