Sabaya
Sabaya, Austin's bellydance troupe composed of (from left) Lily, Yasmin, Maribel, Rania, and Stacey, will be performing tonight at Red Fez's An Arabian Night. Having had a lot of influence from well-recognized bellydancers, like Aziza and Suhaila Salimpour, Sabaya has achieved several noteworthy and international achievements.
I was first introduced to Yasmin, in a class under the instruction of Z Helene (little did I know then that Yasmin had been studying and performing for a long time herself). Not too long after studying under Z, I got a job at The Arabic Bazaar, a Middle Eastern import store owned by a Syrian woman, Zein. Naturally, I took classes under Zein. However, it was during my free time that I would watch a variety of bellydance performances, from the beginner student on VHS to professionals on DVDs. It is in that store where I saw all but one (Stacey) of Sabaya's dancers begin to evolve. The women of Sabaya, if I may speak so boldly, have come a long way.
Stacey, in my opinion, as bellydance student and performer myself, is definitely noteworthy. Check out Sabaya's Bellydance Collective Blog to see what she has achieved. It's definitely worth a look.
If you want to check out the troupe's performance tonight, here are the details:
Friday, August 28th, 8:00 pm - 10:30 pm
Red Fez
209 B W. 5th Street,
Austin, TX 78701
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