"From Tassels to Sequins" - Review for Belly Dance New England

For the complete article with images, please visit:
http://www.bellydancenewengland.com/sequins.html

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If you are completely new to the world of belly dance, then hopefully you made it to the "From Tassels to Sequins" event at Moody Street Circus in Waltham, MA, on Friday, April 1st. Showcasing dancers from all facets of belly dance, Baseema Moirae and Melina of Daughters of Rhea organized an entertaining and exciting show that could have acted as a great introduction for all that is belly dance.

If you have yet to visit the Moody Street Circus, drop what you are doing and make your way there immediately. The studio is beautifully laid out for both dance and circus classes, and it turns into a wonderful show venue for the many events that take place there. The posters of past events that cover the walls are only a sampling of the excellent events that have yet to be produced at this wonderful venue.

This event, preceding a weekend of workshops, featured Oregon-based dancer Sabine. She is known for her tribal-style moves and double-sword wielding abilities; the focus of the workshops. Considering that she and her two scimitars were the finale of the evening, the entire show was extremely strong from beginning to end. Every performer and troupe that walked onto the dance floor was high-caliber, the top performers of the New England area and then some.

Shimza, a new American Tribal Style (ATS) collaboration between Baseema and Sara Ford, opened the show by staying true to their name (Gypsy word for joy or happiness) and set the example for the joy that one should feel when dancing.

Bellybeat once again impressed the audience with their visually appealing formations. Their fusion-style choreography and movements were akin to sirens calling out to the audience to join them.

When Aurel walked onto the stage, she commanded everyone's attention as she balanced a tea tray on her head while descending to the floor. There is humor and a down-to-earth quality to her cabaret style that is refreshing, and there is no doubt that she has abs of steel under all that beading.

Ombellyco then brought us back to the ATS part of the belly dance world. It honestly blows my mind that ATS is mainly improvisational, but that all the dancers in a troupe understand the cues well enough to follow along. Ombellyco's formations not only exemplified ATS, but it also reminded me of a fractal, where each part is a copy of the whole.

Najmat is basically glamour personified. Her Egyptian-style dance is ever-captivating, and even though the wrong tracks played for the second part of her performance she never fails to impress.

We then had the pleasure of a sneak peak of Sabine's talent when her troupe, Tribalation, performed. It was clear in their dance that Sabine and Kathryn truly love the dance and have found true sisters in each other.

Denise, a member of the Boston-based Vadalna Tribal Dance Company, seemed to slither onto the dance floor. There was something about her dancing that almost made me want to rub my eyes in disbelief – her movements were so graceful yet sharp that I was almost convinced that I was watching a CGI instead of a real person.

When Kaylin stepped out in her beledy dress and whipped her veil around her effortlessly, I was absolutely mesmerized. There were so many instances during her performance when I took mental videos to bookmark for later practice.

Jaylee impressed the audience with her precise moves. She hit every break and every accent without fail. You could see the audience trying to keep up with her, but her pops and locks were much too quick for the human eye.

Sara Rodrigues Cabral graced us with the beautiful artistry of her piece entitled "Jewelry Box". There is so much imagination in her pieces, it is clear that she has been dancing and creating as long as she has been on this earth.

Before Sara could leave the stage, Melina's husband Sasha walked onto the stage. As they pretended to flirt with each other, Melina, the Mistress of Moody Street Circus herself, floated onto the stage and "caught them in the act". As she pulled out her dagger and her sword, you knew that she was not one to mess with. I personally could never tire of watching Melina balance the sword on the dagger she's holding in her mouth. Her Greco-Turkish style of belly dance is just so full of energy and surprises; you can't help but bow down to her.

The Magnolia Devi Dance Company from Maine then showcased their ATS skills. They were exciting to watch, especially when they slinked down to the floor. However, perhaps because of the seating arrangement, it was somewhat difficult to see what was happening when they were doing floor work.

Di'ahna Restry is a dancer who knows how to entertain. It was fun to watch her interact with the audience while combining a slow song with a fast song, her movements echoing the emotions and sensations of love, the subject of both songs.

Finally, Sabine's scimitars were placed on the stage. Truly, I could have watched her maneuver around and over the swords for much longer than she did. She moved effortlessly on the stage, while balancing not one sword but two. I could imagine a "Do not attempt this at home" disclaimer underneath her. She is truly a master at the Raks al Sayf, and the swords are merely an extension of her arms.

