events – Sophia Ravenna

Tribal Massive Recap

March 8, 2016Sophia Ravenna

This is going to be a different sort of recap post (and thank you Jolie for suggesting what I was already leaning towards, which confirmed I was going in the right direction!). Instead of talking about each workshop and what I thought of it, I want to share some lessons I learned, and general feelings I had, and why this was such a valuable experience for me.

The first lesson is about being at once patience and persistent. I got my spot at the Massive by supporting a crowdfunding campaign where it was one of the backer rewards, and I had a lot of trouble actually claiming my reward. It reached a point where I started to feel like I didn’t even want to go to the event, it was going to be too stressful to organize the trip and I shouldn’t spend the money traveling, blah blah blah. I almost gave up, but it all worked out in the end, thanks to persistence and helpful friends and Tori herself.

The second lesson was about not letting others color my opinion of someone (within reason). There were a couple of teachers at this event that I had avoided studying with because friends of mine had said things about them that made it seem like they were not nice to be around. I actually enjoyed my classes with those teachers. From now on I am not going to pre-judge a dancer based on one person potentially meeting them on a bad day.

The third lesson was not to outright dismiss a teacher that said a few things I disagreed with. After all of the years I’ve been dancing, I have some pretty strong opinions about dance. Some teachers like to share their strong, dissenting opinions in class. Just because we disagree about something doesn’t mean they might not later say something that will actually hold real value for me, so I need to keep an open mind and listen to everything they said, and filter the good from the bad.

The fourth lesson was that I am not as bad as I think I am. I’ve been in a funk lately. I haven’t been able to pass the test for Cultivation. I haven’t been practicing much. I’m really unhappy to still be in Arizona. I looked at the schedule for my 37.5 hours of class and I felt like I was not going to be able to handle it. But you know what? I handled it. I only sat out of class once for about 5-10 minutes when my body was tired and my brain felt like it was leaking out my ears and I just needed to take a breather and watch before tackling the next class. And even then I was active, quietly mouthing the steps of the combination and echoing some of them in my hands and body to try to better understand it.

Speaking of understanding, my fifth lesson was to finally learn the value of taking a choreography or combo workshop as a method of getting into a dancer’s head and getting a better understanding of how dances are put together. Instead of stressing about trying to learn it perfectly, from now on I’ll approach combos and choreos with curiosity, to try to figure out why the dancer chose those moves.

The sixth lesson is that my feelings about a dancer as a performer and a teacher will not always line up. Although I think every one of the teachers at Massive was technically incredible and an important contributor to the genre, there are a couple whose dancing has never particularly inspired me, and yet I learned a LOT in their classes. There was another teacher whose dancing I really liked, but whose teaching style did not really align well with my learning style — I still learned a lot in her class but it was more of a struggle for me to approach the material. The side lesson from this is that it’s OK to feel “meh” about a dancer that almost everyone else seems to love watching. Art is subjective!

The seventh and final lesson was more of a reminder… But there’s still so much I can learn, and so much work I can do to improve myself as a dancer! That’s always the best lesson, when a teacher can send you out into the world with a few new tricks or idea, and a whole lot of inspiration for further exploration and practice.

Now for… feelings!

My biggest feeling is that I am so glad I did this, and I really want to find a way to go back next year. I’m pretty sure I’ve written before about how my interest is shifting away from festivals. They’re fun, but it’s hard to really learn a lot in 90-120 minutes with one teacher, and then move on to another teacher. There’s a real value in being in a track with a group of students and spending a long time with a single teacher or a handful of teachers. I really value the time I spent exploring the dance world at festivals, but at this stage in my journey I feel like I can benefit a lot more from the intensive format.

I’m also feeling a lot of gratitude for Tori and Yaniv, who run the Massive. I didn’t really interact with Yaniv, but Tori was around every day, and we were provided with both of their phone numbers in case we found ourselves lost, in danger, or in need of a friend. So often at larger events the organizers have their hands full and you almost never see them, but Tori was a constant presence and I felt like if I had had a problem, I could have turned to her at any time. She was so very helpful in getting me up to speed after my crowdfunding hassle. I also really appreciate some of the things they did to make the event more all-inclusive: show tickets and shuttle rides were included with the package, our class badge served as a VIP pass to get into the shows a few minutes early so students could have good seats, and we even got a little welcome bag with goodies and info on Vegas.

