TFN, Za Recap.
Jun. 16th, 2008 05:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
parasitegirlI spent most of last week prepping for my restaurant set. On the 6th I had a rather lousy set, hated it really, I pulled it up at the end but it was a dismal affair. I knew that the use of new music combined with the fact that I'd been out every night the week prior had properly bitten me in the ass. My bad.
I shuffled some songs into and out of my set. I drilled and worked in preparation for the 13th. I've been focused on the drum-solo..and even have been choreographing it a bit just so I can program in a few new combinations into my body.
It's amazing, really, how you lose and rediscover your body parts and moves as you grow as a dancer. As for me, I've rediscovered my love of sharp chest articulations, which seem to have been overshadowed by pelvic lifts and drops over the years...I think I have been traveling my moves so much that I have overlooked the power of not moving, or moving juuuust a little.
The only other experience I have of losing body parts is when my feet used to go missing at Craft's house the few times we smoked up and played Dance Dance Revolution with Marg.
My Friday the 13th set went well. Sure, the owner suggested a more upbeat first song (from the kitchen you can only hear the lack of clapping, not the "OMG look at them zills" faces I saw) but I've started to only half listen to him. I'll shuffle some stuff but he doesn't pay me enough to take his word as Big Boss
I hadn't worked on my TFN set much because, well, there wasn't much to work on. I knew my CD set music. I lumped the prep with "working on articulations and combos for the restaurant." and hoped for the best. The second set would be live, and even thought Anaan sent me MP3s before the show so I could get an idea of what song I wanted to grab, the actual music that night would feature freestyle sections and a few different instruments.
I listened to the MP3s and picked two songs that I felt suited me. I danced around to all the songs and was at a loss as to what else I should be prepping. I didn't practice zills, because I think I need more time with a live band before I bring my own instrument and figure out the politics of that. I am comfortable with even rhythms and limping ones (7's, 9's) and unexpected tempo changes.
A few months ago, when Anaan, Joe and I went to a cafe to listen to Alan, Yoko and Abdul to figure out if we'd all be a good match, I was overwhelmed.
"Fuck yeah, I wanna dance to this. This is the Balkan music I love." I thought. And it would be improv? And they'd be doing their thing and me mine? SOLD! SOLD!
But I also have worked with Anaan for over 5 years now, and know that improv is something she can find intimidating, much the same way the idea of choreographing makes my head hurt. I hoped that there was something in this for her, that she really wanted this.. Joe? I didn't know Joe well as a dancer. We didn't even know if JJ would be joining us. Balkan music is growing in popularity, but it does have limping rhythms that not everyone is comfortable with. Yeah, I wanted it, but I really hoped the other dancers did.
As they played we chatted. They agreed that this was very much "my music" but that they were also excited about dancing to it. We'd have the musicians and they'd have us.
I'm sure I came-off as a zealot when talking to Alan (Accordion, vocals, leader, owner or the plastic baby) as I kept reassuring him that a strong drum beat would be nice and all, but we'd have them as is. We'd have them however we could..you cannot NOT scare me off this gig no matter how you talllllk!
"Other dancers usually want us to play things exactly the same."
"Not an issue"
"Because they choreograph"
"We can improv"
"We like to freestyle"
"Not a problem."
"We might not have a drummer, and bellydancer like a strong beat."
"You have a tuba. That'll do. Good dancers can dance with melody and instruments as well as drum."
"We need a pound of your flesh and your first born."
"Go ahead, what sort of container would you like the flesh in? The first born will take a while, is that ok?"
I swear they were trying to talk us out of having them. This is probably why they aren't better known, they should be. They are great.
The thing about my confidence, my deep down knowledge that I wanted to do this and could do this, is that it was largely unfounded in experience. This wasn't like "I need to do zills, so I just have to get out there and do them and it'll get easier in time." it was more like thinking "Never zilled? Not a PROBLEM! You kidding me? I'm a gonna rock that metal."
The days coming up to the live show I thought about my lack of experience, but it didn't phase me. I could sum up my experience as such:
1.I like dancing to songs that I don't yet know.
2.I can freestyle to mixes of rhythms played by the sort of world music dj who actually mixes...I've done it...once.
3. The underground hobbit gig had live music, even if Momo and friends really kept it sounding almost exactly like the recording they'd given me.
