* Please note that the images adjacent to each paragraph may not be directly associated.

This weekend we had an exciting dance show at Bangalow, a tiny town in New South Wales. Some of the performers came from far away, like Maria Hamer from the United States, Melusina from Melbourne, dancers from Brisbane, and of course some locals.
There was a little bazaar that included vendors and companies like Sharifwear, a funky street & dance wear company from New York based), MADAM, a new local performing arts magazine, Lotus Devi, offering tribal dance wear, Sahara Moon Bellydance offering traditional costumes, Shanti Diva offering skirts and saris, and Satya James offering unique designer creations.

Tribal fusion group Opalesque from Brisbane opened the show in the hall, wearing beautiful white costumes that got the audience’s attention. After Opalesque’s performance we were asked to go to the theater where we were welcomed by all performers on stage who gave us a preview of the show.

Right after, Zerina Millard from Byron Bay (local) performed a kathak fusion. Kathak is a dance from North India; Zerina had it fused with a bit of belly dance. Zerina herself says: Kathak sets her ‘on fire’ when she’s dancing. That was certainly true! After Zerina Natyashakti, an Indian focused troupe, performed with an invocation to Lord Shiva.

After Natyashakti Bollywood dancers called Snakeweave from Lismore (local) got on stage. They had the Bollywood vibe going and let the audience participate;I could not help myself – I had to dance with them – it was great fun. After Sneakweave it was time for something completely different: the group Real Woman Cabaret did a sultry hat and cane dance. To close the first half of the show there was another dance by Opalesque. They did a beautiful piece with mesmerizing arm movements.

In the break there was a short performance from Melusina who was my favorite dancer of this show. We were unable to find a video of her performance from the event, but have an older video that we can share.

Hilary Cinis was next. She was wearing a beautiful black and white dress and did a contemporary fusion dance, but you could see quite a lot of belly dance in her style.
Next was Marina dancing to “Cabaret Hoover’ from Triplets of Belleville movie soundtrack.

My favorite dance was Melusina’s classical fusion to “Sheherezade”, where she fused belly dance with ballet. It was a very light hearted dance, perfect for springtime (which is now in Australia!)

Next was Maria Hamer who danced to ‘Cabaret Hoover’ from the Triplets of Belleville movie soundtrack. I really enjoyed the show; it was good to see such a variety of dance styles!

Great job to all the dancers!