As someone who is more accustomed to the sequins aspect of belly dance, it seemed that there was a bit of a skew towards the tassels in this show. However, considering that the headliner represented ATS, and represented it gloriously, the tassel skew was appropriate and not unwelcomed. The variety in performances left me feeling inspired to try some new things in my own dance practice.

Congratulations to Melina and Baseema for a wonderful show and thanks for helping to enhance the belly dance landscape of New England!

Shimmies V: Peace Love and Shimmies

On Saturday, March 12th, 2011, the ever-amazing duo of *Samantha* and Baseema Moirae hosted their fifth Shimmies (previously known as Shimmies For A Cure) entitled Shimmies V: Peace Love and Shimmies.

The day was jam-packed with workshops and a show featuring amazing local dancers.  This year, I had the pleasure of being the Stage Manager for the show.

It was great to see so many familiar and brand new faces from the New England belly dance community.

Workshops
Ooey Gooey with Najmat
One would think that having weekly class with Najmat is enough to build up some strength.  But in the following week, she will help you find muscles that have basically been dormant since you were born. 

This workshop was no exception.  Najmat taught us how to "milk it" and stressed the importance of "squeezing your princess" as you do so.  We worked through several movements that really focused on making sure that our ab muscles were always engaged.

As always with Najmat's classes, time flew by.  But I would be lying if I didn't say that many of us breathed a sigh of relief at the thought of being able to relax for just a short amount of time.

Ballet for Belly Dancers with Aurel
If we knew how much more of a workout we were going to get in the second workshop, we probably would have wanted a longer break!  I was personally excited to take a workshop with Aurel, a gorgeous dancer/singer/performer.

I have very minimal experience with ballet.  For middle school, I attended a performing arts magnet in Los Angeles, and we were required to take a dance class as opposed to regular gym.  So, I know about pliés, arabesques, and basics about the feet positioning.  Aurel stressed the importance of the form and the lines that ballet hammers into its dancers, especially about pointing the toes and hiding the heels.

My thighs were burning after the workshop!  It actually made me want to do a bit more practice on my own to work on the beautiful form that ballet can give to belly dance.

So You Think You Can Fuse? with Neylan
I have only watched Neylan perform, so I was interested in taking a workshop with her.  It was great that she started with talking about the importance of knowing the origins and basics of the dances that you are fusing.  It would indeed be strange to try to fuse Filipino traditional dances, let's say, with belly dance without knowing the moves and music of each.

She then taught us 2 short choreographies which we danced through several times using different types of music.  We got to play around with making the movements go faster and slower, depending on the music she played for us.

I have to admit that my mind wasn't fully at this workshop.  With the show soon after, my brain was wandering over to my stage managing duties, and I kept glancing at the time to make sure I had enough time to do all that I needed and fit in a tiny bit of shopping before I needed to refocus my energy.

Shimmies Show!
The show featured about 19 dancers from the New England area, including the 3 wonderful workshop instructors.

There were many new acts that I had never seen perform before (such as The Belly Dance Collective and OmBellyCo), and some acts who were debuting for the first time (such as Serpenour and Shimza!).  And of course, there were so many of my favorite performers gracing the stage.

For the most part, even though I was managing the staging, I got to see the majority of performances.  As stage manager, I was in charge of keeping track of the music and relaying the information to the DJ's (who were late and not very accustomed to belly dance shows), making sure the performers and their props were prepared, and keeping track of the time.

I'd have to say that the Shimmies Team did a pretty great job.  For the most part, we were running on time with room to spare!  At some point, however, we took too much time to get the raffle distribution started, so the final set of dancers had to wait a bit longer than scheduled.  At the end, we ended a half hour later than originally planned.  Really, not a bad thing at all.

Truth be told, I thought the show was amazing.  There was such a great variety of performers and styles.  It never felt like a dull moment, though of course my feelings are heightened because I was helping out.  But the audience, who filled up the house, really seemed to be enjoying themselves.

To further prove how much fun people were having, when the DJ's started playing music that was more akin to a wedding reception, so many people were on the dance floor.  From the Cha Cha Slide to I Will Survive, the night ended as though we had been partying all day.