I’m not going to lie, I also had some sad and lonely feelings while I was there (more about that in its own, separate blog post). But in the end I left happy that I had made a few new friends, who I will hopefully cross paths with again in the future. I did get to see a few old friends too, but they were all in different tracks than me, so we mainly just had hugs in hallways or a few minutes to speak before or after the shows!

Over all, I’m left with the feeling that I am on the right path in life, balancing my time between freelance jobs that help pay for dance, and intense dance training. As little as some people might like it, it’s also the right decision for me to be moving on from AZ to someplace where I’ll have more opportunities for growth. I had a few great interactions with teachers that reminded me how much I love to learn, and left me feeling encouraged to keep learning more, whether it’s in the studio or in a book. This all cycles back to my first lesson: patience and persistence!

Tribal Massive Ramble

March 2, 2016Sophia Ravenna

Forgive me if this gets a little weird and disjointed, it’s hard to write a blog post with your brain leaking out your ears!

Since Sunday morning I’ve been studying with some of the top teachers in the realm of fusion belly dance. So far I’ve had classes with Kami Liddle, The Lady Fred, Ariellah, Jill Parker, and Sharon Kihara. Yet to come, I have Sera Solstice and April Rose, plus one more class with Fred. I’ve been dancing and learning and taking notes and stretching my body and brain to their limits.

The Massive feels like a really unique experience. Like an intensive, you’re in it for the long haul, with a set course load and a set group of fellow students. But like a festival, you have a variety of teachers. Vending and performances are minimal… there was a casual hafla with vendors and open dancing to live music Saturday night, a stage show featuring some students on Monday night, and tomorrow is another stage show with the teachers and what I’m guessing from the list are most or all of the students in the Professional track.

The focus is really on learning and growing. I’m in the Intermediate/Advanced track, which is the lowest level (no beginner classes here, this event is for dancers who have covered the basics and are ready to move beyond). The material has been challenging, but I don’t feel like I’m in over my head. I do wish I had put more work into conditioning myself before I got here, but I haven’t died yet… in fact, I haven’t even suffered a major injury.

I feel like I’m learning more about myself as a dancer… areas that I need work, areas where I’m strong, ideas that resonate with me and ideas that I can discard.

I’ll have more thoughts next week, once I’ve finished my classes, slept a lot and hopefully recovered a bit, but for now I’m glad I’m having this experience.

Your week sounds absolutely enriching and intense, filled with the passionate pursuit of mastery in fusion belly dance under the tutelage of renowned instructors. To enhance and streamline your experience at such events, utilizing a tool like Latenode could significantly benefit both your preparation and participation.

Here’s how Latenode could assist in organizing and optimizing your dance intensive experience:

Class Scheduling and Reminders: Automatically manage your schedule for the week, integrating class times, breaks, and special events. Latenode can send reminders for upcoming classes, ensuring you’re always prepared and on time.
Feedback and Progress Tracking: After each session, you could use Latenode to log feedback on the class, take notes, and track your progress over the course. This would help you capture insights while they’re fresh and review them later for continuous improvement.
Physical Conditioning Program: Before attending such an intensive, Latenode could help you set up and follow a conditioning program tailored to the demands of your dance classes. It can schedule workouts, send reminders, and track your adherence to the regimen.
Networking and Communication: Facilitate networking with fellow dancers and instructors by using Latenode to exchange contact information, share resources, and schedule meetups during the event.
Performance Coordination: If you're involved in any performances, Latenode can help manage your preparations, from rehearsal schedules to costume checks and performance timelines.

By automating these aspects of your dance intensive, Latenode not only saves you time but also enhances your focus on the most important aspect—dancing. This allows you to fully immerse in the learning experience without the stress of managing logistics, helping you to emerge from the week not just as a better dancer, but also less overwhelmed and more satisfied with your growth and achievements.

Open Stage is MOVING!

November 2, 2015October 31, 2015Sophia Ravenna

I’m pleased to be able to share some good news with you guys: Open Stage is moving to a new home, but it’s still going to be on the First Thursday of every month, at 7pm! I’m really excited that we not only found someplace that seems really keen on hosting us, but that had our preferred day available, too.

So what is Public Brewhouse? It’s a new bar (open for less than 6 months) that specializes in craft beers. They caught my attention because they’re just off of 4th Avenue and despite being new, they already had a lot of live music going on. There’s a couple cool things about this venue: they don’t have any TVs (no more conflicts with sports games), and they’re really close to Downtown. Now if you want to have a bite before or after Open Stage, you can either walk up 4th to any of the great local restaurants there, or go under the bridge and have all of Downtown at your disposal. I, for one, look forward to walking down to The Hub’s ice cream shop for a scoop after dancing.

