The Orchid Room

Booze and stale cigarette smoke.  Mmmmmmm....  Perfume to my olfactory senses.

It all started when I was about five years old.  Thailand was just beginning to get hit with its first contingency wave of American influence and change back in the early 1960s and night clubs catering to the "farang" were popping up all over Bangkok proper.  Imitating the American lead, Thais also frequented these sleazy bars.

Among these night spots was one unassuming one in particular called The Orchid Room.  Its location was in a downtown plaza named Gaysorn.  In a few years this plaza would become one of the many hubs of Bangkok, and in the early 1960s the place to be if you were an American was in The Orchid Room right in the center of Gaysorn Plaza.

One of the unique things about Bangkok back then was that anyone could frequent these night clubs.  And, I mean anyone.  That also included any age,  any gender, any ethnicity -- in a word, ANYone; so, when Gaysorn Plaza held an annual festival event one evening, The Orchid Room was open for business and in full swing.

I remember this one particular night....

I'm five years old.  I'm just beginning to realize my surroundings.  The air is warm and the sky is dark with shining stars, and I feel a new feeling of excitement.  This night is magical.  There are lights everywhere.  The street is filled with people and street food vendors, and they're all walking around, talking and eating.  Mom has a hold of my hand and that of my sister, Mary, and we are walking down the middle of the street with people strolling about all over the place.  Dad appears from around the corner and says something about an orchid and mom nods.

I see floating balloons of every color over head.  Mom gives the man some Bhat (Thai currency) and the man gives her two balloons.  One she ties on Mary's wrist and one she wants to tie on mine, but I want to hold it in my hands, so she lets me.  We continue walking and suddenly, my balloon floats away.  I yell something, and mom looks down at me and says, "Well, that's what happens when you don't let me tie the string to your wrist.  Now, make a wish and let it fly away."  I miss my balloon.  Mary still has hers.

We walk through a large door and into a dark, dimly lit smoke filled room.  Outside, before walking in, is see a flashing neon light.  It is a pink flower and it looks like an orchid.  The room is packed with people.  There is a bar to the right.   Dozens of small round tables with filled glasses on them fill the room and lots of people are sitting in chairs or standing.  Dad is sitting in one of them.  Mom takes us over to his table and I sit down.  I look around, smelling the smoke, watching everyone drinking, laughing.  I hear the chatter and take in the wonderment. I'm only five years old.

This was my first experience of life at night, and the excitement of it would last me a lifetime.  The infectious and addictive sense of that night, sitting there in The Orchid Room with all those grownups and my mom and dad and Mary, had seeded itself; and, what I would later discover as Night Life, had taken hold and claimed my reserve through a laughter crazed and smoke filled room of a neon lit purply-pink orchid plant.  The Orchid Room had changed my life forever.

Back in the United States after some 15 years of living overseas, I frequented many disco clubs and felt at home inhaling the stale smoke while sipping my glass of wine or two during the years of my youth.  Later, I would take belly dance lessons in Sacramento and then begin performing on the small stages of local San Francisco belly dance night clubs on Broadway Street to the wee hours of the morning.  There, the lingering cigarette smoke would hang in the air and filter through my costumes as I danced for the patrons.  And, as I would dress for work the next day, I would walk out to the living room where I had left my costume just a few hours earlier, having departed the night club after an evening of dancing, and I would take in the aromas of the evening as that stale smoke and booze molecules escaped my costume drifting into the confines of my apartment.  It was The Orchid Room all over again.

The Clean Air Act and the No Smoking laws put an end to smoke clouded night spots.  And, although I know that second-hand smoke can also kill, I still miss the chatter and clatter of a hazy night club as people light cigarettes and let drift the lazy smoke into the room.  It would fill my senses as it once did decades ago inside The Orchid Room.

Sometimes, when I get a little nostalgic, I'll wander upstairs to where my costumes are now stashed.  I'll open the costume cases and bring these now old and worn costumes to my nose, and I will inhale deeply the still faint scent of stale smoke, and the excitement and magic of Night life will once again fill my senses.

And I'm the Orchid Room all over again.

Filing Frenzy

Ever wonder about life?  I do.  Life is all about filing.  Life is one huge filing cabinet with a system, and each drawer a chapter in the life's filing cabinet, and each file an incident or an experience of that life's file drawer.  That particular filing system is call the brain.

And then there's everything else in life that gets filed away.

It goes without saying that all important papers get filed away, but what about garbage?  That gets filed in the garbage bin, probably located under a sink or next to your filing cabinet or desk of drawers.  And when that bin gets filled, all of that gets filed in the garbage bins outside for the city to pick up and file in their system.  And I'll bet there are at least three color-coded files for that out in your garage -- compost, recycle, and all the rest -- mandated filing by the City.

Dirty clothes get filed in the clothes hamper which is filed somewhere in your home.  When the clothes hamper gets filled up, the clothes get filed by color and type of fabric into a temporary file called the washing machine, which is most likely filed in the garage or laundry room.  Mine is filed inside my kitchen.

So, after the clothes are all washed and dried, they all get filed back into their respective drawers and closets.  The detergent gets filed back with the fabric softener and the anti-static sheets.  And that process of filing waits to happen again.

And what about when you go down to get something to eat?  Eggs, meat, vegetables, soft drinks, butter -- all filed in the refrigerator.  And I'll bet each one has its respective shelf just like a filing cabinet -- butter is in its little compartment, eggs are in their egg compartment, the ice is in the freezer file as is the ice cream.  And that refrigerator?  Mine is filed in the kitchen near the stove, sink, and washing machine.

And after a hard days night, you'll do what I do -- file myself in my bathroom for a long hot shower.  The soap I use is filed in the soap dish which is filed on a hanger over the shower head.  The shampoo is filed in one corner of my bathroom, the wash cloth is filed on a hook next to my soap dish, and my razor is filed under the soap.  Water spills out of its respective file, lands on me, washes off all of the crud that got filed on my skin, and then goes down the drain and gets filed somewhere in the City's water reclamation facility.  The towel that I've filed over my curtain rod gets filed back once I use it.  The moister left over on that towel evaporates and get filed back into the atmosphere.  And after I brush my teeth, my toothbrush and toothpaste get filed back in a small cup that's filed in the corner of my bathroom sink.

My TV is filed on top of my dresser, my computer is filed on top of my desk, and my desk and dresser are filed in my one bedroom office apartment, which is filed in a building that is filed on Balboa Street which was filed a long time ago in San Francisco.

Trouble is, that on my desk where my computer is filed, lay bunches of papers that need to be filed in an actual filing cabinet!  Imagine that!  And all the VHS cassettes where my Egyptian movies are filed, need to be filed back in the book cases, which are filed in another room.  I've called this my temporary file.

I'm currently filing my shoes in the middle of the floor where I removed them just minutes ago from having previously filed them on my feet, and I doubt I'll remove them from that temporary file.  There are a couple of used plates and utensils where I had filed some milk and cereal in one of them, and some ground seasoned beef and baked fish in another -- now filed in my stomach, on my office desk, and if I don't file them in my temporary kitchen sink file, I'm apt to cover them up with more un-filed paper work.

God, I HATE filing!

Well, I guess I'll close now, and file this blog in my Pondering on a Thought blog file under the title, Filing Frenzy, and hope that it gets picked up and read by some of my followers, who, by the way, are filed in my Gmail email account and in my personal circles files in my Google+ file.


