On Saturday 4 June, at 3.30pm, the steps of City Hall will come alive with the sound of East as a group of select performers, including TV star Sophie Mei, perform an Eastern taster to promote the international Bellydance Superstars’s festival: Raqs Britannia – which comes to Sheffield’s City Hall from 25 – 27 June.
The performers will also be showing their support for the England and Sheffield bid to be a host for the 2018 FIFA World CupTM by wearing the Bid’s products for a special photo shoot.
Raqs Britannia is the biggest bellydance festival in Europe and it is presented by the international Bellydance Superstars (BDSS), who were founded by former manager of Sting and the Police Miles Copeland.   The festival’s new spectacular Saturday night show – The Art of Bellydance – has garnered world-wide accolades.
Sheffielder and nationally-known TV bellydance star Sophie Mei will be compering some the festival’s events, along with the legendary Miles Copeland.
Compere and co-director of MEI International Ltd, Sophie Mei, says:
“The event on Saturday 4 June will bring a taste of the east to the steps of Sheffield’s City Hall and highlight the wonderful opportunity we have at our finger tips later in June, to get involved for the first time ever in Europe’s premier bellydance festival, Raqs Britannia, and to see its spectacular Saturday night show, The Art of Bellydance. We hope that people will come and join us and enjoy the popular dance form of bellydance. It is not elitist and you don’t have to be a perfect shape or a certain age to do it.
“It is a tremendous coup for the city to have landed Miles Copeland’s international Bellydance Superstars to put on Raqs Britannia – which lasts three days from 25 – 27 June here at the City Hall and we hope people who might be a bit nervous about trying out the workshops, will at least come to see the BDSS’s spectacular Saturday night show The Art of Bellydance.  Tickets for the Saturday night show are as cheap as £10 and they can book tickets by ringing 0114 2 789 789â€
Director of Sheffield’s 2018 bid Wayne Coyle says:
“We are delighted to have the backing of Sophie Mei and the International Bellydance Superstars who will be helping to spread the word globally about how equipped and enthusiastic England is to hold the World Cup in 2018 and what huge support Sheffielders are giving to the Bid. It once again demonstrates the International dimension of the city and why Sheffield would be like ‘home from home’ for visitors to the FIFA World Cupâ€
The Art of Bellydance starts at 7.45pm on Saturday and tickets cost from only £17.50 (some as affordable as £10 in section D) – there are also family tickets and concessions. For tickets, please call Sheffield City Hall Box Office on 0114 2 789 789.
The 3 day Bellydance festival includes a series of special workshops throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday from £20 – £28. These can be booked on line at www.raqsbritannia.co.uk
For more information on Raqs Britannia 2010, please visit: http://www.raqsbritannia.co.uk/
To view clips from the BDSS’s spectacular international shows, please visit: www.bellydancesuperstars.com
How to Back the England and Sheffield bid to be a host for the 2018 FIFA World CupTM , please text,  England to 62018, go to www.sheffield2018.co.uk, or call at your local Morrison store and ‘sign up’
Notes for the Editor
The not-to-be-missed Raqs Britannia festival involves 3 days of spectacular workshops lead by the Bellydance Stars themselves. As part of the weekend festival, there will be a huge souk (large market of bellydance wear and products), live bands and DJs, Middle Eastern buffets, Superstar auditions, and the all new Bellydance Superstars Show: The Art of Bellydance.
Family-friendly and featuring bold new choreography, exquisite costumes and spectacular new production elements, the Saturday night show The Art of Bellydance builds on the BDSS troupe’s renowned reputation in highlighting a variety of bellydance styles and unique fusions.
The Bellydance Superstars (BDSS) are at the forefront of a worldwide explosion in prestige and popularity in the art of Bellydance, taking this once largely solo performance and ancient art of Middle Eastern culture, into the 21st Century mainstream
The All-Star Summer 2010 Bellydance Superstars cast includes:Â Sonia, Petite Jamilla, Sabah, Moria, Kami Liddle, Samantha Hasthorpe, Issam Houshan and other sensational performers.
