Join us for our April Show! Saturday April 23rd at Crush!

Friends! Romans! Portlanders! Etc!

Exciting news about this month’s Offbeat Belly Dance Show!

This month’s show will be our Awesome Eighth Anniversary Extravaganza!

And! It will be a bit off schedule. But it will still be awesome.

And! It will be at a different venue. How exciting is that?

Due to scheduling conflicts at our beloved home base, this month’s show will be Saturday April 23rd at 7pm at Crush (located just one block north of SE 14th and Belmont, at 1400 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR 97214).

Please do consider joining us for an absolutely fabulous show! Stay tuned for an invite with all the lineup details!

Viva Offbeat! Yiyiyi!

Hugs and sparkles,

Karissa

Ringleader, Offbeat Belly Dance

P.S. Big love to the amazing Guy Masson of Phoebus Photo for capturing this majestic shot from our March 2016 show 😀

See more of his fantastic work here:  https://www.facebook.com/PhoebusFoto/

And here:  http://phoebusfoto.zenfolio.com/

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Offbeat Belly Dance! This Friday! The Winterpalooza 2015 Edition! Join us!

Warmest greetings, Wintry Portlanders!

I hope that you are surviving the holiday season, staying warm, and earnestly anticipating the juggernaut of wonder that is 2016!

(Can you sense it? The impending juggernautiness? The brewing wonderment? No? Just me? Fine. Whatever…)

But 2015’s not over just yet! Guess what that means!

Yes! We’ve got one more glittering, mesmeric Offbeat Belly Dance show for 2015 – and we want you to join us!

Yes, you, Scandalously Charismatic Portlander!

For lo, we have a completely awesome lineup…

Forsooth, we have a wonderfully welcoming venue stocked full of delicious libations and tasty nomz…

Fo shizzle, though, without our hearty crew of beloved and good looking audience members, all our radness will be for (jugger)naught, and you – yes you, dear soul – will miss out on an absolutely fabulous Friday night’s entertainment.

Therefore join us, Sassy Portlander! After all, dig if you will this fantastic lineup:

We are delighted to be joined by three of the four horsemen of Offbeat:

Jasmine Rain!

Zighala Zurah!

And Vee!

And! We are thrilled to feature what is sure to be a dazzling performance by the hypnotic and evocative –

Jewels J Phoenix!

And! We are delighted to bring you the return of the stunningly eclectic, the scandalously graceful, the fantastically wonderful –

Rin Ajna!

We are ecstatic to welcome an amazing collaborative piece featuring work by –

Lúlu Stone! Brittany Stark! And Rin Ajna!

And! We are rapturously gleeful to bring you the return of the shiny and captivating –

Isa Cervantes!

Finally and fabulously, we are so very stoked to bring you the Offbeat Belly Dance debut of the luminescent and enchanting –

Jalilah Bellydance!

And of course the insouciant Karissa will be your humble and loquacious MC 😉

As always, the show is FREE! (such a night for such a bargain!)

As always the show is early! (7 to 9:30 or so!)

As always, the show will be awwwwwwesome! (wooo!)

And as always, Noble Patron of Portland’s Amazing Belly Dance Scene, the night will not be complete without you 😉

Join us for fun, fellowship, and fabulous dancing! Bring friends! Bring family members! And bring your dancing feet!

See you Friday!

Viva Offbeat!

Woooo!

Hugz and sparklez,

Karissa
Ringleader, Offbeat Belly Dance

This Friday! Offbeat Belly Dance! Fun! Fabulous! FREE Show! Wooo!

Ladies! Gentlemen! Nonbinarily Gendered Folk! What time is it?

It’s time for Offbeat Belly Dance!

Join us this Friday for this month’s round of eccentric, eclectic, esoteric belly dance goodness!

We have a stunning lineup planned for you – verily, feast your eyes upon the merry crew we’ve assembled for your night of entertainment and amazement!

We are hella stoked to bring you solos by three of the four horsemen of Offbeat:

The effervescent and captivating Vee Souryamat!

The incandescent and spellbinding Jasmine Rain!

The ebullient and riveting Zighala Zurah!