What haven't YOU filed today?

Surviving Concavity

I hate rejection.  It's painful.  When I come face to face with rejection it jars me to the core.  And if I'm not careful, I allow it to sink me into a deep depression -- but thankfully only for a day or so.  Then I climb back out after a long thought process, and put my life back in perspective.

A little fresh air and sunshine don't hurt none neither.

I'm told that sharing rejection that leads to depression helps, so, here goes.  I'm going to open my life up a little and share some of my most significant rejection moments that have lead to some of the worst depression moments in my life.  Hey, the good thing is that I'm still here to talk about them.

My first rejection was the worst.  I think we all experience this, don't we?  I fell in love in the Seventh Grade with a dazzling gorgeous fellow named Jen.  He was tall and beautiful, and he actually gave me some attention.  Maybe that's why I fell in love.  For the next two years I saw him hug and kiss a pretty young blonde, and every time I saw this, a dagar shot through my heart.  It would be the first of many to come.

In high school, my heart went out to a young boy by the name of Chris.  He was kind and gentle, and he was, at that time, going blind.  But I loved him nonetheless.  He was also the lead guitar in a band, and I spent many moments in the same garage with him and his fellow musicians.  Those were lovely moments.  A year later, he was the proud father of someone else's baby girl.

I left for Sacramento to start my life and, like a kid in a candy store, I fell in love a lot.  Life was grand!  But I ended up with a guy named John who, after three years, liked to use me as his personal punching bag.  After the third time, I felt I had had had enough; and, quite frightened, I escaped to San Francisco to save my life, with a new job, and new everything.  No ties.  No friends.  No connections.  Everything ripped away.

I went to work with the USPS and fell in love with a gorgeous fellow there by the name of Chuck.  We dated for about two years or so.  We broke up over differences, and, though I tried desperately for a year to win him back, the young woman from the mail room soon appeared after that, parading herself on his elbow.

Each of those heartbreaks was painful, especially when the aftermath of them was flaunted right before my eyes, and things were ripped from my life.  But I always pulled myself up and continued on.

During my time in the USPS, I was wrongly accused of dealing drugs by the Postal Inspection Service.  I knew the people that were dealing the drugs; I was just not one of them.  After the painful and arduous interrogations, I was able to clear my name but the gossip stories in that corporate world had already taken hold.  Reluctantly, I quit the Postal Service.

During those interrogations, I met my husband, Gabe, and we were married in 1986.  He owned a restaurant in San Francisco, and I went to work for him as a dancer and partner.  I lived the artist dream.  Ten years later, we were divorced because of his complaints that I had an inability to bear children.  I already knew from my past I could have them.  The hole that I was left in because of his reason for divorce was deep and dark, but I managed to crawl out of that one and get on with life.

I met my late partner, Hatem, during that bout of depression and with promises of fame and fortune, I latched on to his reigns.  And, having bought the restaurant lease before my divorce, for the next two years I rode on a new high in a new restaurant and with a new future.  Then, because of certain circumstances, the floor fell through, and I no longer had his support.  That relationship snowballed downward and took with it all the connections to my biological family.

In that snowball, I was handed a lawsuit from my landlord who was doing his best to break my lease.  I had put so much into my restaurant and now I was on the verge of loosing it.  After a year of depositions and discoveries, I prevailed but at a large monetary cost, physical anguish, and lost sleep.

Then, the two young girls, "S" and "G" (names changed to protect the guilty), who were involved with the restaurant at the time of my partner's cancer diagnosis, saw an opportunity and climbed aboard that snowball ride, pilfering all my assets and bank account.  In the interim, my partner passed away of a lung disease in 2008.  When I emerged from that roller coaster ride, I had nothing but the clothes on my back, six lawsuits, and a restaurant in badly need of repair, marketing, and business, and an empty heavy heart.

Four years later, while going through my books, the discovery of $2.8 million of stolen and embezzled monies spiraled in my brain as I found out that these two girls, whom I had trusted with my heart and soul, had otherwise spent all of my savings and earnings on everything but what they were supposed to have spent them on.  Because my partner was no longer around to state his case, all I was able to do was file a police report.  There are now two dance studios and a house in their names in the East Bay as a result of that crime.

After that significantly depressing chapter of my life, out of which I was still climbing, a fellow -- at my request -- by the name of Max stepped in to help me recover from the loss, and acted as partner and supporter.  A year later I discovered that he had double tipped all of my customers to the tune of around $5,000.

And then there was my Navy captain Marcus, a fellow I used to know in the Seventh Grade.  I met up with him and I thought he was it.  He promised me the world and for the next eight months I was on cloud nine.  Then nothing.  No word.  No letter.  No email.  After about five months of wondering I did a search on the Internet.  Yep.  There it was in the local newspaper.  Married about the same time he quit calling.

Depression paralyzes and obscures life.  It holds one back from making timely and wise decisions.  While I never in my life really had the support of my family, I never thought they would turn on me.  I never thought my close and trusting love relationships would betray me as deeply as they have.  I never thought I'd turn out to be a possible homeless person.

But here I am.

I have found out that family is the family you choose, not the family to which you are born.  And the family you do choose in life can also betray you, but that's a chance one needs to take.  I have found that no matter how depressing life can be that there is STILL life out there, and that all I need to do is to search and find it in the core of my soul.  I have found out that no matter how many betrayals I have encountered, I will continue to trust, for without the ability to trust, there is no life.  I just won't again trust the people who betrayed me.

I don't know why I leaned so hard against the very people who betrayed me.  I believe it is because I failed to see the greatness in myself, and so I turned to those who I thought knew all the answers.  Each time I was plummeted into oblivion, it was I who found the courage and the resources to climb back out.

Having survived these rejections and the accompanying bouts of depression has not been easy.  It would have been easier to give up.  To throw in the towel.  But in not giving up or giving in is evidence of how great I am or can be.

I'm working toward that goal, now -- to be greater than I have ever been in the past.  I'm in in command now.  I'm at the wheel.  And even though I still go through bouts of depression just thinking about what my life has been like and what I've been through and what I have lost, I know that I will be OK. 

There are still many many years to come, and many many things to accomplish, despite any rejection that may come my way again.  I still have my health (knock on wood.)

Like I said, I'm in command now. 

Song Scape

When I a little girl, my mother would always sing to us -- my sister and I.  One song in particular, she used to sing, was Sunbonnet Sue.  My mother wasn't one with a singing voice, but when she sang that song, I felt warm and secure.  At that very moment in my very young mind, I was the only one that mattered to her. 

Sunbonnet Sue was written by songwriter Will D. Cobb back in 1906.  A 1908 rendition by Harland is uploaded on Youtube.com.  Listening to this recording brings back clear and beautiful memories of me standing next to my mother, combing her hair while she sang Sunbonnet Sue.

As I got older, I became ammusingly aware of the many songs that were written in honor of my name sake -- Sue, Susie, Suzy, Susan, Susanna, Suzanne.  So I went on a search.  Song writers, it seemed, were -- have been perpetually in love with some form of Susan since the mid 1800s.

In 1979, I walked into The Bagdad cabaret and nightclub, then on Broadway in San Francisco, and met with owner Jad Elias.  A budding belly dancer with visions of grandeur and high expectations, I introduced myself to him.  What quickly spilled out of his mouth left me standing in amazement. 

