‘Casbah’ finds new home

Belly dance show moves out of Dahl

By Jomay Steen, Journal staff | Thursday, March 20, 2008

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A trip to a Middle Eastern nightclub may be closer than you think. Gypsy, Black Hills Belly Dance will present its annual “Night at the Casbah” on Saturday, March 22, at Rapid City Central High School theater.

Whether choosing an intimate table next to the stage or a theater seat at the back of the house, the ambience and performances of the fifth annual presentation guarantee a feeling of Algiers and a nomadic lifestyle of Gypsies.

Gypsy, Black Hills Belly Dance director and choreographer Bianca Boll said the variety-style show will open with 20 belly dancers performing the “Flower Dance,” one of the many dances that will be a part of the show.

“I’m excited. I think that dance will go over big and people will be able to see it better,” Boll said referring to the new venue’s staging at Central’s theater.

In years past, “Casbah” was performed at the Dahl Arts Center. This year, the Dahl’s extensive remodeling project and the “Casbah’s” continued growth has sent the belly dance troupe to a larger stage with seating for 360 people.

At the show, a cast of 28 dancers and musicians will present Russian couples dance, “Unknown Gypsy Line Dance” and the “Upbeat Turbo Tabla Veil Dance,” along with duet and solo performances. Two live bands featuring percussion, wind and string instruments will bring the Moroccan, Turkish and Arabic-flavored sound to the performances.

For the opening act, dancers had to audition nearly a month ago. Once selected, the troupe went through the complicated sequences of steps to represent the opening and closing of a flower while using their bodies to sway as flowers do in the wind.

“We’ve really fine-tuned everything,” Boll said.

Boll, who began teaching belly dancing nearly a decade ago, started her own study of the dance 18 years ago in Albuquerque, N.M. The drumming of the Arabic music called her to the performers. “Everything just clicked,” she said.

She still goes to workshops to improve her skills but also to examine the grace and beauty of new dances and presentations. What she learns, she teaches at her Piedmont dance studio. Boll has booked performances for her group at this summer’s West Boulevard Festival, a May health fair and a July wedding, where tradition holds that belly dancers not only entertain the guests but promote fertility in the bride and groom.

“Our dancing is more of the folk-Gypsy style,” she said.

At subsequent rehearsals, the dancers’ solos and duets have developed to a professional quality, which is good. For the most part, these dancers are amateur career women and homemakers who have taken up belly dance as something fun to do.

Boll has been pleased with the results.

“It’s an amazing thing that really blows me away. It’s such a great time to see the fruits of their labor — to watch them on stage. I’m humbled and amazed by it,” Boll said.

All proceeds from “Night at the Casbah” will benefit Camp Friendship of the Black Hills, a summer camp that caters to campers with physical and developmental disabilities.

If you go

What: Gypsy, Black Hills Belly Dance presents “Night at the Casbah!”

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, March 22

Where: Rapid City Central High School theater

Tickets: $5, $7, $10; a limited number of VIP tickets are $20 each and include hors d’oeuvres by Curry Masala and coffee by Dark Canyon Coffee

For tickets, call Dahl Arts Center at 394-4101 or go to www.thedahl.org. All proceeds from the show will benefit Camp Friendship of the Black Hills, a summer camp for disabled individuals of all ages.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.