Thanks to *Samantha* and Baseema's ingenious organizing and event planning skills, I think we really all were having the time of our lives.

"A Maiti Voice" Presented by Johara & Snake Dance Theater

I had the pleasure of attending "A Maiti Voice" presented by Johara and the Snake Dance Theater on Sunday, March 6th at the YMCA Theater in Cambridge.

The event was a benefit for Maiti Nepal, an organization that helps to prevent child trafficking and provides services for survivors.  Truly, it's an important cause even in these times.

Really, the awesome part about this show is that it was more than just a belly dance show.  For many of the belly dance events, there is usually a variety of performers and even within the same genre of dance there is variety.

This event featured not only the belly dance pieces that I'm familiar with, including tribal, fusion, and Egyptian-style, but also some traditional Nepali dancing.

The show was amazing, really.  So much variety, and the Snake Dance Theater had amazing pieces and costume changes.  I particularly enjoyed the performance to Laylet Hob with tea trays and a shamadan, as well as the 2 Nepali dance pieces.

In truth, I had never seen Nepali dancing before, but it definitely made me think a lot about the origins of the dance.

Because of my limited experience with Nepali dancing, it reminded me a lot of Indian dancing, which geographically makes a lot of sense.  The music and many of the dance moves were somewhat similar, especially in the singing along to the songs.

It made me think a lot about the origins of belly dance, traditional Filipino dances, and other indigenous dances around the world.  What path did they follow?  While it makes sense that cultural traditions such as dancing followed the path of migration, I wonder if there was more to it.  How did they then evolve?

Do any of you know of any books that talk about this?  I'm sure I could Wikipedia the information, but it seems like there's more of a history of Western dance.  A good and informative book about dances and cultural wear around the world definitely beats that.

Raks Nativity 2010

On December 4th, a groups of belly dancers and their friends descended upon the town of Chelmsford, MA, to present the first production of Raks Nativity, the Christmas Story told through Middle Eastern Dance.

I was very excited to be chosen to play the Virgin Mary, which is really quite an honor coming from a Catholic family.

Publicity
On the night of the dress rehearsal on December 3rd, I received a copy of the Chelmsford Independent with the article on Raks Nativity right on the front cover.

There's me!

I'll be honest.  It was quite daunting to see that picture of me.  I really wasn't sure if I would be able to do the character justice, as I'm not really much of an actress.  But, I just kept telling myself to breathe.  All my peers were extremely supportive, and really helped to build me up.

What's a show without obstacles?
A week before the show, we learned that Amira Jamal would not be able to play the role of Anne, Mary's mother.  Her and I had practiced our part together several times already, but she was having a lot of trouble with her legs and knees, and I wouldn't have wanted her to hurt herself any further.

Truth be told, I was really saddened by the news.  I consider Amira my "belly dance mom," so it felt right that she would play my mom in the show.

However, when I learned that Najmat would be the official understudy, I was extremely excited!  Considering that we had joked back and forth about how she should be playing the Virgin Mary, it was all too appropriate for her to play my mom.

Debut
When December 4th arrived, I could hardly believe it.  I joked during the tech rehearsal that it would be over in 2 minutes, and we'd be wondering how we got there.

As show time closed in, I started to feel extremely nervous.  All my doubts suddenly flashed through my mind.  Behind the wings, I became intensely aware of my heartbeat.  Najmat assured me that I would do great, and I thought back to all the student recitals and performances I've been part of.  I even thought about how I had another dance gig I was hired for later that night.

I know this may sound silly, but the mere fact that I knew that acting (and serious, not being silly acting) was involved made it feel more important for me to do well.  I just didn't want to let anyone down.

Then the music started.  I took a deep breath, took one more look at my cast mates in the wings, and erased all those doubts from my mind.

As the first act came to a close, I felt myself breathe out as though I had been holding my breath the whole time.  It was great!  It felt great!  The audience seemed to enjoy themselves, and I hadn't fallen off the stage.

After some reapplication of makeup and readjusting of the costume, it was time to prepare for the second act.  I got to catch up with a couple of belly dance friends in the audience, but mainly tried to stay out of sight.