We are delighted to have truly marvelous guest dancers joining us this month, including:

The long overdue and much anticipated return of dazzling and magnetic birthday girl Cynthia Fox!

The triumphant return of the serpentine and enthralling Laura Blake!

The always awesome return of the stunning and mesmerizing Niira Daniella!

And! The fabulous Offbeat Belly Dance debut of the sirenic and bewitching Amira Alexander!

Yes, Noble Portlander, this will be an awesomesauce show. But it won’t be the same without you! Join us!

Revel in our good fortune to share this magical night with marvelous company and all this glittering talent and radsaucitude!

Exult in the fortifying, delectable beverages and scrumptious food items!

Cherish the memories of this night forever after – truly, Charismatic Portlander, it will be a night of epic triumph and dance!

As always, the show will be early!

As always, the show is FREE! (All this entertainment, for the price of none!)

And as always, the show will be way more cool if you’re there 🙂

Please do join us, sassy Portlander. You owe it to yourself. It’s been a long week, yo. You deserve some off-kilter awesomeness and badass belly dance in your life. Come be a part of the magic!

Hugs and sparkles,

Karissa
Ringleader, Offbeat Belly Dance

Offbeat Belly Dance! This Friday! The Awesomesauce August Edition! Fun! Fabulous! FREE Show! Woooo!

Avast, me hearties!

Is your August running a little low on red panda loving off-kilter awesomeness?

Is your summer awash with belly dance goodness and you wanna keep the party going?

Do you love radsauce free belly dance shows held in venues with high powered air conditioning?

Then you’re in luck! This Friday! It’s time for Offbeat! Woooo!

Join us for a scintillating lineup, shamelessly loaded with beautiful badass belly dancers, including our returning champions:

Vee!

And Jasmine!

And!

We are thrilled to welcome back a fabulous that is beloved of the Offbeat family! Join us and be dazzled by the bewitching radsaucery of:

Gypsy Heart Tribal!

Further!

Revel in the much anticipated return of the mesmerizing and gloriously lovely dancer:

Laura Blake

Furthermore!

Delight in the captivating ninja skillz of another beloved Offbeat veteran and all around riveting performer:

Janelle Jackson!

Further! More!

Delight in the dazzling Offbeat Belly Dance debut of the scintillating, the spectacular, the simply magnificent:

Elena Fowler!

Verily, this is truly a lineup that is not to be missed, noble supporter of the formerly underground now second story arts scene! But lo, charismatic Portlander, the glittering sparkle of the night will be incomplete without you.

Join us for the awesome dancers!

Join us for the delectable beverages and tasty nomz!

Join us for the immersive and welcoming fellowship!

For yes, the show is guaranteed to be a party, but the party don’t start til you walk in, fearless Portlander.

Join us! This Friday! For Offbeat Belly Dance!

Yiyiyi! Viva Offbeat!

Hugs and sparkles,

Karissa
Ringleader, Offbeat Belly Dance

P.S.  Our beloved venue, The Analog Cafe & Theatre, is located at 705 SE Hawthorne.  Close to the Max (the CL line), on TriMet bus line 14-Hawthorne, and convenient street parking abounds!

Karissa

Hallo!

I’m Karissa and I’m the founder of Offbeat Belly Dance, which set sail on its merry journey in April, 2008 at the illustrious Green Dragon Bistro and Pub in Portland, Oregon. I wanted to create a show that would stretch boundaries, blow minds, and help make Portland’s belly dance community a bigger, weirder, and even more inclusive space.

Seven years and two venues later, we have found a fabulous new home at the Analog Cafe & Theater (at 720 SE Hawthorne). Offbeat remains a haven of genre-defying, innovative, awesome belly dance by Portland’s spectacular belly dance community, and has a solid following of discerning, scandalously charismatic audience members who like rad stuff.

I am continually amazed and grateful that we get to keep bringing the awesomesauce to the good people of Portland each month. Thank you, Sassy Portlanders, for supporting Offbeat for all these years!

My love affair with belly dance began at the Viscount Dance Studios in 2002, when Tiffany’s intro to belly dance class totally wooed me away from my longstanding fervent love of lindy hop (alas – so many fun dance styles! so little time!).

