Tribal Fest 8
Okay, I'm finally getting around to posting about Tribal Fest 8, which took place in Sebastapol (Northern Cal), May 14-18.
My adventure started on Tuesday, May 13, when I left L.A. at 6:30 am in my dad's new Honda hybrid. It's a sweet little car... I started out with a partial tank and only had to refill once on my way up to Oakland. I paced myself on the drive, and then had a rendezvous with my new dancer friends Anaid and Melissa Voodoo. Melissa I'd met at the Gothla in February; Anaid I'd gotten in touch with via Tempest. We had lunch at Raleigh's in Berkeley, enjoying the beautiful weather from the beer garden. Then we drove up to the wine country, arriving just in time to dodge the tasting fees at V. Sattui. Their port is definitely a win. In addition to buying some wine, we also purchased cheeses and meats.
We checked into a hotel at Santa Rosa, and had cheese and wine for dinner, along with slices of my homemade French bread and the grapes I'd brought from Trader Joe's. We chatted about dance late into the night, and then turned in for the night because we had to wake up early the next morning for workshops!
I didn't really know what to expect from Tribal Fest (henceforth abbreviated as TF), other than that it was going to blow my mind. And it did. It felt humongous, almost to the point of overwhelming. There were tons of vendors even on the weekdays, and many of the workshops were packed. In addition to hanging out with Melissa and Anaid, I got to chill with Tempest and Anaar. I met lots of cool new people, including , evinumen (check out her pictures!), and... uh... lots of other people whose names escape me, despite the fact that I collected many business cards with which to jazz up my boring-but-customizable travel coffee mug with a plastic cover to stick pictures in.
I took the following workshops:
Wednesday 1:00-3:00: Kami Liddle (CA) Spiral, Curve and Bend
Wednesday 3:30-5:30: Ariellah (CA) The Darker Side of Drilling
Wednesday 10:45a.m.-12:45: Princess Farhana (CA) Intermediate/Advanced Burlesque
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
I can honestly say that I got a lot out of each one; some I took notes on, others I just absorbed. Everyone had a really positive attitude, and I felt totally comfortable with where I'm at in regards to different skills. And I wasn't nearly as sore as I'd expected to be!
The performances were awesome; I'm an even bigger fan of Shakra now that I've seen them be utterly ferocious in person (they're tons of fun as teachers, too; I look forward to their DVD). Asharah was stunning, and really wonderful to meet as well.
Oh, and I performed too! I managed to wiggle into someone's cancelled spot, and since it was kinda last-minute I felt pretty nervous because my piece wasn't as polished as it could've been. But I decided that my main goal was to have fun, so I practiced a bunch of times until I was really comfortable with my movements--I danced to "I Miss You" by Bjork, btw--and then I actually managed to just enjoy myself on stage. Hopefully there'll be a video forthcoming.
One of the highlights of the whole week was Motif, a party planned by Tempest and Lee Ali to explore the dance community's bonds through live music and a touch of trancing. And holy crap, did I go into trance. It was embodied and amazing and intense. I need to follow up with Lee Ali and Sashi about trance dancing; I'm interested in the scholarship as well as how I can do more of it personally.
The shopping was intense; I ended up with two pairs of Melodia pants, a neat pair of pants from Kim Sakkara, some stuff from Firefly Style... yeah, I tried to be good, and mostly failed. Ah well. There was also good sushi, lots of coffee, and trail mix and fruit galore to keep me going.
After leaving on the last day, I drove to Santa Cruz to spend the night before heading back to SoCal. I crashed with my old friend Hannah, who now has a very cute and wriggly baby. Which is kinda surreal, but I'm happy for her.
In the end? I didn't mention half the cool stuff at Tribal Fest because I didn't want to ramble on forever, but it was a great event and I intend to return next year, with a more polished performance and a parasol to keep the sun off my pale gothy skin.
My adventure started on Tuesday, May 13, when I left L.A. at 6:30 am in my dad's new Honda hybrid. It's a sweet little car... I started out with a partial tank and only had to refill once on my way up to Oakland. I paced myself on the drive, and then had a rendezvous with my new dancer friends Anaid and Melissa Voodoo. Melissa I'd met at the Gothla in February; Anaid I'd gotten in touch with via Tempest. We had lunch at Raleigh's in Berkeley, enjoying the beautiful weather from the beer garden. Then we drove up to the wine country, arriving just in time to dodge the tasting fees at V. Sattui. Their port is definitely a win. In addition to buying some wine, we also purchased cheeses and meats.
We checked into a hotel at Santa Rosa, and had cheese and wine for dinner, along with slices of my homemade French bread and the grapes I'd brought from Trader Joe's. We chatted about dance late into the night, and then turned in for the night because we had to wake up early the next morning for workshops!
I didn't really know what to expect from Tribal Fest (henceforth abbreviated as TF), other than that it was going to blow my mind. And it did. It felt humongous, almost to the point of overwhelming. There were tons of vendors even on the weekdays, and many of the workshops were packed. In addition to hanging out with Melissa and Anaid, I got to chill with Tempest and Anaar. I met lots of cool new people, including , evinumen (check out her pictures!), and... uh... lots of other people whose names escape me, despite the fact that I collected many business cards with which to jazz up my boring-but-customizable travel coffee mug with a plastic cover to stick pictures in.
I took the following workshops:
Wednesday 1:00-3:00: Kami Liddle (CA) Spiral, Curve and Bend
Wednesday 3:30-5:30: Ariellah (CA) The Darker Side of Drilling
Wednesday 10:45a.m.-12:45: Princess Farhana (CA) Intermediate/Advanced Burlesque
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
I can honestly say that I got a lot out of each one; some I took notes on, others I just absorbed. Everyone had a really positive attitude, and I felt totally comfortable with where I'm at in regards to different skills. And I wasn't nearly as sore as I'd expected to be!
The performances were awesome; I'm an even bigger fan of Shakra now that I've seen them be utterly ferocious in person (they're tons of fun as teachers, too; I look forward to their DVD). Asharah was stunning, and really wonderful to meet as well.
Oh, and I performed too! I managed to wiggle into someone's cancelled spot, and since it was kinda last-minute I felt pretty nervous because my piece wasn't as polished as it could've been. But I decided that my main goal was to have fun, so I practiced a bunch of times until I was really comfortable with my movements--I danced to "I Miss You" by Bjork, btw--and then I actually managed to just enjoy myself on stage. Hopefully there'll be a video forthcoming.
One of the highlights of the whole week was Motif, a party planned by Tempest and Lee Ali to explore the dance community's bonds through live music and a touch of trancing. And holy crap, did I go into trance. It was embodied and amazing and intense. I need to follow up with Lee Ali and Sashi about trance dancing; I'm interested in the scholarship as well as how I can do more of it personally.
The shopping was intense; I ended up with two pairs of Melodia pants, a neat pair of pants from Kim Sakkara, some stuff from Firefly Style... yeah, I tried to be good, and mostly failed. Ah well. There was also good sushi, lots of coffee, and trail mix and fruit galore to keep me going.
After leaving on the last day, I drove to Santa Cruz to spend the night before heading back to SoCal. I crashed with my old friend Hannah, who now has a very cute and wriggly baby. Which is kinda surreal, but I'm happy for her.
In the end? I didn't mention half the cool stuff at Tribal Fest because I didn't want to ramble on forever, but it was a great event and I intend to return next year, with a more polished performance and a parasol to keep the sun off my pale gothy skin.