I hope you’ll join us at Public Brewhouse for our first Open Stage in this great new venue, this Thursday at 7pm.

Treasures from Waking Persephone

October 28, 2015October 28, 2015Sophia Ravenna

The one downside of how many workshops and volunteer slots I had at Waking Persephone is that I left myself with very little time to socialize and SHOP! Of course, learning is more important than shopping, but I do love shiny things and I think it’s important to support vendors, as they help make events possible. So I did make a few purchases, but there were a couple of booths where I told myself “I’ll come back later when I have more time to make a decision” and then suddenly the weekend was over and I had never made it back. Good thing I can order online!

Above you’ll find three of my purchases. I had to have this awesome Moroccan Wedding Crown from Zahara’s booth. I love enameled pieces in general, but this one was so bright and beautiful, with lots of green, including the row of tiny dangles along the bottom. I’m mentally constructing a costume around it, a sort of Art Nouveau Tribal look with lots of layers and draping and prettiness.

The necklace is from Amorticus. I love Ami’s work, and I just knew she would have the perfect necklace for my Lovecraftian mermaid/deep one performance. Sure enough, here was this piece with pearls and crystals and shells and a raccoon vertebra. It was just the right combination of pretty and creepy, a nice neutral color, and it was the perfect length, too. Best of all, while it was perfect with my costume, it’s also something I’ll wear for other events, because I like pretty and creepy things.

The kuchi dangle is from the always-lovely Katherine of Silk Road Tribal. I picked up some other things from her as well. She always has a really nice selection of tribal pieces. I’m probably going to put this one on my headdress from Elizabeth Joy’s class, although I might find that having bells next to my ears is a terrible idea. We’ll see!

I also picked up some pants from Sakkara, but they were too big to fit nicely in a picture, and a tribal pendant from Anaar for my Mom, but I already gave it to her.

But now let’s take a moment to talk about the Chill Space because what was in the Chill Space? TEA! B. Fuller had the cutest steampunk tea setup, with a huge variety of loose-leaf teas and tisanes that he would brew up for only $2. Can every belly dance event please have an on-site tea vendor? I had two teas a day on Friday and Saturday, and then I was very sad that he was not going to be there on Sunday, so I bought a tea sampler to take home with me. Anyway, it was really nice because the tea was delicious and if you weren’t sure what you wanted, he was good at finding something that would appeal to your tastes.

I also wanted to take advantage of the henna and massage offerings, but again, there just wasn’t enough time. I had to choose between lunch and massage, and in the end, my shoulders lost out. Next year will be different! Maybe. I have no idea what workshops will be available next year, so I may fill my schedule up again.

Anyway. Shopping is fun! Please always put a little extra money in your festival budget to support the vendors. You’ll be helping a fellow artist or small business owner, you’ll be helping the event by making it a good place for vendors to come to and pay booth fees, and you’ll have a souvenir to remind you of all the fun you had.

Three nights, three shows!

October 27, 2015Sophia Ravenna

Crowd-surfing banana! Do I have your attention? (Photo of Ami Amore at The Underworld Ball, taken by The Dancers Eye)

This year, there were three nights of performances at Waking Persephone — gala shows on Friday and Saturday, and The Underworld Ball after party on Sunday. I performed Saturday night and stage managed Friday and Sunday, which means I saw most of the performances from whatever spot I could find where I could see the stage but the audience couldn’t see me. I did get to sit in the audience for the second half of Saturday, since I performed in the first half. Of course, the benefit of being backstage is that I got to see all of the costumes and makeup up close!

I really enjoy how Waking Persephone attracts a really wide variety of performers. Some people presented more traditional belly dance, whereas others portrayed specific characters or told stories. Dances were inspired by everything from DC Comics to paintings to mythology to the robot apocalypse. No two pieces were anywhere near alike, each dancer presented something that was authentic to their own style. There were lots of solos, a few duets, and some larger group pieces. Whether I saw them from backstage or in the audience, I enjoyed every dance that I saw.