In the ensuing years I’ve had the good fortune to study with many other amazing teachers, including Zighala Zurah, Vee, Severina, Ashley Lopez, Samantha Riggs, Zoe Jakes, Rachel Brice, and more. Our robust and talented dance community makes early 21st century Portland is a wonderful time and place to be a belly dancer, and I’m thrilled to have so many opportunities to study with some of my favorite dance heroes.

Once I began my MC career hosting Offbeat, other opportunities to MC found me, and now I often find myself MCing other awesome belly dance events and charity events in the Portland metro area. This was an unexpected side effect of launching a belly dance show, but it’s great fun and an excellent way to make use of my knack for energetic nattering and my penchant for glitter.

Stay tuned for more dancer bios! Profiles of Vee and Jasmine Rain are coming up next!

Hugs and sparkles,

Karissa
Ringleader, Offbeat Belly Dance

P.S. Full disclosure: I totally wrote the first draft of this bio in the third person, thinking it would lend a sense of professionalism and consistency to the whole dealio, but instead it made me feel like a bad parody of Bono so I redid it in the first person and now I like it way better.

Zighala Zurah

BACKGROUND

Zighala Zurah is a Turkish American Fusion dancer hailing from Portlandia. She danced and competed in Scottish Highland Dance from ages 4-16, and has studied and loved fourteen other types of dance in the past 20 years.

~~~~~

She has been belly dancing since 2005, and has taken classes and workshops from 25 instructors: Tiffany, Vee, Karissa, Severina, Saqra, Shoshanna Rose, Casseiopia, Zoe Jakes, Yemaya, Endiemme, Aneena, Ireta, Gaylene, Sidonia Om Dunia, Rachel Brice, Mardi Love, Coleena Shakti, Ashley Lopez, Grace Constantine, Erika Ryn, Maia Alexandra, Karla, and Bevin Victoria.

~~~~~

CURRENTLY

She performs regularly as one of The Four Horsemen of Offbeat Belly Dance (www.offbeatbellydance.com, and on Facebook!) and throughout the Portland metro area and beyond! She teaches at the Viscount Dance Studios, sharing her love and knowledge of the magical art of belly dance.

This Friday! Offbeat Belly Dance! The Marvelous May Edition! Fun! Fabulous! FREE Show! Wooo!

Come join us for Portland’s own purveyor of off-kilter awesomeness and badass belly dance!

We have an absolutely stunning lineup of Offbeat friends and family joining us this month, including:

Jasmine Rain

Zighala Zurah

Vee Souryamat

And Karissa!

And! Prepare to be dazzled by the sparkling and scandalously talented:

Amy Adams Salisbury!

And! Thrill to the majestic glorious Offbeat Belly Dance debut of:

Kara Muir!

And! Marvel at the scintillating wonderment of the triumphant return of the fabulous:

Rio Wrenn!

The evening is guaranteed to be awesome. It’s guaranteed to be amazing. Forsooth, it’s guaranteed to be an unforgettable night of magic and fun and glitter and wonderment.

Do you know the one thing that is guaranteed to really knock it out of the park, rakishly charismatic Portlander?

YOU!

Please do join us! It’s always a party but it’s never the same without you, erudite and steadfast patron of Portland’s underground arts scene 😉

Come explore Analog’s delicious and varied menu!

Cavort through their diverse and marvelous drink selection and tap list!

Exult in the fine fellowship and riveting belly dance!

Come be a part of the magic!

For life is an adventure, winsome Portlander. And Friday night? We dance!

Viva Offbeat!

Yiyiyi!

Hugzs and sparkles,

Karissa
Ringleader, Offbeat Belly Dance

Offbeat Belly Dance! The Inaugural 2015 Edition!

Join us tonight for Offbeat Belly Dance in the thumping heart of Southeast Portland at the ever fabulous Analog Cafe and Theatre!

Check out our facebook invite for more details!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1030382343642461/

Xo!

Karissa
Ringleader, Offbeat Belly Dance
Desultory maintainer of blog, glitter fan, raconteur

This Friday! Offbeat Belly Dance at the Analog Cafe! Free Awesome Show! Join us! Wooooo!