I danced at The Bagdad for the next three years and feasted on the sweet lyrics of many an Arabic song, and one American one in particular.  This highly respected Arabic musician often honored me from time to time, sometime on stage, with If You Knew Susie Like I Know Susie.

While, I'm sure this is not a complete list (and it is a work in progress primarily for my own knowledge), and while some of these songs have been re-recorded by different artists, this is what I found:

1848: Oh Susanna by Stephen Foster

1925: Oh Susanna by Arthur Fields
1925: If You Knew Susie Like I Know Susie sung by Eddie Cantor
1928: Sweet Sue, Just You by Victor Young and Will Harris, sung by Bing Crosby

1945: Souix City Sue by Geme Autry

1957: Susie Q by Dale Hawkins
1957: Wake Up Little Susie by Everly Brothers
1957: Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly
1958: Little Suzie by the Blues Musician Ray Bryant
1958: Susie Darlin' by Robin Luke
1959: Suzy Baby by Bobby Vee
1959: That's My Little Susie by Ritchie Valens

1961: Runaround Sue by Dion and the Belmonts
1962: Susie Darlin' by Tommy Roe
1963: Sue's Gotta Be Mine by Del Shannon
1963: Tra La La La Suzy by Dean & Jean
1967: Susannah's Still Alive by Dave Davies
1967: Suzanne On A Sunday Morning by Ricky Nelson
1967: Susan by The Buckinghams
1968: Suzanne by Leonard Cohen
1968: Suzie Q by Creedence Clearwater Revivial
1969: Hello Suzie by Amen Corner
1969: Sorry Suzanne by The Hollies
1969: A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash

1970: Wake Up Little Susie by Marty Wilde
1971: Susan Van Heusen by Gilbert O'Sullivan
1972: Suzanne Beware Of The Devil by Dandy Livingstone
1976: Susan by The Spinners
1977: Wake Up Little Suzy by Mike Berry

1981: Runaround Sue by Brittish pop group, Racey
1981: Wake Up Little Susie by Simon and Garfunkel
1984: Susanna by Art Company

1997: Susan's House by The Eels

Susan Song by songwriter Tom Glazer
Susan's Song by Al Jarreau
Susan Himmelblå by Kim Larsen


19XX: Oh Sweet Susannah by Mooney Suzuki
19XX: Susan by Aimee Mann
19XX: Susie Q Sailaway by Self
19XX: Suzy Lee by The White Stripes
XXXX: Susanville by The Vandals

Paper Chase

Every Friday, I wake up, get out of bed, and have my two and a half cups of coffee.  And every Friday, I hop into my car and go shopping.  I own a restaurant and Friday is restaurant-shopping day.

My first stop is at Costco.  After stuffing my shopping cart with the items I need, referring to a piece of paper with a list of these items including coffee, I go through checkout.   Since I own my own business, I am presented a piece of paper that I sign so that I don't have to give the tax man extra pieces of paper.  I'm then presented with another piece of paper that tells me I need to give the checker my piece of paper with my signature on it promising that I can afford to take home all of these items and that Costco will eventually get enough pieces of paper to cover the worth of these items; which, by the way, seem to be worth more today than they were worth last Friday.  We exchange pieces of paper and I walk out with my items, but not until the door guard puts his/her mark on the piece of paper I was handed by the checker.  Now I have a piece of paper with a pink squiggle on it or blue or green, which I stuff into my back pocket.

My next stop is a grocery store in South San Francisco called Manila Oriental Market.  Now, this is where it gets interesting.  After loading up my cart with more items from the same piece of paper I took with me to Costco listing my items, I go through checkout.  Manila Oriental Market has an incentive for shoppers to buy more than they probably need.  For every ten dollars worth of non-sale items, they will give you a one dollar paper coupon good at their on-site deli.  So, as I go through checkout, I get a piece of paper that tells me how many pieces of paper I need to give them for the piece of paper they just gave me.  As we exchange pieces of paper, I take my piece of paper and direct my shopping cart toward the customer counter checker.  She will give me one piece of paper for every ten pieces of paper I just gave to the first checker, good at their deli.

As I hand over my piece of paper to the customer counter checker, she checks off my sale items, takes the difference of that sum from the total sum and gives me back several pieces of paper in exchange for having shopped at that store, good at their deli.  I then give her two more pieces of paper and ask her to give me two lottery tickets.  So, in exchange for my two pieces of paper, she gives me two pieces of paper which could -- or could not -- potentially land me a million or more pieces of paper.  I then step aside and take my one-week old pieces of paper, purchased the Friday before, and scan them for potential millions of pieces of paper.  I know it's a futile activity because more often than not, those two pieces of paper will end up in the round file with all the other pieces of paper.

I ditch last Friday's pieces of paper, take my five or more other pieces of paper and head for the deli.  I then file my two new pieces of paper good until next Friday in my purse, and stuff the marked up checkout piece of paper in my back pocket along with the piece of paper I got from Costco with the door guard's color-of-the-day mark.

As I walk out of the market with a bag full of Chinese food which I got from the pieces of paper that the checkout person gave to me after handing her the initial checkout piece of paper, I head for my car, and I ponder this thought....

The world really does run on agreement.  Money, in and of itself, has no value.  Paper coupons, in and of themselves, have no value.  Lotto tickets, in and of themselves have no value.  They are just stupid pieces of paper.  We only give them value as part of a global agreement.  So much paper is exchanged under agreement.

I wish I had more pieces of paper hidden under my mattress or in my bank account.  I know that these kinds of pieces of paper won't buy me love, but they will buy me peace.  And heaven only knows how much peace I wish I had now.  In fact, the whole world is in much need of peace.

But here's the flip side......

Friendship and trust can "buy" peace just as pieces of paper can, but the cost is not measured in the worth of these pieces of paper, and the return of this investment is always priceless.  Paper may or may not come into that equation, but just the word -- and not pieces of paper -- of one person can build or demolish a nation, a friendship, someone's trust.  Too much emphasis is placed on worthless pieces of paper and not enough on the word of someone.  Under today's global agreement, we have lost the human element of one's word and compassion, and have replaced it with pieces of paper -- pieces of paper, which many of us hoard under our mattress or in a bank because of the global thought that money can buy you anything.

As I walk out of Safeway -- my last stop, and head for my car, having just visited my bank and having just gotten a bunch of pieces of paper that will make my business transactions easier for the evening, I notice a single, solitary person in the midst of many.  That person has a cup in front of himself.  "Can you spare some change?"  [Translation: Can you spare some of your pieces of paper? I need some and don't have any to visit the deli or throw into the round file.]  My first inclination is to walk past that person.  I see it happen every time.  But, I think to myself; I have friends who have been there for me with pieces of paper when I didn't have any, and who have brought peace to my life with their word and their trust and their compassion, and who have not judged me or demanded anything in return for their pieces of paper.  And because of them sometime before today, tonight I will have more pieces of paper by the end of the evening's business.

I reach inside my purse and I give this person some of my pieces of paper; in fact many of them.  I have enough pieces of paper to keep me afloat -- under my mattress and in the  bank.  At least, for a small interim, I know I will have given this person some degree of peace.  Maybe it will help him toward his next meal.  Maybe it will buy him his next fifth of whiskey.  Maybe it will get him his next fix and I may not see him tomorrow.  But I don't know that.  And I'm not going to judge his predicament.  I will just know that I will have brought him some degree of peace. 