4. Uh...danced while musicians jammed at a Rain in Eden event..but so did birthing-dance-lady.
5. Uuuuuuhhhh....
And yet, I felt nothing but confidence that I could and should be dancing to live Balkan music. As much as knowing your limitations is valuable as an artist/human, there are times when it is best to be kept ignorant of them.
I remembered when I first consciously bought and listened to Balkan music (Besh O Drom, Can't Make Me cd, thanks to a few words by Counterword) and thought. "I MUST dance to this" and did, my very next Afet show (not unlike the week after Ahmet Luleci when I decided, why not put on my insane V costume and dance 9/8 at the Pink Cow?) . It wasn't "I want to dance to this." or "This rocks, now how the fuck do I dance to it?" Balkan music, like Turkish Rom Music, impacted me in a way that made sense to me... something inside me awoke and reacted.
On Saturday I showed up at Cozmos Cafe at 5pm with most of my make-up on. I didn't know what needed to be done during sound check, or even what soundcheck would involved, so I also didn't know if I'd have much time to do make-up after arriving.
I knew that we needed to divide up the songs, a task made a little difficult by the fact that JJ would be dancing but that she'd never heard any of the songs, figure out the order, and figure out the order of the cd set. Anaan and Joe had make-up to start. The band warmed up but were pretty low key. After about a half hour we called JJ and she said she was coming. Gio arrived around the same time, as did Neil.
I think I was more high strung than usual. I would have been happy to just dance around to whatever the band was practicing while others put on make-up, but I knew that after we had the sets figured out I could more reasonably do whatever I wanted.
I'd never done TFN, or worked with a live band. Anaan had...once...so I kept trying to get her to take charge with "What are we supposed to be doing?" which she wanted to ignore and keep working on her make-up...because she was right in that she only had a splinter more of a clue than I did.
Running through songs felt good. I continued to feel like this was something I wanted to do and could do. I may have been annoying with my insisting that even if they changed from 7's to 4's mid-song and played with temp with no warning, it wouldn't be an issue with me.
I later realized that the band didn't see much rush in choosing the song order once we had dancers matched with songs, because they figured we had until 9+PM before we all danced together to get everything worked out, not taking into account that once we started getting ready for our first set we'd be impossible to sit down with...and I didn't know that they'd be announcing each song an dancer before they played, so we wouldn't need to memorize order.
Once we had both sets written down I got the stick out of my ass and returned to my usual back-stage abusiveness and mild trash talk. We gussied-up in the office. Henna joined us around that time, as our soon-to-leave-pregnant-helper-elf.
I'd wondered a bit about sticking out, being the one Cabaret/Turkish girl in the bunch. Anaan must feel a similar way when the Afet Collective is all in sequins and she's in her Tribal gear. I'd emailed Anaan about sticking out in the second set because I'd probably be the most bedlah-ed of the bunch and she assured me that the fact I understood the music the most would mean that I wouldn't stick out in a bad way.
I need not have worried. Much like with The Afet Collective, as individual performers all four of us were different enough that no two dancers seemed like a matched set and no one was the odd man out.. Anaan did her more relaxed and in control Electronic thing. Joe was super cool and tossing in attitude and pops and locks. JJ had on a few layers of skirts without looking like an Imaginary Gypsy and alternated between smooth, popping, and absurdly happy alien. And I had on the least amount of decorations of us all: only arm bands, no rings, no bracelets, no bindies, 3 flowers in my slicked-backed hair paired with pinstripes and pants. I went from drunken Klezmer kicking bash to a quieter song. People clapped and enjoyed.
We run a pretty laid back ship at TFN, and at Afet Collective shows, preferring to wear minimal cover-ups, watching each other from the crowd. We toss cover-ups on and off as needed to emerge from or blend back into the crowd. When I finished my song and went back in to the audience to watch Joe (after toweling off in the kitchen). One of Anaan's friends, a Japanese girl, kept touching me and telling me how much she enjoyed my dance. After the set she told me that I was her favorite. Before I went on in the live set she reiterated her feelings for my dance and grabbed my ass for good measure, a sort of "I love you THIS much."
"Thank you! Why are you touching my butt?"
Once more, the sign that I have been with ass-grabbing children and adults too long is that this question is not "Why the fuck did you do that?" preceded with the slapping away of hands. The question I ask is to see if a person has a reason, or to politely bring to their attention the fact that they are grabbing my ass, in case they didn't know. My question is delivered, unflinchingly, during the act itself. No one has yet to give me an answer or to say "Oh, my God! What AM I doing?"
