On my way to the Courtyard Marriott in Woburn that morning, I didn't think I would stay the whole day. With my weekends being so busy, I haven't had a lot of time to relax and spend time with my boyfriend and friends. But after Saturday's workshop, I had made some wonderful connections, and after telling my boyfriend about all the fun I was having he encouraged me to stay and get inspired.
I'm so glad that I did! It was my first Viva La Diva show, so I had no idea that it was going to go on for more than 5 hours!! But I love watching other dancers and hearing songs that I'm not familiar with yet.
Once Za-Beth posts up information about who the winners are, I'll update this blog with more of my impressions.
I was excited to see that one of my classmates with Amira Jamal was part of the competition! I was so proud to be there to cheer on Shakima Laila. She had performed some of her competition pieces to us in class, so it was exciting to see her in full regalia! She started up the night' festivities with one of her graceful routines.
I like that the belly dance community is so tightly knit. I'm sure that not everyone gets along swimmingly, but you can count on the fact that you will always see some familiar faces at an event. I asked Dondi a little about the differences between the communities on the coasts. She said it's a lot more competitive on the Westside, maybe because there's a higher concentration of them within a given radius and it seems like they're all trying to make it big. I definitely got the feeling of being "larger than life" from my small exposure to the Los Angeles bellydance community.
After Shakima Laila, the troupes performed. They were all so different from each other, but a lot of fun to watch! At one point, I whispered to Najmat who cam for the show, "God, I love bellydance." The costumes were just amazing! It seemed like a great thing to be part of a troupe, since you can learn so much from the other people you work with.
In general, the routines were super cute! Some involved tambourines (I mean, how can you go wrong with tambourines??), veil work, switching positions with other troupe members, and just having fun dancing with each other. For me, I feel like being in a troupe is much more reminiscent of how Middle Eastern Dance historically began, mainly since the moves - choreographed or not - center around sharing a space with other women.
Three performers I was fortunate to meet this weekend were Jenny Cohen, MiaNaja al Sephira, and Almasa Durriyah. After the competition portion of the evening, these three lovelies graced the stage with their performances, as well as other amazing dancers. It's pretty neat that these three came from outside of Massachusetts (New York, Maryland, and Rhode Island, respectively) to perform at the Viva La Diva Pageant. With varying degrees of life experiences and styles, I was inspired by these three lovelies. They were all graceful and really held themselves with a confidence that I'm trying to achieve, both off and on the stage - not to mention that they're all super sweethearts!
I also met Johara, who wasn't performing that night, but she encouraged me to think about dancing at the Middle East Restaurant - which, I'll have to confess, scares the bujeezus out of me! But, I'm working on it!!!
After the performance, the awards were given out. I thought it was super sweet that Za-Beth presented an award to all the participants. She stressed how important it was to have the memories, regardless of the outcomes. I think that message can get so lost in the world of competition. It was refreshing to see and hear a professional dancer with that mindset.
Me with Shakima Laila and her 2 awards!
Finally, Titanya graced the stage. She danced a Spanish Fusion piece, complete with veils and zills. It was such a treat to watch her dance! You could really see her theater background when she is performing. I don't know how to explain it, but there's a certain way that the theater folks behave and carry themselves.
To conclude the show, Dondi performed a wonderful upbeat dance. It's always a little strange, I think, to watch someone live when you're used to seeing them on a DVD. She recently had an adorable baby boy, who was present, and you could see her glowing from it. Both her and Titanya moved up and down the middle aisle, and really engaged and livened up the audience after such a long evening.
I truly felt inspired by all the beautiful women who danced their hearts out. Though I'm not one for competition, maybe by this time next year, I'll not be as nervous about performing at a venue such as this.
To be continued...
Part 3 - Zambra Mora and Conclusion
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