And if we had more peace in this world, the world would be a better place.

CV/Resumé: SAUSAN

4031 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA  94121-2516

415-876-2300 • FAX 415-668-5229 • Voice 415-262-0175

December 28, 2016

CV OF SAUSAN

Sausan is the Master Teacher of the Sausan Academy of Egyptian Dance (SAED) (www.sausanacademy.com) since 2004, and Artistic Director and Choreographer of the Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company (SEEDC) since 2009.  She is also the Owner and Chef of Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant (AMER) (www.almasrisfca.com) since 1999 and has been selling baklava online since 2012 under the name Bitchin’ Baklava (www.bitchinbaklava.com).  All companies/businesses are affiliated and are located and operate at 4031 Balboa Street in San Francisco, California.

A belly dancer since 1972 with prior study in Flamenco, Sevillanas, Thai Classical Dance, English Highland, and Scottish dance, Sausan has focused her dance studies on the dance of Egypt, its culture, cuisine, arts, and history.  As a result she has worked closely with the Fine Arts Museum, the Ethnic Dance Festival, and the Natural World Museum  in San Francisco, California; the International House and the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at U. C. Berkeley, California; and Stanford University, Palo Alto California since 1999 in participating, producing, choreographing, and/or directing many of its events.  A veteran of the United States Navy Reserves of 22 years, Sausan has danced all over the world on and off overseas military bases and has been awarded Letters of Appreciation for her goodwill entertainment to the deployed troops of the United States armed forces.

1999 - Present

ON-GOING AND SPECIAL SAED DANCE CLASSES

An all-inclusive, personally developed and academically outlined, non-conventional curriculum featuring a complete one-year study divided into four three-month semesters designed for beginner to advanced; since 2004.  Classes include Dance Principles and Technique, Theory and Philosophy, Expression and Attitude, Music Interpretation and Application, Dance History and Culture, Celebration and Cuisine, Performance and Critique.

 1.  Primary Course - Upper Body Technique - Feminine Expression; Pain, Passion, & Joy Facial Expression

 2.  Secondary Course - Lower Body Technique - Masculine Expression; Achieving and Dancing with “Nephis”

 3.  Tertiary Course - Entities of Music and Expression - Dissecting and Deciphering music; Movement Expression

 4.  Applied Basic Principal Course - Study of one specific piece of classic performance music; Recital

 5.  Post Graduate/Continuing Education - Study of additional classic music and applied movement; Performance

SPECIAL COURSES

 1.  Must-Know Music For Dancing - Individual dance classes in the study of individual pieces of classic Egyptian music.

 2.  Crash Courses - 5-Hour Workshops in Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Courses.

3.  Single Cane & Double Cane Technique - Offered periodically.

 4.  Intro to EDC® Free Courses - Offered periodically

 5.  Kick-Ass Hips-On Drum Solo 101 - Study of drum riffs and drum solos

 6.  Classic Music of Light Rain - Individual dance classes in the study of the music of Doug Adams and Light Rain

 7.  History and Art of Belly Dance - Offered periodically.

 8.  Graceful Arms ala Samia Gamal, Nagwa Fouad, and Suhair Zaki - Offered periodically

 9.  Sagat - Patterns in Music - 101 - Also known as finger cymbals or zills.  Offered periodically

TRADEMARK REGISTRATIONS

Egyptian Dance Code® (EDC®) - August 11, 2009

Registration No. 3665396; Service Mark Principal Register; Serial No. 76692633, Filed 9-9-2008

IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Educational services, namely, providing classes and workshops in the field of authentic

 Egyptian style belly dancing technique and movement vocabulary. 

FIRST USE: 20030924. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20030924

MAJOR PERFORMANCE VENUES

 1.  Women of the Nile - Rosicrucian Museum, San Jose; June 20, 1999

       Solo performance by SAED graduate, Samar Nassar; Choreography inspired by Sausan    

 2.  Eternal Egypt Exhibit - Gould Theatre at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; May 1, 2001

      Solo performance by SAED graduate, Samar Nassar; Choreography inspired and produced by Sausan

 3.  Eternal Egypt Exhibit - Gould Theater, Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; October 2002

      Cuisine Lecture by Sausan, Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant on Egyptian Cuisine; Materials provided by Sausan

 4.  Eternal Egypt Exhibit - Tented Courtyard, Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; October 2002

      Lelah Masriah (Egyptian Night)

      Solo performance by SAED graduate, Samar Nassar; Choreography inspired by Sausan

      Cuisine catered by Al-Masri; over 400 participated

 5.  Natural World Museum Opening Gala Celebration - The Presidio, San Francisco; October 1, 2004

      Solo performance by SAED graduate, April “Amany” Espaniola; Choreography inspired by Sausan

 6.  Grand Opening of the de Young Museum - de Young Museum, San Francisco; October 15, 2005

      Solo performance by SAED graduate, Samar Nassar; Choreography inspired by Sausan      

 7.  Grand Opening of the de Young Museum - de Young Museum, San Francisco; October 21, 2005

      Solo performance by SAED graduate, April “Amany” Espaniola; Choreography inspired by Sausan

 8.  Dancing on the Nile: A Story of the Raqs Sharki - Koret Auditorium, de Young Museum, San Francisco;

January 6, 2006,

      Performances by graduates, Samar Nassar, Andrea Aranda, and Angela Caron of the SAED

      Choreography inspired by Sausan; Produced by Sausan; Materials provided by Sausan

 9.  2006 San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival V.I.P. Gala - Palace of the Fine Arts, San Francisco; June 1, 2006

      Solo performance by SAED graduate, Samar Nassar; Choreography inspired by Sausan

10.  Grand Opening of the King Tut Exhibit - Wilsey Court, de Young Museum, San Francisco; June 26, 2009

       Performed by graduates of the SAED; Produced, directed, and choreographed by Sausan

11.  Belly Dance Belt Workshop - Piazzoni Murals Room, de Young Museum, San Francisco; January 22, 2010

      A costume workshop taught by Sausan; Materials and instruction provided by Sausan

12.  Grand Finale of the King Tut Exhibit PRE-SHOW - Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant, San Francisco; March 21, 2010

       Afra Al Saeed  (Weddings of the South); An Egyptian inspired Operetta

       Performed by the Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company; Produced, directed, and choreographed by Sausan

13.  Grand Finale of the King Tut Exhibit - Wilsey Court, de Young Museum, San Francisco; March 26, 2010

      Afra Al Saeed  (Weddings of the South); An Egyptian inspired Operetta

       Performed by the Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company;

      Produced, directed, and choreographed by Sausan

14.  SpringFest:  Edith Coliver’s Festival of Cultures - Main Auditorium, International-House; U. C. Berkeley,

      Berkeley; April 17, 2010; Performances by Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company;

      choreographed by Sausan  

15.  The Conservator's Art: Preserving Egypt's Past; Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, U. C. Berkeley,

      Berkeley; April 29, 2010; Performances by Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company  

                               

16.  Grand Finale of the King Tut Exhibit POST-SHOW - Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant, San Francisco; May 23, 2010