Workshops are available from Friday through to Sunday afternoon. Throughout the 3 day festival, there are some fantastic classes from the Bellydance Superstars and their invited guests, teaching everything from back bends to isolations and pops and locks! There is even a special offer: book 4 workshops and get the cheapest one free!  Teachers include the world-renowned: Moria, Sabah, Sonia, Lauren, Issam and others!
On Friday night, there is an evening buffet before the Guest Teachers and Performers Show in the Oval Hall.
On Saturday, there will be a Middle Eastern buffet before the new Bellydance Superstars Show: The Art of Bellydance shimmies onto the stage, with entertainment continuing in the Ballroom until the early hours. This will include guest performance artists and musicians; plus DJs and two after-show dance parties, one Tribal and one Oriental.
The festival organizers will be running an Open Stage where you can show off your latest choreography or group and solo work.
Referred to as “the most important dance troupe in the world†by London’s Sunday Times, the Bellydance Superstars is the realized vision of Miles Copeland, legendary music business mogul (The Police, Sting, I.R.S. Records). Comprised of America’s best-known, most sought-after bellydancers, the troupe has performed over 500 shows (including many sell outs) in 20 countries in the last five years, wowing over one million enthusiastic fans in venues and 100 million on television, with their fascinating live performances. The troupe has connected with fans through its performance and commercially successful Bellydance Superstars series of CDs, which are the biggest selling Arabic CDs in the mainstream marketplace, and Bellydance Superstars DVDs – the top-selling DVDs among the titles sold by Universal Music Distribution, the #1 distributor of music and video in America.
Ever-evolving, ultra-innovative and mega-popular, the Bellydance Superstars have continued to wow crowds and break new ground in 2008, proving the troupe can compete head on with the likes of mainstream dance shows such as Riverdance.
Worldwide TV interest spiked in 2008 with PBS stations broadcasting the troupe’s ‘Live in Paris show’ – filmed at the famed Follies Bergère, the Documentary Channel airing BDSS doc ‘American Bellydancer’ in November, and DirecTV in Latin America airing both shows in October to strong response. The special, Dissonance and Harmony, featuring the Bellydance Superstars, also debuted on PBS in November as part of the Crossroads series, again noting the efforts of BDSS and Copeland to promote a bridge between cultures via entertainment.
Other hallmarks celebrated by the BDSS in the past year included its first shows performed in the Arab world to rave reviews, a highly successful tour of Italy and Spain and acclaimed performances in Dubai and Morocco (where they returned to Morocco in late 2009 for shows in Casablanca and Marrakesh).
In addition, the BDSS launched four new annual Bellydance festivals: Raqs LA and Tribal LA in Los Angeles, TribaLondon in London and Raqs America in Washington D.C. Universal Music & Video, which has been distributing the BDSS line in the U.S. for five years, signed on to distribute to the rest of the world.
The international Bellydance Superstars have a wealth of other exciting events coming up this year, including Raqs Japan!
CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR THE BELLYDANCE SUPERSTARS:
“Bellydancing has burst out of the harem, into exercise classes around the world, and a stunning new troupe of international hip-wigglers – the Bellydance Superstars – are poised to be the next Riverdance.”
- Sunday Times Magazine (London)
“A celebration of femininity and sensuality that attracts dancers from 17 to 70. Meet the Bellydance Superstars, the world’s most famous bellydancing troupe.â€
- Daily Mail’s YOU Magazine (UK)
“Bellydancing – it’s the new Riverdance.”
– Daily Telegraph (UK)
“The show itself is pretty fabulous – beautiful, exciting, sometimes amazing.”
- Daily Express (UK)
“Gorgeous, spiffily dressed, skilled dancers…sheer genius.”
- Village Voice (New York)
“Bellydance Superstars, America’s latest musical extravaganza – a new show to rival the internationally successful ‘Riverdance’ is currently touring the globe.”
– Egypt’s Insight (Egypt)
“Bellydance show is plenty hip.”
– Las Vegas Sun (US)
“The audience is left blown away within the first 5 minutes of the opening set…The Bellydance Superstars demonstrate beauty, power, energy, sheer vivacity and brilliance as they grace the stage…At times the music and dance is so mesmerizing you think you are sitting in Egypt or Arabia.”
- DesiXpress (UK)
