Welcome to the Chicago Metro Chapter of MECDA

To sign up for this chapter online, please click on the MECDA logo below.*

News     Video Library    Make a Donation 

Belly Dance on Bourbon Street     Sisters in Belly Dance Apparel

What's New?

April:

• The April Fool's Hafla on the Southside was a success! I've ordered three new performance DVD's to our collection. Aziza Raqs: The Passion of Bellydance, Fifi Abdo: The Egyptian Star & Bellydance Spectacular. The library remains free to all Chicago MECDA members due to the proceeds of the Hafla on the Southside. 

March:

• We have a new website! Please check out www.chicagomecda.com for more information. It is still under construction by a volunteer MECDA member, so please be patient with us! 

February:

• Our next meeting will be held Friday, February 17th. Time and place still TBA. 

• Aziza's Veil video has been added to our video library. 

• Chicago MECDA officer Erika Ochoa is sponsoring workshops with Mohamed Shahin in March.

• Chicago MECDA member Sonya is sponsoring an Aziza workshop in October. 

January:

• Another Belly Dance on Bourbon Street fundraiser show will be held sometime in May, so mark your calendars! 

• Some of the proceeds from the January Hafla on the SouthSide will go to purchasing a new video for the video library. Expect Aziza's Veil DVD to be added soon!

• The C-MECDA library has 4 new editions: Oriental Belly dancers, The Best of Lebanon Belly Dancers, An Evening of Experimental Middle Eastern Dance, & Rania's Advanced Choreography: Modern Egyptian. Many thanks to Bennett Snyder. 

• One of our members, Na'ama Rose, is opening a new dance studio this summer in Park Forest, IL! If you would like more information, or are interested in teaching a class, please contact her at bodyscape@sbcglobal.net or call her at (847) 864-6464.

December:

• There will be a meeting to discuss the Midwest BellyDance Festival of 2007 on Monday December 26. There will also be a meeting in Champaign Urbana, and probably an online meeting as well. Members, please try to attend. 

• We are discussing having Bahaia of Texas to be our lead workshop instructor. 

November:

• No news is good news :)

October:

• The Bourbon Street was a huge success, thanks everyone! Welcome to our two new members!

• Chicago MECDA members do not have to pre order tickets for the discount. A sign in sheet will be at the door, just tell Joe (the Ticket Guy) you are a member and he will check you off and charge you $15. If you are MECDA member at large, please bring your member number with you for verification. 

September:

• Don't forget to pre-order your tickets! 

• I have made a bulk order of Sisters in Belly Dance buttons. They will be on sale for $2 at the Bourbon Street event. 

August:

• Our Sisters in Belly Dance Apparel has found its home at Cafe Press. Click here to view our store: www.cafepress.com/chicagomecda. 

• I am hoping to make a bulk purchase of Sisters in Belly Dance stickers to sell at Belly Dance on Bourbon Street.  Check them out  by clicking the banner ad below. 

July:

• Tank tops are now available for purchase online. Click here to order. 

• Two more videos have been purchased for the video library: BellyDance Superstars and Yoga Drills and Isolations. 

• We have a date and a name for our fist event! "Belly Dance on Bourbon Street" will be held Friday, October 14th from 8-12 p.m. 

• July 13th- We have a PayPal account! Feel free to make a donation and purchase tank tops or tickets online.  

• We are working on a fundraiser in October which will include performances and a fashion show by Magda's. More info TBA. 

• Ideas about creating a lending library for Chicago MECDA members are being tossed around. If you have videos you no longer use and would like to donate, please contact Sumaya.

• Very tentative plans are underway to bring Delilah in for a workshop on the Southside in August of 2006.  

• Sumaya is still scouting out venues to hold the Midwest Bellydance Fest. If you have any ideas, please contact! 

• We are working on setting up a PayPal account to pay for online orders of tank tops and future ticket sales.

June:

•  Sumaya is working on creating Chicago inspired Belly Dance Tank tops. All proceeds will go to Chicago MECDA. Tank Top logo looks like this:

• We finally have our own bank account! All checks can be made out to Chicago Metropolitan MECDA. If you would like to make a donation, please email me for my address (sumayadance@gmail.com). I will create a thank you section in the Windy City Shimmy Newsletter and add your name,  your studio's name, or your company's name. If you send me a banner AD, I will add it to the bottom of this page. 

• Sumaya's July 23rd Hafla on the Southside features dancers from all over the Midwest. Cover is $5. As usual, all proceeds from the Hafla will be donated to Chicago MECDA.

•  Festival plans for 2007 are underway. The title of the festival is "Midwest Belly Dance Fest."

• Also in the works is a dance showcase fundraiser for the fall/winter months.

If you would like to donate to the Chicago MECDA Chapter, click on the button below and be redirected to PayPal. All donations go toward funding Chicago MECDA events. If you would like your donation to go towards something in particular, please specify. 

Donors can send me a banner advertisement to be placed on this web page below. Also, their names will be added to a thank you section in the Windy City Shimmy newsletter. 

Thank you to our Donors:

Arabesque Studio:

Sonya of Sonya's Souk:

Chicago MECDA would like to thank Bennett Snyder and Angelique for their donation of many videos to our library! 

Finally, we thank: