Fusion Art - Fusion World

Enforced Arch Mover, Crystal Silmi is an Arab American Belly Dance Fusion artist native to San Francisco, California. She spent years studying and training belly dance with the masters of the industry where she was a member of the prestigious Suhaila Dance Company and Bal Anat. She also directed her own fusion dance company RaksArabi before making the move across the Atlantic to live in Spain.

With dedication and grace, Crystal shows us that a determined dancer can not only succeed in a new and foreign environment, but experience exponential growth as an artist. In less than 3 years, Crystal has gone from being an unknown artist in Europe to an internationally recognized teacher and artist.

Determined to spread the fusion fire from California, Crystal has been igniting passion in the European belly dance community teaching belly dance with modern and world fusion dance techniques. She continues to expand and grow in her repertoire as well studying Flamenco, Jazz and Hip Hop in Spain.

As an active vegan, Crystal was also invited by PETA in 2012 to join as an activist for a cruelty free fashion show in Seoul, Korea to show the world that the cruelty free lifestyle is maintained by healthy, active and creative people.

For information about Crystal and her upcoming workshops, events or whereabouts visit www.CrystalSilmi.com.

Paris Journal 2011 Part 5

At the Grand Palais I stood in a line along with a thousand excited Parisians to enter and experience an evening of flash mobs, cultural dancing, free gifts and all at no entry fee! How is this possible? Never have I seen anything like it! In line I could have lifted my feet and floated along with the crowd into this event. I'm not kidding! Once inside I was given an umbrella and a T-shirt with a babies body on it! There really is no other way to describe the space other than a Grand Palace with a central dome and two vast wings that were completely open space, free from obstruction. The architecture was breathtaking with two staircases at the opposite end from the entrance. As you look up you're reduced to the ant you are. In that moment I lost and gained an equivalent amount of inspiration and desolation. Then my eyes reconnected with the presentations!

First of all there was 300 people at the main stage holding open umbrellas with the Baby T-shirt on, all participating in a follow my lead type of dance instruction.

Now when I said cultural dance I was referring to classes. Only the classes weren't taught to you live. There were 12 foot LCD screens lifted 5 feet from the ground with a repeating video with a master of each dance form helping you through the basics of each style. You could find anything from Ballet, Contemporary, Capoeira, Belly Dance, LA style(haha),  African, Hip Hop, Buchaechum, Bollywood, etc.

Then on either corner of the space were stages where performances from all these style were performed by dance artists from France. An invigorating experience!

Paris Journal 2011 Part 1 Paris Journal 2011 Part 2 Paris Journal 2011 Part 3 Paris Journal 2011 Part 4 Paris Journal 2011 Part 5 Paris Journal 2011 Part 6 Paris Journal 2011 Part 7 Paris Journal 2011 Part 8 Paris Journal 2011 Part 9 Paris Journal 2011 Part 10 Paris Journal 2011 Part 11 Paris Journal 2011 Part 12 Paris Journal 2011 Part 13

Movers Making Waves

Crystal Silmi is a belly dance fusion instructor based out of Santa Cruz, California. She has become known for her unique style of hip hop infused movements and has performed for audiences around the world. Skilled in both the art of classical Middle Eastern dance and modern fusion, Crystal puts her Arab American roots to the dance with a deep sense of rhythm and powerful athleticism. As a long time student of master instructor Suhaila Salimpour, Crystal has danced with both the Suhaila Dance Company and Bal Anat. In 2006 she founded the belly dance fusion troupe RaksArabi based out of Motion Pacific Dance Studio in Santa Cruz, Ca with troupe members from across the South Bay and Central Coast communities. RaksArabi draws upon hip hop, jazz, north african and other dance styles to enhance the art of belly dance with vivid and contemporay feel. (source)

"I feel lighter, both mentally and physically. I also feel more content ethically speaking. My diet has a super low carbon foot print and I know that animals are not suffering on my account." -Crystal Silmi

She is yet another compassionate 'Mover,' enchanting artist and vegan for which to be on the look out! An enthralling dance company of which she has been known to collaborate with is Deshret Dance Company. Deshret was founded in early 2007 by Ariellah, the company's artistic director. Check out this performance to one of my personal favorites, 'Only You' by Portishead.

Photography of Crystal in yellow dress by Javier