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.
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.
Ready to ride off on my majestic steed! (Note: not actually my horse)
I am pretty excited, you guys! I’m getting ready to set off on some adventures this Summer and Fall!
My first big adventure starts next Friday, when I drive off to New Mexico for the Mira Betz retreat. A week with Mira and a handful of other dedicated belly dancers… it sounds like heaven! And the surroundings look pretty amazing, too. I’m going to stop off in Albuequerque on the way, to see some of my friends there. I’ve never visited ABQ or Santa Fe so I am looking forward to seeing these two cities. I’ll be driving by myself, which in some ways is my preference. I’m an introvert and I like to have time alone with my thoughts. I’m especially looking forward to using the drive back to process everything I learned.
I’m so excited because both times that I’ve done a weekend intensive with Mira I’ve come home so inspired, really on fire for the dance all over again. I can’t even imagine what a whole week is going to be like. It’s going to be really immersive, since we’re all staying together at the retreat center and dancing for hours every day. And apparently there’s also going to be alcohol, so there’s that.
And then there’s my other adventure starting in September. I’m flying out to Portland for 8 Elements Cultivation… But wait, Waking Persephone is just a couple weeks after the end of 8E, so why bother flying home? I’m going to attempt to couch surf my way around the PNW, since I have so many friends in the area. I’m excited to check out some parts of that area that I haven’t seen yet (looks like I may have plans in Tacoma and Olympia), maybe drop in on some dance classes, possibly nab some performance opportunities? If you know of any events going on in the area any time between October 4th and 16th, let me know! Or, if you have a couch and want me to crash on it in return for social media help, blog post writing, fan veil pointers, beaded jewelry or other services that I offer, and I already know you and you’re not some random person, let me know!
As I mentioned at the end of Friday’s post, registration for Waking Persephone is now live! In addition to shopping for workshops, you can apply to vend, perform, or be a volunteer. There’s even a scholarship opportunity for cash-strapped beginner dancers who’d like to attend the event. Definitely go explore the site and start planning your trip, if you enjoy Gothic, Steampunk, Ritual or other niche forms of belly dance, this is the event for you.
I’m really honored to be teaching “How to Build an Engaging Blog Presence” at Waking Persephone. I have to admit, when I applied, I didn’t really expect to get in. I’ve just really been challenging myself to take big, scary steps in my dance career and one of those was applying to teach at an event. I figured it would be good practice for the day when I’m ready to actually teach dance, and I had had some requests in the past to teach about blogging, so I figured hey, I’ll throw my ring in the hat on a lark.
Well, now I’m committed! My workshop is going to cover everything from starting your blog to deciding what topics to write about to coming up with your own special features, like Beauty Blogging for Belly Dancers and Sophia’s Shelf. We’ll also go over technical stuff like moderating comments and dealing with spam. Basically I want to teach you all of the stuff I learned the hard way. And while I will be coming at it from the angle of developing a dance blog, there will be a lot of general good blogging advice, so musicians and artists and anyone else who has blog questions should consider signing up, too.
Of course I’m not just attending as a teacher, I am going to take at least half a dozen workshops while I’m there! I thought I’d list what they were and why I’m excited about them, so hopefully some of you will join me and we can be workshop buddies.
Friday 1pm: Emoticon with Kamrah. I really enjoyed last year’s spooky combos workshop with Kamrah, I think she has a great approach to modifying belly dance movement to suit a character or mood, so I definitely want to learn more from her.
Saturday 9am: Life is a Cabaret, Fosse-Influenced Belly Dance with Inanna LeFay. I’ve wanted to study with Inanna for a long time, and somehow despite the fact that she lives in Phoenix, I have to travel to Washington to finally learn from her! This is going to be a great class, I saw one of her Fosse-inspired choreographies at a Plaza student recital and it was awesome.
Saturday 10:45am: It’s Only Up From Here: Headdress Construction with Elizabeth Joy. More DIY skills? Yes please! I am excited to learn how to make a headdress and the fact that it’s being taught by my super awesome pal Elizabeth Joy of Improv Roulette fame is just icing on the cake.
Saturday 5pm: Playing Finger Cymbals with Modern Music with Nawal Doucette. I dance to a lot more modern music than traditional Middle Eastern music, so I think it would be really cool to learn how to use my zills with non-traditional music. This is just part of my really big zill kick this year.
Sunday 9am: Narrative Bellydance with Somni. These gals did a waaaaaay coooool performance at last year’s WP so I am really eager to learn their approach to storytelling via bellydance.
Sunday 3:30pm: Marketing to Muggles by Natalie Brown. Everyone should sign up for this! Let’s learn how to get people to come to our shows and pay us money and hire us to dance at parties and teach classes, so we can all afford more workshops and more sparkly costumes. I need this workshop more than any other workshop I am taking. Self-promotion is such a slog for me, and I feel like I’ve gotten the hang of promoting towards my fellow dancers, but the general public? No idea.
