This page has assorted bits of information
about Oasis Dance Camp ("ODC")
collected or provided by
the Rising Phoenix Dancers.
We are not the sponsors of ODC, so
this is not an "official" source
of ODC information; however, we do like Camp a lot
and we want to share some of this to give you
a sense of what ODC is like.
Oasis Dance Camp History
ODC was started in 1985 in Traverse City, Michigan, by Vashti Bint al-Waha (then known as Khalila Khan) and Sa'ida Bint al-Waha, who both lived in that area at the time. ("Bint al-Waha" means "daughter of the Oasis" and is sort of a tribal name that people may take who've been to the camp.) The camp was an immediate success, no doubt largely because of its featured instructor, Cassandra, who many consider the best teacher and performer in the USA, if not the world.
ODC continues to be a popular annual fall event in
Traverse City, and has since expanded to other locations.
ODC West is held near Seattle, Washington, and
ODC South is held near Jacksonville, Florida.
The latter is our local favorite.
Personal Views
Sherezzah Bint al-Waha has attended ODC every year since she first discovered it in 1988. Joani Bint al-Waha has attended since its inception, although she hasn't been able to make it every year. The Rising Phoenix Dancers first attended as a group at ODC South in 1996, and have attended each year since.
At that 1996 Camp, we won the "Favorite Group Number" award. Well, OK, we were the only troupe there, but we like to think we would have won anyway :-) We also walked away with most of the other awards; that's because there were 6 of us among the 30 or so people at Camp and we were able to load the ballot box :-)
Five of us attended ODC South 1997, where we won the
"Camp Spirit" award, in part because we made the
banner pictured at the top of the page.
(This time there were lots of troupes, including
a group of 8 from Indiana, so we were outnumbered :-)
We've continued to attend every year.
Most of our long-time attendees have adopted
the "Bint al-Waha" ("daughter of the Oasis") tribal surname.
Local Articles and ODC Links
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