       Afra Al Saeed  (Weddings of the South); An Egyptian inspired Operetta

       Performed by the Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company

       Produced, directed, and choreographed by Sausan

17.  An Egyptian Performance - International House, U. C., Berkeley; February 3, 2011

       Afra Al Saeed  (Weddings of the South); An Egyptian inspired Operetta and Tribute to Egyptian Musicians

       Performed by the Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company

       Produced, directed, and choreographed by Sausan

18.  SpringFest:  Edith Coliver’s Festival of Cultures - Main Auditorium, International-House; U. C. Berkeley,

      Berkeley; April 16, 2011; Performances by Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company;

      choreographed by Sausan  

19.  First San Francisco Bay Area Belly Dancers Consortium -

              Golden Gate Music Concourse (Bandshell), San Francisco; October 16, 2011

       Performed by members of the Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company

              (Valentina, Oksana, Nicole and Sausan); and invited local teachers of the San Francisco Bay Area

       Produced, directed, and choreographed by Sausan

20.  An Egyptian Performance - International House, U. C., Berkeley; February 2, 2012

       Afra Al Saeed  (Weddings of the South); An Egyptian inspired Operetta and A Celebration of Egypt

       Performed by the Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company

       Produced, directed, and choreographed by Sausan

21.  SpringFest:  Edith Coliver’s Festival of Cultures - Main Auditorium, International-House; U. C. Berkeley,

      Berkeley; April 21, 2012; Performances by Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company

      Performances choreographed by Sausan  

22. San Francisco Free Folk Festival

      Presidio Middle School, Faith Petric State Auditorium, San Francisco, California June 10, 2012

21.  SpringFest:  Edith Coliver’s Festival of Cultures - Main Auditorium, International-House; U. C. Berkeley,

      Berkeley; April 20, 2013; Performances by Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company

      Performances by Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company

22.  SpringFest:  Edith Coliver’s Festival of Cultures - Main Auditorium, International-House; U. C. Berkeley,

      Berkeley; April 12, 2014; Performances by Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company

      Performances by Sausan Ensemble Egyptian Dance Company

23.  Inner Sanctum Symposium on Infinite Possibilities - Isis Oasis Temple, Geyserville, CA, August 23, 2014

LECTURES AND DEMONSTRATIONS

 1.  Hollywood on the Nile

      Stanford University, Palo Alto, California; April 15, 2006

      Demonstration by SAED graduates, Andrea Aranda and Jean “Samia” Shanahan

      Catered by Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant

 2.  Golden Drops of the Sun

      Pigot Hall, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California; May 3, 2007

       Sanford Performance Series

       Demonstration by SAED graduate, Jhermanie “Aswan” Woods

3.  An Evening with Egyptian Director:  Marwan Hamed

      Building 300, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California; May 7, 2007

      The Yacoubian Building with Yousra

      Catered by Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant

 4.  A Gathering for Belly Dance Fun and Education

      Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant, San Francisco, California; November 2, 2008

       Hosted by Bay Area Simmons Alumni Community

      Demonstration by SAED graduate, Mary “Fayruz” Brodie; Catered by Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant

 5.  A Gathering for Belly Dance Fun and Education Lecture Luncheon

      Al-Masri Restaurant, San Francisco, California; January 11, 2009

       Hosted by LaMonica from Meetup.com

      Demonstration by SAED graduate, Mary “Fayruz” Brodie; Catered by Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant

 6.  Ritual Dinner - International House

      U. C. Berkeley, Berkeley, California; October 26, 2009

       Demonstration by SAED graduate, Mary “Fayruz” Brodie; Catered by Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant

 7.  Golden Age of Egypt

      Contra Costa County College, San Pablo, California; April 20, 2010

       Hosted by Asata, Belly Dance Instructor and graduate of the SAED

 8.  American Research Center in Egypt

      Phoebe A. Hearst Museum Reception, U. C. Berkeley, Berkeley, California; April 23, 2010

       Demonstrations by SAED graduates, Mary “Fayruz” Brodie and Melinda Herrartes

 9.  SF Gate and San Francisco Chronicle

      San Francisco, California; August 15, 2010

       Interview by Mike Kepka of SAED graduate, Mary “Fayruz” Brodie;  Al-Masri Restaurant

               (www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/08/15/cityexposed.DTL)

10.  Golden Age of Egypt

      Contra Costa County College, San Pablo, California; November 9, 2010

       Hosted by Asata, Belly Dance Instructor and graduate of the SAED

11.  Golden Age of Egypt

      Contra Costa County College, San Pablo, California; May 20, 2011

       Hosted by Asata, Belly Dance Instructor and graduate of the SAED

12.  RAQS EGYPT, The History and Future of Dance in Egypt, and its practice and Performance in the USA,

      Panel Discussion:  The Americanization of Egyptian Dance; San Francisco, California; November 6, 2011

      Hosted by Karim Nagi, Egyptian Raqs Sharqi Dance master

13.  San Francisco Free Folk Festival

      Presidio Middle School, Dance 2 North Gym, San Francisco, California June 10, 2012

14.  Egyptian Night - International House

      Food/Menu Consultation and Egyptian Dance Entertainment, at International House, U.C. Berkeley;

      April 10, 2013

14. San Francisco Free Folk Festival

      Presidio Middle School, Dance 2 North Gym, San Francisco, California June 8, 2013

15.  Inner Sanctum Symposium on Infinite Possibilities - Isis Oasis Temple, Geyserville, CA, August 24, 2014

16.  The History and Art of Bellydance

      San Francisco Public Libraries - Middle Eastern Awareness Month

       West Portal Branch - September 10, 2016; Alonna Haulcy performing

       Richmond Branch - September 17, 2016; Chloe Shively performing

17.  Belly Dance Class and Demonstration

      San Francisco Public Libraries; Mission Bay Branch Tenth Anniversary - October 29, 2016 (UPCOMING)

TEACHER SPONSORED CLASSES,  WORKSHOPS, AND SEMINARS

 1.  Jodette of Sacramento (Sacramento, California)

     • May 14, 2005 - Workshop; Original Choreography to Ali Loz

     • May 2006 - Workshop; Original Choreography to Taht El Shibek

     • May 2007 - Workshop; Original Choreography to Tales of the Sahara (Jalilah 6)

     • June 29, 2008 - Workshop; Original Choreography to Seit El Houssen (Suhaila 3)

     • January 14, 2009 - Workshop; Original Choreography to Amany Fe Al Sharq

     • May 15, 2011 - Workshop; Original Choreography to Lissa Fakir

 2.  Jaleh Bellydancer Extraodinaire! (Seattle, Washington)

     • October 15, 2005 - Workshop; Intro to EDC®

     • October 16, 2005 - Workshop; Original Choreography to Seit El Houssen (Suhaila 3)

     • June 10, 2006 - Workshop; EDC® Basics

     • June 11, 2006 - Workshop; Drum Solo Technique using EDC® Basics

 3.  Shayna (Hayward, California) - January 3, 2006 – Workshop; EDC® Overview

 4.  Asata (Berkeley, California) - October 7, 2006 – Workshop; EDC® Overview and Arabian Nights Show

 5.  Yasameena of Kismet 27th Annual Belly Dance Festival (Salt Lake City, Utah)

        August 18, 2007 – Workshop; Introduction to EDC®

 6.  Malia of Hawaii (Oahu, Hawaii)

     • November 14, 2009 - Workshop; EDC® Overview

     • November 15, 2009 - Workshop; Original Choreography to Layali Zaman with cane

 7.  Elana Quihuis (Santa Rosa, California) - November 13, 2010 - Workshop; Introduction to EDC®

 8.  Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive (Las Vegas, Nevada)

