Well, this weekend was definitely one of the most incredible weekends of my life. I feel like I did after Kandi’s bootcamp, where I just felt completely re-inspired with the art form and I got a really clear look into what I need to do and where I need to go from here. Since this post is going to be incredibly long, I broke it into different headings so you can skip around to the parts you’re interested in reading.

SATURDAY: I woke up ridiculously early and my dad drove me to Glendale. We test-drove the route the night before and it took a half-hour, but it only took ten minutes that morning. I had left with plenty of time to spare…. Result: I arrive at Raqs LA at the preposterously early time of 7:40 for an event that started at 9AM. I wander in and realize I’ve beaten most of the vendors there. I track down Marta Schill, the organizer of the event, and I asked if they needed help setting up. Marta is Jayna’s mom (Jayna is in BDSS) and I met most of their family. Marta is hilariously chill. She never lost her cool. People kept strolling up and saying things like, “this stage has no electricity” and she was so mellow the whole time. I would’ve been flipping out. I helped set up, met Jayna and David, Jayna’s brother who has a really amazing band (more about them later). I scheduled open stage time (which ended up being HUGELY beneficial, more on that later).

JILLINA: The “Oriental Fusion” workshop started at 9 and it was actually a lot of fun (all the girls in USMED are probably shocked to hear that I took a cabaret workshop and LIKED IT). It was weird for me since I’m so heavily into tribal but I took the opportunity to practice dancing more cabaret/folkloric, like the movements were intended to be and then I practiced tribal-izing it. At the workshop I met Frank from Colorado Springs and Amberetta from Chattanooga, TN, both of whom were auditioning for BDSS, as well. After the workshop I talked for awhile with Petite Jamilla and Frank, both of whom are incredible people and dancers.

MORIA/ISSAM: Soon after was the Moria/Issam “Tribal Drum Solo” workshop, which was a lot of hard work. It was about at this point that I realized I really want to work on my arms and flexibility throughout my shoulders, a realization I kept coming to throughout the weekend. The drum solo she taught was really interesting—very tribal, and she made it that way mainly by really focusing on the arms, which I guess I always knew but I really developed a new appreciation for how much the tribal posturing changes the look of the dance. In this workshop I met Kendra and Janelle from Spokane, Washington, and we ended up hanging out throughout the weekend. They are both really sweet, funny, and incredible dancers as well.

VENDING: After the Moria workshop, my sister Katie showed up and we ate lunch (hummus, and it was excellent! Apparently, while Katie was waiting for me, she ended up talking to Samantha Hasthorpe outside for awhile and didn’t realize she was in BDSS. She asked, “are you going to the next workshop?” to which Samantha replied, “Well, I’m actually teaching it.” I thought that was really funny). We scoped out the vending, and let me tell you, I felt like a kid in a candy store. It simply the most bellydance vending I have ever seen in one area. There were two floors of vending, two open stages, and more bellydance crap than you can imagine. I spent most of my time drooling over the Tribal Bazaar booth and the Phoenix Rising booth. I broke down and bought red and black mendhi’s at the Phoenix Rising table, since I have coveted them for a year and never seen them online. They are so beautiful that I just keep giggling and jumping up and down when I looked at them (sadly, I’m not exaggerating. I’m just that incredibly lame). Phoenix Rising has come out with all this gorgeous leather stuff (skirts, bras, jackets), you should check it out. I contemplated robbing their booth.

KAMI LIDDLE: Before the Kami Liddle workshop, Katie and I talked to Kendra and Janelle again. These girls fucking rock, btw. If you’re in the Spokane area, you should see them dance. I also contemplated robbing them later when I saw their tryout costumes. Talking with them really reminded me how much I love the bellydance community. Everyone is just so sweet, genuine, and cool, and for the most part everyone is really down to earth and there are no crazy egos (I always feel really nerdy when I meet all these funky tribal chicks and I’m like, “durr, I’m a lame, really pale nerdy girl from the Midwest”). The Kami Liddle “Waves, Breaks, and Locks” workshop was really useful, as I knew it would be. She’s another one that I am always amazed at how sweet and funny she is. There’s just no ego there at all, and all her combos were really funky and original. After the three workshops, I really had a clearer idea of the concepts I need to work on in this upcoming year:
1) Technique. I have a ways to go. I need to tighten up moves, focus on my muscles, and drill, drill drill.
2) Flexibiltiy. I’m not as flexible as I want to be, so I’m going to try and sign up for a yoga class.
3) Hands and arms: They should burn by the end of my routines and I should be constantly conscious of the energy in them.
4) Posture. Moria came up to me after my open stage time and pulled my shoulders back and was like, “This is what you should feel.” She’s right—EVERY time I dance, I need to check my posture and just get in the habit of getting that tribal carriage.

