Aleya Bellyliciousraks CD - Import

About the CD:BellyliciousRaks was created with the bellydancer in mind. Combining the old with the modern, BellyliciousRaks features traditional favorites fused with rich sounds and accents as well as four hot new drum solos which are sure to keep you on your toes. Fresh and dynamic, you will love this album. Please click on the link to see the review in Guilded Serpent:www.gildedserpent.com/art43/andreablisious.htmAnd another review by the always Fabulous Princess FarhanaCD REVIEW: BELLYLICIOUS RAKSBy Princess Farhana (www.princessfarhana.com)“Bellylicious Raks” is a fab CD specifically designed for professional dancers…in fact, from the moment you hit “play” and hear the strains of “Hasan” you won’t be able to stop moving your hips! Produced by Los Angeles-based dancer Aleya, with musical arrangements by acclaimed Lebanese percussionist Ziad Islambouli and keyboardist/ accordion player Fayez Deryan, the music featured is a sublime mix of traditional Middle Eastern favorites and new modern pieces. Aleya, who has spent a considerable amount of time in both Egypt and Lebanon, was, like many of us dancers, tired of the over-synthesized, soul-free music on the market today, and she hand-picked the compositions with performance in mind. Consequently, this CD is textured with dynamic live percussion and beautiful, intricate kanoun and accordion playing. There are great versions of Oriental classics like Om Kalthoum’s “Ya Msaharne”, “Zay El Hawa” and “Gana El Hawa”, which are timed perfectly for restaurant work, private parties or even competitions. One of my personal favorite tracks is the romping, upbeat “Madah Elkamar”.Islambouli, known for his work with Suhaila Salimpour ( as well as many others) is a master percussionist, innovative and powerful. This CD provides FOUR separate, innovative tabla solos, ranging in length from just over a minute to three minutes, so there is definitely something here for everybody! The drum solos and orchestrated tracks could be put together in a number of ways to make quite a few high-energy routines.I highly recommend “Bellylicious Raks”- it’s a must for any working dancer and would be a wonderful addition to any CD collection.About Aleya:Aleya is a bellydancer based in Los Angeles, CA. Aleya began studying Middle Eastern Dance (belly dance) in 1995 while living in New York Her first two instructors were Bobby Farrah and Yousry Sharif. She had the privilege and good fortune to begin with masters of the art. From them she gathered a respect for keeping the art technically Egyptian while adding boldness, and fire to the dance. In 1997 Aleya returned to Los Angeles and continued studying bellydance with as many instructors as she could find. She travels yearly to Egypt to study her craft and also has taken numerous workshops with the likes of Egytptian belly dance masters Ragia Hassan, Mona Said, Aida Noor, Mahmoud Reda of the infamous Reda Troupe, Dina, Nagwa Fouad, Friez and Randa Kamel. In 1998 Aleya was the winner of the People\'s Choice Award in the annual Bellydancer of the Universe Competition (Egyptian Category) in Long Beach, CA. She has also won titles in 2007 Bellydance of the Universe Competition and Miles Copeland’s Bellydance Star Search. She has performed in major theaters and concert halls including the Coliseum, the Greek Theatre with Alabina, the Ford Amphitheatre and the Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre, the Alex Theatre in Glendale and the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert as well as the Levitt Pavillion in Pasadena. She has also performed in all of the top Middle Eastern nightclubs in Southern California and was the featured dancer of Luxor nightclub (Orange County) for two years. Her appearances have also included Hollywood wrap parties, music videos, the morning news (Fox\'s Good Day LA) , movie trailers, The Magic Carpet (cable) and the UPN sitcom The Parkers. She has also performed internation