ACCC will be hosting a series of one-night Arab cooking workshops to teach you how to make various dishes from across the Arab world. Join us in May to learn how to make a dish that will delight your friends and family--warak dawali, also known as dolmas, a dish of grape leaves stuffed with rice, tomato, and spices. We'll also throw in how to make an appetizer to serve with the dish! You'll leave the class with both a full belly and a new skill.

Envious of your friends who lead the dabka lines at parties and weddings? Join ACCC Executive Director and Al Juthoor dabbka troupe member, Loubna Qutami, for this one-day dabka workshop. You will learn several dabka steps as well as a brief cultural history of the dance. From beginners to dabka masters--We will offer something in this workshop for everyone!

Register Online!

About Debka:

Debka is the indigenous folk dance of the Levant, the region of the Arab world including Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, parts of Iraq, and the folk dance is even practiced and performed in parts of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It is traditionally performed as an improvised line dance in which both young and old take part as part of any celebratory event. It's literal translation means "stamping of the feet" which reflects the intricate footwork and punctuated stomps accompanying the musical scale. In staged variations of the traditional art form, the dancers can and often do follow a story line as a means of cultural expression and preservation. Staged versions of the folkdance are common in the Arab world as part of state-sponsored or community folk dance groups, particularly in villages and refugee camps.

Cost: $25 Non-members and $20 ACCC Members

Screening: Abi Fawq Al Shagara (Egypt, 1969)

Realeased in 1969, Abi Fawq al Shagara, starring Abdel Halim Hafez, is one of the biggest hits in Egyptian film history. Racy and romantic, the film epitomizes the social and generational conflicts around sexuality in Egypt and globally. The film also contains some of Egyptian cinema's most famous musical numbers ....and a record number of on screen kisses! Join ACCC and AFF for this great summer film!

We are no longer accepting registration for this event

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Saadoun al-Bayati and his ensemble will not be performing as planned due to sudden illness.

Saadoun Al-Bayati has devoted his talents to promoting his Iraqi musical heritage to American audiences, i.e., the demanding and highly complex traditional music of Iraq, al-maqamat al-Iraqiyya.

Saadoun's inspired performances as singer, oudist, and percussionist derive from his experience of Sufi rhythms and meditative states in the Baghdad of his childhood and youth. Quranic recitation prepared his voice to achieve precise gradations of tone. A graduate of Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Saadoun's impassioned performances are enhanced by his formal training in Western theatre and his many years of experience before live audiences on night club and concert stages.

Saadoun Al-Bayati has performed in the U.S. as a featured artist with such notables as American folksinger Joan Baez, the Billy Mitchell Jazz Ensemble, Hamza El-Din, Professor Ali Jihad Racy, the Kan Zaman and Zawaya orchestras, the Hutchins Consort, and many more. The Saadoun Al-Bayati Ensemble has played most recently at cultural events and at benefits for orphaned children and refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan, with appearances at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Southern California (USC), the Levantine Cultural Center in Los Angeles, Citizens Reach Out in San Francisco, the Arab Cultural and Community Center and the San Francisco Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. http://www.saadounal-bayati.com

We are no longer accepting registration for this event

Celebrate summer with ACCC at this in-house concert with Iraqi oud virtuoso, Saadoun al-Bayati and his wonderful ensemble! Join us for summery snacks and a night of Arabic music.Saadoun Al-Bayati has devoted his talents to promoting his Iraqi musical heritage to American audiences, i.e., the demanding and highly complex traditional music of Iraq, al-maqamat al-Iraqiyya.

Saadoun's inspired performances as singer, oudist, and percussionist derive from his experience of Sufi rhythms and meditative states in the Baghdad of his childhood and youth. Quranic recitation prepared his voice to achieve precise gradations of tone. A graduate of Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Saadoun's impassioned performances are enhanced by his formal training in Western theatre and his many years of experience before live audiences on night club and concert stages.

Saadoun Al-Bayati has performed in the U.S. as a featured artist with such notables as American folksinger Joan Baez, the Billy Mitchell Jazz Ensemble, Hamza El-Din, Professor Ali Jihad Racy, the Kan Zaman and Zawaya orchestras, the Hutchins Consort, and many more. The Saadoun Al-Bayati Ensemble has played most recently at cultural events and at benefits for orphaned children and refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan, with appearances at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Southern California (USC), the Levantine Cultural Center in Los Angeles, Citizens Reach Out in San Francisco, the Arab Cultural and Community Center and the San Francisco Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. http://www.saadounal-bayati.com

Cost: $10 suggested donation