THE SHOW: After the Kami workshop, we grabbed dinner with my parents and went into to see the BDSS show. It was the first time I saw them live and I was absolutely floored. The first half was assorted solos from the instructors. I thought the highlights were Samantha Hasthorpe, dancing an AMAZING solo, Ansuya and her zills, and Moria dancing looking like she was pulled straight from a Tim Burton film by doing this really funky dance with a parasol. The second half was excerpts from the Babelesque… and omg, it was just stunning. Each piece was better than the next. I loved everything the tribal girls did, or course…. I loved PJ’s quadruple veil dance, Jillina’s drum solo, the pieces with the whole troupe… as I was watching, it just really sunk in that this is what I wanted to do. This whole weekend drove home the idea that this is what I want my life to be like, a constant string of events like this one, surrounded by all these beautiful, strong, confident women, putting on a really high-caliber show, constantly learning and dancing and teaching. I went home and I felt like I was floating on a cloud. ( I just realized a lot of this post is pretty lame and flowery, but I get that way when I’m really excited).

SUNDAY: I decided perhaps I could leave a TAD later than I did on Saturday. I got there closer to nine and went to my first workshop, Double Veil and Spinning with PJ.

PETITE JAMILLA: I was really psyched to try it after seeing the show. I brilliantly decided to use two veils that were not only different fabrics, but different weights and different lengths. It didn’t go as smoothly as I anticipated as a result. But PJ was so sweet, she let me use her veils halfway through the workshop. I was actually so inspired after the workshop that I think I might try to make some tribally-double veil solo perhaps for the bootcamp show. I talked to PJ for awhile after the workshop, and let me tell you, this girl is one of the most genuinely sweetest people I know. Send good karma and vibes her way, because after all the help she gave me this weekend, lord knows she deserves it.

SAMANTHA HASTHORPE: I went to Samantha Hasthorpe’s “Tribal Choreography” workshop afterwards. She taught the choreography that I absolutely loved from the night before, so I was really excited. Samantha was one of the nicest people I met that weekend. She’s another one—no ego at all, she’s hilarious (and her accent is amazing). A testament to her awesomeness: after her workshop I kinda sheepishly mentioned that my open stage time at four and she was like, “excellent, I’ll try to make it!” and actually followed through. I was so touched that someone who was probably crazily busy not only acted really excited to see a nobody dance but she actually followed through. Several times throughout the weekend I was just floored at how humble she and the other dancers were. I think sometimes when you really respect a person or a performer you can build them up to be gods or something, and its just really nice to see that they’re human too, you know? On the same token, I think that the dancers probably meet so many star-struck fans that they probably really appreciate being treated like a normal human being, as well. You can just tell that all these women in BDSS are just really invested in the art and like to see dancers succeed as much as the next person.

PREPARATIONS: After Sam’s workshop I ate a quick lunch and then started getting ready. It took me like, two hours to get everything exactly how I wanted it. PJ came in the bathroom and we had this really long, amazing talk just about the audition and bellydancing in general. Again (to get flowery) I was just absolutely floored by her generosity and her kindness. Petite Jamilla helped me the most when it came to this audition. Not only did she encourage me in Kirksville, but the whole weekend she kept giving me pep talks and advice and really helped me prepare and network for the audition. PJ, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

OPEN STAGE: So I got triballed out and got ready to perform at four. I went by the BDSS table and introduced myself to Miles Copeland and told him I would be auditioning later. I saw Samantha and I reminded her about my open stage time. She mentioned she had a meeting with Miles around that time so I jokingly told her, “well, bring him along!” She surprised the hell out of my by telling me she’d try and being him along. I got to the open stage early and David (Jayna’s brother) and his band were setting up to play before the dancers resumed. Spur of the moment, I asked if they would mind if I danced while they played. They generously said I could, so I did some impromptu drum solo stuff. I then performed off a CD with my audition music. Samantha Hasthorpe, Moria, and Steve from BDSS saw me dance, I was so happy! Afterwards, I ran over to Sam and Moria and Moria graciously took the time to critique me. She helped me correct my posture and I was vibrating from excitement, practically. .

THE AUDITIONS: Auditions were at five-thirty, and holy crap, there were a ton of people. I heard somewhere there were like, 180 people auditioning (the majority were cabaret, though). We all shuffled in and they gave us a little pep talk and then the tribal-ers began the audition. I think there were 18 dancers. Moria taught us an excerpt from the beginning piece from Babelesque and we danced through it a few times. At the end we had a small improv section. From there, they called back like, 6-7 dancers to present solos. They threw us a curve ball by announcing the 3 minute solo would now be a two minute solo. I was really grateful that Kandi advised me to pick three songs and do a minute of each. I danced and I just tried to show the panel that I loved bellydancing and I was just thrilled to be there. The other girls and guy were amazing, I can see any one of the making it and every single one of them absolutely deserved to be called back. We were sent away with a “if we want you, you’ll hear from us.” This was an absolutely amazing experience and I would recommend that anyone who is interested in auditioning to do so.