Raks Geek: Geeky Chicago Bellydance and Fire - Bellydancing Wookiee Raks Geek: Geeky Chicago Bellydance and Fire - Bellydancing Wookiee

Geek + Bellydance + Fire

"Set phasers to stunning." - The Daily Mail (UK)

Chicago Reader's "Best Dance Troupe" (runner-up)

Raks Geek is the premiere bellydance, flow arts, and fire company by geeks for geeks. We're based in Chicago, Illinois, but we've made waves nationally and internationally on MSN, WGN-TV, The Daily Mail, WCIU, and the Chicago Tribune through our commitment to blend a high degree of artistic and technical mastery with fun, creativity, and our favorite themes from nerd culture. Our dancers and firespinners have performed everywhere from Germany to Argentina and dance for hundreds of people every week, but they're also lifelong geeks who bring a love and expertise in science fiction, video games, technology, research science, and comics. We were featured on UK Channel 4 TV's "50 Funniest Moments of the Year" and listed as a Timeout Chicago Critics' Pick.

Also: The internet loves us. And we love the internet.

Upcoming Theatrical Productions

Show poster: Raks Inferno

Raks Inferno: An Intimate Circus Speakeasy

Friday, April 12 at 7pm

The Newport Theater
956 W. Newport Ave. | Chicago, IL 60657
Tickets: $29-$39
Ages 16+

Experience with an intimate speakeasy featuring circus artists, bellydancers, and object manipulators who have performed around the world, dazzling and inspiring audiences from Germany to Morocco, Costa Rica to the Czech Republic. "When sexy meets dangerous, it’s badass.” These shows often sell out!

After the show: Enjoy a specialty cocktail and meet the performers. We won't cosplay in this show, but we will amaze you with badass bellydance and circus!

Limited capacity (max 65%). Masks requested.

SALE: Get 20% off tickets! Use code SPEAKEASY. Ends Sun. 3/17.

Get Your Tickets »


Show poster: Raks Inferno

Raks Inferno: An AAPI Heritage Month Speakeasy

Friday, May 10 at 7pm

The Newport Theater
956 W. Newport Ave. | Chicago, IL 60657
Tickets: $29-$39
Ages 16+

Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with an intimate speakeasy featuring circus artists, bellydancers, and object manipulators who have performed around the world, dazzling and inspiring audiences from Germany to Morocco, Costa Rica to the Czech Republic. "When sexy meets dangerous, it’s badass.” These shows often sell out!

After the show: Enjoy a specialty cocktail and meet the performers. We won't cosplay in this show, but we will amaze you with badass bellydance and circus!

This show is part of Defiant Silk Festival, nominated "Best Performing Arts Festival 2023" by the Chicago Reader!

Limited capacity (max 65%). Masks requested.

Tickets on sale soon!

Raks Geek: Geek + Bellydance + Fire - Newport Theater: Nerd Bellydance and Fire Performance

Raks Geek: A Sci-Fi + Fantasy Speakeasy

Friday, June 14 at 7pm

Newport Theater
956 W Newport Ave. | Chicago, IL 60657
Tickets: $29-$39
Ages 16+

Experience nerd delight with cosplay and wonder in an intimate speakeasy - we pay tribute to fandoms from Star Wars to Marvel, Doctor Who to Silent Hill with artists who have performed around the world. These shows often sell out!

Limited capacity (max 65%). Masks requested.

Tickets on sale soon!
As Seen In:
Chicago Tribune UK Channel 4 TV Uncanny Magazine WGN-TV Chicago Reader Chicago Now Vulture WCIU Cheezburger Time Out Chicago The Daily Mail Thrillist MSN

Performers (Main Company)

Dawn Xiana Moon (Founder/Director)

Dawn Xiana Moon - Raks Geek Director, Bellydancer + Firespinner

Dawn Xiana Moon (she/her) has appeared on Britain's Got Talent and was named Chicago's "Best Stage Performer" (twice), "Best Choreographer," and "Best Dancer" (twice) by the Chicago Reader. She has performed in London, Toronto, and Washington, DC and taught at major bellydance festivals across the US; WGN-TV called her "spectacular!" In addition to her work as a dancer and fire performer, Dawn is a singer-songwriter who's sung the National Anthem for the Chicago Bulls; she's performed in 10 states and released two albums, fusing elements from traditional Chinese music with folk, pop, and jazz. She was named runner up for "Best Singer-Songwriter" and "Best International/World Music Act" by the Chicago Reader. When she's not making art, you can find her leading UX design for projects with the CDC and Medicaid (like this site? She made it) or publishing essays and cultural commentary in places like TechCrunch and Uncanny Magazine. Conversations with her may cover the following topics: the differences between the Lord of the Rings films and books, how incredibly relevant Babylon 5 feels 30 years after it originally aired, and the importance of good art.