At some point, we were waiting in the wings during the second act, and I looked at the same people I was with during the tech rehearsal and said, "See! In like 2 minutes it's seriously over! How did we get here?!"

In preparing for the final scene, I sat in my chair and tried to channel a new mother's spirit.  I looked at the fake baby doll in my arms (though it was so real looking, it was kind of freaky!), and thought about what it must feel like to have just given birth and holding your new baby.  Then I thought how every mother must feel that their child is just as special as the newborn baby Jesus might have been.

On a side note, I know that I am definitely not prepared for motherhood, and this is why:  During rehearsal, I would constantly forget about the baby doll!  It was left on a table, or downstairs in the dressing room, or somewhere else.  But man, I am not prepared for babies!

The curtains opened and the final scene began.  This was perhaps one of the easiest parts for me, since I literally just had to sit there and look extremely happy.  But, in all honesty, I was extremely happy. 

The person playing Joseph (who I had only met the night before) and I were second to last to take our bows, and the drummers, Johara's Snake Dance Company, followed after us.

We did it!  We pulled off an amazing show, and each one of us were eager to talk to our friends in the audience to hear their feedback.

Reflections
Looking back at the event, I am still feeling this wonderful glow about me.  It's strange, really, playing such an important religious character but not being at all religious.  I can't help but feel a bit more spiritual and even more into the Christmas spirit after the show.

It was so lovely to see so many friends in the audience.  I remember at one point, noticing the light reflect off my boyfriend's glasses in the audience as I danced.  I get a bit nervous knowing he's there, mainly because his opinion is really important to me.  And at the same time, it's extremely comforting to know he's there because his opinion is really important to me.

They all said that I did a great job and how I was really expressive.  I had been much more concerned about looking pregnant, more than anything else, so I'm glad that I was able to accomplish both.

I now know that I do have the capacity to act as well as dance, and maybe even both at the same time.

As the pictures were published on Facebook, I felt like I was reliving the show all over again.  I honestly could have done it again, even 2 nights in a row.  Considering that it was about an hour of action and that it was a full house, we probably could have packed in another show.

All in all, I am so proud to have been part of this production.  I am proud of Nepenthe for being so creative with this vision, and I thank her for allowing me to be a small part of it.  Whatever she ends up doing next year, and if she does this again, I am so down!

For pictures, please check on my Photo and Video blog: Cecilia of the Sea

MassRaqs 2010 - Part 2

I decided to cut the post, since it was getting a bit too long.  Now, where was I?  Oh yes, the final day of MassRaqs 2010.

Sunday Workshops

Sunday, September 26th

Sunday was going to be a jam-packed day with 4 workshops and a Gala show in the evening.  This day felt a lot more relaxed, interestingly.  Perhaps because we already knew what to expect for the workshops.  Also, knowing that Springstep's staff would be in charge of setting up chairs really took a lot of stress away.

Shadia - Double Cane Technique
I have very limited experience with the cane, though I have to say that doing the saiidi choreography with Meiver for Barka helped to make me feel more confident about using this prop.  But 2 canes?  Well, that's a completely new adventure.  Truth be told, this workshop was a huge wake-up call for me.  Shadia stressed practicing at least 5 minutes a day with a cane, and in both hands, would really help everyone's technique.

My favorite part of this experience was learning some new tricks with the cane.  There was one trick where we twirled the cane and caught it on the other end (hard to explain, but really cool to watch!).  I found it hilarious that everyone (including me!) was dropping our canes during the practice.  We all had a lot to learn, but we are eager to do so.

My least favorite part of this experience was that I completely forgot that I hid my canes during the Gala and I forgot them at the venue!  Luckily, dowels don't const that much, so I can easily replace them.

Shadia - Bedouin Styling
Shadia, a master in folkloric style, introduced many of us to the Levantine and Bedouin style which is a lot less hips and more hands and arms and shoulders.  We went through a combination of steps and movements that are characteristic of these folkloric styles.

Then she paired us by height and we did some debke line dancing.  This was so much fun!  First of all, it was hilarious to see how fast the tall group moved across the room, and how much slower it took for the shorter groups.  But the beat of the music and the fact that it's a group line dance just makes it feel like a party.

