Danse Nocturne
Nov. 5th, 2007 11:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
parasitegirlLast night was Danse Nocturne in Asagaya.
Anaan has now held 4 or 5 Danse Nocturnes in Asagaya. It is held about once
a month. She's still trying to find the magic combination of schedule,
dancers, and publicity. The last two have been on Sundays and poorly
attended, although one of those Sundays involved pissy rain and nasty
weather. She's going to do some thinking about how best to continue.
December is bonenkai (end of the year party) season, so it's not worth
trying to schedule an event then. January is cold and everyone stays
indoors. February it should be back on and she's asked me to participate.
Why the low turn-out? It could be that most folks work on Monday morning. It
could be that Asagaya is thought of as "far" to travel (although it's only
about 15-20 minutes by train away from Shibuya / Harajuku /Asagaya which are
hotspots for events...and every event is far for me.) The other problem has
been publicity. Anaan has only been ordering 100 flyers...which doesn't
cover three dancers and the various places we flyer bomb. You've just got to
get so many out there! Anaan spaced on getting me flyers early this time,
they all disappeared at the Kiharra workshops, .so I only had 3 to
distribute...and I'd waited until having flyers to really tell people about
it.
I want to see this event work for Anaan.
I'm a little worried about my Friday art opening at the same location.
Although we've almost gone through 500 flyers for that one. As the day draws
closer I wish I'd opted not to dance at my opening, so that I could just
mingle and relax...but I'm on my flyer so...que sera.
Anaan bills Danse Nocturne as "A Night of Tribal Fusion and Dark Cabaret"
but is realizing more and more that what she and the dancers she gets are
really about is "A Night of Quirky Bellydance" where the dancers can explore
any less than mainstream desires. It's a space where she doesn't have to
worry about if she's Tribal enough or Tribal Fusion enough, she can just
dance...same for the rest of us regardless of what label we really fit into.
Henna, Anaan and I got there, suited up, and realized that we had only four
people there...and two of them were still down at the bar. Last time
everyone waited until the second set to really show up (I remember because I
was there on time!) We delayed for a half an hour but at 8:30 I started us
off, being as upbeat as possible as one can be when you realize that your
audience members are both too busy text messaging to realize that the game
was on!
Anaan collects the music about a week before the show and slots us all. She
attempts to build the balance and story from dancer to dancer and song to
song. We alternate songs instead of blocks of larger sets. So the first set
was something like: Ozma-Anaan-Ozma-Henna-Anaan-Ozma-Henna
I hated my performances in the first set, but I understand why. In an
attempt to fit the "Dark Cabaret" bill I'd gone back to more moody pieces
that I'd worked with in the past (Venetian Snare's Gloomy Sunday mix and
Null Device's remix of a Hungry Lucy song) for two of my three songs. Due to
the fact I'm still working on healing the ankle, I didn't practice them as
much as I'd have liked...but the bigger problem was that I just didn't feel
the songs the way I have in the past. They aren't very relevant to where I
am as a dancer right now, or as a person. I picked them to fit the "dark"
label. l and should have trusted my instincts more. Using 10 by MIA was
enjoyable, in part because it wasn't "dark" I would have been better served
by sticking with MIA, picking a second song that I'd never worked with, and
not doing a third.
The Asagaya venue is tiny and that makes it intimate regardless of what you
intend. When you've got a tiny audience (more folks filtered up, but still
only about 7 total) in a tiny space performing dances that involve a certain
level of vulnerability and intimacy...as I was with those two songs...if
it's off, if you're not feeling it or feeling it too much, if you don't nail
it, you can end up feeling vulnerable and your audience can end up feeling
assaulted with emotional overshare. I realized this halfway in, something
was off, and I tried to balance and reign things in, but I fear it all got
away from me.
I've also got to work on my veil more.
Anaan wasn't that psyched with her first set either. Anaan thought that I
was fine, but I know when I'm off and when I should be able to be better
than fine. She worried that she'd bored the audience. The new thing is that
she's performing a good deal lately and seems to not be beating herself up
when she doesn't nail a set.
Henna was fine, but she's just that good under all conditions. I love
watching her.