The changing time between sets went much faster than prep for the first set. Anaan had all her Tri-bling and make-up on already and was brief with her monologue about things she didn't like about her performance. I've come to understand that asking Anaan to not say things like "I'm glad I went first, because you guys were so much better than me..." is like asking me not to swear while back stage. It ain't fucking happening. I still threaten to slap her or abuse her if she doesn't keep them brief and doesn't move on.
When it comes to costume changes...I may favor bedlah, but I alter them so that I can hook, adjust, and go, in minutes. My fusion pinstripes are almost severe in their lines and simplicity, but my bling is also...understated and simple.
We tossed on cover-ups, signed a good-bye card for Henna, and went into Cozmos to mingle and drink while waiting for our second set. Yes, we drank in our cover-ups, but we were ladylike, I assure you. We were still undercover. Cozmos was dark enough that, despite the fact my cover-up was a simple pink crochet-ed shawl, my blue silk and a little bling peeking out where the shawl ended, people honestly asked me if I would be dancing in the second set...it is sometimes hard to distinguish the street clothes from the dance clothes with us. When we practiced our music in the sound check JJ had asked me in my cleavage black dress and heels was, in fact, my costume for the evening. And while, yes, it was my costume for the eveing, it was not a dance costume.
Mishaal and the students from the class I usually attend on Saturday night arrived: Mishaal, Mika, Takako,
Nahara...the face I was expecting to show up, however, was nowhere to be seen. Oh well, dance first, guilt-text later. Daisuke from Tabla Kawaisa would be joining with his drum during the set, but we'd passed on the idea of doing a drum solo. I've seen a few TFN nights where the drum solos seem forced, as if people know they are expected to do them, but aren't quite up to it. I wasn't feeling up to it (drum solos being my bugaboo right now)...one new task at a time...and the others already felt like they had enough to do. Daisuke had brought his buddy Ken (of Aladeen and TKawaisa, and formerly of Alegra) who was on a chair freestyling his darbuka to the DJ's music (I don't know if it was Gio or Neil at that moment) as the customers danced.
I love this scene sometimes.
I also love the fact that I didn't send my no-show a fuck-you text. The next day I learned that I'd been trumped by a major earthquake in his hometown.
I think we'd imagined the band playing a set with minimal talking in between songs and us just streaming in and out, which was silly to imagine because Alan does introduce and set up songs prior to playing them.For each song the dancer's name was annouced, really making our set list unessesary, something I'll remember if I get to work with them again.I don't know why I thought TFN would be different. Part of the bargin was that they played for low pay as long as they are allowed to do their own thing...if a dancer wants precise sets, no freestyle, ect...that costs more. We split the cash between all 7 of us, so none of us is making the big bucks on TFN
I'd be the last dancer of the evening, then it would be band introduction, get everyone up and dance, and we'd be finished with the sets.
Anna was lovely (if you're reading this I MEAN it!)
Anna and Joe did an improvisational duet that I seriously loved. I knew they were worried about tempo changes and surprises and that they probably compensated by making sure they had attitude and stage presence on and in full effect...and it worked. I forcibly hugged Anna I was so happy. I hope she got the point.
Joe was cool, even though the band had forgotten he desire to come half-way into the song and annouced her and got her up there for the start. Yes, and when she didn't know what to do she grabbed her skirt and flourished it a bit, like she said she would...and it didn't set off my "WTF DSNY GYPSY" alarms...all good. She was also wearing the red Assuit belt I'd made her. Anna had worn one of my sets first set.
JJ. JJ was goofy fun. As a dancer she's really smoothed out over the last year and doesn't pull "oh, fuck!" faces like she used to. But, and trust me that this is a good thing and part of her charm, she's absurd. She's butt-waggling, victory-sign-popping silly. There is something childlike about her, the way kids dance before they learn to be self conscious, and it fits inside the part of her that is obviously trained. She pulls her face around in a way that makes me look stoic, but it works for her.
I did good.
I felt good out there, it felt natural, people seemed to like it.
Performing anything for the first time is such a rush that you can't really get critical about it. It's a blur, you can't pinpoint thing. My first solo, my first oriental set, my first resturant set, my first public zills, (yes, in that order...I KNOW) my first public 9/8...a blur, I tell you.