Boẑenka for Cassandra - Oriental Technique Tune-Up
Boẑenka took us through some modern oriental technique work, leading us across the floor with different combinations and different facial expressions.  In a way, this felt like an extension or a second part of her Arms and Hands workshop from Saturday.

It was fun to cross the room with so many of my friends, and it was nice to watch the other dancers in the room strut their stuff.  It felt like we were all really cheering each other on, and just plain enjoying ourselves.

Boẑenka - Drum Solo
Perhaps one of the most exciting parts about this workshop, aside from learning some technique from one of the most renowned dancers, was that we had a live drummer to dance with.  One of the local drummers who was performing with the band at the Gala helped us learn a little bit about how to connect with the drummer.  Boẑenka stressed that while it often feels that the dancer has to chase after whatever the drummer is doing, the dancer can do a couple of things to signify that she will be changing her movements.

She had us individually approach the drummer and signify when we would be finishing a phrasing.  It was fun to watch each person dance and learn what moves help to signal to the drummer.  Then, several of the attendees picked up some drums and each of us participated in a drum circle.  We each danced to a full drumming group, and it was fun to show what we had learned.

In total, I have to admit that Saturday's workshops felt more like a lot of hard work, whereas Sunday felt a lot more relaxed and fun.  This isn't to say that either day wasn't filled with both hard work and fun, but there was definitely more of one aspect present on one day versus the other.

Sunday Gala
Goodness.  I feel absolutely blessed to have started and ended the weekend watching such a huge variety of amazing dancers.  The performers were a mix of people I have watched several times and people I had only heard of.  The Gala really felt like a perfect bookend to an already inspiring weekend.

Let me start by talking about a little bit of trouble we ran into before the doors were even officially open.  One woman was extremely angry that we were unable to take credit or debit cards for admission.  She said that we should have advertised it, which is true, but there was no need to be extremely angry at us for not having the capability of card swiping.  That is definitely something to remember for next year's and any upcoming events.

The first set of the evening was the folkloric portion.  There was some cane action from Chantel as well as some debke line dancing from Shadia's Mirza Troupe, both of which made me sway along with the music.  Then Boẑenka performed a maleya leff, which is flirty and uses an embellished veil.  She looked like she was having such a fun time with the dance.

The second set of the evening was mainly raqs shaqi dances.  Watching Meiver and Najmat dance is always such an amazing experience.  Meiver with her amazing combinations and Najmat with her delicious gooeyness are enough to bring in a whole new group of belly dance enthusiasts.  Though Nina had performed at Baraka, I didn't get a chance to watch her move, so I was excited to get the chance during the Gala.  Local favorites Pheadra and Hanan also graced the stage, playing zills and twirling double canes, respectively.  I tried to pay attention to their technique, especially since we had worked on those two this weekend.

Then, of course, the Gala closed with another performance by Boẑenka.  She is just amazing!  If you ever get a chance to learn from her or to watch her move in person, it is something you really want to strive for.  But, let me not forget to mention her AMAZING costume!

Boẑenka's gorgeous costume

I'm pretty sure even the band members were mesmerized by her movements.  Her costume only helped to accentuate how amazing she is.  It's always very interesting to watch dancers of such popularity live in action.  She really exudes confidence and a love for the dance - something we are all striving to naturally exude.

In Conclusion
MassRaqs was really a complete success.  Sure, there were some unhappy folks about Cassandra's absence, and I'm sure that not everyone was completely happy about the weekend.  Sure, there could have been a lot more tightness in the event implementation and organization and time management.  These are all things that we will be aware of in terms of future event planning.  Some things worked, and some things didn't.

With the New England belly dance community recently having experienced some negativity in the form of undercutting and gossip, this weekend (which also featured a tribal event organized in Boston) was really needed.  Starting the weekend with an open dialog about what makes Boston and New England such a stronghold for the belly dance community, filling in workshops that could only enhance everyone's dance, and ending with beautiful dancers just felt cohesive and inspiring.

Considering that I woke up this morning feeling like I just wanted to keep dancing and then reading about other people's feelings about the weekend on Facebook, it just means that MassRaqs 2011 (Save the Date: October 21st-23rd) is just going to be better in every way.

MassRaqs 2010 - Part 1

What an amazing weekend!  I wanted to write about my MassRaqs experience as a participant and as an assistant in the process.  I was more than happy to share my skills to help this event, and I feel like I've learned a lot about the process as well.