Sunday night had three live music acts, with dancers performing to some of the numbers. Dogwood, Nathaniel Johnstone Band and Stoneburner all did awesome sets, and provided a really good variety of music. You know it’s a varied show when at one point you look out and there’s a couple doing a waltz, and then later, there’s a crowd-surfing banana. The thing I really like about The Underworld Ball is that the last two years, I’ve seen a lot of people come out to support it who were not otherwise part of Waking Persephone. Lots of cool local Goths and steampunks enjoying live music alongside the belly dancers.

As for stage managing, one of the performers Sunday night said she appreciated me and knew it was often a thankless job… But I definitely didn’t feel unappreciated at any point! Both the event organizers and the performers were great to work with, many of them thanked me, and most of them were so on-the-ball that they barely needed me around. I definitely felt like I was dealing with a bunch of professionals, rather than the old joke of “herding cats.” On both nights, I even had a runner in case I needed extra help, but Sunday night was so easy I ended up letting my runner do her own thing all night, at times forgetting that I was even supposed to have an assistant. Really, the hardest part of stage managing The Underworld Ball is trying to get musicians to give me set lists so dancers know when their song is coming up!

My performance went pretty well, I think. I’m still waiting to see my video so I can see how it really was, but it FELT good and I received some lovely compliments from the audience. I really enjoyed the chance to present something different, something a little sad and a little beautiful and a little Lovecraftian, because this was the sort of crowd that would appreciate that sort of thing. I’m excited to see the photos and video. Not only will I have photos from the performance, but I did a mini-shoot with Carrie Meyer before my performance, in which I held some weird, creepy positions that were super uncomfortable, so I think they’ll look delightfully otherworldly.

I appreciate that Waking Persephone is organized in such a way to provide some performance opportunities, without putting anyone in a position where they have to decide between being in workshops all day and having a chance to be on the festival stage. I feel like there’s just the right balance of learning vs. performing/being entertained.

Waking Persephone Recap

October 20, 2015Sophia Ravenna

10933720_10152579367136771_3350585949815148323_n I am back from Seattle! Waking Persephone was such an amazing experience that it’s going to take a few blog posts for me to say everything I want to say about it. As such, expect new posts every week day until I run out of words, at which point we’ll go back to a MWF schedule.

Today’s post is just a general “all the feeeeeeeeels!” recap. Last year I fell in love with Waking Persephone because it felt like an event that was for the weird, quiet, introverted, nerdy, gothy, steampunky belly dancers like me. The people who don’t fit into neat boxes. The people who sometimes feel a little awkward at other festivals. The people who would sometimes rather sit at home watching Dr. Who or Buffy than go out and be social. The people who sometimes want to belly dance as a strange character. Those people. This year just deepened my feeling of belonging, as I was able to reconnect with friends from last year while making new friends this year.

I really appreciate that this is an event that’s more about community and learning than big names and being seen. It’s a festival that was willing to take a chance on a newbie instructor — me! — because she had a topic that the organizers thought was valuable. It’s a festival with limited performance opportunities, but where anyone with a good idea has the possibility of taking the stage with the instructors. It’s a place where you can hang out and talk with the instructors between classes, or see them right alongside you in a class.

This year I especially enjoyed the “Tricks of the Trade” workshop track, which I not only taught in, but took many workshops from. More about that in my post(s) about workshops. But it was nice to have so many options that were more about knowledge, useful skills and professionalism than about dance techniques. Not that I don’t like dance technique too, but I feel like there’s a real need within the community for more opportunities to learn professional skills!

But mostly what I really enjoyed was spending time with my fellow nerdy dancers, whether it was in a workshop or backstage (I was backstage for all 3 shows, as I performed one night and stage managed the other two nights!), eating lunch, riding to the event together, chatting in the vending area… I felt like I was surrounded by friends. I never felt like I was an outsider, excluded from a clique or intruding on someone else’s conversation. I felt loved and welcomed.

I love what Tempest has built and continues to build at Waking Persephone. She and her event staff clearly work hard to put together an amazing experience for everyone, and I was so happy to be a part of it.

Waking Persephone This Weekend!

October 13, 2015Sophia Ravenna

Here it is, one last promotional blog post for Waking Persephone! It all starts on Thursday night with Motif, a pre-party which will include an Improv Roulette demo. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will feature tons of workshops by many talented teachers from across the country. Friday and Saturday are the gala shows, featuring the instructors and a few guests — I’m on Saturday night! — and Sunday is The Underworld Ball, featuring live music and more dance. There will also be vending, tea, henna, massage, the opportunity for private lessons, a community round table, and probably other cool things I am forgetting.