Kamrah

Kamrah - Tattooed Bellydancer

Viral TikTok and Instagram star, teacher, and performer Kamrah (he/they) is known for his show-stopping drum solos, award-winning shimmies, and killer isolations... and killer green shell hits in Mario Kart. Programmer by day, dancer by night, he holds multiple certifications from the top bellydance schools and teachers, including Zoe Jakes's Diamonds and Spades, and Salimpour School's Suhaila Level 1 and 2, and Jamila Level 1 and 2. His dance is based firmly in the study of Middle Eastern dance (raqs sharqi), music, and culture, as well as multiple fusion styles of bellydance. In April 2023, Kamrah made history by being the first transgender performer in the legendary, longest-running belly dance show in the world, Bal Anat (ever see bellydancers at Ren Faires? Yeah, Bal Anat is why - they were the first), and the first trans man to perform the famous tray dance. When he's not nerding out over belly dance history and Ancient Egypt, he's nerding out over Final Fantasy, Star Wars, and dragons. Be warned: never go up against Kamrah in Star Wars Trivial Pursuit when death is on the line... wait... no... wrong movie, sorry.

Gaea Lady

Gaea Lady

Gaea Lady (she/her) is an enchantress by nature, a force that will make you feel the earth move. She fuels her passion for life into performance art, mentorship, silk veils, fire dancing, hoops, bellydance, and burlesque. Deeply trusting her unique magic, Gaea seeks to inspire creative authentic expression in all she encounters. Ranked internationally in the top 50 "Most Influential Burlesque Artists of 2018 & 2019," Gaea has performed, taught, and headlined all over the world, notably at the Burlesque Hall of Fame 2016 where she won "Best Debut" and "Most Classic," and headlined across Italy. She is the creator of the Pussy Magic Burlesque Program, and co-leads Ignite Fire Keeper Retreats, such as "Ignite Your Inner Flame," all over the world. Gaea also geeks out about food, Star Wars, Octavia Butler, sci-fi, fantasy, and mythology, especially loving the projected realities sci-fi and fantasy. Being Leia and a Jedi has been a dream of hers ever since she first saw Episode IV at the age of five. Galadriel was her inspiration to see the depth in reality as empowered magic, which she still does every day.

Michi Trota

Michi Trota

Michi Trota (she/her) has been spinning fire for over a decade and is a lifelong geek and foodie. She's a five-time Hugo Award winner, British Fantasy Award winner, and the first Filipina to win a Hugo Award. Michi is the former Editor-in-Chief of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), former Senior Editor of Prism, and also co-editor of the WisCon Chronicles Vol. 12 with Isabel Schechter (Aqueduct Press). She's written restaurant profiles and food articles for Chicago Magazine, and was the exhibit text writer for Worlds Beyond Here: Expanding the Universe of APA Science Fiction at the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, WA. She’s been featured in publications like the 2016 Chicago Reader People Issue, Chicago Tribune, and The Guardian, and has spoken at the Adler Planetarium, the Chicago Humanities Festival, and on NPR. Michi is past president of the Chicago Nerd Social Club Board of Organizers, a former organizer and board member of the Chicago Full Moon Jam, and lives with her spouse and their two cats in Chicago.

Lee Na-Moo

Lee Na-Moo

Internationally known, Lee Na-Moo (he/him) combines bellydance with contemporary dance, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and several Asian styles. He won the Chicago Oriental Dance Competition, which brought him to audiences in Argentina, and was invited to teach and perform at the 7th International Oriental Festival in Spain. He has also toured with Bellydance Evolution in Morocco, Germany, and the Czech Republic as a teacher and performer and was nominated by the Chicago Reader as "Best Choreographer" in 2019. Lee was a longtime member of Read My Hips and is a member of Joel Hall Dancers, a contemporary dance company based in Chicago. He is also an avid video gamer and a lover of all things geek.

