Djam at Je'Bon

For a fun girls night out, my friends Mimi and Ava and I like to go to our favorite place to watch bellydancing in New York: Djam at Je'Bon.  In the downstairs space of this East Village Asian restaurant, a group of musicians and dancers get together for an experimental presentation of bellydance and other related forms of movement.  Kaeshi Chai of Bellyqueen (pictured here) is the hostess and creator of this Wednesday night showcase that always delivers a new way of looking at this ever-changing and varied artform.  Practically every well-known bellydancer has graced this stage at some point in the past 3-years.  After each performance, I am always amazed at how styles, body types, costumes and make-up can be so different and unique.  The band Djinn, composed of five core players, really enliven with their beats and syncopations.  The intimate and informal format is perfectly balanced with a combination of food, music, dance with a dash of the unexpected.  Kaeshi, an incredible warrior-princess of a dancer herself, often has her student troupes perform so that the atmosphere is very amicable and familial.  In fact, we can all get up and dance together at the end to cap off the evening.