Hanan Arts Cooperative Benefit Bash

Thanks to multidisciplinary artists such as Tiffany "Hanan" Madera, belly dancing has become an unusually effective element in the city's bohemian culture, appearing in everything from spoken-word events to electro concerts and dance clubs. Madera creates her acclaimed projects, which range from her performance piece Habibi Remix to a Latin hip-hop film festival in March 2004, with money from a variety of sources, including grants and occasional benefits. Far from a dry wine-and-cheese affair, however, her latest fundraising bash should qualify as a great yet intimate party, with music from DJ Mr. Cisum, performances by Takada West African Drum Ensemble and the Deadly Venom Crew, a poetry slam, screenings of the films American Bellydancer and Cubamor, and more extroverted behavior than a classic episode of Saturday Night Live.