Dahlia Fatale

Dahlia Fatale

Dahlia Fatale (she/her) is an award-winning burlesque performer, contortionist, and instructor. Her performances combine the smoothness of a lifetime of classical dance training with the tease of slow burn burlesque and the bizarre and superhuman stylings of contortion. In 2019 she was awarded the title of Best Debut at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender. In Chicago, she co-produces the metal burlesque show Sextape! A Metal Mixtape alongside Helena Handbasket and works with a variety of clients to curate entertainment private and corporate events. Dahlia is also well known for her abilities as an instructor: She has taught in New Orleans, St. Louis, and more, and teaches weekly classes in Chicago at Velvet and Chrome as well as online. When she's not bending herself or others, Dahlia is an absolute horror nerd with interest in film (ask her opinions about Linnea Quigley), video games (Silent Hill and Little Nightmares as personal faves) and comics (Marvel, but also Roman Dirge). She also enjoys playing with sharp objects, rocking out to all kinds of metal, and occasionally re-playing Paper Mario.

 Never seen a sexy Wookiee bellydance? This can be remedied. 

- MSN.com

Upcoming Productions

Show poster: Raks Inferno

Raks Inferno: An Intimate Circus Speakeasy

Friday, April 12 at 7pm

The Newport Theater
956 W. Newport Ave. | Chicago, IL 60657
Tickets: $29-$39
Ages 16+

Experience with an intimate speakeasy featuring circus artists, bellydancers, and object manipulators who have performed around the world, dazzling and inspiring audiences from Germany to Morocco, Costa Rica to the Czech Republic. "When sexy meets dangerous, it’s badass.” These shows often sell out!

After the show: Enjoy a specialty cocktail and meet the performers. We won't cosplay in this show, but we will amaze you with badass bellydance and circus!

Limited capacity (max 65%). Masks requested.

SALE: Get 20% off tickets! Use code SPEAKEASY. Ends Sun. 3/17.

Get Your Tickets »


Show poster: Raks Inferno

Raks Inferno: An AAPI Heritage Month Speakeasy

Friday, May 10 at 7pm

The Newport Theater
956 W. Newport Ave. | Chicago, IL 60657
Tickets: $29-$39
Ages 16+

Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with an intimate speakeasy featuring circus artists, bellydancers, and object manipulators who have performed around the world, dazzling and inspiring audiences from Germany to Morocco, Costa Rica to the Czech Republic. "When sexy meets dangerous, it’s badass.” These shows often sell out!

After the show: Enjoy a specialty cocktail and meet the performers. We won't cosplay in this show, but we will amaze you with badass bellydance and circus!

This show is part of Defiant Silk Festival, nominated "Best Performing Arts Festival 2023" by the Chicago Reader!

Limited capacity (max 65%). Masks requested.

Tickets on sale soon!

Raks Geek: Geek + Bellydance + Fire - Newport Theater: Nerd Bellydance and Fire Performance

Raks Geek: A Sci-Fi + Fantasy Speakeasy

Friday, June 14 at 7pm

Newport Theater
956 W Newport Ave. | Chicago, IL 60657
Tickets: $29-$39
Ages 16+

Experience nerd delight with cosplay and wonder in an intimate speakeasy - we pay tribute to fandoms from Star Wars to Marvel, Doctor Who to Silent Hill with artists who have performed around the world. These shows often sell out!

Limited capacity (max 65%). Masks requested.

Tickets on sale soon!

Raks Geek has performed at venues including Navy Pier, University of Chicago, Gen Con, DisCon (Worldcon - Washington, DC), Wizard World Chicago, Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts, Oak Lawn Public Library, Chicago TARDIS, Chicago Parks District, Kenosha Public Library, Chicon (Worldcon - Chicago), and Arlington Heights Public Library.

Our performers have also delighted audiences at the London Palladium (UK), Field Museum, Untitled, Tribal Fest (Sebastopol, CA), Metro, Alhambra Palace, University of Illinois - Chicago, International Festival of Oriental Dance (Spain), Atomic Lollipop (Canada), Chicago Full Moon Fire Jam, Envision Festival (Costa Rica), Bellydance Evolution (Germany), and more as soloists and with other performance companies.