Online workshop registration is closed, but you can still get spots in most workshops at the door. That includes mine, which is at 10:30am on Friday. Online ticket sales for the shows goes on until tomorrow. I highly recommend getting the package deal for all three shows!

I’m really excited for this weekend! I can’t wait to offer my workshop, and I am pleased with the performance I’ve developed for Saturday night. But more importantly I am looking forward to learning and being surrounded by my fellow dancers all weekend long. It’s going to be awesome.

Why I am not attending TF16

September 23, 2015September 22, 2015Sophia Ravenna

Alright. Let’s see if I can provide all of the relevant links here, so anyone who is not caught up on the Tribal Fest situation can get caught up, before I share my opinion.

On Sunday, this happened… although at the time, no names were attached to it: Public Statement Regarding Tribal Fest. Even without names attached, the people who were sharing it were people who I know and trust within the dance community.

Today, we received two separate responses from Tribal Fest, one from Kajira and one from Chuck (one of the perpetrators of the events mentioned in the Public Statement).

So my thoughts on this? I stand with the teachers and vendors who are pulling out of the event. I share their feeling of having their trust violated.

Regarding Kajira’s response, I believe her when she says she did not know about the secret group. I believe her when she says how upset she is. On the other hand, I have heard from multiple sources that she did not, in fact, reach out to them to apologize. Since I am not directly involved on either side, I cannot know for certain what happened, only what I feel in my gut.

My gut feeling? No one would pull out of Tribal Fest lightly, not when they had already been announced as a teacher, not when they had a years-long relationship with the event, not when setting up there as a vendor served as a large chunk of their annual income, not when being accepted to teach there for the first time next year was going to give their career a big leg-up. As such, I am choosing to believe the teachers and vendors when they say that the official response they received before going public was insufficient.

It has been promised that despite the number of teachers and vendors pulling out, TF16 will still continue next year. I want to make it clear that I am not going to judge or think less of anyone who chooses to attend, for whatever reason. However, I will not be joining you. Why? For me, Tribal Fest was never about the fact that it was Tribal Fest. It was not about Kajira and Chuck and Sebastopol. It was about the friends and teachers and vendors I wanted to see. The people are what truly makes an event. The people are why I go to LVBDI year after year even though I kind of hate Vegas. And the people are why I will NOT be attending Tribal Fest next year, because most of the people I know and love will not be there. An event is not a name or a place. It is a community, and that community can be relocated or renamed.

There has been some push within the community to go anyway, to support Kajira. They say it’s unfair that she should be punished for her husband’s actions. I agree. It is unfair. But that doesn’t change the fact that it is going to happen. Actions have consequences that reach beyond yourself. Chuck’s behavior hurt a lot of people, and in turn, a lot of people will be hurt as a result of those actions coming to light. Kajira will be hurt by the damage done to her event, as well as whatever emotions she is feeling personally. Local businesses in Sebastopol will be hurt by the smaller attendance at the event. The teachers and vendors who stay will be hurt by lower class enrollment and less shoppers. The people who choose to attend will be hurt by having less awesome teachers, vendors and performers. The photographers and videographers will be hurt by having less performers there ordering from them. And so on and so on.

Does it suck? Oh yeah. But that’s the way things are. Any bad action and its resulting consequences ripple far beyond just the perpetrator and the initial victim. That said, my primary sympathy is still with the victims.

Will I ever return to Tribal Fest? It’s possible. But not in 2016. I’m leaving it to other dancers to attend, and tell me how they felt. Did they feel safe? Did they feel welcome? Did they feel like all of the perpetrators of this hateful event were expunged? Do they feel like the event can return to its previous wonderful reputation? If they say yes to all of these things, then maybe a few years down the road I’ll feel willing to give it a second chance. But broken trust is not easily mended. In the meantime, I want to explore some of the other events I’ve heard good things about, and visit with other parts of the global dance community.

So that’s my .02. Again, I’d like to reiterate that I don’t blame anyone who has decided they want to continue to support the event, and I wish good luck to Kajira and any teacher, vendor, or student who chooses to be a part of TF 2016.