We moved on to a glass of red wine per dancer, changed, and geared up for
the second set. Anaan and I had really been saving our favorites for the
second set. This is where I figured that it was time to bust out the Baltic
fusion music I've been loving, the manish-ly sexy pinstripes I'd made, and
just do the Rom-Turkish with a touch of Fosse that I've really been feeling.
Dark Cabaret? No. But not easily categorized. It isn't Oriental even if
majority of the moves come from there. It isn't straight up Rom. It steals
from Turkish men's folk dances...and I can't resist a bit of strutting Fosse
showmanship...Anaan agrees it fits with what her idea of the night is, if
not the wording of the event.
The second set went wonderfully. Our A games were on display. A few more
folks were there. I enjoyed the hell out of those songs. And when the one
fake flower I'd pinned in my slicked back hair went flying across the room
it hit no one! Score! People clapped and cheered where appriate and even
gasped when needed (despite not being dark, one of my songs does drop a
single F bomb.) Hopefully I'll have some photos of the costume in action.
Charlie K, another local photographer, was there taking photos and video.
Charlie worries about music copy write infringement so when he posts any
dance footage on You Tube he removes the sound...this combined with the dark
and grainy quality of the lighting always makes them look like (I imagine)
vintage stuff films. I can't watch them without fearing for the dancer...or
wondering if Nostferatu is going to enter stage left. However, with the
Cabaret-cabaret costume I am looking forward to this.
Song list:
Have a Beer by Slavic Soul Party off Teknochek Collision.
Vino Vino by Eastenders off Along the Path
Romanesh by Golem off Homesick Songs (Featuring the F droping line of
"Thank you mother, for giving birth to me. Thank you mother, for fucking
father.")
We got changed, migled with, and Anaan gave me my cut. I talked with Herman,
the owner, a bit about my upcoming show. He's finally got a new website, but
the old out-of-date one I have listed on my flyer doesn't redirect folks
there yet (I was assured that the website would be updated when I was making
flyers).These tiny details annoy me, but are small. I've hauled 6 drawings
out to Asagaya in the last couple of weeks and will be hanging everything on
Thursday.
I removed most of my make-up on the ride home. Goal one was to be in bed
quickly. Someone tried to chat me up but when a girl is removing her false
eyelashes isn't the best time to make your move.
Anaan has now held 4 or 5 Danse Nocturnes in Asagaya. It is held about once
a month. She's still trying to find the magic combination of schedule,
dancers, and publicity. The last two have been on Sundays and poorly
attended, although one of those Sundays involved pissy rain and nasty
weather. She's going to do some thinking about how best to continue.
December is bonenkai (end of the year party) season, so it's not worth
trying to schedule an event then. January is cold and everyone stays
indoors. February it should be back on and she's asked me to participate.
Why the low turn-out? It could be that most folks work on Monday morning. It
could be that Asagaya is thought of as "far" to travel (although it's only
about 15-20 minutes by train away from Shibuya / Harajuku /Asagaya which are
hotspots for events...and every event is far for me.) The other problem has
been publicity. Anaan has only been ordering 100 flyers...which doesn't
cover three dancers and the various places we flyer bomb. You've just got to
get so many out there! Anaan spaced on getting me flyers early this time,
they all disappeared at the Kiharra workshops, .so I only had 3 to
distribute...and I'd waited until having flyers to really tell people about
it.
I want to see this event work for Anaan.
I'm a little worried about my Friday art opening at the same location.
Although we've almost gone through 500 flyers for that one. As the day draws
closer I wish I'd opted not to dance at my opening, so that I could just
mingle and relax...but I'm on my flyer so...que sera.
Anaan bills Danse Nocturne as "A Night of Tribal Fusion and Dark Cabaret"
but is realizing more and more that what she and the dancers she gets are
really about is "A Night of Quirky Bellydance" where the dancers can explore
any less than mainstream desires. It's a space where she doesn't have to
worry about if she's Tribal enough or Tribal Fusion enough, she can just
dance...same for the rest of us regardless of what label we really fit into.
Henna, Anaan and I got there, suited up, and realized that we had only four
people there...and two of them were still down at the bar. Last time
everyone waited until the second set to really show up (I remember because I
was there on time!) We delayed for a half an hour but at 8:30 I started us
off, being as upbeat as possible as one can be when you realize that your
audience members are both too busy text messaging to realize that the game
was on!