     • September 6, 2014 - Workshop; Dissecting Classic Egyptian Music for Dancing

      (performance added September 5, 2014)

     • September 2, 2016 - Workshop; Graceful Arms (Festival was cancelled prior to completion of workshop)

9.  ComicCon, Marriott Marquis, San Francisco, California

    • September 3, 3016 - Class in Belly Dance

10.  Shimmyathon (White River Junction, Vermont) (UPCOMING)

     • April 15, 2017 - Workshop; Graceful Arms A La Samia Gamal, Nagwa Fouad, and Suhair Zaki

SAED SPONSORED WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS - Sausan Teaching, San Francisco, California

7-Day Intensive Seminars (7-DIS)

 1.  January 2005 - 4-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 1 (pilot)

 2.  January 2006 - 7-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 1

 3.  July 2007 - 7-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 1

 4.  March 2008 - 7-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 1

 5.  September 2008 - 7-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 1

 6.  September 2010 - 7-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 1

 7.  May 2011 - 7-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 1

 8.  September 2011 - 7-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 2

 9.  September 2012 - 7-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 1

10.  May  2015 - 7-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 1

11.  August 2015 - 7-Day Intensive Seminar, Level 2

3-Month Intensive Seminars (3-MIS)

 1.  January 2016 - 3-Month Intensive Seminar, Level 1

Workshops

 1.  2003 - 2007 - Several Egyptian Dance Choreography Workshops

 2.  November 23, 2008 - Workshop; EDC® Finger Cymbals Technique

 3.  November 16, 2008 - Workshop; EDC® Overview

 4.  December 14, 2008 - Workshop; EDC® Overview

 5.  December 29, 2008 - Workshop; EDC® Overview

 6.  April 5, 2009 - Double Workshop; Beginning Cane Technique (Cane L1); Continuing Cane Technique (Cane L2)

 

 7.  April 19, 2009 - Workshop; EDC® Finger Cymbals Technique

 8.  November 6, 2010 - Workshop; Intro to EDC®

MEDIA PRODUCTION - Research, author, compilation, design, production, ad sales, and distribution

 1.  Costuming Made Easy - Costume instruction booklet; Circulation:  2500; Greater Bay Area; 1986 - 1999

 2.  Mohamed Ali Street Corner - Free Quarterly Newsletter; Circulation:  2500; Greater Bay Area; 1986 - 2001

 3.  Sausan Resource Directory Guide - Free Annual Magazine; Circulation:  12,000; Worldwide; 1993 – 1997

 4.  Dancing In Egyptian Film - DVDs of Egypt’s Golden Age Dancers; currently 28 individual DVDs; 2003 - present

 5.  Primary Course Material - DVD and Booklet accompaniment to the Primary Class; 2005 - present

 6.  Secondary Course Material - DVD and Booklet accompaniment to the Secondary Class; 2005 - present

 7.  Playing Finger Cymbals with the EDC® - CD and Diagram of Cymbal Patterns; 2005 - present

ARTICLES - (Authored) - Gildedserpent.com

 1.  Dancing in North Beach - July 17, 2004;

(www.gildedserpent.com/articles25/sausannorthbeach.htm)

 2.  The BDSS Experience and Miles Copeland; Doing What He Does Best - March 3, 2005;

(www.gildedserpent.com/art30/sausantalkmiles.htm)

 3.  Nakish- An inteview with "The Lady with the Eyes" - March 8, 2007;

(www.gildedserpent.com/art39/SausanNakishInterview.htm)

 4.  Who Really Gave Us This Dance? - January 18, 2007;

(www.gildedserpent.com/art39/SausanEgyptgavedance.htm)

 5.  Taheyia Karioka, Queen of Oriental Cabaret Dance - April, 14, 2008;

(www.gildedserpent.com/art43/sausanTK.htm)

 6.  The Egyptian Dance Code: Technique to the Perfect Dance - June 3, 2008;

(www.gildedserpent.com/art44/sausanedc.htm)

 7.  Jodette: Undeniably Authentic - July 12, 2008;

(www.gildedserpent.com/art44/sausanjodette.htm)

 8.  The Magic of The Grapeleaf - March 29, 2011;

(www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2011/03/29/sausan-grapeleaf-restaruant/#axzz1I0flXC3E)

 9.  The Ballet-ification of Belly Dance - November 1, 2011;

www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2011/11/01/sausan-ballet-ification-belly-dance/#axzz1teQhY5zx)

10.  Egypt’s Golden Age; A Timeline & Synopsis  - December 9, 2011;

  (www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2011/12/11/sausan-egypts-golden-age/#axzz1teQhY5zx)

11.  Nightclub and Restaurant Gigs, Paid Auditions or Justified Entitlement - January 12, 2012

  (www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2012/01/12/sausan-restaurant-gigs/#axzz1teQhY5zx)

ARTICLES - (Authored) - various dotcom e-zines

 1.  Authtentic Egyptian Dance, and the “It” of It.

      Identifying what makes Egyptian Dancers look Egyptian and why Western dancers look Western

(www.ishimmy.com/Columns/Featured_Articles/Authentic_Egyptian_Dance_and_the_It_of_It/)

A feature article in iShimmy.com, January 9, 2012

ARTICLES - (non-Authored)

 1.  Sausan’s Saga at the Grapeleaf Restaurant

  A review of the old and new restaurant in Gilded Serpent, November 12, 1999 by Dhyanis

  (www.gildedserpent.com/articles5/sausanbydhy.htm)

 2.  Sausan’s First Egyptian Dance Seminar

  A review of the Egyptian Dance Code® seminar in Gilded Serpent, August 16, 2005 by Melinda Herrarte

  (www.gildedserpent.com/art32/melindasausanworkshop.htm),

 3.  SAUSAN - Honorary MEDLS Member of the Month - Academia

  An interview in Middle Eastern Dance Leaders Society (MEDLS), July 2008 by Amara Al Amir

  (www.amaraalamir.com/amara/MEDLS/sausan.htm)

 4.  Annual Belly Dancers in Paradise Dinner Show/Workshops,Waikiki, Hawaii

A review of EDC® workshops in iShimmy.com, November 21, 2009 by Nizana

          (www.ishimmy.com/Columns/Reviews/Show_Review__Belly_Dancers_in_Paradise_Show_and_WS_in_Waikiki/)

 5.  Dancing Like An Egyptian

  A feature article in Yallah Magazine, Winter 2011 by Ivana Lodovici

  (Yallahmagazine.com)

 6.  Falafel:  Bay Area Fills Void for Filling Street Food

  A feature article in SFGate.com and San Francisco Chronicle on Al-Masri falafel,

  March 6, 2011 by Amanda Gold, Chronicle Staff Writer

  (www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/04/FD4M1HHHV6.DTL#ixzz1teaj6SHQ)

 7.  Sausan Molthen

  A feature article in SFGate.com and San Francisco Chronicle,

  September 15, 2011 by Lisa Wallace, Chronicle Staff Writer

  (www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/15/DDL51KKTU5.DTL)