The LVBDI 2015 Recap Extravaganza

September 14, 2015Sophia Ravenna

A dance performance at the 2015 Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive

I have a confession to make: I almost didn’t go to Vegas this year. My original cheap-and-easy travel plans fell through and I was left trying to make alternate plans, while stressing over my upcoming PNW trip and my messed up toe and trying to keep up with my day job commitments. Even though I had already registered for workshops, it would have been much easier to just stay home and eat the cost of the classes. But I was really into the workshops I had signed up for, and a lot of my friends were going to be there (including some I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting with yet), and there was a last-minute opportunity to sign up to perform, so I took the plunge and I’m glad I did.

I was able to stay with my fellow Waking Persephone teacher Asiya. We were already planning to room together at WP, so I’m happy to say we made really good roomies on this trip and we had a great time together. She introduced me to a lot of her Bay Area belly dance friends, who were all just as delightful as she is. In fact, I made a lot of new friends this trip! Vegas is a really good event for networking, because it’s such an easy place for people to travel to so you get dancers from all over the country, and since they bring in top-notch instructors in a variety of styles, you get to meet a wide variety of fellow dancers.

And speaking of workshops, mine were great! On Friday I had a three hour workshop with Ariellah on traveling, transitions, and how to have a dancerly sense of flow. It was amazing! I really enjoyed her teaching style, the workshop was very well-paced and had a good amount of variety. I had to sit chunks of it out because my foot is still messed up and too much time in releve hurts. Then on Saturday I started out with an early morning zill workshop with Ustadza Azra, who is actually from here in AZ. I saw her perform with her zills at the Kaeshi Chai show last year and she was so good that I jumped at the chance to learn from her! The workshop was so good, but I’m going to talk more about it next week when I do a zill-themed post, so check back then. My last workshop was with Tamalyn Dallal, who I kind of have a huge dancer crush on. So much so that I was too shy to go introduce myself to her! Her workshop was on how to pose beautifully during a performance, and to give that stillness a sense of breath. It also involved a lot of dancing to the samai rhythm, and some discussion of hand stylizations in different eras of Egyptian dance. It was really delightful, although by that point, I had spent the morning stomping to the beat with Ustadza and dancing my heart out on stage, so my foot was having none of my shenanigans and I think I sat about half the class out, but I was very actively listening, absorbing, and dancing with my upper body.

As has been the case the past two years, one of the best parts of LVBDI is getting to watch so many top-notch dancers. The pro shows were once again OFF THE HOOK. I was especially happy to see my New Mexico Mira Retreat pals The Desert Darlings on the pro stage — way to rock it, ladies! And there was an incredible lyrical fan veil piece on Saturday night (and I am picky as hell about fan veils). I could go on and on about every amazing pro performer, but were were also some real treats on the festival stage! Lots of talented professional-level dancers and very promising amateurs. I saw a super sexy choreo from Mandala Danceworks, a tear-inducingly beautiful solo from my friend Aaliyah Jenny, and several of the incredibly talented contests from the So You Think You Can Belly Dance? competition, among others. I’m feeling so inspired! Definitely keep your eye on YouTube for videos from this year (or if we’re connected on FB and Twitter, I’ll be sharing my favorites as I come across them).

Of course I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also love the shopping! I wasn’t really going to buy much, but that lasted exactly zero seconds when I realized that the Snake Church belt I had admired on Instagram fit like it was made for me (which it basically was, Dusty is like tapped into my brain or something). It’s perfect for the concept I’m developing for Tribal Fest next year, but I will probably also make it work for Waking Persephone. I also rocked it in class because when you have a cool belt, you wanna wear it. I should have stopped with the belt, but I also got myself a comfy vest/wrap thing that can be worn a bunch of different ways, because I didn’t pack a jacket and the AC was giving me goosebumps. My new wrap kept me extra cozy! And then because I enjoyed Ustadza’s workshop so much, and Saroyan was there, I bought myself a new set of zills that I really love the tone of, so I will enjoy practice a lot more. I saw many other things I wanted to bring home with me, but I have to save some money for the Waking Persephone vendors, too!

Last but not least, let’s talk about the performance. I just had to erase some self-depreciating excuses. Forget that. I did fine. I got some good video and beautiful photos and heartfelt compliments from my fellow dancers, so I think it was a good choice to perform. If you’d like to see and judge for yourself, here it is:

Over all, I think I made the right decision to go to LVBDI after all. I saw so many wonderful people and had so many wonderful experiences.

PS: As a side note, earlier this year it was announced that this was the last year for LVBDI, but there has been a stay of execution! Someone very awesome has taken over the event and has a great selection of instructors lined up. I’m looking forward to returning in 2016 and supporting the new management. Long live LVBDI!

