Day Five: The Jet Laggening
Aug. 17th, 2012 03:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
parasitegirlIt’s 1am! Why would I want to be asleep? That me who wanted to crawl under the floor and hibernate during the Movie Night is GONE because it’s 1AM!
That’s how the day started, under-rested.
I had breakfast, probably with Fifi, and then hit the little market I’d seen on my way back to the hotel the night before. I would have water!
I saw Yeye buying lunch and water. Then I ran into Elisa and Delanna in a “female stuff” aisle as I was looking for nail polish remover.
“Are you also here to buy Tampons?” chimed out Elisa, nope. I timed my pills for my trip, honey!
10-11:30: Artemisia canceled her workshop so our one option was Elisa’s “The Folkloric Interlude” this class was about how to embrace moments in Oriental music that break into quick Folkloric sections.
Khaligi and Saidi were addressed and we didn’t have time to get into the third rhythm, which I have not written down. I wanna say it starts with M.
My take-away: Taking the moment to move into your “onstage dressing room” breathe, and change the style of your dance and returning to that place before continuing on with your full-on Oriental.
11:30-11:45 Break!
Sarah, the very sweet student, brought an in-progress costume for me to give feedback on! YAY! She’s good with beads, illustration/fine-arts background, and has a good eye. Most of my feedback was about how to construct things for a longer life and more flexibility in wear.
11:45-13:00 Elisa: Dancing on the fly (improv) or Delanna (intro to poi/voi).
I love Delanna. I have no interest in learning poi/voi…not even after I saw light-up poi that looked like sex toys OR saw poi wings that, if I used them right, might look like I’d field-stripped a Faerie and was strutting my trophies.
I was going to take Elisa’s class but quickly realized I needed to lie down, too jetlagged. I explained this to her and spent the rest of the class half-asleep and listening to her talk. I was more interested in learning ways of teaching how to inprov that learning how to inprov, that’s a comfort zone for me, but I needed rest.
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-16:00 Serkan Tutar: Shaabi or Delanna: Advanced poi/voi
Delanna’s intro to poi/voi class had been nearly full, but she exhausted the arms of those participants. Advanced class was canceled due to all students being with Serkan.
Serkan…LOVE HIM!
I get really itchy when male dancers of middling talent are praised to the hills by our community. I’m all for men in the scene, but they’d better be held to similar standards as me and my female/female-identified peers.
Serkan, AWESOME. Really sweet, loveable guy with solid teaching skills and a nice range. Go check out his bio, I’ll wait: http://www.serkan.be/serkantutar.html
And, well, Shaabi. I like Shaabi. I’d really like to know more about it. It seems to be one of the Egyptian niches that suits me well. Big, goofy, and more than a little bit vulgar. I feel like I held my own in the choreography and am happy to have a video of it to practice from.
16:00-19:30: clean up! Make-up! Eat what you can! It’s showtime soon! Time for this mild-mannered school teacher to transform into a great big beautiful butterfly!
(Have you heard The Story? The Story of The Very, Hungry, Caterpillar?)
Fifi and I had been talking in the car and over breakfasts about the upcoming hafla. She’d signed onto it last minute. What would she be doing? Turkish Roma. She’d been told that one other person would also be performing Turkish Roma but with a different, longer, song.
Yup.
You guessed it, me.
Fifi also gushed about one of her favorite instructors of Turkish Roma who helped her find her music. HELLO, SOPHIE!!! I was all I KNOW RITE?!?!
Fifi kept saying things like “It’s just 2 minutes” and being all self-depreciating about what she was going to do. If any of you have ever have been backstage with me, I can’t tolerate such talk. I told her to knock of the “justs” and that she’d be great out there and I’d be proud and so on…and she told me she’s never been told that (Sophie was a workshop teacher, not a regular instructor…Fifi has had some primary teacher problems in her past and her pre-show self reflects this).
And I kept sidling up to Tonya, the warm American…now in an AMAZING Bella…and making her answer the same question “Tell me who is awesome?” “I am AWESOME.”
I had not planned to use zills in my performance. I wanted to go more “pure” Turkish Roma…but Serkan, on hearing me with the zills, talked me into it. I had also planned to wear my hair up, but Elisa had given me and my other long-hairs more than one lecture about how us “hair-factories” owe it to those who can’t grow long hair to WORK that hair, honey, WORK IT!
Back stage…well, pre-stage, was full of general goofiness and many silly photos. I ask again, are all you Europeans in love with silly theme photos? There was much jumping and photobombing.
Sarah the student asked, in a shy voice, if she could…try them? She’d seen my zillwork in the choreo feedback class and wanted to TOUCH THE ZILLS.
Kid, the first touch is free. Of COURSE I let her put them on and try stuff out. ONE OF US!
Elisa was a trooper. She sent her costumes and make-up ahead of her…and customs wasn’t being nice. She was wearing a borrowed costume (Artemisia’s amazing snake-skin print one) and, I’m guessing, borrowed hair. A few girls pitched in extra bling.
19:30- Halfa time!
