Rosanna at Tribal Fest 2008 video

www.youtube.com/v/mqG-7DNB...e.com/watch

Colleena and FCBD

In case you didn't, FCBD put on a show in SF called Devotion, featuring themselves, Devyani, and Colleena Shakti. They also hosted specialty workshops with all the dancers at their studio, FOR ONLY $15!! I took advantage of this and took Collena's intro to Odissi. I was very impressed with her teaching, very clear, well thought out, and very very informative. Not only is her dancing inspirational, but also her dedication and approach to dancing. Bellydancers could stand to learn alot from how other dance forms approach dance education. I'd definitely recommend taking a class with her (even if you're not into indian dance), as well as supporting her by purchasing the amazing jewellry she brings from India every year.

The Devotion show was pretty interesting. It was held in an EXTREMELY small and hot space, but intimacey is nice. I'm not religious or spiritual, so I wasn't really into the theme of the show (which held throughout the dancing and performance). I enjoyed Collena's performance in particular. To be honest I'm not really into ATS, though I did enjoy both Devyani and FCBD. I really like the simplicity and coordination of Devyani's costumes (white, gold, red, and oranges), sometimes it can be a little too kaleidoscopey.

Unmata and Zoe in Sac

Took a bit of a road trip to Sacramento for their monthly second saturday art walk. Not to partake in the schmoozing arteeests, but to check out Zoe who was performing with the Unmata ladies (+guests) outside of their studio. Haven't I had enough of Zoe and Amy? No, no I haven't. It was such a cool show. It was just outside on the sidewalk on a carpet in front of 50ppl or so sitting on the grass, cars, or lawnchairs. It was also nice to see Zoe a little more relaxed. I think I actually prefer watching her dance with less adornment. Definitely allows for a lot more freedom of movement. Unmata also did their set from TF again, which was GREAT. It was a pretty long show, with Verbatim, classes, and students doing multiple pieces. A few of them also did a fire performance at the end too. Amy not only did a flaming pot (which i TOTALLY have to learn), and a flaming whip and skipping rope (not at the same time).

Yay!

Tribal Fest!!!!!!!! (wooooo) and BDSS auditions (booooo)

Well, I finally made it to Tribal Fest! It was an interesting experience let me tell you. It was awesome, but there were some things that were unexpected. First off, let me tell you who was awesome:

Asharah - my favourite soloist of the weekend. Seriously seriously phenomenal. I knew she was a solid dancer, but i've never seen her throw it down like that! She definitely showed what gothic bellydance should be, in comparison to some of the other really tragic (not in the good gothy way) acts of the weekend. Check out her solo at: br.youtube.com/watch

Vicki Virk and Dholrhythms - another standout. It is so freaking hard to get groups to be insync, and they totally were. I've never seen bhangra really performed before, and now I totally get why people are so into. I don't think I'll run out and take lessons, but these guys were phenomenal. If your not into bhangra, go see them.

Daniela - never heard of her before I saw that she was teaching at TF8. While I didn't get to take her class, she is a top notch dancer. Its such a pleasure watching GOOD dancers. They don't need tricks, gimmicks or themes, its just beautiful to watch.

Solstice - featuring Sera (I think of East Coast Tribal?), never seen or heard of them before. Definitely influence by Urban Tribal, with a similar minimal/powerful aesthetic. While UT was less inspiring this year than i had hoped, these guys were great. I think UT is moving into more esoteric forms of dance which is aesthetically and conceptually out of reach for the average bellydance crowd. While I certainly appreciate that, I'm just more of a fan of intense, moving, dance. Solstice was rock solid, everyone was together, they had great music, great choreography, I'd totally recommend checking them out.

Zoe - what can I say? I wished she did a solo for the entire Indigo set. Seriously. I was disappointed with the lack of dancing by the Indigo. The were hilarious and entertaining, but I want dancing!!!!

I also enjoyed: Unmata, Collena Shakti, my new friend Mariana from Brazil, Habi'Ru, and FatChance.