So that’s my list so far. There’s a couple other workshops that I want to add to my list, to fill up the rest of Friday especially. I just need to remember to leave myself time to eat and shop and socialize!
Are you planning to attend Waking Persephone? Which workshops are you signed up for?
Yes, this is a napping river otter with his tail in his mouth. You’re welcome.
You may have noticed that while I travel a lot, it’s almost always for dance-related stuff, or to hit NY to see my in-laws. Well, last week my husband and I got to take an honest-to-goodness vacation, as a nice bonus from his employer. We opted to spend Spring Break in Seattle because, as mentioned above, I freaking LOVE Seattle and when they put me on the spot to make a quick decision, that was what I chose. I think it was a good decision.
We flew Alaska Airlines, which is also who I flew for my 8 Elements trip, and I have to say, I think they’re going to be my go-to for trips to the PNW from now on. Not only do they offer direct flights (and it’s almost impossible to get a non-stop to anywhere for a decent price from Tucson), but I found their planes to be nice, their service to be good, and that they actually offer decent food.
We stayed in downtown Seattle, which I’m not sure I would do again because it was noisy and I’m a light sleeper, but on the other hand, almost everything we wanted to do was within walking distance, so that was awesome! We walked almost 5 miles on our last day there, including a lot of stairs. Chris’s work put us up in Hotel Max, which is a cool trendy boutique hotel. Our room had a huge photo from a Nirvana concert on the front door, and a record player inside, with a stack of records by bands I had never heard of (what, no “How to Make your Husband a Sultan”? Didn’t they know a belly dancer was coming?). All of their rooms also have original artwork on the walls. It was a nice change from the rather boring cookie-cutter hotels I usually end up in. I especially liked the fact that they had free beer every night, even though we only took advantage of it once, it was cool that they had WA microbrews and plenty of space to hang out and drink.
One of the main things we love to do when we travel is to eat a lot of local food. This was a great thing about being downtown, there were a ton of food options within an easy walk of our hotel. Including cupcakes.
YUM!
Our anniversary fell in the middle of our trip, so we celebrated with Yellow Leaf cupcakes. Mine is chocolate with chocolate frosting rolled in tiny chocolate squares, and his is a pancakes and bacon. He also got a “sipping caramel” which is like hot chocolate but caramel instead. I had a sip and found it delicious, but it would have been too much to have alongside a cupcake. I was glad for my loose leaf tea instead.
People associate Seattle with coffee, thanks to Starbucks and stuff like that, but holy crap is there a lot of tea, too. We kept going to breakfast at this awesome place called Biscuit Bitch, and not only did they have a nice selection of loose leaf teas, but they also made fancy tea beverages. I really liked the “Seattle Fog” which was Early Grey tea, steamed milk, a little vanilla, and a big curl of orange zest. YUM! I also really liked the biscuits.
I shopped way too much in Seattle, because not only were we near Pike’s Place Market, but there was also a Mishu boutique there, and they sell really cute belly dance/festival type clothes and then I found out they were having a bin sale at their other location… Well, let’s just say I spent a lot of money on cute clothes and I barely managed to get them all home.
We also came home with a bunch of new tea and spices, and a couple of cookbooks. Chris has already been hitting the cookbooks hard. Last night we had green tea jasmine watermelon gazpacho. Amazing! I think it will be a favorite summer dish for us. There’s also going to be some bread salad, and some honey harrissa chicken later this week.
Of course we had to do some touristy stuff. Because Seattle was in bloom just like Portland, we visited the Japanese Tea Garden.
I like flowers and dressing in layers.
The garden was beautiful, with lots of flowers and meandering paths and giant koi in the pond. I imagine it would be a lot of fun to visit in different seasons, to see how the plants change. I think it would also be a wonderful place to do a photo shoot. The perfect frame created by that tulip magnolia tree made me wish I was in a costume and makeup instead of my admittedly cute key sweater, stripey scarf and tentacle hoodie.
We also went to the aquarium, where I took that cute otter picture. It’s a really nice aquarium, with lots of cool exhibits. We got to see them feed the octopus, and Chris touched a giant sea cucumber in one of the tide pools (he tried very hard to get me to touch it, too, but NOPE). There were seals and otters and puffins and big green sea anemones. Plus there’s artwork displayed on the walls, which I felt was a nice added touch.
