Dance Companies
Raqs Caravan West
Participation in the student companies is for advanced students with the goal of developing performance technique, stage personality, ensemble dance experience and enjoying the camaraderie of dancing together.
Directed by Rachel Kay Brookmire and Elysa, Raqs Caravan dancers progress
toward artistic, charismatic, musical dance performance while building a
strong foundation of sophisticated dance technique. The Raqs Caravan
mission is to create joy and beauty while fostering the growth of individual
dancers.
Raqs Caravan West is a student company specializing in American tribal belly dance for stage. Dancers specialize in group improvisation, with dancers focusing on camaraderie, unified presentation, and fluid transitions. Their signature performances are unchoreographed; their pieces organically unfold as different members of the "tribe" rotate leadership to share in the spontaneous creation of each dance. Structured improvisation breathes life into each performance, and no two pieces are ever the same.
Unlike Middle Eastern folkloric styles, tribal style belly dance does not represent any specific culture or region. True to the American melting pot fashion, tribal dance and costume imaginatively mix the vocabulary of many Eastern and Western traditions.
Raqs Caravan West, and the sister company Raqs Caravan East, are featured at three productions annually: the Under a Desert Moon Annual Student Gala, the Sahara Dance Summer Student Showcase and the Raqs Caravan Student Showcase. Both companies perform regularly at numerous community and educational events throughout the year.
Prerequisite: Completion of Tribal Technique, concurrent enrollment in a technique class and permission of director.
View these and other photos in our photo galleries
Recent Performances
- NBC4 Health & Fitness Expo
- Washington Convention Center - January, 2007
- Student Showcase
- Alexandria, VA - December, 2006
- NBC4 Connected Expo
- Washington Convention Center - September, 2006
- Arabian Nights
- Colony South - September, 2006
- Student Showcase
- July, 2006
- Howard University Hospital Health Fair
- Reaves Center - June, 2006
- Under A Desert Moon
- American University’s Greenberg Theater - May, 2006
- Spirit of the Tribes
- Ft. Lauderdale, FL - April, 2006
- UNMATA
- Casablanca, Alexandria, VA - March, 2006
- Student Showcase
- December, 2005
- Rakkasah East
- Somerset, NJ - 2005
- Spirit of the Tribes
- Fort Lauderdale, FL - 2005
- The Fire of the Soul Tour
- Casablanca, Alexandria, VA - 2005
- Arabian Nights
- Colony South - 2005
- Raqs Caravan Fall Showcase
- Flashpoint - 2004
- Rakkasah East
- Somerset NJ - 2004
- "The Belly Dance Show" on Fairfax Public Access TV
- September, 2004
- Sahara Dance Street Dance
- September, 2004
- Lands and Cultures Festival
- Malcom X Park - September, 2004
- Sahara Dance Student Showcase
- Flashpoint Theatre Lab - August, 2004
- Under a Desert Moon
- American University's Greenberg Theatre - May, 2004
- George Washington University
- The Mediterranean Cafe and Sahara Dance Opening Gala 2004
- The Black Cat
- Spirit of the Tribes
- Fort Lauderdale, FL, 2004
- The Belly Dance Benefit Show at Georgetown University
- The Anne C. Fisher Gallery
- DC Jewish Community Center
- Under a Desert Sky
- The Jack Guidone Theater, May 2003
- Rakkasah East
- Somerset NJ, 2003
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