First of all, MassRaqs was created as a way to bring the New England belly dance community together for a weekend of discussion, learning, and performing.  In that respect, I believe that the event was a complete respect.  But, being the first year the event took place, there is definitely much for all of us to learn from.

Panel Presentation and Performances
Friday, September 24th
The first event of the weekend took place in Green Street Studios in Central Square.  It's amazing how one of the studios is able to change from a regular looking studio into a beautiful performance and show space.  One of the drawbacks, however, is the poor air circulation - when it's hot, it's hot!

As an event assistant, I knew that we had a limited amount of time to organize the space before the event could begin.  There were definitely enough hands, and we even got some help from one of the audience members.  Unfortunately, we did get started a bit later than scheduled, and we definitely ended a lot later than scheduled.

Perhaps it would have been useful to delegate exactly what needed to be done to the specific people who were going to be there to help.  That way, everyone could focus on their specific task and help anyone who might need extra help when they're done.

My approach to event organization is definitely one of multi-tasking.  Even if you were the one delegating tasks, you need to be moving around and helping with things as well.  "Floating" doesn't mean just standing around while everyone is moving.

As a participant of the event, I though the discussion and video sampler of Amy Smith and DeAnna Putnam's "Aziza!" was wonderful.  There were conversations about the changes in the New England belly dance scene throughout the years, thoughts on preserving the past as well as the present, and hopes for the future of the community.

I have to admit, I was enthralled by the conversation.  I felt proud to be part of the New England belly dance community, considering that the American belly dance scene really started in Boston.

After the panel, difference dancers from all over New England (from Connecticut to Maine, Rhode Island to Vermont, and everything in between) performed their different styles of raqs sharqi.  It was a pleasure to watch the dancers, many of whom are my friends.  I have to admit that my face hurts from the joy of watching them.

After the event was over, there was, of course, the break down part of the event.  Again, while it seemed to take less time to take everything down and put everything back, it still would be useful to have delegated tasks.  Also, the event should have been planned down to the second.  Dancers arrive at a specific time, panel ends lasts a specific amount of time, etc.  Overall, though, the first event of the weekend was a success.

Saturday Workshops
Saturday, September 25th
Saturday featured 3 workshops from 3 different teachers.  Unfortunately, Cassandra had an injury and was unable to come to Boston for the weekend.  I know that many participants were eager to learn from her, and many were disappointed that she wasn't able to teach her workshops.  However, I do think that Meiver did what she could at such short notice, and considering that Boẑenka was the replacement teacher, I think that we were lucky to still have the workshops available to us.

Obviously, it would only benefit us to be exposed to a variety of teachers.  Though, on the other hand, I think it would have also been awesome to extend Boẑenka's already assigned workshops.  I mean, who couldn't use more work on their Hands and Arms?

As a event assistant, I was mainly charged with preparing registration sign-in forms and making sure the vendors had all they needed.  I definitely went into event mode the second I stepped off the bus.  The vendors were one of the first to arrive, and I helped to get them set up on their tables.  I also helped to set up the registration table, prepared with signage and tons of pens.

Throughout the day, I stayed relatively vigilant about who was coming in through the doors and elevators, even though I tried to focus on participating in the workshops.

Meiver - Exciting Combinations for Modern Oriental Style
Having studied and learned some Modern Oriental style with Meiver for the Baraka event, I was proud to know that I was probably a little more advanced than some of the others who were new to Meiver's style.  Considering that I found the Modern Oriental to be the most challenging, I knew it would only benefit me more to take this workshop.

Part of the combination was similar to the choreography we learned for Baraka, but the changed in the choreography were just as challenging as learning it the entire choreography the first time.  Honestly, I think Meiver's choreography and combinations are beautiful and exciting.  It takes some serious skill to produce choreography in the graceful way that she does.

Boẑenka - Arms and Hands: Technique for Fluid Arm Movement and Emotive Gesturing
I think that part of what made me fall in love with belly dance was the snake arms.  I know, however, that it's something I need a lot of work on.  Boẑenka worked us all very hard!  There was definitely a lot of movement repetition and keeping our arms up.  I was scared I was going to be extremely sore the next day, but I wasn't.

