HOT OFF THE PRESS!

The Princess has just returned from Egypt…and what a trip it was! Imagine going directly from teaching at Tribal Fest 8 to Egypt- crazy!

Along with travel companion Jim Boz, HRH spent two weeks in Cairo, getting costumes made, going to multiple dance shows and seedy cabarets, and spending quality time with Madame Raqia Hassan, Katia, Diana Tarkhan, and many others. You will be able to read about the Royal Cairo adventures in many dance publications soon. Look for the Princess’ in-depth article on Raqia Hassan in the Fall issue of The Chronicles… and the Princess is also excited to announce that she will be teaching at the Ahlan Wa Sahlan festival in Cairo, Egypt in June 2009! Stay tuned here for details!

NEW INSTRUCTIONAL AND PERFORMANCE DVD’S!

NEW DVD’S AVAILABLE NOW: “Fant-Tastic! Fabulous Fan Dancing” and “Princess Farhana’s Greatest Hips: Royal Performances”, “Lovely Layers”, all directed by Augusta. “Fan-tastic!” provides dancers with introductory technique for dancing with all types of fans- from Flamenco Pericon hand-fans to Asian Mulan fans, to huge Sally Rand-style ostrich plume fans, as well as fan care , repair and construction tips. “Lovely Layers” concentrates on strong technique for layering shimmies and illustrates many amazing isolations and combinations. “Princess Farhana’s Greatest Hips” is a performance DVD, well over and hour long featuring pieces shot live at a variety of theatrical events as well as in the studio, including Egyptian style cabaret and fusion dances; fan-fusion, raks al shamadan, raks assaya, taxims, and some bonus footage!

SEE THE PRINCESS ON YOU TUBE:

There are some new videos posted, both from the Royal Performance DVD, “Princess Farhana’s Greatest Hips”:

Live footage from “Arabia Exotica”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJVcIbSdon4

Raqs Assaya:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftZa8e-TEcM

PLAN AHEAD FOR 2009:

Yes, we KNOW it’s still 2008, but it’s time to start planning ahead for next year…

In 2009 there will be two amazing belly dance vacation opportunities to study with The Princess, so pick your sun-spot: Hawaii or The Caribbean!

JAN 23-FEB. 1, 2009, PRINCESS FARHANA’S WEEK-LONG INTENSIVE AT DELILAH’S HAWAIIAN RETREAT… Take a magical vacation by going on this awesome retreat with the legendary Delilah of Seattle, her daughter Laura Rose, and of course, The Princess. There will be haflas with live music by House of Tarab, and workshops including fusion, Oriental cabaret, burlesque, stage make-up, and costuming! The location is the Kalani Resort, which is gorgeous and peaceful and has a wonderful mirrored dance studio, a pool, hot tub, spa and massage service, and gourmet food…even their own private beach! Early bird registration ends on May 30, 2008… call Delilah toll-free at: 1-866-22BELLY

Info:info@visionarydance.com www.visionarydance.com

FEBRUARY 28-March 7, 2009 : RAQ THE BOAT III : CARIBBEAN BELLY DANCE CRUISE SAIL AND DANCE IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE WITH PRINCESS FARHANA, JIM BOZ , BAHAIA and BLUE LOTUS TRIBAL!! We’ll be ”Lost Within Sight Of Land”…Sailing from Orlando, Florida right through the Bermuda Triangle to Nassau, Bahamas; St. Maarten, St. Thomas… there will be plenty to do both at sea and on shore for dancers and their families, significant others and pals…like scuba diving, shopping, swimming with the dolphins, and yes, matey there will be LOTS of rum! This year we are even offering PRIVATE BELLY DANCERS ONLY shore excursions! Sepcial Early-Bird discounts will end on June 30, 2008

Info and registration:

Audrey Friedman at Willett Travel (800) 994-5538, Ext. 231

audreyf@willetttravel.com

PRINCESS AT AHLAN WA SAHLAN 2009- visit www.raqiahassan.com for more info on this fab festival and workshops with The Princess!

ON THE SILVER SCREEN… OR YOUR TELEVISION!

You may have seen Princess Farhana on a movie or television screen … and if you haven’t yet, you will soon!

In late August 2008, watch out for the Princess on Margaret Cho’s VHI reality show, “The Cho Show” . The Princess, Margaret and dancer Selene Luna will be belly dancing in one of the episodes of the show.

Director Steve Balderson’s documentary feature “Underbelly” spotlights Princess Farhana’s career. The features Her Majesty in performances from around the world, as well as behind-the-scenes footage at theatrical shows and dance workshops and festivals, with folks like Kajira Djoumahna, Rachel Brice, Margaret Cho, Jim Boz, Tempest, Zoe Jakes, John Compton, Atlantis, Samantha Riggs, John Compton, burlesque artists Dirty Martini, Jo Weldon and many more. Filming began in November 2006 at Tribal Dreams in Lincoln Nebraska, and will also feature footage from Tribal Fest 2007, the Sun Bellies Mexican Riviera belly dance cruise, and workshops and festivals across America and in Europe. See the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzTt4FlY7sM Order it now on www.amazon.com

Her Royal Highness also had a hand in the feature film “Charlie Wilson’s War”, currently available on DVD …and there’s a belly dance scene in the movie, featuring a sword dance. The dancing is done by actress Tracy Phillips, who plays belly dancer Carol Shannon, and was choreographed by Fatima Robinson , who recently choreographed the dance sequences in “Dream Girls”! The Princess coached Tracy in sword handling and sword balancing for the film, which will was in December, 2007.

