I am back from Beat the Heat Bisbee Belly Dance Retreat — 2014 Edition. Just like last year’s inaugural event, this weekend was a ton of fun. Let me see if I can organize my thoughts. By the way, I apologize for the general lack of pictures. I didn’t bring a charger for my phone so I kept it put away to save battery.
The event started with the Meet & Greet at the Copper Queen. We quickly outgrew the patio (plus it was raining), so they moved us inside to something called The Blue Room. Soon that was pretty full and loud, too. I was with my troupemate Ashley and we were getting pretty overwhelmed, being quiet geeky sorts, so we ducked out after finishing our food and drink. Still, it was nice to see everyone and meet a lot of new-to-me dancers from around the state. Already I could see there were going to be a LOT more attendees than there were in 2013.
After a late night of chatting with Ashley and my bestie Jen (the three of us having gone in on a room together), it was off to sleep and then up the next day for workshops. We’d all decided to opt out of Yasmina’s Combos as it was early in the morning and we wanted to eat breakfast and consume caffeine instead. However, my other troupemate Melanie did attend it and said it was fun. After a bit of checking out the great selection of vendors, all four of us (and a whole lot of other people!) went upstairs for Amanda Rose’s “Give Them the Look” workshop.
Of all the workshops I took, this one was the most challenging! Although physically easy, it had some mental challenges. We broke up into pairs, switching for every exercise, and with each partner we were given a different emotion to convey, while keeping our eyes locked on each other the entire time! The hardest was definitely maintaining a blank, dead face, not only because it’s hard to not show any emotion and stare into someone’s eyes for any length of time, but because I was dancing with Danna of Anaya Tribal. First of all, I wanted to smile because it was fun doing a facing lead and follow with a really experienced tribal dancer with whom I have shared vocabulary, but also Danna and I are both pretty sarcastic and saucy people by nature so we had a hard time not just laughing at the awkwardness of it. It was also difficult to do the sad one, as it’s so natural to be withdrawn when being sad. But at the same time, I felt like my partner and I shared a beautiful connection during that exercise. At the end, we broke into two large groups and played a really fun game that also dealt with emotion and eye connection. Over all, I enjoyed this workshop and felt like it was really beneficial and would be especially good for any dancer who is struggling with the ability to be vulnerable and connected with the audience.
My next workshop was a Poi class with Epheli! I really like Epheli and I needed a refresher on poi so it was a no-brainer that I’d take this. Although I almost didn’t because it was originally going to be outside and no one in my room had packed sunscreen. Luckily it was decided to hold the class inside, whether because of the heat or sun or concerns that we’d fling our poi at peoples’ cars. This workshop was a nice overview of some of the basic concepts and moves with poi, and Epheli also gave us some information on different kinds of poi, a demo of veil poi/voi, and where she likes to buy her poi. For a room full of inexperienced spinners there were surprisingly few accidents, much less than the smaller class that I had been taking locally last year. I didn’t once get hit by someone else’s errant prop.
The last workshop of the day was a skirt workshop with Anaya Tribal. The room was PACKED with dancers from end to end. Somehow they made it work with two lines and we were even able to practice partner switches smoothly. Where the other workshops were an hour long, this was an hour and a half and covered some basic moves and some long combinations. There was a little overlap with what was covered at Yasmina’s Fusion Day event last month, but not much. I do wish I had remembered to put my hair in a ponytail instead of my customary bun, as we had to do some wraps around the head and I kept getting stuck on my hair sticks. Otherwise, I had fun in this workshop, too.
Once again, a light lunch and plenty of water were provided throughout the day. It was nice to have the option to not leave the school to eat, although the four of us did venture out in search of a daytime caffeine fix and got distracted by shiny objects during the day. We also used our lunch break time to do some more shopping, and there was also shopping after the last workshop, though some vendors had already packed up to get ready for the show. I was able to regain my “dance pants addict” title by purchasing two lovely pairs of pantaloons. I also picked up a cute hat and some gorgeous earrings, because why not?
After that it was back to the room to get ready for the show. Cue lots of primping, stressing, running through the choreo as best as possible in tiny spaces, and reassuring ourselves that we would rock it. Also, I managed to punch the wall while doing a spin, but luckily there was ice in the freezer. Ashley curled all of our hair, which was the first time I’ve had curls as an adult. It turned out really nice! Actually, we all looked fabulous. And as for our performance? We nailed it! It was a great debut for the new choreographer that Melanie had created for us and which we’ve spent months learning and practicing. We received compliments on it all weekend and could not be happier.
As the second act on stage, we were able to sit and watch most of the show, which was AWESOME! Such a great variety of performers, styles, props and musical choices. Every performer really brought it to the stage and the audience reacted with real enthusiasm. The small theater in the Central School really is such a nice venue for an intimate belly dance show. There was a photographer taking pictures throughout the show and I suspect everyone will end up with some great shots, not only because they all looked amazing on stage but because the “black box” nature of the theater makes for a really good background.
Sunday morning we skipped the free breakfast and lecture as we wanted to return to the Whyld Ass where we’d had breakfast on Saturday. Then it was time for a turns and spins workshop with Kamalah Tribal! Even though I don’t dance ATS, I found the workshop to be really helpful as I could use some of the techniques as a soloist or put the combos in a troupe choreography. The ATS approach to posture really does help with clean spins. Plus I got to partner with the one and only BECKA BOMB to practice, and that was too much fun. I love me some Becka.
Given how much this event has grown in just one year, it’s clear that Rajani and her crew of volunteers (of which I was one, although I mainly just set up and maintained the Facebook event page) have put together an amazing thing that has a lot of potential to become Arizona’s premier event. The combination of affordable workshops that you register for the day-of (no pressure, no planning ahead), laid back atmosphere, eclectic vendors, performance opportunities, free food, and the awesomeness of Bisbee itself makes for a weekend to remember. I’m so glad that this year I was able to share it with my troupemates, and I can’t wait to see what next year brings!