Of course, while this was not a dance-specific trip, I had to get a little dancing in! Tempest invited me to drop in to her Wednesday night class. By the way, this just shows how much my husband loves me, Wednesday night was our anniversary but he was cool with me going to dance class and us celebrating with a nice dinner on Thursday instead. He knows how important dance is to me, and how much I like Tempest. And class was so much fun! It was held in her beautiful but tiny home studio, with a handful of regular students. There were a lot of in-jokes thrown around, but I was still made to feel welcome and included. It made me nostalgic for classes with Jolie, where we had our fair share of in-jokes and silliness. Also I learned how to dance to a 6/4 rhythm! And perhaps most importantly, I got to meet ALL OF TEMPEST’S CATS! They’re all adorable, of course, and Nora (the black one) is really soft.
There was a whole lot more, including a fun dinner out with one of Chris’s old work buddies, but this is turning into another one of my novel-length posts so I had better just wrap it up. But if I suddenly run away to Seattle, you know why!
These announcements might leave you feeling green with envy! Ha! Photo by Liora K.
So, about a million things happened while I was in Seattle last week. Expect blog posts Monday-Friday as I try to talk about everything that’s going on with me right now. But since I couldn’t decide which piece of news to start the week with, I want to give you my three biggest announcements all in one post.
1. I passed Initiation! I’m an Initiate! The first step in my 8 Elements journey is complete, and I am already on the waiting list for Phase II: Cultivation. I really want to keep this momentum going!
2. Improv Roulette is coming to Phoenix! As promised, Mahin and I have joined forces and we will be presenting IR in the Valley on April 19th. Here’s the FB Event Page with all the details.
3. And now for the big one: I’m teaching at Waking Persephone in October!!! Now, I know you’re thinking “But Sophia, you keep saying that you’re not ready to teach belly dance!” and that’s true. However, this year WP has a really cool track called “Trade Secrets” and it’s about all that important behind-the-scenes stuff, like editing your videos and preparing for a photo shoot and doing your makeup and more. My offering will be a workshop titled “How to Develop an Engaging Blog Presence” and it will cover everything from choosing what platform to use to coming up with your own cool regular features, like Beauty Blogging for Belly Dancers. I am SO EXCITED to be part of this awesome event. The workshops and teachers this year are absolutely amazing, and of course, it’s another excuse to go back to Seattle. Registration opens on April 3rd!
Sophweea is bad at taking notes because she has no arms.
I am home from Waking Persephone and still trying to gather my thoughts, so pardon me if this post is a little disjointed. Let’s see if I can break it into sections.
Seattle: I sure do love visiting this city. Upon arriving at the airport I was trying to find my way to the light rail station and a nice man who works as a volunteer at the airport gave me very clear directions on how to get there. Although, this might not be Seattle-specific, as I noticed a volunteer helping people find their proper luggage carousel in the bag claim when I got into Tucson last night. Anyway, I really enjoyed riding the light rail. And I enjoyed eating a ton of delicious food. Why is the food in Seattle so delicious? And I enjoyed the fact that the brew pub near the venue had like, half a dozen different ciders on tap. And I enjoyed a nice dose of Autumn weather, with rain and falling leaves and noisy crows. It was very thematically appropriate.
The Event in General: I was a little worried going into it. What if everyone there was super Goth and I didn’t fit in? What if there was a really heavy ritual element? Is there any other stupid thing my socially awkward brain can needlessly worry about? But I fit right in. It was fun hearing some of my favorite Gothy tunes in workshops, but for the most part everyone was dressed the same as they would be at any workshop event, with maybe a little more nerdiness evident in t-shirt choices, and cooler socks. And almost everyone else was a socially awkward dance nerd too. One big theme that the event’s host, Tempest, kept stressing was that we didn’t need to take things too seriously. There was a lot of humor and silliness throughout the weekend, giving lie to those dumb stereotypes that Goths are all doom and gloom.
Workshops: I’d be sitting here typing all day if I tried to discuss all 7 workshops that I was in this past weekend. So I just want to say that in general, the workshops I was signed up for were weighted heavily towards imparting information and fostering a deeper understanding of dance, or exploring new ideas. Even Kamrah’s workshop on creepy combos was more about ways to instill a sense of creepiness into your dance than the combos themselves. One thing that I heard over and over again, and have been hearing at other workshops over the past year or two, is the importance of having a story in mind as you dance, whether or not your dance overtly tells that story. It seems to be a concept that is really gaining momentum within the fusion belly dance world and I’m excited to see how it helps the artform grow. Another thing that I enjoyed was that all of the workshops I was in were pretty small, which made for a more intimate and interactive experience. This was probably a result of the event being in its first year in Seattle, and I suspect it will be bigger in future years, but probably not as jam-packed as Tribal Fest.
Community Round Table (minus the table): On Saturday evening (after the workshops, before the show) there was an hour of discussion time for talking about the event so far, and stuff going on within the dance community. It was really interesting and thought provoking, and everyone was welcome to share their thoughts, whether they were a student-level dancer or a pro with decades of experience. I think this is a really good idea for an event, as it’s rare for large groups of dancers to be able to get together and really talk in person, rather than relying on Facebook groups and internet forums.
