wherev'r we go we celebrate the land that makes us refugees

[alonewiththemoon]

The subject of this entry is the line from "Thousands Are Sailing" that convinced me that somehow it would be appropriate to dance to the Pogues at the Middle East, since it seemed to sum up something communal about the way in which so many people ended up in the US to build new lives and yet feel a sense of loss and idealized nostalgia for what had been left behind.  Even though this performance started out as a somewhat jokey concept, it became surprisingly serious to me, serious through all the smiles and shimmies and green flowers and laughter.  It's hard to put into words how I felt dancing last night; I was tapping into somewhere profoundly real and important within myself, a sense of pride of where I come from and who I am and who my people are and my pride in them (not that I'm all Irish, but the Welsh and Scottish in me are Celts too, and the German in me is swept up in the romanticism of it all).  In a strange way, it was probably my most Egyptian performance ever, because I think that's the place that Egyptian dancers go, dancing to those songs that are so important to Egyptians and their sense of self. 

I'm still in a state of afterglow about it--thanks so much to those of you who came to see me, it was wonderful to see your familiar faces, part of my community, and at least a few of you looked like you were feeling the same things I was.  I feel like I could keep on dancing to the music forever.  Give me a bucketful of that old mountain dew, and I just might do it ;-)

The setlist was "Thousands Are Sailing" and "Mountain Dew" by the Pogues, and "Danny Boy" as sung by Johnny Cash.  I had a hard time keeping a straight face as Danny Boy began, but I think I got it back to the right feel when I started handing out the green flowers.  Interesting discovery:  many men are embarrassed by being offered flowers by a woman.

Xmortis Arabian Midnights on Friday was very good as well, although it seems like a million years ago--I think my dancing was a bit sloppy because I was very, very tired by the time we went on, but people liked it and that's the whole point, so that's good.  It was great to hear some belly dancers yipping and zaghareeting for us during the show.  Saturday I was up far too early for a hair appointment at Liquid--Jason and I greeted each other clutching our respective cups of caffeine and had to laugh.  Then off to BU for a photoshoot with the Jewels of Jamal--it's a lot of fun to play dressup and have photos taken and not actually have to perform.  Amira Jamal has some great plans for her website using photos of us in a particular pose as design elements; I'm looking forward to seeing the final results.  Then home to sew my skirt and gauntlets for Sunday and get some practicing in.  I don't like leaving costuming stuff quite so much to the last minute, but that's the way life worked this week.  Conked out on the couch watching the Belly Dance Super Stars Monte Carlo solos DVD.  What I've seen of it so far is good, but so many of the dancers seem to be unable to really give it their all just for the camera with no audience present, so it feels a bit flat here and there.  Sharon Kihara's performance truly blows me away, though.  Seems like these tribal fusion ladies are bringing a little cabaret back into what they are doing (Rachel Brice has said as much about the things, not yet performed in public, that she's working on now), and I like that. 

On a non-dance related note, my crocuses (croci?) bloomed last week.  The poor things are only a couple of inches tall, instead of the six or so that they should be.  I think the weather has confused them so much that they thought they'd better hurry up and put out flowers while they could.  No sign of the tulips yet.  Maybe next weekend I'll have a little time to do some yard cleaning.

Comments

Again

[sanguineempathy.livejournal.com]

great set - B and I really enjoyed it and I was glad I finally made it out! Kudos!!

[firefly124.livejournal.com]

+++It's hard to put into words how I felt dancing last night; I was tapping into somewhere profoundly real and important within myself, a sense of pride of where I come from and who I am and who my people are and my pride in them (not that I'm all Irish, but the Welsh and Scottish in me are Celts too, and the German in me is swept up in the romanticism of it all). In a strange way, it was probably my most Egyptian performance ever, because I think that's the place that Egyptian dancers go, dancing to those songs that are so important to Egyptians and their sense of self. +++

Yes, you definitely conveyed that.

+++Interesting discovery: many men are embarrassed by being offered flowers by a woman.+++

Yeah, it's a whole weird role-reversal thing, I think. I thought it was fun to watch them blush, though.

Tangential costuming query: where did you get those shoes? They were perfect! Had just enough feel of a hornpipe shoe (something about the look of the heel, plus just being black and shiny) to stay with the Irish theme without actually being big clompy things, and nice and delicate looking to stay consistent as bellydance wear.

[spitcurl.livejournal.com]

Having seen both, and seen you so many other times, I have to say last night, especially the first Pogues, looked and felt like the Ultimate in Badriya Fusion -- it combined all of you. Heritage, spirit, dance, emotion, punk, camp, goth (in the sense of its dark broody moody fused into the sequined smiley), color, everything. I feel that way with a good amount of your solo fusion, but this one captured it all. It was Iconic, the way only art can be at its best. You were just ON.

And I was worried, like I said last night, because the 1st two St. Patty's fusion dances by others did not read well at all and felt forced/trite, even by the dancer I usually enjoy watching. But they did not tap into what they were trying. You tapped in and fully embodied it.

Re: Again

[alonewiththemoon]

I was glad to see you there, thanks for coming!

[alonewiththemoon]

The shoes came from Apple Dance Shoes and I highly recommend them. In addition to what's shown on the website, you can get nearly any shoe with nearly any heel height--their print catalog has many more options than the website does. They're very good quality especially considering the very reasonable ballroom dance shoe price. The ones I was wearing I think are in the Latin section, with a 1 inch cuban heel.

[alonewiththemoon]

Thanks, your praise means a lot to me :-) Thousands Are Sailing really does mean so damn much to me, I have to dance every bit of it like I mean it.

The dancer you mention left the music she had intended to dance to at home and wound up completely making something up on the spot, so it perhaps would have been different for her had she brought the right music.

[firefly124.livejournal.com]

Ooooh ::drools:: I'm not even hugely into shoes, and I'm seeing all sorts of shoes I want there! Thanks!

[spitcurl.livejournal.com]

Welcome. :D

dancer

Maybe, but she was my teacher, and I've seen her do improv before, and it looked great then. Overall she felt...not present. But if she was distracted by her missing music, then that's what I may've seen -- just her going through the motions.

[panzerkunst.livejournal.com]

I don't have your email, so...have you heard of this?

http://www.chovexani.com/Shadowsevents.htm

[alonewiththemoon]

belatedly repling--yes, I have a standing invitation to perform at future occurances :-)

[panzerkunst.livejournal.com]

Awesome...I just wish that it weren't on Sunday nights in NYC. :-/