And like the song, Hudkins isn't going to let the fire that destroyed two-thirds of her store early in the morning on Jan. 6 stop her—from dancing or from helping others prepare for their own dances.

The electrical fire—started in a faulty outlet in the backroom of Hudkins' store—destroyed about two-thirds of the store, including $25,000 to $30,000 in apparel and other goods. In addition, the walls had to be ripped down, leaving the inside of her store a gutted space, bordered by studs on all sides.

To raise money to reopen the store and bring the local belly-dancing community together for support, Lunatic Fringe held the "Too Hot" dance party at 9 p.m. on Jan. 23 at The Bean Scene in downtown Sunnyvale. Local dance troupes and professional belly dancers turned out in force at the small coffee shop, at times spilling out onto Murphy Street, continuing their dances in the rain.

"The crowd support was excellent, especially for a rainy night," Hudkins said. "There were even people standing out in the rain, tipping the dancers."

Hudkins said the dance party was nothing new for local belly dancers, who perform at the shop every few months, but the support shown after the fire made it special.

For Hudkins, the community support in the form of donations from apparel vendors, kind wishes from residents and continued interest in the Middle Eastern dance form were more important than the roughly $300 in tips collected by the dancers and donated to the store's rebuilding.

A lifelong dancer who took up belly dancing about six years ago, Hudkins said her store serves an important role in the belly-dancing community in the area, supplying the silk veils, skirts, coin belts and beaded apparel that characterize the dancing.

After finding she had a talent for making the hip wraps used in belly dancing, Hudkins began selling clothing out of her garage, before her husband helped her open her own store in 2002. She says he wanted his garage back, and the clothes she was making were beginning to take up space.

"He thought of the name while I was making the wraps. I was up to my eyeballs in fringe; he thought I was crazy," Hudkins said. "It has a lot to do with the Red Rider song."

Since then, she has been outfitting dancers from the 25 to 30 belly-dancing classes in the area, as well as providing custom clothing for dance troupes and her own line of apparel. With the temporary loss of her store, Hudkins said she has stopped ordering new clothes from vendors and is instead focusing on "fire sales," to get rid of some of the damaged goods. Once the store reopens, she said she'd like to see it grow, changing locations and perhaps adding a studio so teachers can bring classes into the store for lessons.

But all of those plans are on hold for the six to eight weeks Hudkins said it would take to reopen the store. Until then, she said she plans to continue dancing, to keep the lunacy alive.

"It keeps the dancing in focus," Hudkins said. "It also lets people know that we're still going to be here."