dance dance insanity!
First, I am posting from my new MacBook! I've had a little trouble transferring some files--like old sentimental iTunes playlists and my Firefox bookmarks--but I figure this is an exercise in letting go. My poor iBook is just about dead, so I can only do so much data retrieval. Ah well. Look, a new shiny!
Second, I am going to talk a little about Tribal:Pura. The performance on Friday night was a blast! wadam put his photos up here. I really like this one of me:
Also, I love this picture of Megha:
I was, for once, really happy with how my solo went. It was a sassy little dance to that Soap Kills/Dub4Me song on "Sahara Lounge." Our group dance went well too, except for where I spaced at one point and messed up a moment of choreography. Ah well, such is life.
Watching Carolena and Megha dance together was almost a spiritual experience for me--it was as though I was watching two souls bared to one another, sharing joy through movement. It's only recently that tribal has really clicked for me; at first I was drawn to the aesthetic of the movements and the costumes, but since I've started to dance with other people rather than cling to my comfortable identification as a soloist, it's really been amazing. The fact that it's so easy to communicate with my fellow dancers, and that such marvelous art results... yeah, words barely suffice. The experience of dancing tribal--or watching truly good tribal--borders on ecstatic. It helped remind me why I do it, not just 'cause it looks pretty and audiences usually find it novel.
I participated in all of the workshops except the zils one. I was apparently busy collecting a fanboy during that hour. Did anybody else notice the gangly teenage guy who was hanging around on Sunday afternoon? He initiated conversation with me by asking what my tattoo meant, and then he said he was waiting for a friend who'd come down for the workshops from Terre Haute and who'd said to come meet her during lunch so they could hang out, but apparently she never showed up and left this guy hanging. So he decided to attach himself to me, which was fine for a time because I'm always happy to talk to new people, especially about tattoos and dancing, but nonetheless I was glad he eventually took a hint because I was busy catching up in my journal and my hydration.
Seeing people that weekend was great, and I got to play hostess too! Made a big mess in my kitchen in order to feed people, ran around like a crazy person, and had a generally good time. It made returning to "real life" on Monday all that much harder, though. I blame my dance hangover... though part of that might've been all the wine, too.
The two days of workshops were enjoyably intense, but not killer.
Third, I am going to be bubbly about Tribal Fest 8, May 14-18. It's a Wednesday-Sunday festival, and I'm taking, uh, ten workshops. Yes, I know that's crazy--but how often do I get to have my ass kicked so spectacularly?!
Here's what I'm signed up for:
Wednesday 10:45a.m.-12:45: Princess Farhana (CA) Intermediate/Advanced Burlesque
Wednesday 1:00-3:00: Kami Liddle (CA) Spiral, Curve and Bend
Wednesday 3:30-5:30: Ariellah (CA) The Darker Side of Drilling
Thursday 12:15-2:15: Shakra! (Wa., DC) Transfusion Drills, Combos and Choreography
Thursday 2:30-4:30:Kajira & Seba(HI&CA) ATS Combos, Moves, How to 'DIY,' "Better with Both,"More!
Thursday 4:45-6:45: Romka` (Wa, DC) Bad Ass Belly Dance
Friday 10:30 a.m.-12:30: Heather Stants (CA) New Urban Tribal Combinations
Friday 2:45-4:45: Tempest (NJ) Drop Dead Dramatic! New GBD Combos, Turns, & Floorwork
Sunday 1:30-3:30: Anaar (CA) Dance and the New Expressionism
Sunday 3:45-5:45: Lee Ali (CA) Traditional Moroccan Sheikhat + Trance + Work w/ 6/8 Rhythms
...why these in particular? Well, I love the conditioning and drilling I've experienced from Ariellah and Heather Stants in previous workshop experiences. Tempest and Anaar are two of my favorite dancers EVAR. I love Shakra's Neo-Victorian zombie piece on Gothic Belly Dance: Revelations, so I figured I should check them out. Romka was fun at the Gothla, so I want to see what this other workshop of theirs is like. Lee Ali's workshop just looks interesting, and I must confess that I'm not terribly grounded in actual Middle Eastern dance traditions. Princess Farhana is a blast and I want to work more on my burlesque technique. I'm intrigued by what I've seen of Kami Liddle, and the workshop looks interesting. And I want to see what Kajira's approach to tribal is, plus I'm looking to bring back some tips and tricks to incorporate into my troupe-work.
I was sad that I couldn't fit workshops with Sera or Amy Sigil in, but at least I'll get my ass kicked by Amy at Tribal Revolution in June.
AND I want to perform! Any tips for picking out a piece to perform at a festival, TF in particular? For the Gothla, it was pretty easy to settle on Butterfly, as it seemed like the perfect amount of "out there" for that crowd. TF isn't a festival I've been to, so I'm a little less sure. I'm thinking about dancing without props, because when I perform for large crowds I get so nervous that I shake, which isn't good when you're holding something.
Honestly, I'm thinking about going way steampunk in terms of both costume (think goggles, like my last Axis outfit in a picture post a couple weeks ago) and in terms of movement, as in, lots more of the freaky cyborg moves I love. Is that too bizarre for Tribal Fest? Is there such a thing as too bizarre for Tribal Fest? I have a song by Maduro in mind for the cyborgy bit, and it's short enough that I could tack on the solo I did for Tribal:Pura at the end, since it's a tried-and-true fun piece. Any advice welcome.
Additionally, if anyone in the Bay Area wants to see a Jeana in the day or two preceding and/or following the festival, let me know! I plan on flying home to SoCal to see my family for a few weeks in May, so I will be on a pretty flexible schedule (though obviously, any visit offers that include a place to crash or a night so as to break up my driving time would be preferred!).