It's going to take more working with a live band to be able to start figuring out what I do well and what I should do better. I hope I get the chance. I totally pounded in the fact of "I love this music. There are not enough chances to work with a live band in Tokyo. I want more experience. I can be flexible with pay the same way you guys were..." into Alan, who hugged me and called me family. Just in case I got his facebook when I got home and sent a similar note with my friend request. All good.
Mishaal really liked it and was kind enough to grab me and tell me so in no uncertain terms. I know she's my teacher, but I also know she could very well NOT say anything. Well, she first told me that she wished she'd known what sort of band the group would be, because she would have brought her son, Shanti (4), would have LOVED it! I expressed how much I loved it and how lucky I felt that my fellow dancers took the chance with music they might not be 100% comfortable with and we got them.
"Yeah, but it's your night. They danced to it. They did good. But you FELT it. It's totally your night, OZ."
I couldn't ask for much more. Warm fuzzys.
I got changed into street clothing and joined people dancing. The people who stay and dance are fellow dancers/peers/djs/friends/regulars. I feel no shame about staying and hanging with them in my street clothes. It's not like a restaurant show.
While the die-hards kept dancing, many people filtered out to catch trains and such. I went to have a gin and tonic at the bar, stopping for a few dance with friends/fans moments. I sat down next to a tall gaijin, pale with floppy hair...Marlyn Manson after hours. I hadn't seen him before.
"The people here dance, strange."
"That's because 95% of them are bellydancers."I said."Did you just come in here? Did you just miss the whole show?"
"Show?"
I chated with Mr. Gaijin. Who turns out to have been in Japan for a whole 20 days, and is 29. With the no-show of my guest I figured that flirting couldn't hurt my high.
I don't know if it was performance high, or if it was just his akwardness, but it was like being hit on in slow-mo with an announcer in my brain-atorium giving commentary...sweet enough, but perhaps I am just sarcastic.
I got him up to dance. It was easy. He was easy.
I broke away from him to say my goodbyes and settle up. Then I allowed him a goodbye kiss and left him dancing with a Japanese girl.
Home again, home again, jiggity jig! Fell asleep around 2:30.
Sunday, I did more Zumba. Fell asleep around 8:30PM
It is monday. Muggy. I feel totally drained. I might be a littly dehydrated. I am now sucking down some water.
I did write a lesson plan this morning. Tomorrow's school rescheduled, so I have to think of something that will keep my typing tomorrow.
Ja, ne!
I shuffled some songs into and out of my set. I drilled and worked in preparation for the 13th. I've been focused on the drum-solo..and even have been choreographing it a bit just so I can program in a few new combinations into my body.
It's amazing, really, how you lose and rediscover your body parts and moves as you grow as a dancer. As for me, I've rediscovered my love of sharp chest articulations, which seem to have been overshadowed by pelvic lifts and drops over the years...I think I have been traveling my moves so much that I have overlooked the power of not moving, or moving juuuust a little.
The only other experience I have of losing body parts is when my feet used to go missing at Craft's house the few times we smoked up and played Dance Dance Revolution with Marg.
My Friday the 13th set went well. Sure, the owner suggested a more upbeat first song (from the kitchen you can only hear the lack of clapping, not the "OMG look at them zills" faces I saw) but I've started to only half listen to him. I'll shuffle some stuff but he doesn't pay me enough to take his word as Big Boss
I hadn't worked on my TFN set much because, well, there wasn't much to work on. I knew my CD set music. I lumped the prep with "working on articulations and combos for the restaurant." and hoped for the best. The second set would be live, and even thought Anaan sent me MP3s before the show so I could get an idea of what song I wanted to grab, the actual music that night would feature freestyle sections and a few different instruments.
I listened to the MP3s and picked two songs that I felt suited me. I danced around to all the songs and was at a loss as to what else I should be prepping. I didn't practice zills, because I think I need more time with a live band before I bring my own instrument and figure out the politics of that. I am comfortable with even rhythms and limping ones (7's, 9's) and unexpected tempo changes.
A few months ago, when Anaan, Joe and I went to a cafe to listen to Alan, Yoko and Abdul to figure out if we'd all be a good match, I was overwhelmed.
"Fuck yeah, I wanna dance to this. This is the Balkan music I love." I thought. And it would be improv? And they'd be doing their thing and me mine? SOLD! SOLD!