In 2007, Princess Farhana was featured in Margaret Cho’s directorial debut “Two Sisters”,a wonderful film about the relationship two sisters, on straight-laced, one a free-spirit belly dancer. This film is funny and realistic- with great dance footage!

It features belly dance class scenes with everyone dancing, as well as both solo and in improvised group dances and also performance scenes.

Also, Margaret’s DVD “Assassin” is available for rental thru www.netflix.com . On the DVD, in a special bonus feature, Margaret and Princess Farhana talk to each other about Oriental dance and how it affects women physically, mentally and emotionally. They also dance together, with Arabic percussionist Donavon Lerman playing drums, in his beautiful IQAAT Studio for tour updates- and for info on Margaret or to read her really bitchen blog, go to; www.margaretcho.com.

Also out on DVD now and featuring Her Majesty: Hollywood Music Center’s “Tribal Revolution” DVD with performances by Princess Farhana, Mira Betz, Tempest, Kami Lddle, Zoe Jakes, Aubre, and more. On the burlesque side of things,the double-disc DVD set “Tease-O-Rama” featuring live burlesque performances is also out now! See The Princess, Dirty Martini,Michelle “Toots” L’Amour, Catherine D’Lish, Little Brooklyn, Miss Indigo Blue, Venus DeMille, The Hot Pink Feathers and living legend Satan’s Angel in action, live onstage in San Francisco. For info, please visit www.teaseorama.com . Another great performance DVD is “Cairo Heatwave”, shot in Austin, Texas, and produced by Bahaia and Just Fabulous Productions, is also available now . The sizzlin’ hot DVD features Egyptian cabaret performances by the Princess as well as Bahaia, Tamer-Henna, Roxxannee, Debbie Lammam and many folkloric pieces by Egyptian superstars Magda and Atef Farag. To order this incendiary DVD, go to www.bahaia.com . The Princess will also be teaching at Bahaia’s HOT TEXAS CABARET DANCE CAMP in Hunt, Texas October 9-12 of 2008. See the “Workshops & Events” page for details.

The Princess can also be seen playing “hoochie coochie” dancer Estelle in “Firecracker”, directed by Steve Balderson, starring movie legend Karen Black and rock star Mike Patton, which played in select cities like Austin, Seattle, Boston, Minneapolis in 2006, and is now available for rental at your local video store, or on www.netflix.com Go to www.dikengafilms.com for info on the latest info.

Augusta’s documentary film The Velvet Hammer Burlesque, shot at various Velvet Hammer Burlesque shows during the troupe’s decade-long career, is now available as a two-disc set and is available for purchase through Augusta’s website, www.itsachick.com Princess Farhana performs sword and is interviewed in this fantastic movie, which was lauded by both Variety And The Hollywood Reporter. See the trailer at: www.itsachick.com.

A DAY AT THE ROYAL RACES !

A race horse has been named after Princess Farhana! PRINCESSOFHOLLYWD is two year old thoroughbred filly, who has just started her racing career….this summer, Princessofhollywd was entered in three races at Vernon Downs track in New York State- AND SHE CAME IN FIRST IN EVERY RACE! WHOOOO-HOOOOO! Maybe a Kentucky Derby 2009 sighting will happen !

PRINCESS IN PRINT:

There are quite a number of new articles written by Princess Farhana up on this site now, and Her Majesty has been contributing regularly to belly dance magazines Jareeda, Zaghareet, The Chronicles, The Belly Dancer, www.larqs.com , www.ishimmy.comwww.gildedserpent.com . To find out more about Princess Farhana’s writing (she is author of six books under her given name, Pleasant Gehman) and literally thousands of articles (published under both Princess Farhana and her given name of Pleasant Gehman) please log onto her website www.plezonline.com, or just do a Google search and see what craziness you come up with! As far as the literary life goes, the brand new edition of “The Underground Guide To Los Angeles”, ( co-edited by Pleasant Gehman and Iris Berry) is now available in book stores nation-wide, www.amazon.com , and from www.manicdpress.com .

The book spent nine weeks on the LA Times Best Seller List, and the current edition features chapters by Margaret Cho and best-selling author Pamela Des Barres ( of “I’m With The Band” fame) amongst others. The Princess is currently at work on a book about belly dance, as well as a new collection of short stories, which will be out early in 2009.

The Princess has her own chapter, as a matter of fact in Pamela Des Barres’ hot new book, “ Let’s Spend The Night Together” which is out now. Also look for numerous photos ( both backstage and on-stage) and some writing by the Princess in the brand-new coffee table/art book “The Velvet Hammer Burlesque”. And see early-Punk scene pictures of the Princess ( in her pre-belly dance days!) in these two new books: “Live At The Masque” by Brendan Mullen and “When Punk Was Fun” by legendary rock photographer Jenny Lens…all of these books are currently available from www.amazon.com

THIS JUST IN:

MARCH 2009: PRINCESS RETURNS TO THE UK:

The Princess The Princess will visit Scotland for the first time in March 14 & 15 2009, sponsored by Warda, and will be teaching March 21 & 22, 2009 in the London area, sponsored by Charlotte Desorgher… and September 25-27, 2009, Princess Farhana is confirmed for the International Belly Dance Congress! Info: jo.wise@jwaad.com

SPONSORING THE PRINCESS

…..Princess Farhana is available worldwide for workshops, seminars and performances, and is currently booking for 2009 and 2010. If you are interested in a booking a show, workshops or classes, or receiving information on rates and curriculum, please send an email to: pgehman@earthlink.net or call (O1) (323) 460-4890. Written workshop and show inquiries may be sent to: Princess Productions, PO Box 29504, Los Angeles, California, USA 90029-6504