In which I wax stark raving fangirl mad (you have been warned)
So last night, Bridget, David, laughing_muse and I piled into my car and drove down to New Albany, IN, to see the Belly Dance Superstars performing at IU Southeast. (Buhwha?)
I'd only just heard about the show a few days ago, thank to the tenacious D, and apparently not many others had heard either-- in a performance venue about the size of the Buskirk-Chumley, only about half the floor was filled. It was general admission, and we'd arrived 45 minutes before the doors opened. Promptness pays, apparently, because we ended up smack in the front row! :D With the size of the hall, front row was only about an arm's length from the edge of the stage.
It was more or less the same show I'd seen in Chicago last March, though plus and minus a few dancers (it was overall a smaller troupe this time.) The tribal dancers were Sharon Kihara (my favorite dancer EVAR), Kami Liddle, and Moria-- same as last spring, minus Zoe. In Chicago, though, the show was in a huge club, and we were way at the back of the room. Being as close as we were last night made it a totally different show; it was like seeing the man behind the curtain. I could see details of the costumes and makeup that aren't otherwise apparent, I could see each dancer's facial expression, interactions between dancers, and so forth. It was really fascinating, and exciting.
The audience was small, but appreciative, since it was mostly Louisville- and southern Indiana-area bellydancers. I think laughing_muse and I were single-handedly trying to make up for the size of the crowd on our own with all the noise we were making-- as she put it, we were kind of flailing like muppets the whole time. :D Though, when you're that close to the dancers, it's hard not to.
It was interesting seeing the same show, but a bit different. The Desert Roses were good, and since the overall troupe was smaller, they each had a moment to shine, which was nice. Again, the tribal dancers always seemed to be a bit short-shrifted in group numbers-- they'd just start to get going, and then they'd be offstage. Each of them got to do a longer solo somewhere in the show, however, and that was cool. They all have interesting subtle differences in their styles, which seem more distinct than the cabaret dancers (who are wonderful dancers, but seem to have all been uniformly stamped with Jillina's style.) Sharon did a lovely and weird solo to CocoRosie's "Bear Hides and Buffalo" and a song by Amon Tobin. The tribal ladies were still the best part of the Latin fusion number, and except for the tribal-flamenco fusion part, the rest of that piece still doesn't work for me. It was tighter this time, and the DR were better at their quasi-flamenco fan dance, but still eh. Adoré wasn't there this time, so Jillina was the only one to come out in the Brazilian samba costume, and I still adamantly think she shouldn't. The Polynesian number seemed a little different from both the last performance I saw and the dvd (and I like it a lot on the dvd), but was nicely done. I still think the choreography for the pseudo-hiphop number is fun, but I still wish that a) Jillina would not perform it; and b) that the performers would wear something more urban/clubby rather than bedlah for it. I think it would work better that way. It looked like they'd added a few Bollywood moves to it, which was neat. They didn't do the Indian number from the Folies Bergeres dvd, which is a shame, but they didn't do it in Chicago either. The second act opened with a Saiidi cane number, in which half of the dancers processed through the audience, and went right past us-- one of the Desert Roses complimented me on my hair flowers as she walked by. :) The choreo itself, once they were all onstage, was nice, though some of the featured dancers didn't seem all that comfortable with the canes. One of the Desert Roses did a ballet fusion en pointe, which is impressive but didn't really work for me. Finally, the (in)famous stilt performance was included in this show (we didn't see it in Chicago). Here's an idea: take two or three cabaret dancers in bedlah with gold lamé Isis wings; add another dancer in matching bedlah and Isis wings, only she's on really tall stilts (with a weird skirt extension thing down to the floor); finally, add in Moria in tribal gear, spinning laser poi. Sound exciting? No? I guess this was supposed to fit in the carnival/circus theme of the show, but it was just way too much happening at once. The stilt dancer was kind of scary, in a scary-clown way (the stilts made her movements rather short and jerky.) Moria's poi skills were awesome, and I really just wanted to pay attention to her without the rest of the distractions, which I was eventually able to do as the piece became her solo, but not at first. I did really like Jillina's drum solo, and Issam was wonderful as always.
After the show, some of the dancers came out to meet and mingle with the audience. I really just wanted a chance to talk to Sharon and Kami, since I've met them both before, but we ended up talking to almost everyone who came out. As we saw Sharon, Issam, and a couple other dancers walking out together, laughing_muse and I went rushing over and zaghareeted loudly. Sharon gave me a big hug first thing! I told her she was my favorite dancer ever, and she told me that I was her favorite audience member ever-- that when they're performing for a big audience, it's really hard to connect with individuals or get them to respond, and it made her so happy in this smaller show to be able to look at me sitting there in the front row, smiling and making eye contact and cheering and giving energy back. I'm amazed that I didn't explode from fangirl squee right there. I mentioned that I'd taken her workshop in Chicago last spring, and she said that explained why I looked familiar. Then she asked me who I danced with, and when I said Dark Side Tribal, she said she'd heard of us. *blink* *blink* *eeeeeee!* We chatted a bit about tribe.net, and she asked me to send her an invite to our tribe. I also gave her one of our cards, and she gave me one of hers-- the BDSS cards are totally like baseball cards or something, with a name and photo on the front and assorted info on the back, which I think is hilarious and awesome. Anyway, we talked a bit more about music and her forthcoming dvd and stuff, and then I figured I should probably not bogart the Sharon, so I thanked her and went to mingle elsewhere. We talked a bit with Issam, Jillina (laughing_muse was quite taken with her), Moria, and the Desert Rose who'd said she liked my flowers (I can't remember her name, argh-- the one who did the nice drum solo in the gorgeous art deco pearl bedlah.) Kami didn't come out to meet & greet, so I didn't get to say hi to her. All in all, it was so much fun, and I was totally spazzy by the end.
