The Whole Sha-Bang

How did the weekend start? Pretty damn good, considering we had to do a lot of work very quickly to cover ground for the Temple Gathering. We changed venues for a few reasons, and now we're going to be at The Edge in Palo Alto, which I think will actually work better overall. Not quite as cool-gothy looking as the Forum, but the stage set-up is better, and it's less choppy, so everyone anywhere can see what's going on. And the guys there seem really down to earth and reliable :)

So with that taken care of, Keith and I deposited a very unhappy _mischief at Mary's, left the cottage as best we could for the roofer guys, and headed up to Sebastopol for Festival Fantasia. We discovered that this was the 10th and Final, which a lot of people were upset about apparently, but I can sympathize I suppose....plus Kajira's moving to Maui! There will be a 4th Tribal Fest that's *3* days, and i hope that won't be the last one (because I would be sad and not so sympathetic, because there's a lot of energy moving this festival). Traffic for vending royally sucked in the Russian Room, and I'd like to see what I can do about getting us in the main room for TF4, if I can bypass Ellen and talk to Kajira. We did OK, but it wasn't great, and I do think it could have been better.

Performance wise, I didn't catch much. Saturday: There was a cute semi-goth girl early on dancing to Tool (I think), who give her a few more years, she'll be really getting something going on, but I'm not sure what her name was (couldn't hear squat). There was Kami from Reno who did a really nice set--sorta Ultra Gypsy/Urban Tribal-ish. Tatseena and Good Vibrations did an excellent show as always. Haruspicy has now added "DanceCraft" to their name (must go change that on the event website!), which is just super cool, and they did a really great Indian-Belly Dance fusion. I also liked some of Lotus Tribal Belly Dance's set, because they looked like they were having fun :) Shoshanna's veil work is always lovely to experience, and of course, there was AZAR! I felt like tacklehugging her to the floor, because it's been weeks since she's been here b/c of her workshops. Can't wait for regular class on Wednesday! She wore her "gothy" cabaret set, which means a turkish black cab set ;)...she was a little low on energy due to being sick last week, but she's always a fabulous performer. Sunday, I think I saw even less, besides Rachel & Co., mainly because I needed to go get ready. Time ran up on me very quickly, after taking forever to even get near 3pm---thank gawd for a relatively simple costume! I didn't have as much time as I would like to physically and mentally prepare, but I think it went very well. We got video of it, and I know people out there got pix, so hopefully I'll have something to show.

The comments were positive and interesting....several times people expressed their surprise over seeing me in cabaret costuming (which technically, it's barely that LOL, it's just shiny and silver, mainly because of the fabric). I've taken like 2 or 3 single Tribal classes in 3 years, and the rest is all hard-core cabaret, so I found that really funny. Paloma pointed out the fact that maybe it's because I'm more Tribal/Tribaret in appearrence, they're really not paying attention to the technicalities of the movements. Guess they never saw the peacock costume? Who knows? But I think I need to do more with me in white and silver, or pale gold maybe. I always thought I would look washed-out in white, but after seeing people's expressions when I first wore the opal bustier set back last November, it stayed in the back of my head, that it has a more ethereal-dreamy effect, because of the contrast with my dark eyes and hair. I did find an awesome silvery vintage bra for only $20, so now I need to find parts for a belt :)

And everyone keeps asking me what I'm wearing for the Temple Gathering....I've got 3 weeks right? LOL.

We decided to come home Sunday night, and there was a very relieved _mischief waiting for us at Mary's. It took some time and work to get the cottage straightened up because the workers didnt' put the blinds back up...and waking up this morning was weird, because of the change in light is very dramatic...10am felt like 6am. I suppose we'll get used to it. We've never gotten so much attention from the cat either...she even lost some weight, which is amazing. ;)

So, I think that's just about everything. There's a full page flyer you can print out for the Gathering, in the "about" section :)

something else...

Ok, here's my typical walking-talking contradiction of the month:

I love belly dancing to unusual, alternative music. I like to see other people do it as well, because I love to see how they interpret it as well. But there were a few people this weekend who just, I felt, didn't "pull it off." Does that make me a bad or critical person for thinking it? Do *I* pull it off? I'd like to think so, I know I can do better, but I'm very critical of myself...., but how do these other performers feel? It's not like I saw a lot of performances, and I wouldn't be really thinking this about people who dance to more traditional stuff (or if I did, be thinking deeply about it), it's just the music caught my attention and I went to look.

I think what it comes down to is the overall effect (in no order): costume, music, dance movement and personality : these 4 keys combined make for a great performance, regardless of the details ("authentic" music, alternative music, etc). If I'm going to dance to traditional music, I'll be in (for me), a rather traditional costume. If I'm doing something alternative, my costume is going to be more "edgy"....and you can't dance to say, Metallica, looking like you're dancing to George Abdo. If your music is bold, you can't be a shrinking violet.

But perhaps part of the main difference is how I visualize the music, and that particular dancer didn't manifest my personal visualization. BUT on the other hand, if they were able to really make a statement and connect with the music, THEIR visualization *would* override my personal visualization. I think that makes sense.

I take into consideration as well, what I guesstimate is that dancer's experience, how many years perhaps they've been doing this, though there are plenty of exceptions to that rule. Perhaps that is my nicer way of reasoning why the performance didn't hold water, and I'd like to think that in time, it could change. But we know that dancing is such a personal expression, each dancer has her own fingerprint.

Me, I'm apparently "sultry-trance-passion." I ponder if I could be "bouncy-happy-flirty", because it's not really in my nature. I'm not a bouncy person, unless I'm really tired or happily sauced. I'm intense, reflective, quiet. Which is probably why some people confess to me after a while of knowing me that I intimidated them. This still baffles me.

I really don't know. I don't think I really have thought much in this line of thinking, and I believe it has something to do with the type of folks here in California. Not sure why, though I'm sure Keith has an explanation. Perhaps the irony of it all is I can see and tell others so clearly what they need to know, but how well can I do it for myself? But it seems to be more a matter of not enough time to consider this, rather than overstepping the line and assuming. Just too busy taking care of everyone else. Guess I'm still in the process of finding me. Shouldn't be too hard, since there are two of us, right?