So yeah, now for the bad news. I've seen some bad bellydance in my days, but wow, there was some CRRRRRRAP. At this festival, anybody can perform, so I'm pretty lenient about people who are obvious beginners, we all have to start somewhere. But I do have say that there was both crappy bellydaning and crappy-performances-where-there-was-no-actual-bellydance. For one, I was shocked with how little tribal or tribal fusion there was. The fest has turned more into a "do whatever the fuck you want and call it bellydance." While I like doing weird shit, I STILL HAVE SOME SEMBLANCE OF SOMETHING TRIBAL IN THERE SOMEWHERE. Not even some kind of tribally arms, nothing. Not even tribal fusion fused with something else. On top of this many acts had not technique. In a few cases, there was actually no more bellydancing than a handfull of strategically place attempts at undulations. I'm not going to name names, but I will say that there were a lot of "gothic" performances that seriously blew. Can I make a plea for people to work on their bellydancing instead of just using a gimmick as an excuse not to dance?

I was also quite disappointed with the shopping. I was expecting a ton of stuff, but there really wasn't more than 20 vendors or so. I am getting pickier about what I buy, but I actually didn't end up buying anything. I was hoping to find something that I fell completely in love with , but I didn't. Well, there were these earrings....but yeah, not that much awesome stuff, I gotta say.

Am I a jaded bellydancer or what??

And now, BDSS auditions. So crazy me, after doing Jills workshop, working 2 days, going to tribal fest (where i got no sleep because my tent was next to a highway), driving back at 1am, and having to run to Walgreens at 9am to print photos, I flew down to LA Sunday morning to audition. And, well, things didn't go so well for me that day. I had to wait an hour for a rental car, which turned out to have no air conditioning but i didn't have time to complain, I ended up only having an hour to get ready (which is NOT enough), didn't warm up. And then the choreography didn't go that well. First off, Moria taught incorrectly the first few times, then Sam had to try and correct, and then they had to try and agree on how it was supposed to go. And then we did it to music 4 times. I thought that was our chance to remember the choreo to perform it. But no, that was our performance. I can't believe how stupid I was. I mean, I know you're performing as soon as you walk in the door, i KNOW that. But I was assuming it was similar to other auditions where you get to hear the music a few time before performing. Rarely are you expected to perform without doing it to the music first. But, that's my fault. Totally totally my fault. I put all my energy into memorizing the chore (which turns out wasn't that important). Granted, I could have performed it solo after, but well, I didn't have the chance. I couldn't even do my solo, which was the entire point of wearing my costume. So I think that may have worked against me. While my costuming was unique, I didn't look like part of the Indigo. And I danced in heels. And my belt fell apart.

So yes, I was very disappointed, mostly because I didn't get to solo. But, it may be worth trying again because I know they didn't get to see my best.

Jill Parker Workshop

Thank GOD I have internet back. I've done a ton o shit the past few weeks and wanted to write a nice long review of each. Here we go...

So, the weekend before Tribal Fest, I took a 3 day intensive with Jill Parker in SF. Apparently it was the first one she has organized and offered herself (as opposed to being hired by others). It seems odd that such an important person in the bellydance scene doesn't have much of a presence her in SF. There are only a few classes offered, and Ultra Gypsy is currently on hiatus (for an extended period). Apparently Jill has had some health issues and has been taking it easy for the past little while, but is looking to start offering regular intensives. It really goes to show how much effort is needed to go into starting a bellydance business. Although Jill has 20+ years of bellydancing under her belt, as both an original member and instructor at FatChance, as well as, well, starting Tribal Fusion, she doesn't have anywhere near the established business that Suhaila has. Suhaila has been dancing longer, but she only started her dance school back in the 90s after being overseas. By then Jill was already well known in the SF dance community. Just goes to show how much of ones popularity depends on how popular YOU MAKE YOURSELF. Yes of course it takes talent, but I am coming to realize that if I want to be anywhere near a professional dancer, you have to market market market yourself to death. I've been trying to do this, dancing everywhere I can, having a website, business cards. But what else? No one knows me here so thats a bit of a challenge. It seems as if this will take years....Anyway, back to Jill's workshop....

