Cafe Taqsim, formerly known as Cafe Bellie, is a Middle Eastern and Central Asian dance benefit concert where both novice and professional dancers can connect, perform, and share their art in service of the community. We are based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Dance
Cafe Taqsim is a multi-genre, open stage, community-focused charity event, featuring the dances of the Middle East and Central Asia. Whether it's American Fusion Belly Dance, Moroccan Guedra, ITS, Contemporary Persian or classical Afghan, Cafe Taqsim provides a space for novice dancers to share their craft in a professional setting, and professional dancers to debut new pieces, troupes and more.
Community
Cafe Taqsim is a place for dancers from across genres to connect, appreciate, experiment thoughtfully and share joyfully. In addition to the show, each Cafe Taqsim begins with a free dance class, features premium vendors, and a raffle with exquisite prizes. We took a long hiatus during Covid, and returned back December 2022. Be sure to sign up for our email list, or follow us on Facebook, to be the first to know about our next show!
Charity
As Cafe Bellie, Amy Luna, Lisa Tilton and Gail Corrado raised over $10,000 for the Women's Daytime Drop in Center of Berkeley. In 2019, Cafe Bellie has re-branded as Cafe Taqsim, and we are expanding our charity partners to those that not only serve women, but immigrants and refugees coming from the Middle East and Central Asia, as well as organizations that provide crisis support for communities in Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Yemen and beyond.
Get Notified
Want to attend, dance or volunteer at the next Cafe Taqsim? Do you know of a charity partner we should work with? Sign up for our email list here (we only send emails a few times a year when there's an upcoming show), or write us directly at cafetaqsim @ gmail.com
Also be sure to join our Facebook Community for announcements!
Thank you
We will email you about upcoming events. For more frequent updates, be sure to join our Facebook Community!