THANK YOU!

I wrote this on the Starbelly Dancer Facebook Page, but it bears repeating: 

It takes an entire community to build a show like Medusa Head - thank you for supporting our dream of sharing love through dance!
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A special thank you to every one of our donors and sponsors for supporting the fundraising component of this show. The final tally isn't in yet, but we have raised thousands of dollars (EDIT: OVER $3,000) from the silent auction for the Starbelly Financial Aid program. This program keeps dance alive for Starbelly Students who experience periods of adversity and need to keep dancing more than ever! The silent auction has grown into a beautiful event and every donation is something crafted with love, joy, and care. It's our honor to thank you.
We'd like to especially thank our family from Starbelly School of Dance - you fuel the fire of our inspiration and were a part of thousands of discussions that manifested this event. It would NOT have happened without you.
SPECIAL THANK YOU the incredible, and we mean unbelievably amazing, volunteers for the silent auction. This group of people wore many hats during this event and your support MADE EVERYTHING HAPPEN! We love you Cassandra J Artukovich, Linda Cates, Laura Wike, Sue Risner, Sonija Chevalier, Sarah Gurnett, Tina Olson Schilling, Keela Cooper, and Genie Brollier!
Another group of people that "make it happen" is the experts that assemble our show and take the production to the next level. Thank you to Blake K Green for your sound expertise and Chaz Gentry for lighting up our story with your magical touch (and the compliments keep on pouring in for lights so buckle up for getting tagged in photos). None of this would be possible without the generosity and passion of Sam and his crew at the Visual Arts Collective. You can't set the stage without a stage and we feel that every year you take this place to the next level and the entire community benefits. Thank you.
A very important person to the production team is our lovely, stupendous, tremendous friend and dancer, Amanda Nicole! Thank you for your sharp intellect to capture the incoherent thoughts of witches mid ritual and making our show smooth and successful. Your broom solo may have been the highlight of the show and your dance has brought joy to everyone. Thank you!
In addition to Amanda, the Starbelly Dancers had other amazing guests joining our normal line up. Yes, they are definitely Starbelly Dancers but since we don't get to see them as often we want to give them extra love so that they'll move back to Boise. Of course you know we're talking about the incredible and hilarious Sarah Barker and the delightful and effervescent Alyssa Kimm. Thank you for making the trip from Narnia and Portlandia, respectively, to be a part of this show. You are the best!
We all know how amazing Fleet Street Klezmer Band is.... and we are seriously running out of ways to express our gratitude to you guys. Every year you bring the joy of live music to this show and your haunting rendition of "The House of the Rising Sun" was a beautiful way to cast a spell on the audience. Thank you so much for being a part of this production - we know for a fact that you were all a bit "swept away" too!
We are so grateful for our amazing emcee, Jeffrey Cates, who managed to take the long story of Medusa and explain it to the audience with humor and joy - also for showing off your shimmy! (EDIT: AND HE ALSO MADE US OUR FIRST SET PIECE) Thank you to Miguel Angel Arteaga, the ninja photographer, for once again capturing the magic - we can't wait for the photos! Thank you Lynzsea Sky Williams for capturing two days worth of video - we love you sitting in the front row too; your joy and beauty are contagious! Thank you to Kevin Schilling for capturing even more photos during the second showing of Medusa - we cannot wait to see what you snapped! Thank you to Jessica Nebeker and HomeGrown Theatre for your support and also the FREAKING AMAZING SNAKE PUPPETS WE CAN FINALLY TALK ABOUT THEM. We have the best neighbors ever and we are in awe of you!
Finally - thank you to every single person who came to our show. We packed out the house both nights and had record attendance to this event. We thank our lucky stars to be located in such a supportive community and one that not only loves raqs sharki but supports our efforts in making it as weird as possible. How can we ever repay you? We will do our best to keep growing because we owe it to you to make the most magnificent art we can. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
The magic of Medusa Head and the Witches of Rak isn't in a potion or a spell, but in the love we have for every one of you listed here and more. We cannot wait for what happens next and we cannot wait to experience it with YOU. See you next year for the 11th Big Bad-Ass Belly Dance Show... Same witchy time, same witchy place.
Love - Cecilia, Chad, Tori, Jessica, Bayla, and Cassandra

KEEP YOUR EYE ON THIS PAGE FOR PEAKS OF PHOTOS AND VIDEO

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