We all watched each other (we were the majority of the audience, after-all).
I don’t have a play by play.
I was really DAMNED impressed with Artemisia’s students and almost everything I saw.
I liked Fifi’s Roman Turkish style but (as I told her later) she could have done without starting with a story/prop…it ate up time she coulda been dancing. She didn’t need it.
Yeye proved to be a really sensual dancer (Modern Egyptian), with a sexy home-made costume.
Serkan was INSANELY fun in his drumsolo. Off the hook fun with skillz.
I was also impressed with Artemisia for strapping on the zills for some old-school George Abdo…because she was doing it in-front of students with whom she’d been honest about the fact that she hasn’t performed with zills for over 10 years. I think it’s incredibly important for teachers to show students that growing in dance means taking risks and going beyond your comfort zone, at any stage of your career. She later did an elegant fan-veil dance that was totally in her wheelhouse and lovely to watch.
Delanna, goddamned graceful yet full-energy in a modern oriental number and then full out funballs in Shaabi.
Elisa, brought the mother-fucking showmanship….werd.
My performance?
Um. I’ve seen footage of it and it is what I thought it was. No, you dont get to see. It is solid and passionate but I wish I hadn’t strapped on the zills. My body defaults to more Oriental/Old-School styles when I get those zills on. I fear I leaned on that part of my dance and lost some of the complexity of Turkish Roma. This was, in fact, why I had originally planned to not wear them.
That being said, it can’t be denied that I can perform with zills. Even if I don’t think my performance with zills was the best I could have done for that specific song, I think it was a good choice for that venue and situation, dancing for a group that barely knows me as a dancer, because it showcased some of my strengths in a wide way than zills with oriental or Roma without would have. Those who saw it had kind, and excited, words for me.
And Delanna screamed “That’s so YOUS!” when we were both backstage.
In wrapping up: aA we got changed back into street clothing, it was a very compassionate place to be. People were giving each other praise and a few constructive things to work on. Luna, who’d done a STUNNING veil piece, was shown a few new moves by Elisa. I gave costume advice/homework about items that could be added to complete one of the homemades (arm bands, headband, larger necklace)…hugs and photos.
At this time I also had to hunt down Yeye, who was trying on a for-sale costume, and quietly tell her that she really needed to start pitching-in for parking and transport because it was the end of day two and she never even reached for her wallet. She had to take responsibility instead of wanting people to figure it all out for her later (she hadn't been keeping track..I had somewhat been keeping track since I noticed her not paying). Fifi was getting nervous.
The next day she paid…and then she started getting rides from other people and ducked out early on the last day.
I chalked it up to her being young and the language issue.
That’s how the day started, under-rested.
I had breakfast, probably with Fifi, and then hit the little market I’d seen on my way back to the hotel the night before. I would have water!
I saw Yeye buying lunch and water. Then I ran into Elisa and Delanna in a “female stuff” aisle as I was looking for nail polish remover.
“Are you also here to buy Tampons?” chimed out Elisa, nope. I timed my pills for my trip, honey!
10-11:30: Artemisia canceled her workshop so our one option was Elisa’s “The Folkloric Interlude” this class was about how to embrace moments in Oriental music that break into quick Folkloric sections.
Khaligi and Saidi were addressed and we didn’t have time to get into the third rhythm, which I have not written down. I wanna say it starts with M.
My take-away: Taking the moment to move into your “onstage dressing room” breathe, and change the style of your dance and returning to that place before continuing on with your full-on Oriental.
11:30-11:45 Break!
Sarah, the very sweet student, brought an in-progress costume for me to give feedback on! YAY! She’s good with beads, illustration/fine-arts background, and has a good eye. Most of my feedback was about how to construct things for a longer life and more flexibility in wear.
11:45-13:00 Elisa: Dancing on the fly (improv) or Delanna (intro to poi/voi).
I love Delanna. I have no interest in learning poi/voi…not even after I saw light-up poi that looked like sex toys OR saw poi wings that, if I used them right, might look like I’d field-stripped a Faerie and was strutting my trophies.
I was going to take Elisa’s class but quickly realized I needed to lie down, too jetlagged. I explained this to her and spent the rest of the class half-asleep and listening to her talk. I was more interested in learning ways of teaching how to inprov that learning how to inprov, that’s a comfort zone for me, but I needed rest.
13:00-14:00 Lunch
14:00-16:00 Serkan Tutar: Shaabi or Delanna: Advanced poi/voi
Delanna’s intro to poi/voi class had been nearly full, but she exhausted the arms of those participants. Advanced class was canceled due to all students being with Serkan.
Serkan…LOVE HIM!
I get really itchy when male dancers of middling talent are praised to the hills by our community. I’m all for men in the scene, but they’d better be held to similar standards as me and my female/female-identified peers.
Serkan, AWESOME. Really sweet, loveable guy with solid teaching skills and a nice range. Go check out his bio, I’ll wait: http://www.serkan.be/serkantutar.html
And, well, Shaabi. I like Shaabi. I’d really like to know more about it. It seems to be one of the Egyptian niches that suits me well. Big, goofy, and more than a little bit vulgar. I feel like I held my own in the choreography and am happy to have a video of it to practice from.