Anaan collects the music about a week before the show and slots us all. She
attempts to build the balance and story from dancer to dancer and song to
song. We alternate songs instead of blocks of larger sets. So the first set
was something like: Ozma-Anaan-Ozma-Henna-Anaan-Ozma-Henna
I hated my performances in the first set, but I understand why. In an
attempt to fit the "Dark Cabaret" bill I'd gone back to more moody pieces
that I'd worked with in the past (Venetian Snare's Gloomy Sunday mix and
Null Device's remix of a Hungry Lucy song) for two of my three songs. Due to
the fact I'm still working on healing the ankle, I didn't practice them as
much as I'd have liked...but the bigger problem was that I just didn't feel
the songs the way I have in the past. They aren't very relevant to where I
am as a dancer right now, or as a person. I picked them to fit the "dark"
label. l and should have trusted my instincts more. Using 10 by MIA was
enjoyable, in part because it wasn't "dark" I would have been better served
by sticking with MIA, picking a second song that I'd never worked with, and
not doing a third.
The Asagaya venue is tiny and that makes it intimate regardless of what you
intend. When you've got a tiny audience (more folks filtered up, but still
only about 7 total) in a tiny space performing dances that involve a certain
level of vulnerability and intimacy...as I was with those two songs...if
it's off, if you're not feeling it or feeling it too much, if you don't nail
it, you can end up feeling vulnerable and your audience can end up feeling
assaulted with emotional overshare. I realized this halfway in, something
was off, and I tried to balance and reign things in, but I fear it all got
away from me.
I've also got to work on my veil more.
Anaan wasn't that psyched with her first set either. Anaan thought that I
was fine, but I know when I'm off and when I should be able to be better
than fine. She worried that she'd bored the audience. The new thing is that
she's performing a good deal lately and seems to not be beating herself up
when she doesn't nail a set.
Henna was fine, but she's just that good under all conditions. I love
watching her.
We moved on to a glass of red wine per dancer, changed, and geared up for
the second set. Anaan and I had really been saving our favorites for the
second set. This is where I figured that it was time to bust out the Baltic
fusion music I've been loving, the manish-ly sexy pinstripes I'd made, and
just do the Rom-Turkish with a touch of Fosse that I've really been feeling.
Dark Cabaret? No. But not easily categorized. It isn't Oriental even if
majority of the moves come from there. It isn't straight up Rom. It steals
from Turkish men's folk dances...and I can't resist a bit of strutting Fosse
showmanship...Anaan agrees it fits with what her idea of the night is, if
not the wording of the event.
The second set went wonderfully. Our A games were on display. A few more
folks were there. I enjoyed the hell out of those songs. And when the one
fake flower I'd pinned in my slicked back hair went flying across the room
it hit no one! Score! People clapped and cheered where appriate and even
gasped when needed (despite not being dark, one of my songs does drop a
single F bomb.) Hopefully I'll have some photos of the costume in action.
Charlie K, another local photographer, was there taking photos and video.
Charlie worries about music copy write infringement so when he posts any
dance footage on You Tube he removes the sound...this combined with the dark
and grainy quality of the lighting always makes them look like (I imagine)
vintage stuff films. I can't watch them without fearing for the dancer...or
wondering if Nostferatu is going to enter stage left. However, with the
Cabaret-cabaret costume I am looking forward to this.
Song list:
Have a Beer by Slavic Soul Party off Teknochek Collision.
Vino Vino by Eastenders off Along the Path
Romanesh by Golem off Homesick Songs (Featuring the F droping line of
"Thank you mother, for giving birth to me. Thank you mother, for fucking
father.")
We got changed, migled with, and Anaan gave me my cut. I talked with Herman,
the owner, a bit about my upcoming show. He's finally got a new website, but
the old out-of-date one I have listed on my flyer doesn't redirect folks
there yet (I was assured that the website would be updated when I was making
flyers).These tiny details annoy me, but are small. I've hauled 6 drawings
out to Asagaya in the last couple of weeks and will be hanging everything on
Thursday.
I removed most of my make-up on the ride home. Goal one was to be in bed
quickly. Someone tried to chat me up but when a girl is removing her false
eyelashes isn't the best time to make your move.