The workshop covered a bit of everything: we did some yoga, some lectures, combos, choreography, improv, and dance history. My body was a complete mess after 2 months of working 6-7 days a week, so NOTHING was working. Aside from that, compared to Suhaila's classes, it was a pretty easy pace. I know that I shouldn't really expect to be challenged to much anymore in workshops. It was of course geared to more the beg-intermediate level, which was more suited to the people in the class. I did get a few things out of it: I was particularly interested in the Tunisian stuff which she taught us. There is no Tunisian taught in Toronto and I have had no exposure to it. I'm going to look into some videos and classes on it as it looks pretty sick. However, I'm kinda over learning "moves." Jill, being central to both the formation of tribal and tribal fusion, has inspired many many people. But, that means other people have emulated her moves and style, so that they no longer seem original (but of course, she was the originator!). Also, knowing "moves" doesn't make you a bellydancer. Sure they help, but I'd rather be focusing on drilling or choreography. We also did a few exercises where we had to come up with a choreography using the moves she taught us in a different way. I guess that's the first step in looking outside the box, but you're still relying on a very set vocabulary. Also, I'm so into my own choreography it was hard for me to have to do a collaborative combo. I really wanted to learn more about Jill's choreography process, as I know she has a lot to offer there, but we just didn't have time. One thing that was surprising was how Jill emphasized classic bellydance from Egypt. I didn't realize what a great Egyptian/Cabaret dancer she is. I don't know anybody else that can so easily do any style of bellydance. She's not just a tribal or tribal fusion dancer, but also can look very classic. That is SOOOO rare in tribal. This of course was not new to me, but it was to many other ppl in the class. Another unexpected component of the workshop was talking about bellydance as therapy. Not really what I'm looking for, but JIll (and the other students) had some interesting things to say about it and I'm sure it could help out a lot of people.

Probably the highlight of the workshop was watching Jill dance. She is bellydance history. You can see her foundations in FatChance, but you can also see how the Indigo and many other tribal fusion dancers have developed out of her troupe. She makes it look effortless, easy, and gracefull, which are much harder to achieve than layering pelvic locks with figure 8s.

Further down the rabbit hole

My life is insane. I am now working 3 jobs (the 4th catering job has disappeared), looking for work (averaging 1-3 interviews per week), looking for an apartment, going to dance class, going to yoga, choreographing, practicing, and performing. At least I get fed at 2 of my jobs (the other lets me eat at my desk), or otherwise it wouldn't happen. Hopefully either my environmental consulting or bellydance career takes off because this is nuts. That being said, my potential productivity is much greater than I previously thought. However, the downside is (other than not having a social life), that i get sick. Like last week. Kinda puts a damper on my desperate ability to make money, and my dancing.

Nevertheless, I managed to pull out 2 (yes 2) new choreographies for my first performance at Baxatalo Drom on Friday. Other than needing to puke at the end of my second set, I think it went over pretty well (though it certainly didn't feel that great...). I was lucky enough to have 2 friends of mine come and see it, and I got to meet Susan Frankovitch and her husband as well as a few ex-UG members. All in all a very good time. I really shouldn't have been as nervous as a I was, but what can I say! I'm a small town girl in a big city (at least bellydance wise).

I also got a chance to perform at Cafe Bellie on Sunday which was a total treat. Ashkenaz is a great venue, and the dancing was great. A very diverse group of talented people performed. I was please to meet Amy Luna and Kathleen Crowley (as well as the rest of Saidi).

And just because I do not have enough to do, I've decided to change one of the pieces that I planned to do for TF. Its already choreographed, I've just never performed it. The Flapper Fusion stuff that I do has been going over pretty well in SF and I think the slow number just won't have the same impact at TF.