Ye gods, busy Portlanders! Do you know what time it is?

It’s time for Offbeat!

Well, it’s almost time for Offbeat. This Friday at 7? That will definitely be time for Offbeat.

And do you know who should be there?

You, charismatic and insouciant patron of the eccentric arts!

Yes, you, noble Portlander.

The show will be awesome.

The show will be off the chain.

The show will be FREE!

But the show will not be complete without you, dear Portlander. So please join us, for verily, our lineup is completely badass this month and I’d sincerely hate for you to miss out on all the fun. 🙂

Join us, and marvel at the dazzling mad skillz of:

Jasmine!

And Vee!

Yes, the mighty horsemen ride at half strength this month, due to time constraints at our beloved venue, but fear not, Stalwart Portlander – that just means that Vee and Jasmine will be twice as badass as usual (egads! is that possible? come see the awesomeness for yourself!)

We will also delight to the riveting talents of:

Beloved for her theatrical, innovative, bewitching dance pieces, we are thrilled to welcome back local talent and beloved friend of Offbeat:

Niira Daniella!

We rejoice in the return of captivating soloist and veteran of many fascinating dance projects (including most recently the much loved and feared Ultranorn Valkyrga):

Margaret Gustafson!

We gleefully anticipate a marvelous and sinuous duet between two amazing and talented Deviant Dance alumni (one of whom is also a founding mother of Bridgetown Revue):

Erika Ryn and Jewls J Phoenix!

And! Last but certainly not least, we are so excited for an amazing and thrilling performance by the glorious and mesmerizing:

Gypsy Heart Tribal Dance Company!

Yes, dear Portlander, this will be an awesome show. It will be a delight for the senses!

All this talent! On just one stage!

All those delicious beverages and food items! On just one menu!

All that amazing fellowship betwixt your fabulous self and your fellow Offbeatniks! On just one night!

Friday night!

Please do join us, sassy Portlander. You owe it to yourself. It’s been a long week, yo. You deserve some off-kilter awesomeness and badass belly dance in your life. Come be a part of the magic!

Viva Offbeat! Yiyiyi!

Hugz and sparklez,

Karissa
Ringleader, Offbeat Belly Dance

Offbeat Belly Dance! The Brave New World Edition! Still Fabulous! Still FREE! Now at Analog! Wooo!

Noble Portlanders! Marvelous news!

Remember last month’s Sixth Anniversary Spectacular?

The amazing dancers!

The fabulous audience members!

The fun we had! The badass dancing we reveled in!

The loving, bittersweet goodbye we said to our beloved venue of five years? Ah yes… good times. Fond memories…

And we parted ways, striding off into the dark night and the unknown future. Where would Offbeat Belly Dance land next?

GOOD NEWS!

We’ve landed at Analog Cafe & Theater!

And we’re hosting our first Offbeat at our new location next Friday! Come join us for Portland’s own purveyor of off-kilter awesomeness and badass belly dance, as we step out of the basement and into the light!

We have an absolutely stunning lineup of Offbeat friends and family joining us this month, including:

Jasmine Rain!

Zighala Zurah!

Vee!

And! Prepare to be dazzled by our outstanding guests:

Niira Daniella!

Endymienne!

Lizzie Lewis!

And Sundari Dance Company!

The evening is guaranteed to be awesome. It’s guaranteed to be amazing. Forsooth, it’s guaranteed to be an unforgettable night of magic and fun and glitter and wonderment.

Do you know the one thing that is guaranteed to really knock it out of the park, rakishly charismatic Portlander?

YOU!

Please do join us and celebrate the beginning of a new epoch in Offbeat’s long and checkered history of radsaucery and whimsy. But it’s just not the same without you, erudite and steadfast patron of Portland’s underground arts scene 😉

So join us! Come explore Analog’s delicious and varied menu! Cavort through their diverse and marvelous drink selection and tap list! Exult in the fine fellowship and riveting belly dance! Come be a part of the magic!

For life is an adventure, winsome Portlander. And next Friday night? We dance!

Viva Offbeat!

Yiyiyi!

Hugz and sparklez,

Karissa
Ringleader, Offbeat Belly Dance