I'd only just heard about the show a few days ago, thank to the tenacious D, and apparently not many others had heard either-- in a performance venue about the size of the Buskirk-Chumley, only about half the floor was filled. It was general admission, and we'd arrived 45 minutes before the doors opened. Promptness pays, apparently, because we ended up smack in the front row! :D With the size of the hall, front row was only about an arm's length from the edge of the stage.
It was more or less the same show I'd seen in Chicago last March, though plus and minus a few dancers (it was overall a smaller troupe this time.) The tribal dancers were Sharon Kihara (my favorite dancer EVAR), Kami Liddle, and Moria-- same as last spring, minus Zoe. In Chicago, though, the show was in a huge club, and we were way at the back of the room. Being as close as we were last night made it a totally different show; it was like seeing the man behind the curtain. I could see details of the costumes and makeup that aren't otherwise apparent, I could see each dancer's facial expression, interactions between dancers, and so forth. It was really fascinating, and exciting.
The audience was small, but appreciative, since it was mostly Louisville- and southern Indiana-area bellydancers. I think laughing_muse and I were single-handedly trying to make up for the size of the crowd on our own with all the noise we were making-- as she put it, we were kind of flailing like muppets the whole time. :D Though, when you're that close to the dancers, it's hard not to.
It was interesting seeing the same show, but a bit different. The Desert Roses were good, and since the overall troupe was smaller, they each had a moment to shine, which was nice. Again, the tribal dancers always seemed to be a bit short-shrifted in group numbers-- they'd just start to get going, and then they'd be offstage. Each of them got to do a longer solo somewhere in the show, however, and that was cool. They all have interesting subtle differences in their styles, which seem more distinct than the cabaret dancers (who are wonderful dancers, but seem to have all been uniformly stamped with Jillina's style.) Sharon did a lovely and weird solo to CocoRosie's "Bear Hides and Buffalo" and a song by Amon Tobin. The tribal ladies were still the best part of the Latin fusion number, and except for the tribal-flamenco fusion part, the rest of that piece still doesn't work for me. It was tighter this time, and the DR were better at their quasi-flamenco fan dance, but still eh. Adoré wasn't there this time, so Jillina was the only one to come out in the Brazilian samba costume, and I still adamantly think she shouldn't. The Polynesian number seemed a little different from both the last performance I saw and the dvd (and I like it a lot on the dvd), but was nicely done. I still think the choreography for the pseudo-hiphop number is fun, but I still wish that a) Jillina would not perform it; and b) that the performers would wear something more urban/clubby rather than bedlah for it. I think it would work better that way. It looked like they'd added a few Bollywood moves to it, which was neat. They didn't do the Indian number from the Folies Bergeres dvd, which is a shame, but they didn't do it in Chicago either. The second act opened with a Saiidi cane number, in which half of the dancers processed through the audience, and went right past us-- one of the Desert Roses complimented me on my hair flowers as she walked by. :) The choreo itself, once they were all onstage, was nice, though some of the featured dancers didn't seem all that comfortable with the canes. One of the Desert Roses did a ballet fusion en pointe, which is impressive but didn't really work for me. Finally, the (in)famous stilt performance was included in this show (we didn't see it in Chicago). Here's an idea: take two or three cabaret dancers in bedlah with gold lamé Isis wings; add another dancer in matching bedlah and Isis wings, only she's on really tall stilts (with a weird skirt extension thing down to the floor); finally, add in Moria in tribal gear, spinning laser poi. Sound exciting? No? I guess this was supposed to fit in the carnival/circus theme of the show, but it was just way too much happening at once. The stilt dancer was kind of scary, in a scary-clown way (the stilts made her movements rather short and jerky.) Moria's poi skills were awesome, and I really just wanted to pay attention to her without the rest of the distractions, which I was eventually able to do as the piece became her solo, but not at first. I did really like Jillina's drum solo, and Issam was wonderful as always.
After the show, some of the dancers came out to meet and mingle with the audience. I really just wanted a chance to talk to Sharon and Kami, since I've met them both before, but we ended up talking to almost everyone who came out. As we saw Sharon, Issam, and a couple other dancers walking out together, laughing_muse and I went rushing over and zaghareeted loudly. Sharon gave me a big hug first thing! I told her she was my favorite dancer ever, and she told me that I was her favorite audience member ever-- that when they're performing for a big audience, it's really hard to connect with individuals or get them to respond, and it made her so happy in this smaller show to be able to look at me sitting there in the front row, smiling and making eye contact and cheering and giving energy back. I'm amazed that I didn't explode from fangirl squee right there. I mentioned that I'd taken her workshop in Chicago last spring, and she said that explained why I looked familiar. Then she asked me who I danced with, and when I said Dark Side Tribal, she said she'd heard of us. *blink* *blink* *eeeeeee!* We chatted a bit about tribe.net, and she asked me to send her an invite to our tribe. I also gave her one of our cards, and she gave me one of hers-- the BDSS cards are totally like baseball cards or something, with a name and photo on the front and assorted info on the back, which I think is hilarious and awesome. Anyway, we talked a bit more about music and her forthcoming dvd and stuff, and then I figured I should probably not bogart the Sharon, so I thanked her and went to mingle elsewhere. We talked a bit with Issam, Jillina (laughing_muse was quite taken with her), Moria, and the Desert Rose who'd said she liked my flowers (I can't remember her name, argh-- the one who did the nice drum solo in the gorgeous art deco pearl bedlah.) Kami didn't come out to meet & greet, so I didn't get to say hi to her. All in all, it was so much fun, and I was totally spazzy by the end.