But I also have worked with Anaan for over 5 years now, and know that improv is something she can find intimidating, much the same way the idea of choreographing makes my head hurt. I hoped that there was something in this for her, that she really wanted this.. Joe? I didn't know Joe well as a dancer. We didn't even know if JJ would be joining us. Balkan music is growing in popularity, but it does have limping rhythms that not everyone is comfortable with. Yeah, I wanted it, but I really hoped the other dancers did.
As they played we chatted. They agreed that this was very much "my music" but that they were also excited about dancing to it. We'd have the musicians and they'd have us.
I'm sure I came-off as a zealot when talking to Alan (Accordion, vocals, leader, owner or the plastic baby) as I kept reassuring him that a strong drum beat would be nice and all, but we'd have them as is. We'd have them however we could..you cannot NOT scare me off this gig no matter how you talllllk!
"Other dancers usually want us to play things exactly the same."
"Not an issue"
"Because they choreograph"
"We can improv"
"We like to freestyle"
"Not a problem."
"We might not have a drummer, and bellydancer like a strong beat."
"You have a tuba. That'll do. Good dancers can dance with melody and instruments as well as drum."
"We need a pound of your flesh and your first born."
"Go ahead, what sort of container would you like the flesh in? The first born will take a while, is that ok?"
I swear they were trying to talk us out of having them. This is probably why they aren't better known, they should be. They are great.
The thing about my confidence, my deep down knowledge that I wanted to do this and could do this, is that it was largely unfounded in experience. This wasn't like "I need to do zills, so I just have to get out there and do them and it'll get easier in time." it was more like thinking "Never zilled? Not a PROBLEM! You kidding me? I'm a gonna rock that metal."
The days coming up to the live show I thought about my lack of experience, but it didn't phase me. I could sum up my experience as such:
1.I like dancing to songs that I don't yet know.
2.I can freestyle to mixes of rhythms played by the sort of world music dj who actually mixes...I've done it...once.
3. The underground hobbit gig had live music, even if Momo and friends really kept it sounding almost exactly like the recording they'd given me.
4. Uh...danced while musicians jammed at a Rain in Eden event..but so did birthing-dance-lady.
5. Uuuuuuhhhh....
And yet, I felt nothing but confidence that I could and should be dancing to live Balkan music. As much as knowing your limitations is valuable as an artist/human, there are times when it is best to be kept ignorant of them.
I remembered when I first consciously bought and listened to Balkan music (Besh O Drom, Can't Make Me cd, thanks to a few words by Counterword) and thought. "I MUST dance to this" and did, my very next Afet show (not unlike the week after Ahmet Luleci when I decided, why not put on my insane V costume and dance 9/8 at the Pink Cow?) . It wasn't "I want to dance to this." or "This rocks, now how the fuck do I dance to it?" Balkan music, like Turkish Rom Music, impacted me in a way that made sense to me... something inside me awoke and reacted.
On Saturday I showed up at Cozmos Cafe at 5pm with most of my make-up on. I didn't know what needed to be done during sound check, or even what soundcheck would involved, so I also didn't know if I'd have much time to do make-up after arriving.
I knew that we needed to divide up the songs, a task made a little difficult by the fact that JJ would be dancing but that she'd never heard any of the songs, figure out the order, and figure out the order of the cd set. Anaan and Joe had make-up to start. The band warmed up but were pretty low key. After about a half hour we called JJ and she said she was coming. Gio arrived around the same time, as did Neil.
I think I was more high strung than usual. I would have been happy to just dance around to whatever the band was practicing while others put on make-up, but I knew that after we had the sets figured out I could more reasonably do whatever I wanted.
I'd never done TFN, or worked with a live band. Anaan had...once...so I kept trying to get her to take charge with "What are we supposed to be doing?" which she wanted to ignore and keep working on her make-up...because she was right in that she only had a splinter more of a clue than I did.
Running through songs felt good. I continued to feel like this was something I wanted to do and could do. I may have been annoying with my insisting that even if they changed from 7's to 4's mid-song and played with temp with no warning, it wouldn't be an issue with me.
I later realized that the band didn't see much rush in choosing the song order once we had dancers matched with songs, because they figured we had until 9+PM before we all danced together to get everything worked out, not taking into account that once we started getting ready for our first set we'd be impossible to sit down with...and I didn't know that they'd be announcing each song an dancer before they played, so we wouldn't need to memorize order.
Once we had both sets written down I got the stick out of my ass and returned to my usual back-stage abusiveness and mild trash talk. We gussied-up in the office. Henna joined us around that time, as our soon-to-leave-pregnant-helper-elf.
