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bellydance superstars live in paris
Oct. 2nd, 2005 08:29 pmI finally finished watching the Bellydance Superstars Live in Paris DVD*. I would say I loved about half of it, was indifferent to a quarter and was actively saying wtf to the remaining quarter. The gymnastics and "island interlude" did nothing for me. And I was very sad to see the reworking of Dondi's Marilyn number--when I saw her do it, the piece seemed to be about an American icon who never had control over the packaging of her own body discovering the joys of that body, whereas the new version was pretty much all bimbo. Very sad indeed. And Sonia--lovely woman, graceful dancer, I went to a workshop with her and she was a generous and giving person, but would it kill her to smile? Half the time she looks like she's composing her grocery list up there. Maybe it's stage fright, which was sort of the impression I had at the workshop when she went all fish-faced just dancing for a small group of distinctly inferior dancers, but at her level that's just not acceptable.
But all that said, there was some great stuff on there. I loved Jillina's drum solo--I can't remember off the top of my head if she has a drum solo teaching dvd or not, but if she does, I'll get it. Amar Gamal is always an inspiration to me; I love the way she really embodies the music and reaches out to the audience at the same time. And Rachel Brice, well, I think my regular readers know how I feel about Rachel Brice. I'm so not into tribal (not least because people are always telling me I *must* be), and most of the other tribal dancers in the show left me flat, but Rachel Brice just has that star quality. I guess like Amar Gamal, she embodies the music equally well in her own way. I also really enjoyed Ansuya's performances. Though it's funny--as I watched, I thought "gee, I like Ansuya a lot as an entertainer, but I don't take her as a role model for my own style." Then as I was watching Amar Gamal and Rachel Brice it occured to me that if those two dancers are among my top stylistic role models, that probably leaves me pretty much squarely in Ansuya territory with my own dancing ;-) But that's not such a bad thing. My one real quibble with Ansuya's style is the open-legged stance she's in most of the time.
I had mentioned at some point that when I got this DVD, I'd have a viewing party. I still want to do that, but at this point it won't be until November.
if I weren't wiped from yoga class, I'd do some dancing. But today's class was all anusara (I first typed Ansuya there ;), just simple poses but held f o r e v e r until I thought pieces of me would fall off from the strain of holding them. But I managed to keep myself together and feel awfully good now. That was exactly what I needed.
*I won it in the raffle at the Hurricane Hafli. i had joked that Miles Copeland had sent it expressly for me, but honestly, I won it fair and square, no raffle fixing was going on!
But all that said, there was some great stuff on there. I loved Jillina's drum solo--I can't remember off the top of my head if she has a drum solo teaching dvd or not, but if she does, I'll get it. Amar Gamal is always an inspiration to me; I love the way she really embodies the music and reaches out to the audience at the same time. And Rachel Brice, well, I think my regular readers know how I feel about Rachel Brice. I'm so not into tribal (not least because people are always telling me I *must* be), and most of the other tribal dancers in the show left me flat, but Rachel Brice just has that star quality. I guess like Amar Gamal, she embodies the music equally well in her own way. I also really enjoyed Ansuya's performances. Though it's funny--as I watched, I thought "gee, I like Ansuya a lot as an entertainer, but I don't take her as a role model for my own style." Then as I was watching Amar Gamal and Rachel Brice it occured to me that if those two dancers are among my top stylistic role models, that probably leaves me pretty much squarely in Ansuya territory with my own dancing ;-) But that's not such a bad thing. My one real quibble with Ansuya's style is the open-legged stance she's in most of the time.
I had mentioned at some point that when I got this DVD, I'd have a viewing party. I still want to do that, but at this point it won't be until November.
if I weren't wiped from yoga class, I'd do some dancing. But today's class was all anusara (I first typed Ansuya there ;), just simple poses but held f o r e v e r until I thought pieces of me would fall off from the strain of holding them. But I managed to keep myself together and feel awfully good now. That was exactly what I needed.
*I won it in the raffle at the Hurricane Hafli. i had joked that Miles Copeland had sent it expressly for me, but honestly, I won it fair and square, no raffle fixing was going on!