8.  Sausan

  A feature article in Zaghareet!, (Front Cover)

  January/February 2013 by Anna Maria Cancelli

9.  Sausan

  A feature article in The Belly Dance Chronicles, (Front Cover)

  January/February 2014 by Ma*Shuqa Mira Murjan

10.  Restaurateur, dancer teaches others how to move like an Egyptian

      A feature article in SFGate.com
September 5, 2016 by Kat Duncan, Picture and Video Editor

(http://www.sfchronicle.com/thetake/article/Restaurateur-dancer-teaches-others-how-to-move-9191969.php)

11.  Egyptian Dance Teacher Instills a Sense of Control

A feature article in SF Chronicles, Section C - Bay Area “Regulars”, front page

September 5, 2016 by Kat Duncan, Picture and Video Editor

RECORDED INTERVIEWS

 1.  InPower Coffee Break Podcast By InPower Coaching,

      Women’s Empowerment through Belly Dance, Episode 5, July 4, 2016

                (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inpower-coffee-break-podcast/id1114394896?mt=2)

 2.  Bell Ddance Geek Clubhouse by Nadira Jamal

      Geek Out with Sausan - Egyptian Dance Code®, Episode 35, July 18, 2016

                 (http://www.bellydancegeek.com/2016/07/geek-out-with-sausan/#recording)

 3.  InPower Coffee Break Podcast By InPower Coaching,

      Sausan shares insights for movement helping with confidence, Episode 5, September 29,

      2016 (aired October 4, 3016

                (http://inpowercoaching.com/october-4-sausan-self-esteem-movement/)

BENEFITS

 1.  Sausan’s Birthday Bash and Vintage Night, Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant, San Francisco, California

      Every August, 2010 - present

TELEVISION

 1.  Bay Area Egyptians Keep Close Eye on Uprising - KGO Channel 7 - February 2, 2011 by Tomas Roman

(abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=7934360)

INTERNET

 1.  Sausan Academy of Egyptian Dance - January 2000

(www.sausanacademy.com)

 2.  Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant - December 17, 1999

(www.almasrisfca.com)

 3.  Bitchin’ Baklava - November 2013

(www.bitchinbaklava.com)

 4.  Sausan Ensemble - An Egyptian Dance Company - June 26, 2009

(www.sausanensemble.com)

 5.  Chef Sausan - 2014

(www.chefsausan.com)

 6.  Raqs Al-Masriya - An Internet Belly Dance Challenge - December 2016

(www.raqsalmasriya.com)

ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

 1.  Middle Eastern Culture and Dance Association (MECDA) - San Francisco Bay Area, 2011 to present

(www.sfamecda.org)

 2.  Lebanese American Association (LAA) - San Francisco Bay Area, 2012 to present

(www.laa.org)

 3.   American Legion - San Francisco Bay Area, 2014 to present

 4 .  United Nations Association (UNA) - San Francisco Bay Area, 2013 to present

(http://www.una-sf.org)

 5.  Egyptian American Association (EAS) - San Francisco Bay Area, 2011 to present

(www.eascafe.org)

PERSONAL PERFORMANCES SINCE 1974

 1.  National:  Alaska, Aleutian Islands, California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, New York,

  Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin

 2.  International:  Antarctica, Crete, Germany, Guam, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico,

  New Zealand, Sicily, Spain, Tahiti, Thailand

 3.  Cruise Liners:  Achille Lauro 1977; Holland America 1982; Princess Cruise Lines 1983

INSTRUCTORS SPONSORED

 1.  Mahmoud “Max” Hamoda - 2010

 2.  Mohamed Shahin - (www.mohamedshahin.net); February 18/19, 2012

FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES

 1.  Carnival of Stars International Belly Dance Festival, Richmond California

(www.carnivalofstars.com); 2008 - present

 2.  Desert Dance Festival, Milpitas and San Jose, California

(www.desertdancefestival.com); 2010 - 2016

 3.  Berkeley Yacht Club, Berkeley, California; 2006

ARTISTS’ PROMOTIONAL EVENTS HOSTED

 1.  Bay Area National Dance Week, San Francisco, California; 2007 - present; (www.bayareandw.org)

 2.  San Francisco Free Folk Festival, Presidio Middle School, San Francisco, California; 2012 - present;

(www.sffolkfest.org)

 3.  Teacher/Student Showcase Nights, Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant, San Francisco, California;

2008 - present

      • Amina and the Aswan Dancers - (www.aswandancers.org)

      • Asia and Troupe Arabesque - (www.arabesquebellydance.com)

      • Delphine Scott - (www.emeraldfest.com)

      • Dhyanis - (www.dhyanis.com)

      • Jizan

      • Ma*Shuqa Mira Murjan - (www.mashuqa.com)

      • Malia DeFelice - (www.bellydancer.net)

      • MECDA Spring Dancers’ Night - (www.sfbmecda.org)

      • Nanna Candelaria - (www.bellydancingbynanna.net)

      • Nayia and Numa’ir - (www.naiyaraks.com)

      • Sharifa and Troupe Tangiers - (www.sharifaandpaul.com)

      • Stasha - (www.stashamania.com)

      • Suhaila Salimpour - (www.suhailainternational.com)

      • Talia and Dansoleil Belly Dance - (www.dansoleil.com)

      • Tatseena - (www.tatseena.com)

      • Tina “Taheya” Turnini

      • Yolanda - (www.yolandabellydance.com)

4.  Special Headliner Performance Showcases Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant, San Francisco, California;

2008 - present

      • Adriana - (www.adrianabellydance.com)

      • Ali Thabit - (www.earth-goddess.com)

      • Amina Goodyear - (www.aswandancers.org)

      • Andrea - (www.andrearaks.com)

      • Dangerous Beauties - (www.dangerousbeautiesbellydance.com)

      • Dr. Samy Farag - (www.samyfaragmd.com)

      • Leila Farid of Cairo - (www.leilainegypt.com)

      • Malia Delapenia - (www.maliainhawaii.com)

      • Mary “Fayruz” Brodie - (www.fayruzsf.com)

      • Melinda - (www.bellydancebymelinda.com)

      • Sahra Saeeda - (www.sahrasaeeda.com)

      • Tonya and Atlantis - (www.BDUC.com)

      • Three Sisters Dance - (www.threesistersdance.com)

      • Valentina - (www.valentina.com)

 5.  SAED Quarterly Graduate Debut Recitals, Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant, San Francisco, California;

2004 - present

ARTISTS’ PROMOTIONAL/ADMINISTRATIVE CLASSES

 1.  Boot Camp for Artists - CouterPULSE, 2012 by Jessica Robinson Love

(counterpulse.org/programs/boot-camp-for-artists/)

FISCAL SPONSORSHIP

 1.  Dancer’s Group - (dancersgroup.org/); member since 2010 - 2015

HOSTED MUSICIANS

SABABA - Musa Hanhan and musicians

ARABIAN PASSION - Nazir Latouf, Imed “Ed” Mizyed, George Dabaie,

PASHA BAND - Amina Goodyear, Susu Pampanin, Husain Resan, Jalal Takesh, Younis Makboul, Dr. Nazih

JAZAYER - Mimi Spencer, Devija, Vince Delgado, Mary Ellen Donald

AL-MASRI PASSION - Nazir Latouf, Reda Darwish, Khader “Ken” Keileh, Imed “Ed” Mizyed

