It’s been a full week since I left the Mendocino woodlands after an epically beautiful Middle East Camp. I’m still processing the experience in awe. This camp is always special with it’s wide range of classes to try, incredible live music concerts, late night cabarets, and amazing community. There is a reason so many of us go every year, and why we affectionately call it home. But this year was extra. Extra heart, extra inspiration, extra love, extra talent, extra brilliance.
There was an air from the whole community of needing a break from the news, from the hardships of life, and desperately needing to refill our inspiration, to connect, and to heal. These feelings were amplified for me personally as I wasn’t sure if my health was going to let me return to this beautiful camp and my amazing community here…but it did. And every moment felt like a gift, a much needed gift of life, celebration, and so much heart.
There is not much sleep that happens at camp, but there is a vibrancy that we all feel as we take all kind of music and dance classes. I personally loved getting to take Mohamed Ghareb’s Tannoura and Saidi classes as well as drop into Soumaya MaRose’s incredible Moroccan dance class, Elizabeth Strong’s Turkish Roman dance class, and TEACH two classes everyday~ Ghawazee & Raqs Sharqi.
Ghawazee class by Aubre Hill at Middle East Camp 2025: working on improvisation in pairs
It is wonderful to work with a group of dancers for a whole week on a topic. Whether embodying the Binat Mazin style of Ghawazee or finding our unique voice in Raqs Sharqi with a full choreography, it was a total delight to watch the dancers grow everyday.
Classes all day, and concerts & cabarets all night! The concerts are such a beautiful highlight with every evening a different region from Persian, Sephardic, Armenian, Turkish, Arabic, Moroccan, and more! They highlight the rich beautiful cultural of each region with amazing musicians and sometimes an extra special dance performance.
I particularly loved this dynamic tombak trio with Matin, Daryoush, and Masiq Eshaghi as part of the Persian concert.
To dance as part of the Arabic concert is a great honor, and to perform a full balady with so many of my dear friends was such a heart felt joy and gift. Thank you to Khader Keileh for this keyboard balady, to Hasan Minawi for this nay taqsim, and to the entire Georges Lammam band for this exquisite experience (Georges Lammam-violin, Bisher-guitar, Ali Paris-qanun, Faisal Zedan-riqq, Susu Pampanin-tabla, Mike Owens-tabla, Amina & Terrianne-frame drums). <3 <3 <3
AND then (cuz yes there is more), the nightly cabarets!!! It’s hard to have a favorite part of camp because it is all amazing, but the cabarets really are my happy place. It is a tremendous honor to be the cabaret director to support 8-10 different dancers each night with a full amazing live band for an intimate evening reminiscent of the old Middle Eastern nightclubs of the 1960s & 1970s. I love watching new and seasoned dancers shine in our cabarets, see the musicians delight in the energy of these performances, and feel the audiences elation. More on that next time….