Cleopatra in chocolate

I realize I hadn't posted in ages, and not only that, I don't have any current photos! I do have however, a picture of Cleopatra carved in chocolate from a recent catering gig that I did. I figure that's bellydance-y enough!

So lesse, what have I been up to? I've basically just been taking classes at Suhaila's. I'm quite broke, so i've had to limit myself to classes. Having unlimited funds, I'd def be taking a class a day. Unfortunately, that's not the case. But, I've been enjoying taking some Level 3 classes. I haven't mastered Level 2 yet, but since i can take both, why not? I've actually surprised myself by how much of the layering I can do. Standing still that is. With footwork its a different story! I'd really like to take a Level 2 weeklong at some point, I think that would def put me over the edge and be able to get my Level 2 certification. Hopefully I can do that in October, after getting my Level 1 in August. That's the plan anyway!

I went to the Unmata fundraiser for their trip to Taiwan. It was quite awesome. Amy's gf Reagan was hosting, and did a bang up job. Unmata, of course, was amazing. They did a veil piece which was pretty impressive (and unusual for a tribal group). The Hot Pot student group Verbatim was also great, you could def see Amy's influence. I was also quite impressed by Susan Frankovich and Cera.

I despite my insane work schedule, I managed to make it to Rakkasah on Saturday. I got to see Amaya, Jim Boz, Suhaila's Repertoire Company, Mesmera, Suzanna Del Vecchio, and Oreet. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with the festival. The pros were great of course, but I gotta say, I got kinda tired of the same pop and egyptian classics over and over again. I gotta say, I would have liked to have seen more variety. I was also kinda disappointed with the vending, but happy that I only spent $14!!! I'm glad I went, but I didn't need to come back on Sunday.

So, I've decided that I'll audition for BDSS at LARaqs in May. This leaves me 7 weeks to prep! Given that I'm now working 2 jobs, 6 days a week, it'll be a lotta work, but I need to put in some serious practicing. I should make some kinda practice plan...

I love Amy Sigil

So I've been taking classes with Amy Sigil at SSSD, where she's doing a 6 week course. I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan. Her choreography is INSANELY good. None of this 4 to the right, 4 to the left bullshit that the rest of us do. Her combos are completely unique and inspired, with few if any repeats. Sometimes I can't even understand what she heard in the music to make her come up with those moves. Now, I think I'm pretty good at coming up with unique, creative choreographies, but this totally pushes me to take it to the next level. She also showed up this class choreography to a Primus song. OMG!!!! It was THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER!!! Why don't other classes do that???? Seriously!! Amy's stuff also doesn't take itself too seriously and just has a whole helluva lotta fun. And she plays the RAVIEST drum and bass in class ever.

In other news, I had a private lesson last week with my OTHER favourite bellydancer. And we're doing another this week. Yayayayay!

And, I took a Level 3 Master class with Suhaila. This is a taste of some of the things that she had us do:
- undulation with mayas and ext hip circles
- backwards fig 8 with interior hip circles and chest lifts
- alternating pelvic pyramids and squares with chest drops

Insane eh? I was impressed that i could do the int hip circles with bk fig 8s, but then the chest lifts didn't really work. And I couldn't walk half time with it. Bugger!

Website!!!

I have a website!!!

www.cleoflaptra.com

Back to work!!

After having a relaxing 2 week break, I'm back in SF. I have renewed drive not only for finding a job, but also for bellydancing! I guess this would be an appropriate space for listing my bellydance goals for 2008:

1. Refine Suhaila Level 2 technique and start taking Level 3
2. Flutters - tighter, faster, and layered with other movements
3. Turkish Drops
4. Back bends
5. Splits - still.....trying.....
6. Finger cymbals
7. Practice Yoga 3 times/week
8. Practice other dance styles: popping, locking, tutting, ethiopian
9. Make a website
10. Perform more

Well, that should be pretty simple! To start myself off I attended an FCBD orientation with Carolena Nerriccio Saturday morning. Aren't we adorable?????