We are proud to present the Sahara Dance Arabian Nights performance from the World Culture Festival: an epic 8-minute dance highlighting the Middle East, choreographed by Jillina for 100 dancers on September 29th, 2023.

To pull back the curtain, here’s how this dance evolved:

Rachel Kay Brookmire was honored to be offered the opportunity for Sahara Dance to represent Middle Eastern dance at the World Culture Festival. Upon learning the size of the stage (enormous!), we realized this was a unique “Super Bowl” moment for the biggest show of our lives. After consulting with senior teachers, Rachel called in the best choreographer of theatrical belly dance in the world – Jillina – who was full of enthusiasm. Inviting Mohamed Ali to join the cast as our Egyptian star gave us an anchor to begin dreaming of a thrilling show highlighting the unique beauty of the dance. Jillina & Rachel’s vision for this epic piece came together quickly with help from the Sahara Dance WCF leadership team of Randa, Gretchen, and studio teachers. Jillina’s husband, Paul Dinletir, composed the music.

Jillina choreographed the piece in parts, each with varying difficulty levels appropriate for beginner through professional dancers: Lebanese Dream, Arabian Gulf, Taxsim Layali, Salam Saidi, and Dancing Darbuka. Jillina recorded videos and formations in her studio in Maui, which Randa and Gretchen organized and our teachers taught to their respective Sahara Dance student performance companies. Finding space to rehearse as a full cast of 100 was a challenge, but we took over school gyms all summer and even rehearsed outdoors once! With over 160 fan veils, 85 frame drums, dozens of Isis wings, canes, and thobes, plus a handful of swords, shemadans, veils, and candle trays, the stage would be full. Some dancers had as many as 4 props and we wanted to make the transitions seamless.

Jillina and Luna (her co-director) arrived early to polish the piece. On opening night our hearts soared on stage, as we presented the dance to hundreds of thousands of people watching around the world, with the Washington Monument and US Capitol as our backdrops. This project challenged us all and we have grown as a result. We are so deeply grateful for our community and everyone that contributed their time, energy, and love to making this possible. We hope you enjoy!

See more photos on Instagram and Facebook!