You definitely need some serious arm and shoulder strength to help you get to the point of having gorgeous arms and hands.  But Boẑenka's stretching suggestions were also extremely helpful.  I know that I don't really think about stretching my hands and wrists very often, but now I will be more conscious of doing so.  Watching her move her arms and hands really made me feel inspired to keep working on my own technique.

Boẑenka for Cassandra - Beledi Stylings
I heart the beledi.  It's so earthy and fun.  Boẑenka reminded us, however, that while it is an earthy dance style, it is still a very proud dance style.  Earthy does not mean that technique gets lost, but that it is a different feeling added onto the technique.  She taught us a bit of combinations and then took us through some zill/zagat work.

It was interesting to see how she taught the finger cymbals.  Most of my instructors have focused on alternating the hands, so that both hands are used.  But Boẑenka stressed that the right hand (or your dominant hand) kept the beat while the left hand inserted little accents.  I have to admit that it was difficult to change to that way of playing after having played a different way for so long.  But it was an interesting way to think about the zills.

By this final workshop of the day, my feet were achy and I was tired from getting very little sleep the night before.  I was excited to go home and rest for the final day of MassRaqs.

Coming Up Next:  Sunday Workshops, Gala, and Final Thoughts

BARAKA: A Benefit for MataHari

Remember back at the end of May when I spoke about Meiver's Intensive Repertoire Class?  Well, there was a total of 3.5 months of intense work, learning, dancing, and feet aches.  It all culminated on Wednesday, August 18th, at the Multicultural Arts Center.

The ceiling of the MCAC

The stage, Pre-Show

Meiver has been working her tail off, with the help of some of her students, to organize an extremely successful event to benefit MataHari: Eye of the Day, a great social justice organization that works towards immigrant, refugee, and workers rights.

In my previous post about the choreographies, I talked about all the things I was learning and all the things that I could do better.  In this post, I want to talk more about the choreographies and about the experience of being in the show.

Being A-Part
To be honest, in the beginning, I didn't really know how major the show was going to be.  But as the months passed and more was revealed, I got more and more excited.  To be even more honest, a lot of my fellow dancers were extremely anxious about the show, but I felt more excited to be part of the show.

With at least 10 different people with at least 10 different schedules to coordinate, it was difficult to try to keep steady progress on learning all the choreographies.  Also, it being summer, there was a lot of summer traveling (as was the case with me).

As August 18th drew closer, there were many things we all needed to work on in terms of the choreography and details.  But I truly believed that we would rock the show.  I believed that my classmates would do their best.  I believe that all of Meiver's and our hard work would pay off.

I know that I haven't been part of a show of this level since my undergrad days and the Queer Fashion Show.  There was perhaps less makeup back then, but there was definitely more glitter now.  But the stress seemed to be about the same.

Glitter provided by Sassy Sparkles.

Speaking purely from my own personal experiences, I know how difficult it can be to coordinate so many people, regardless of availability, regardless or experience, regardless of commitment.  From the talents shows with 3rd through 8th graders to coordinating a single dance with 20 members, there's a lot of work that needs to be done.  I couldn't help but feel empathetic to Meiver's workload.  But still, I had confidence about the show.

On some level, I felt bad that I wasn't able to connect with some of my fellow dancers on how stressed they were feeling about the dances.  I was more concerned about the costuming, as I had already spent so much money that I didn't have, and there were some unforeseen last minute changes.  But overall, I was feeling really positive about the show itself and our abilities to produce a great one.

Modern Oriental
As the opening number to the entire show, it was fabulous.  Personally, the technique was perhaps the most challenging to me.  Aside from remembering my posture, I had to remember how to hold my hands a different way then I'm used to, point my toes to hide my heel, and remember the various transitions.  It was a challenging piece.  But even though I wasn't in the audience, I'm sure it was such a glorious way to open the show.

"Sahra" by Bassil Moubayyed

This dance is a perfect example of how an ensemble of dancers should look on the stage.  Though some of the aspects of the dance are influenced by the ballet, I felt like this choreography was something you would see the Bellydance Superstars performing.

There were times when I would practice the choreography in my head and I would get distracted by wondering how one even designs something like that dance.  Making sure the right groups of people or even one person would end up in the correct spot, going from point A to point B, who turns in which direction.  The dance-math is making my head hurt!  But kudos to Meiver for such a gem of a piece.