Second, I am going to talk a little about Tribal:Pura. The performance on Friday night was a blast! wadam put his photos up here. I really like this one of me:
Also, I love this picture of Megha:
I was, for once, really happy with how my solo went. It was a sassy little dance to that Soap Kills/Dub4Me song on "Sahara Lounge." Our group dance went well too, except for where I spaced at one point and messed up a moment of choreography. Ah well, such is life.
Watching Carolena and Megha dance together was almost a spiritual experience for me--it was as though I was watching two souls bared to one another, sharing joy through movement. It's only recently that tribal has really clicked for me; at first I was drawn to the aesthetic of the movements and the costumes, but since I've started to dance with other people rather than cling to my comfortable identification as a soloist, it's really been amazing. The fact that it's so easy to communicate with my fellow dancers, and that such marvelous art results... yeah, words barely suffice. The experience of dancing tribal--or watching truly good tribal--borders on ecstatic. It helped remind me why I do it, not just 'cause it looks pretty and audiences usually find it novel.
I participated in all of the workshops except the zils one. I was apparently busy collecting a fanboy during that hour. Did anybody else notice the gangly teenage guy who was hanging around on Sunday afternoon? He initiated conversation with me by asking what my tattoo meant, and then he said he was waiting for a friend who'd come down for the workshops from Terre Haute and who'd said to come meet her during lunch so they could hang out, but apparently she never showed up and left this guy hanging. So he decided to attach himself to me, which was fine for a time because I'm always happy to talk to new people, especially about tattoos and dancing, but nonetheless I was glad he eventually took a hint because I was busy catching up in my journal and my hydration.
Seeing people that weekend was great, and I got to play hostess too! Made a big mess in my kitchen in order to feed people, ran around like a crazy person, and had a generally good time. It made returning to "real life" on Monday all that much harder, though. I blame my dance hangover... though part of that might've been all the wine, too.
The two days of workshops were enjoyably intense, but not killer.
Third, I am going to be bubbly about Tribal Fest 8, May 14-18. It's a Wednesday-Sunday festival, and I'm taking, uh, ten workshops. Yes, I know that's crazy--but how often do I get to have my ass kicked so spectacularly?!
Here's what I'm signed up for:
Wednesday 10:45a.m.-12:45: Princess Farhana (CA) Intermediate/Advanced Burlesque
Wednesday 1:00-3:00: Kami Liddle (CA) Spiral, Curve and Bend
Wednesday 3:30-5:30: Ariellah (CA) The Darker Side of Drilling
Thursday 12:15-2:15: Shakra! (Wa., DC) Transfusion Drills, Combos and Choreography
Thursday 2:30-4:30:Kajira & Seba(HI&CA) ATS Combos, Moves, How to 'DIY,' "Better with Both,"More!
Thursday 4:45-6:45: Romka` (Wa, DC) Bad Ass Belly Dance
Friday 10:30 a.m.-12:30: Heather Stants (CA) New Urban Tribal Combinations
Friday 2:45-4:45: Tempest (NJ) Drop Dead Dramatic! New GBD Combos, Turns, & Floorwork
Sunday 1:30-3:30: Anaar (CA) Dance and the New Expressionism
Sunday 3:45-5:45: Lee Ali (CA) Traditional Moroccan Sheikhat + Trance + Work w/ 6/8 Rhythms
...why these in particular? Well, I love the conditioning and drilling I've experienced from Ariellah and Heather Stants in previous workshop experiences. Tempest and Anaar are two of my favorite dancers EVAR. I love Shakra's Neo-Victorian zombie piece on Gothic Belly Dance: Revelations, so I figured I should check them out. Romka was fun at the Gothla, so I want to see what this other workshop of theirs is like. Lee Ali's workshop just looks interesting, and I must confess that I'm not terribly grounded in actual Middle Eastern dance traditions. Princess Farhana is a blast and I want to work more on my burlesque technique. I'm intrigued by what I've seen of Kami Liddle, and the workshop looks interesting. And I want to see what Kajira's approach to tribal is, plus I'm looking to bring back some tips and tricks to incorporate into my troupe-work.
I was sad that I couldn't fit workshops with Sera or Amy Sigil in, but at least I'll get my ass kicked by Amy at Tribal Revolution in June.
AND I want to perform! Any tips for picking out a piece to perform at a festival, TF in particular? For the Gothla, it was pretty easy to settle on Butterfly, as it seemed like the perfect amount of "out there" for that crowd. TF isn't a festival I've been to, so I'm a little less sure. I'm thinking about dancing without props, because when I perform for large crowds I get so nervous that I shake, which isn't good when you're holding something.
Honestly, I'm thinking about going way steampunk in terms of both costume (think goggles, like my last Axis outfit in a picture post a couple weeks ago) and in terms of movement, as in, lots more of the freaky cyborg moves I love. Is that too bizarre for Tribal Fest? Is there such a thing as too bizarre for Tribal Fest? I have a song by Maduro in mind for the cyborgy bit, and it's short enough that I could tack on the solo I did for Tribal:Pura at the end, since it's a tried-and-true fun piece. Any advice welcome.
Additionally, if anyone in the Bay Area wants to see a Jeana in the day or two preceding and/or following the festival, let me know! I plan on flying home to SoCal to see my family for a few weeks in May, so I will be on a pretty flexible schedule (though obviously, any visit offers that include a place to crash or a night so as to break up my driving time would be preferred!).