16:00-19:30: clean up! Make-up! Eat what you can! It’s showtime soon! Time for this mild-mannered school teacher to transform into a great big beautiful butterfly!
(Have you heard The Story? The Story of The Very, Hungry, Caterpillar?)
Fifi and I had been talking in the car and over breakfasts about the upcoming hafla. She’d signed onto it last minute. What would she be doing? Turkish Roma. She’d been told that one other person would also be performing Turkish Roma but with a different, longer, song.
Yup.
You guessed it, me.
Fifi also gushed about one of her favorite instructors of Turkish Roma who helped her find her music. HELLO, SOPHIE!!! I was all I KNOW RITE?!?!
Fifi kept saying things like “It’s just 2 minutes” and being all self-depreciating about what she was going to do. If any of you have ever have been backstage with me, I can’t tolerate such talk. I told her to knock of the “justs” and that she’d be great out there and I’d be proud and so on…and she told me she’s never been told that (Sophie was a workshop teacher, not a regular instructor…Fifi has had some primary teacher problems in her past and her pre-show self reflects this).
And I kept sidling up to Tonya, the warm American…now in an AMAZING Bella…and making her answer the same question “Tell me who is awesome?” “I am AWESOME.”
I had not planned to use zills in my performance. I wanted to go more “pure” Turkish Roma…but Serkan, on hearing me with the zills, talked me into it. I had also planned to wear my hair up, but Elisa had given me and my other long-hairs more than one lecture about how us “hair-factories” owe it to those who can’t grow long hair to WORK that hair, honey, WORK IT!
Back stage…well, pre-stage, was full of general goofiness and many silly photos. I ask again, are all you Europeans in love with silly theme photos? There was much jumping and photobombing.
Sarah the student asked, in a shy voice, if she could…try them? She’d seen my zillwork in the choreo feedback class and wanted to TOUCH THE ZILLS.
Kid, the first touch is free. Of COURSE I let her put them on and try stuff out. ONE OF US!
Elisa was a trooper. She sent her costumes and make-up ahead of her…and customs wasn’t being nice. She was wearing a borrowed costume (Artemisia’s amazing snake-skin print one) and, I’m guessing, borrowed hair. A few girls pitched in extra bling.
19:30- Halfa time!
We all watched each other (we were the majority of the audience, after-all).
I don’t have a play by play.
I was really DAMNED impressed with Artemisia’s students and almost everything I saw.
I liked Fifi’s Roman Turkish style but (as I told her later) she could have done without starting with a story/prop…it ate up time she coulda been dancing. She didn’t need it.
Yeye proved to be a really sensual dancer (Modern Egyptian), with a sexy home-made costume.
Serkan was INSANELY fun in his drumsolo. Off the hook fun with skillz.
I was also impressed with Artemisia for strapping on the zills for some old-school George Abdo…because she was doing it in-front of students with whom she’d been honest about the fact that she hasn’t performed with zills for over 10 years. I think it’s incredibly important for teachers to show students that growing in dance means taking risks and going beyond your comfort zone, at any stage of your career. She later did an elegant fan-veil dance that was totally in her wheelhouse and lovely to watch.
Delanna, goddamned graceful yet full-energy in a modern oriental number and then full out funballs in Shaabi.
Elisa, brought the mother-fucking showmanship….werd.
My performance?
Um. I’ve seen footage of it and it is what I thought it was. No, you dont get to see. It is solid and passionate but I wish I hadn’t strapped on the zills. My body defaults to more Oriental/Old-School styles when I get those zills on. I fear I leaned on that part of my dance and lost some of the complexity of Turkish Roma. This was, in fact, why I had originally planned to not wear them.
That being said, it can’t be denied that I can perform with zills. Even if I don’t think my performance with zills was the best I could have done for that specific song, I think it was a good choice for that venue and situation, dancing for a group that barely knows me as a dancer, because it showcased some of my strengths in a wide way than zills with oriental or Roma without would have. Those who saw it had kind, and excited, words for me.
And Delanna screamed “That’s so YOUS!” when we were both backstage.
In wrapping up: aA we got changed back into street clothing, it was a very compassionate place to be. People were giving each other praise and a few constructive things to work on. Luna, who’d done a STUNNING veil piece, was shown a few new moves by Elisa. I gave costume advice/homework about items that could be added to complete one of the homemades (arm bands, headband, larger necklace)…hugs and photos.
At this time I also had to hunt down Yeye, who was trying on a for-sale costume, and quietly tell her that she really needed to start pitching-in for parking and transport because it was the end of day two and she never even reached for her wallet. She had to take responsibility instead of wanting people to figure it all out for her later (she hadn't been keeping track..I had somewhat been keeping track since I noticed her not paying). Fifi was getting nervous.
The next day she paid…and then she started getting rides from other people and ducked out early on the last day.
I chalked it up to her being young and the language issue.