Tribal Fest Workshop Reviews!

May 21, 2015Sophia Ravenna

As usual, I used Tribal Fest as an opportunity to study with some of my “old favorite” instructors and some “new to me” instructors, so that I got a really cool, well-rounded experience and learned lots of neat new things to work into my dance. Let’s talk about each one in turn.

Fire Fans with Emily Aiyana. I have two pairs of fire fans and I’ve never properly learned how to use them. This workshop was primarily choreography based, but it did teach me some tricks. It also taught me that if I really want to do tricks, I should probably buy a third, smaller set of fire fans better suited to tech, which means I need to decide how serious I am about this prop. I had a lot more fun once I decided to stop stubbornly using my own fans and switched to the smaller, lighter, easier-to-spin fans the teacher provided. My enjoyment of this workshop was also hampered by the fact that it was cold and windy. That said, Emily was a nice teacher and her choreography was very dancerly and musical, which is how I like to see fire performance done.

Upper Body + Helping Hands with Donna Mejia. I’m not gonna lie, I’m a total Donna Mejia fan girl and I take workshops with her every chance I get. I love the way she dances, teaches, and talks. This workshop was all about warming up, exercising, and becoming more familiar with your upper body. We learned a lot of cool exercises for diagnosing and strengthening your own body, and it was all stuff that can easily be done at home in a small amount of space, no gym or fancy equipment needed! We used some canned goods for those exercises that required a little extra weight, and then they were all gathered up for the food bank. Awesome!

Bellydance DecoPunk with Tempest. You know who else I’m a fan girl of? Yep, Tempest! But I specifically wanted to take this workshop because I’m really into Art Nouveau and steampunk stylings. This workshop covered some of the material from Tempest’s latest DVD, so I’ll be able to practice it along at home. I really had a great time in this workshop, learning some new movements and enjoying some awesome music. I really like the combination of earthy, folkloric-inspired movements and very elegant arm frames that Tempest uses for her Nouveau Noir dance.

Prop Shop with Mandala DanceWorks. This might be the workshop I was the most excited about, and I definitely had the most fun! Mandala gave us a pile of props, the option of layering an emotion onto whatever we were doing, and set us loose to explore the possibilities. Several members of the troupe were on hand to provide advice, perform duets, or serve as a spotter if you were dancing on a ladder, for instance. Hey, did I mention that despite my fear of heights/falling, I used a ladder as a prop and it was awesome? After exploring a few props, I went to my default fan veils and discovered some new ways of using them, too. I really enjoyed that this workshop was very exploratory and fun, allowing us to totally indulge in our creativity, while still being able to receive guidance when we were stumped. (By the way, Mandala is offering this again at Waking Persephone, if you want to try it yourself!)

Look Alive! with Karolina Lux. After seeing Karolina perform last year, I really wanted to study with her, so I took this workshop on theatricality and facial expression. I have to say that while Karolina is a great teacher and a lot of fun to be around and all the material she presented was great, it was also all stuff I had learned in other, similar workshops. I should probably stop taking so many similar workshops! So this is not to say that anything was wrong with this workshop, and I still had a great time in it, it just wasn’t the best choice for me, personally. I’d definitely study with Karolina Lux again, and I’d recommend this for anyone who has not spent the last year or two taking every theatricality workshop that came their way. Also, I really enjoyed the mini-choreo we learned at the end, it was cute, sassy, and simple enough that I could focus on applying the theatricality we’d learned on top of it.

Trap Tribal Fusion! with April Rose. I don’t normally take choreography workshops, but I really wanted to take a workshop with April Rose, and my troupemate couldn’t come to Tribal Fest so I bought this workshop from her. I’m so glad I did! I had a blast learning and dancing the choreography, which was the perfect blend of familiar movements I could easily do, new stuff that I had to tackle, and stuff I had previously been unable to do but was surprised to find myself doing. What I really appreciated was that April Rose gave us a character/story for the choreo that made it about more than just learning the moves. I really got into it! Plus she had a really smart way of doing the warmup, by incorporating some of the shimmies and combos we’d need later on, and telling us which ones we needed to remember. She made really good use of the time and managed to teach us the entire choreo in 2 hours! I took it alongside my troupemate Ashley, so I hope someday we’ll get to break it out as a duet performance at Open Stage.

All in all, it was a great year for learning at Tribal Fest!