My Solo
Holy quick costume change, Batman!  Thank you to Ma'isah, Aleksie, and my other classmates for helping me with my super fast costume change!  My solo was the 3rd act of the evening, and I had to get my outfit and my zills ready.

I was sweating so much from the first piece and from changing, that I carried a little napkin with me backstage and behind the wings, and left it in a corner where I would be able to grab it later.  But I continued to sweat throughout my entire performance!  Later, the boyfriend told me that he couldn't tell that I was sweating, which was a relief.

I look so at ease for sweating so much!

Actually, the boyfriend told me that I looked so comfortable and confident during this performance, and later Meiver tells me that her roommates and boyfriend said I make it look so pleasant.  I honestly feel speechless about those compliments.

I know that I was happy to see some of my fellow Amira Jamal classmates and my boyfriend in the audience. In a way, I was dancing for them, in true balady fashion (this was the "Balady ala Accordion" that I danced to during Amira Jamal's student recital in May).  Perhaps this was why I felt so confident even through my sweating.

Fan Veil
Well, I'll be honest here.  I felt like I was a sausage being squeezed into its casing, but it was just that I was so hot and sticky and trying to fit into a body suit that my butt was too big for.  Don't get me wrong.  I think in the end we all looked pretty darn awesome!  But I did have my doubts, and I was just nervous that I would make this piece not look good.  But hot damn, did we look awesome.

Hot Fan Veil Action

I absolutely loved this piece.  The music, the fan veils, the choreography.  I don't know if anyone was tripping out in the audience from the beauty of the veils, but I know I was having my own personal hallucinogenic trip being part of it.  I can't wait to see it on video.

I realized, however, that the choreography and the technique went hand in hand.  If you were unfamiliar with the fan veils, the choreography would not be as strong.  It was somewhat impinging on us as the dancers to really get comfortable with fan veils.

As I have already loved the veil, loving the fan veils was just too easy.  Whenever the kitties were asleep, I would sneak in a practice session with my fan veils.  Learning the technique felt more like play than anything else.  I'm eager to find some fan veil tutorial DVD's to further my education.

Khaleegy
The most difficult thing about this piece was trying to slip bracelets on my wrists.  I have huge hands, so I don't ever wear bracelets since it hurts to put them on and take them off.  There were many hilarious jokes about using lube to make it easier on me when I was getting ready.  I just braved getting my hands scraped by the bracelets, and in the end it was fine.

I was really nervous about all the spinning.  I didn't know how my body would react.  Originally, this was going to be the final piece, but the acts were moved around a bit, and this was our second to last dance.  I was hoping that if something were to go wrong, I would at least not need to dance again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this dance.  I felt like my timing had been off during all of the practices, but during the show I knew what I was doing.  This was another song I would play over and over on my Zune while riding the T.  My neck wasn't sore the next day, nor was I ridiculously dizzy after all the hair spinning.

Photo by Jonathan Williams

In that picture above, that's the moment we've just concluded all the hair spinning, dropping down to the floor, and picking our hair back up.  I was definitely sending messages to my brain and my inner ears to chill.  Again, this is another video I can't wait to watch.

Saiidi
This dance, perhaps the most polished one, was the finale of the show.  We had our nicely spray-painted canes, our bedlahs, and our smiles.  No one dropped a cane, no one hurt someone else with a cane, no one got left behind.

This was the choreography that I felt very confident about, though my can twirling needed some practice in the beginning.  Whenever I would walk to practice with my cane, I would twirl down the street, of course making sure that no bystanders would be affected.

Working together in our pod

For me, ending with the saiidi made me feel like we owned that stage.  We had been working so hard in the past several months that we deserved to wave our big sticks in victory.  Of course, this isn't to say that the other performers hadn't worked as hard.  But some of us had 4 or 5 costume changes!

We had an amazing show, and each and every one of us danced our hearts out.  Backstage, amidst all the chaos, there was a lot of conversation and a lot of laughter.  On stage, we tried our best to bring Meiver's vision to an audience in awe.

I'm a true believe that you make your situations what you want them to be.  This particular situation was just exhilaratingly inspiring, and I'm proud to have been part of it.