(no subject)

[aprilstarchild]

Went to the bellydancing thingie today. I am now the proud owner of a pretty veil that's blue and green (iridescent! Yay!) and a blue choli-type top. It stretches a lot from side to side but not up and down, so I'm thisclose to being too big for it. But it stays where it's s'posed to, so it's all good. Watched lots of dancers. My two faves: a twelve-year-old girl and the Mandala troupe. The younger girl, holy shit!! Freaky. She comes out with this while veil and is swirling it around to slower music and looking shy, right? I figure, "aw, cute." But she drops the veil, and this hip-hop with middle-eastern rythym starts playing. I don't think her hips are completely connected to her spine. She could move better than most of the adults there. She was mixing some more modern hip-hop dance stuff in there too, but it fit. And the whole time, she's got this look on her face like she knows she's The Shit.

Mandala is the student troup for The Circle neo-tribal dance. Cherie is a total non-fan of tribal, and after their show she told me she had no issues with me learning that kind of tribal. *lol* I mean, okay: Gypsy Caravan is supposedly this fantastic tribal troupe, yes? Their student troupe sucked. No, seriously. They spent lots of time waving their arms around but hardly ever moved their hips. A few of them looked bored. One of them had let her stage smile slip and looked like she was grimacing. And they had these hugely elaborate costumes--but if you're not going to move your hips, what's the point of that huge tiered skirt and long fringe and tassels? Mandala had simpler costumes and moved a hell of a lot more and looked like they were having fun!

If I stick with the bellydance thing I'll probably eventually switch to caberet. I like being able to pick my own costume and music, and I like doing veil stuff, and drum solos, and more isolations and shimmying. Tribal does the sword-on-the-head thing though, which rocks--I'm good at balancing things on my head.

After watching so much dancing, I tucked the veil into my jeans and found a mirror and started moving. I remember a lot more stuff than I thought, and am better at it than I thought.

Comments

[sagcat.livejournal.com]

I can't believe you just dissed those poor STUDENTS! Come on, April! they're learning. learning... And probably several of them were embarassed about performing when they wish they were better, but went along anyway. Their biggest fear was probably that people would make fun of them.

Sheesh.
(yeah, I'm calling you out! What are you gonna do about it?)

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Mandala is a student troupe as well.

Matter of fact, since none of the dancers there were being paid, they were almost all amateurs or students. Some of them had obviously not been dancing long--but they still managed to look like they were having fun. Even the ones who were obviously nervous, you could tell that they loved dancing. That just doesn't come through with the Gypsy Caravan people.

Mandala and The Circle tend to incorporate some of the stuff from caberet belly dancing. Gypsy Caravan tends to almost seems to look down their nose at caberet dancers. It pisses me off.

Also, ask Strega about Gypsy Caravan. Hoo boy does she have bad stories.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

For that matter, why does Gypsy Caravan have their student troupe wear professional-level costumes? That stuff costs a lot of money. A tiered skirt can be over a hundred dollars. A floor-length fringe is forty, their belts can be upward of a hundred. Then there's the cholis (their tops), and the stuff over said cholis, and the turbans, and all the jewelry dripping from every available surface, none of which is cheap....

Mandala's costuming was still good (and still probably not completely inexpensive), but it wasn't nearly as elaborate. I thought it looked better.

[5minutelimit.livejournal.com]

But they suck because their teachers suck! It is the attitude of the "Caravan community". They are the Tribal nazies. They cover their hair and their belly buttons and are critical of everyone else, especially cabaret dancers. If the students have fear, its fear of being critized by the troupe.

[sagcat.livejournal.com]

oh sorry.
<--- meekly cowers in corner.