LIGHT RAIN - DeAnn & Doug Adamz and musicians

CARAVAN BAND - Amina Goodyear, Susu Pampanin, Younis Makboul, Jelal Takesh, Dr. Nazih

TAHNEEN - Linda Grondahl, Husain Resan, Marty Coyne, Liz Stuart, Mike Fair

AL-AZIFOON - Yosifa Rose, Nathan Craver, Mark Bell, Ling Shien

AL-MASRI PASSION - Nazir Latouf, Reda Darwish, Khader Keil

MID-EAST TAPESTRY TRO - Vince Delgado, Coralie Russo, Tom Shrader

CORAL ROSE - Coralie Russo and Company

PANGIA - Pat Olson and Company

Mohamed Ameen

Jad Elias

CONSULTATION

 1.  Re-Orient, War and Peace - Hafiz Karmali, Director; Golden Thread Productions - October 24, 2012

SPECIAL GUEST PERFORMANCES BY SAUSAN

 1.  San Francisco Belly Dance Intensive - Sumaia and Karen Iliana, Directors/Producers;

Marrakesch Restaurant, San Francisco, October 26, 2016

-----------------------------------------------------------------

BELLY DANCE RESUME

Pre 1999

MUSICIANS SPONSORED

 1.  John and Helen Bilezekjian - (www.pinkgypsy.com/bilezikjian.htm)

The Grapeleaf Restaurant, San Francisco, California

Petra Restaurant, San Bruno, California;

INSTRUCTORS SPONSORED

 1.  Amaya and Bert Baladine -

(www.wisewomandancer.com/index.php?pag=cms&id=181&p=bert-balladine-tribute.html); 1995

 2.  Amaya - (www.wisewomandancer.com); 1994

 3.  Ibrahim “Bobby” Farrah - (www.ibrahimfarrah.com); 1993

 4.  Rhea of Greece - (www.daughtersofrhea.com); 1992

 5.  Shareen El Safy - (www.shareenwlsafy.com); (three times); 1991

 6.  Tonya and Atlantis - (www.tonya-and-atlantis.com); (two times); 1990

 7.  DeAnn Adams - Light Rain; 1989

 8.  Sahra Saeeda - (www.sahrasaeeda.com); (two times); 1988

 9.  Alexandra King - (www.alexandraking.com); 1987

10.  Giselle - 1986

11.  Rita “Rebaba” Alderucci - Hahbi’Ru; 1985

12.  Ma*Shuqa Mira Murjan - (www.mashuqa.com); 1984

OTHER CLASSES TAUGHT

 1.  Burlingame Recreational Department Belly Dance Class - Burlingame, California - 1988/89

 2.  Leah of Belly Dance! substitute teacher - Walnut Creek, California - 1990 (www.bellydc.com)

TELEVISION

 1.  One Thousand and One Nights with BatSheva - 1988

FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES

 1.  Milbrea Fine Wine and Arts Festival, 1977 - 1984; Millbrea, California

 2.  Rakkasah International Belly Dance Festival, 1980 - 1988; Oakland & Richmond, California  

 3.  San Bruno Street Festival, 1983 - 1988; San Bruno, California

 4.  Fantasia Belly Dance Festival, 1983; Seattle, Washington

 5.  Desert Dance Festival, 1983 - 1995; Milpitas and San Jose, California

 6.  Summer Caravan, 1987; Pleasant Hill, California

 7.  Zucchini Festival, 1988; Hayward, California

 8.  Belly Dancer of the World Competition, 1989 - 1990; San Francisco, California

 9.  Belly Dancer of the Universe Competition, 1995; Los Angeles, California

BENEFITS

 1.  Aids Benefit for Kamaal and Vince,  Lyon’s Club, 1989; San Francisco, California ($4000+ raised)

BELLY DANCE CLASSES TAKEN FROM

 1.  1974 - 1977 - Jodette’s Belly Dance Academy, (www.jodettes.com), Sacramento, California

 2.  1977 - 1979 - Farida Karoon, Palo Alto, California

 3.  1979 - 1984 - Nakish, San Francisco, California

BELLY DANCE ONE-DAY WORKSHOPS TAKEN FROM

 1.  1981 - Yousry Sharif - www.yousrysharif.net

 2.  1982 - Mahmoud Reda - www.faridafahmy.com

 3.  1983 - Raqia Hassan - www.raqiahassan.net

 4.  1985 - Dahlena - www.dahlena.com

PERFORMANCE VENUES

 1.  1975 - 1977 - Green Acres, (Bar/Nightclub) Lodi, California

 2.  1975 - 1976 - Sacramento County Fair, Sacramento, California

 3.  1979 - 1980 - The Bagdad, (Nightclub) San Francisco, California

 4.  1979               Casbah, (Nightclub) San Francisco, California (guest performances)

 5.  1980 - 1982 - Greek Taverna, (Greek Restaurant) San Francisco, California

 6.  1980 - 1982 - Athena Taverna, (Arabic Restaurant) Oakland, California

 7.  1980 - 1982 - El Mansour, (Moroccan Restaurant) San Francisco, California

 8.  1980 - 1982 - Marrakesch, (Moroccan Restaurant) San Francisco, California

 9.  1980 - 1982 - Pasha Restaurant, (Moroccan Restaurant) San Francisco, California (guest performances)

10.  1980 - 1983 - Eastern Onion, (Singing Telegram Service) San Francisco, California (belly grams)

11.  1982 - 1984 - Casablanca, (Middle Eastern Restaurant) San Bruno, California

12.  1982               Santa Clara Annual County Fair, Santa Clara, California

13.  1982               Zorba’s, San Rafael, California

14.  1982 - 1999 - Grapeleaf Restaurant, (Lebanese Restaurant) San Francisco, California

15.  1983               Amira, (Middle Eastern Restaurant), San Francisco, California

16.  1984 - 1986 - Arabian Nights (Middle Eastern Restaurant), San Francisco, California

17.  1984 - 1985 - Kasbah Moroccan Restaurant, (Moroccan Restaurant) San Rafael, California

18.  1984 - 1990 - Petra Restaurant, (Lebanese/Palestinian Restaurant) San Bruno, California

19.  1988               Bimbos, (Nightclub), San Francisco, California

20.  1999 - Pres. - Al-Masri Egyptian Restaurant, (Egyptian restaurant) San Francisco, California

ARTICLES - Authored and non-Authored

 1.  The Caravan Magazine - 1982; Cover Dancer

 2.  Milbrea Sun - 1984

 3.  Sasebo, Japan, Base Newsletter - 1884

 4.  Zaghareet Magazine - 1985

 5.  Jareeda Magazine - 1987

 6.  Habibi Magazine - 1988

 

LETTERS OF APPRECIATION

 1.  From D. S. Albright, Jr., Rear Admiral, USNR-R, Treasure Island,

San Francisco, California, January 28, 1980

 2.  From Officer in Charge, Fleet Surveillance Support Command, Detachment 1, Amchitka Island,

Alaska, FPO Seattle, Washington, November 6, 1989

CD COVERS

 1.  Cocktail  Bellydance with Sausan; 1993

(www.bellydance.org/shop/cocktail-belly-dance-with-sausan-p-25135.html)

 2.  Nazir Latouf LIVE; 2016 (music editing)