I'd wondered a bit about sticking out, being the one Cabaret/Turkish girl in the bunch. Anaan must feel a similar way when the Afet Collective is all in sequins and she's in her Tribal gear. I'd emailed Anaan about sticking out in the second set because I'd probably be the most bedlah-ed of the bunch and she assured me that the fact I understood the music the most would mean that I wouldn't stick out in a bad way.
I need not have worried. Much like with The Afet Collective, as individual performers all four of us were different enough that no two dancers seemed like a matched set and no one was the odd man out.. Anaan did her more relaxed and in control Electronic thing. Joe was super cool and tossing in attitude and pops and locks. JJ had on a few layers of skirts without looking like an Imaginary Gypsy and alternated between smooth, popping, and absurdly happy alien. And I had on the least amount of decorations of us all: only arm bands, no rings, no bracelets, no bindies, 3 flowers in my slicked-backed hair paired with pinstripes and pants. I went from drunken Klezmer kicking bash to a quieter song. People clapped and enjoyed.
We run a pretty laid back ship at TFN, and at Afet Collective shows, preferring to wear minimal cover-ups, watching each other from the crowd. We toss cover-ups on and off as needed to emerge from or blend back into the crowd. When I finished my song and went back in to the audience to watch Joe (after toweling off in the kitchen). One of Anaan's friends, a Japanese girl, kept touching me and telling me how much she enjoyed my dance. After the set she told me that I was her favorite. Before I went on in the live set she reiterated her feelings for my dance and grabbed my ass for good measure, a sort of "I love you THIS much."
"Thank you! Why are you touching my butt?"
Once more, the sign that I have been with ass-grabbing children and adults too long is that this question is not "Why the fuck did you do that?" preceded with the slapping away of hands. The question I ask is to see if a person has a reason, or to politely bring to their attention the fact that they are grabbing my ass, in case they didn't know. My question is delivered, unflinchingly, during the act itself. No one has yet to give me an answer or to say "Oh, my God! What AM I doing?"
The changing time between sets went much faster than prep for the first set. Anaan had all her Tri-bling and make-up on already and was brief with her monologue about things she didn't like about her performance. I've come to understand that asking Anaan to not say things like "I'm glad I went first, because you guys were so much better than me..." is like asking me not to swear while back stage. It ain't fucking happening. I still threaten to slap her or abuse her if she doesn't keep them brief and doesn't move on.
When it comes to costume changes...I may favor bedlah, but I alter them so that I can hook, adjust, and go, in minutes. My fusion pinstripes are almost severe in their lines and simplicity, but my bling is also...understated and simple.
We tossed on cover-ups, signed a good-bye card for Henna, and went into Cozmos to mingle and drink while waiting for our second set. Yes, we drank in our cover-ups, but we were ladylike, I assure you. We were still undercover. Cozmos was dark enough that, despite the fact my cover-up was a simple pink crochet-ed shawl, my blue silk and a little bling peeking out where the shawl ended, people honestly asked me if I would be dancing in the second set...it is sometimes hard to distinguish the street clothes from the dance clothes with us. When we practiced our music in the sound check JJ had asked me in my cleavage black dress and heels was, in fact, my costume for the evening. And while, yes, it was my costume for the eveing, it was not a dance costume.
Mishaal and the students from the class I usually attend on Saturday night arrived: Mishaal, Mika, Takako,
Nahara...the face I was expecting to show up, however, was nowhere to be seen. Oh well, dance first, guilt-text later. Daisuke from Tabla Kawaisa would be joining with his drum during the set, but we'd passed on the idea of doing a drum solo. I've seen a few TFN nights where the drum solos seem forced, as if people know they are expected to do them, but aren't quite up to it. I wasn't feeling up to it (drum solos being my bugaboo right now)...one new task at a time...and the others already felt like they had enough to do. Daisuke had brought his buddy Ken (of Aladeen and TKawaisa, and formerly of Alegra) who was on a chair freestyling his darbuka to the DJ's music (I don't know if it was Gio or Neil at that moment) as the customers danced.
I love this scene sometimes.
I also love the fact that I didn't send my no-show a fuck-you text. The next day I learned that I'd been trumped by a major earthquake in his hometown.
