Michelle Leigh, one of the Big Island’s professional belly dance instructors, offers a monthly evening of Middle Eastern-inspired dance entertainment featuring local belly dance talent in Kailua-Kona.
The monthly “cabaret hafla,” or “dance party,” will premier at 7 p.m. on Sept. 7 at the Kona Elks Lodge, 74-5596 Pawai Place. The show’s running time is 1.5 hours with a 30-minute dance party to follow. Dancers interested in performing are encouraged to contact Leigh, of Enchanting Dance, prior to each show to sign up for performance slots.
Tickets are $10 and sold at the door. Future events are slated Oct. 5, Nov. 2 and Dec. 7.
Leigh began her dancing career as a young ballerina, but it wasn’t until she discovered belly dance that her passion for dancing was truly sparked. She met her first teacher in 1999 and studied and performed folkloric and tribal styles in Mississippi and then later focused on Oriental and Persian dance in New Orleans. After moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2005, her dream of performing belly dance was manifested through the creation of the Saltanah Dancers, a collaborative Oriental dance troupe that she, Deborah Newberg and Areena Estul co-founded in 2006.
The Saltanah Dancers have produced hundreds of belly dance shows together over the years, and it was through this unique collaborative that Leigh grew into a vivacious group performer and soloist. In 2015, Michelle moved to Hawaii to expand her horizons and deepen her dance studies, and she has recently joined forces with local and international dance artists Najla Raqs and Stephanie Bolton to form the Island Spice Dance Company.
Leigh is influenced by many dance styles including Latin salsa, Brazilian Samba, Tahitian, and Bollywood. She continually studies all styles of belly dance but is most passionate about authentic Egyptian-style, oriental belly dance or raqs sharqi. In 2012, she studied firsthand in Egypt. She also teaches classes and workshops for belly dance locally.
Info: Visit enchantingdance.com or facebook.com/michelleleighbellydance or email michelle@enchantingdance.com. ■