Performing: I was part of the Gala Showcase. It was a little bit intimidating because the show was mostly the amazing teachers and a few performers who had applied to be part of the show! But I’ve been reassured that I held my own and didn’t look too out of place among all of the more experienced dancers. The event was really nice to be part of, everyone was great backstage. It reminded me of my early student recital days with everyone helping each other out with safety pins and makeup and fastening bras and all those silly little things you might want an extra hand or second opinion on. Plus there were SNACKS back stage! Since I did not have time for a proper dinner and was going to be out too late to eat before bed, it was nice to have healthy munchies (plus chocolate) to keep my tummy happy. The stage manager was really on top of things, too and really nice to work with.
Vendors: You know I love to shop! I kept it low-key at this event because I’ve already started to register for events for next year and the budget was a li’l tight. But I did get some really nice things! There was a good variety of vendors, the space was well-lit, and conveniently located between the classrooms. My favorite purchase was a pair of earrings made with mink vertebrae that were stripped clean by FLESH EATING BEETLES. Now that’s pretty Goth. You can actually see Sophweea modeling them in Monday’s blog post.
Underworld Ball: Three bands, half a dozen dancers, and a theater that looks kind of like a circus tent. Plus a handful of vendors. And beer. Except I didn’t drink any, because I was pretending to know what I was doing as stage manager! This was a fun experience, as coordinating a show that someone else has organized is a lot different than making sure Open Stage runs smoothly. There was a bit of fake-it-til-I-make-it involved, but over all, things went well, all the dancers were on stage when they were supposed to be so I consider myself a success. I had a really good time and was able to enjoy most of the show even though I was working. In addition to great live music from Chronilus, The Nathaniel Johnstone Band and Frenchy & The Punk there was a DJ playing a great mix of music. At the end of the night I heard Professor Elemental followed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. What’s not to love?
Thoughts Over All: In some ways, this was one of my favorite events so far. I really felt at home, surrounded by like-minded people. At a lot of events I feel kind of alone, because it seems like everyone else is there with friends or troupemates. But at this event, it was like almost everyone there was someone I knew from Facebook (or in the case of Kamrah, from when she used to live here!) so I had plenty of friends even though I has traveled out by myself. There were also no overwhelming huge crowd moments, like the Meet the Teacher night at Tribal Fest. Everything was really relaxed, but still well-organized. That’s a hard balance to pull off! I feel like I learned a LOT and made some good connections and have some new ideas to work on. I’d call that a success. I’m already looking forward to next year! Thank you to Tempest and all of your volunteers for putting on such a great event.
The closest Sophweea is going to get to the Space Needle.
Sophweea and I have been having a lovely time in Seattle. Waking Persephone is an awesome event. I probably won’t get to properly post about it until Wednesday, as I did not pack my laptop and do not relish the idea of writing an entire event review on my tiny tablet keyboard.
Short version: I’m so glad I decided to do this event! I learned a lot, met some really cool people, got the opportunity to share the stage with the instructors and also, was able to enjoy some beautiful Fall weather!
Because it’s cheaper to fly on a Tuesday I’ve got a day to kill here in the Lake City neighborhood. So far I’ve just been relaxing, packing, and bumming around on Facebook, but it’s about time to go exploring and find myself some lunch!
So this information has been sitting quietly over on the Performances section of my page, but it’s about time I made an official announcement… I will be performing in the Saturday night Gala Show at Waking Persephone on October 18th! I am really excited about this opportunity. Unlike Tribal Fest and LVBDI, WP only has a couple of evening showcases, so there’s a lot less performance time available. As such it’s a really big honor to be one of the performers chosen to share the stage with the event’s teachers!
And what will I be performing? Well, I knew right away that Waking Persephone, as an event for dark and unusual belly dance, was the perfect place for a second performance of my Fem Bot piece that I created for Hafla Con! It’s hard to find a venue that’s appropriate for such off-the-wall feminist sci-fi belly dance, so I’m happy to have a second chance to stamp gears on my face and protest the patriarchy.
Smash the Patriarchy!
As it turns out, I will also be making use of the skills I’ve learned hosting Open Stage to work as the Stage Manager for Sunday Night’s Underworld Ball. I think I’m up to the task and I hope I can catch some glimpses of the performers while I’m keeping things running smoothly back stage but at the very least I’m sure I’ll be able to hear all of the awesome live music!
If you will be in the Seattle Washington area October 18-19th and would like to attend one or both of these great shows, click here to buy your tickets! And please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself to me if you’re a reader of my blog or a fan of my FB page! I really do love meeting people but I’m a little shy and bad at initiating conversations. Just look for the fem-bot wrapped up in a giant orange sweater.
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.