I think we'd imagined the band playing a set with minimal talking in between songs and us just streaming in and out, which was silly to imagine because Alan does introduce and set up songs prior to playing them.For each song the dancer's name was annouced, really making our set list unessesary, something I'll remember if I get to work with them again.I don't know why I thought TFN would be different. Part of the bargin was that they played for low pay as long as they are allowed to do their own thing...if a dancer wants precise sets, no freestyle, ect...that costs more. We split the cash between all 7 of us, so none of us is making the big bucks on TFN
I'd be the last dancer of the evening, then it would be band introduction, get everyone up and dance, and we'd be finished with the sets.
Anna was lovely (if you're reading this I MEAN it!)
Anna and Joe did an improvisational duet that I seriously loved. I knew they were worried about tempo changes and surprises and that they probably compensated by making sure they had attitude and stage presence on and in full effect...and it worked. I forcibly hugged Anna I was so happy. I hope she got the point.
Joe was cool, even though the band had forgotten he desire to come half-way into the song and annouced her and got her up there for the start. Yes, and when she didn't know what to do she grabbed her skirt and flourished it a bit, like she said she would...and it didn't set off my "WTF DSNY GYPSY" alarms...all good. She was also wearing the red Assuit belt I'd made her. Anna had worn one of my sets first set.
JJ. JJ was goofy fun. As a dancer she's really smoothed out over the last year and doesn't pull "oh, fuck!" faces like she used to. But, and trust me that this is a good thing and part of her charm, she's absurd. She's butt-waggling, victory-sign-popping silly. There is something childlike about her, the way kids dance before they learn to be self conscious, and it fits inside the part of her that is obviously trained. She pulls her face around in a way that makes me look stoic, but it works for her.
I did good.
I felt good out there, it felt natural, people seemed to like it.
Performing anything for the first time is such a rush that you can't really get critical about it. It's a blur, you can't pinpoint thing. My first solo, my first oriental set, my first resturant set, my first public zills, (yes, in that order...I KNOW) my first public 9/8...a blur, I tell you.
It's going to take more working with a live band to be able to start figuring out what I do well and what I should do better. I hope I get the chance. I totally pounded in the fact of "I love this music. There are not enough chances to work with a live band in Tokyo. I want more experience. I can be flexible with pay the same way you guys were..." into Alan, who hugged me and called me family. Just in case I got his facebook when I got home and sent a similar note with my friend request. All good.
Mishaal really liked it and was kind enough to grab me and tell me so in no uncertain terms. I know she's my teacher, but I also know she could very well NOT say anything. Well, she first told me that she wished she'd known what sort of band the group would be, because she would have brought her son, Shanti (4), would have LOVED it! I expressed how much I loved it and how lucky I felt that my fellow dancers took the chance with music they might not be 100% comfortable with and we got them.
"Yeah, but it's your night. They danced to it. They did good. But you FELT it. It's totally your night, OZ."
I couldn't ask for much more. Warm fuzzys.
I got changed into street clothing and joined people dancing. The people who stay and dance are fellow dancers/peers/djs/friends/regulars. I feel no shame about staying and hanging with them in my street clothes. It's not like a restaurant show.
While the die-hards kept dancing, many people filtered out to catch trains and such. I went to have a gin and tonic at the bar, stopping for a few dance with friends/fans moments. I sat down next to a tall gaijin, pale with floppy hair...Marlyn Manson after hours. I hadn't seen him before.
"The people here dance, strange."
"That's because 95% of them are bellydancers."I said."Did you just come in here? Did you just miss the whole show?"
"Show?"
I chated with Mr. Gaijin. Who turns out to have been in Japan for a whole 20 days, and is 29. With the no-show of my guest I figured that flirting couldn't hurt my high.
I don't know if it was performance high, or if it was just his akwardness, but it was like being hit on in slow-mo with an announcer in my brain-atorium giving commentary...sweet enough, but perhaps I am just sarcastic.
I got him up to dance. It was easy. He was easy.
I broke away from him to say my goodbyes and settle up. Then I allowed him a goodbye kiss and left him dancing with a Japanese girl.
Home again, home again, jiggity jig! Fell asleep around 2:30.
Sunday, I did more Zumba. Fell asleep around 8:30PM
It is monday. Muggy. I feel totally drained. I might be a littly dehydrated. I am now sucking down some water.
I did write a lesson plan this morning. Tomorrow's school rescheduled, so I have to think of something that will keep my typing tomorrow.
Ja, ne!
