I thought it might be fun to occasionally do a quick, casual post about what I threw in my makeup bag for a specific trip. This first post is about Tribal Massive!
My packing decisions were influenced by two things: The big one was that I wasn’t performing, and the other was that I wasn’t flying.
The first thing meant that I didn’t have to really bring my foundation or contour kit, or worry about packing makeup to match a costume, or bring glitter, or any of that. The second thing meant I could throw everything together in my big cosmetics bag and not worry about separating out the liquids or playing Jenga to fit my makeup and my laptop in the same bag in a way that is easy to get both out to go through security.
As such, the makeup I grabbed is a collection of old favorites and a few newer things I’ve been testing for future blog posts. Right at the center are my Viseart palettes, which were my special holiday treat to myself when I received TWO Sephora gift cards. I’m really enjoying them but I’ve been wanting to try more colors before I review them, but I haven’t been performing much. I might end up walking around Vegas rocking some serious dark mattes just so I can try more of these colors.
In addition to what I’ve shown here, I also later threw in my Becca highlighter because I wanted to use this trip as a chance to work on my highlighting technique some more before my next performance.
As for how I packed it, most of the cosmetics go in the pocket on the right, and the brushes and my perfume and mascara went in the pocket on the left. I like that the bag also has a hanging loop, which is great when I end up in a bathroom with no counter space, or if I’m sharing with another dancer!
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!
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!
Beautiful magnolia tree a few blocks from my friend’s house.
I was worried that I wouldn’t get to do much in Portland other than participating in 8 Elements, but things worked out well for me and I managed to have a nice, well-rounded Portland experience in the short time I was there.
Swati, a dance friend of mine who used to live in Tucson kindly invited me to stay at her home, which was a short and easy bus ride away from downtown. Because I arrived Friday afternoon and she was able to meet me at the airport, we had plenty of time for fun that evening! The weather was unseasonably lovely, and she lives near a street full of cool local businesses, so after I dropped off my luggage we immediately set off for a tour of her neighborhood and some refreshment!
The first thing I was struck by was how beautiful everything was. Perfect temperature, the sun was shining, the houses were cute, and everything was in bloom. Daffodils, cherry blossoms, magnolia trees and more, flowers everywhere. I was enchanted!
We stopped at a bar to have a couple drinks and think about what we wanted for dinner. I tried something called “drinking vinegar” which was sweet, flavored vinegar mixed with soda water. It was unusual, refreshing, and delicious! We enjoyed our drinks on the patio, soaking in the good weather and watching the people and dogs go by.
Dinner was Indian food from an adorable place called Bollywood Theatre. Appropriately, it was decorated with vintage movie posters and had TV screens playing old Bollywood films. There was even a movie playing in the bathroom! The food was small plate street food, and although I thought I was ordering light and saving room for dessert (there was a cool ice cream place we wanted to hit on the way home), I was stuffed by the end! I really enjoyed the fried okra my friend ordered, it was sliced thin and fried crispy like a veggie chip, not breaded and deep fried like the kind they serve in the US south.
Upon getting home, I started going through my stuff and realized, unfortunately, that I left my tablet on the airplane! Because my friend was working early in the morning, I got to have my first Public Transportation Adventure the next morning, taking the bus and the train to the airport and back to retrieve it (very important, since it had some of the books I needed for 8 Elements!). I found the system really easy to use. They have an app where you can buy tickets on your phone, and for only $5 I could get an all-day pass which allowed me to go to the airport and back, and then downtown and back for 8 Elements. I ended up riding the bus downtown every day, and then from downtown to Datura for the hafla on Wednesday. So easy! And most of the drivers were very friendly, which made it a pleasant experience.
Because the weather was so lovely every day but Wednesday (when it finally rained), going to lunch every day was awesome. For three days, Sabien and I traveled to a big cluster of food carts and tried a different cuisine every day! The first day was yummy Moroccan food, the second day was amazing Georgian food, and the third day was delicious Thai food. There were so many other carts I wanted to try, too, but we had to stay closer to the studio for lunch on Tues and Weds because we were taking part in some extra activities that cut into our lunch break.
There were a few other fun food adventures, too. Sunday’s session didn’t start until 1pm, so Sabien and I met beforehand to study at Saint Cupcake…
How cute are these cupcakes and tea cup?
I love places that have mini cupcakes so I can have multiple flavors! The lighter one is Toasted Coconut, which had a coconut cream pie filling frosting. The darker one is some sort of Irish cream and stout chocolate confection. Nothing like kicking the day off with a boozy cupcake! Plus the hot tea was really good. There was this local tea brand that everyplace had and although it was bagged rather than loose leaf, it seemed to be pretty good quality.
Tuesday was our free night, when we should have been studying, probably, but the lure of Powell’s City of Books was too strong! Of course, we did LOOK for some of the books from the bibliography in our study guide, but they were all sold out (probably snatched up by other students who had beaten us there). We also went into a couple cute stores that carried local handmade goods, and I got some presents to bring home and some cute tribally earrings for myself. Then we went for Mexican food at a cool farm-to-table place that had delicious sangria and homemade tortillas.
As I mentioned briefly in Friday’s post, we also stopped at Voodoo Donuts on the way to the hafla. We almost didn’t go, because the line was way out the door, but it moved really quickly. I had a Mexican Hot Chocolate cake donut which was sooooo good. My only complaint was that the menu wasn’t very detailed, I would have liked to know what more of the flavors entailed, but since there was a long line I didn’t want to ask a lot of questions so I just ordered something I figured I would like.
Did I mention that everyone in Portland is really nice? Employees in stores were helpful, people riding the bus always thanked the driver on their way out, etc etc.
A few people have already asked me if I’m thinking of moving to Portland (Swati suggested it about 5 minutes into my trip, ha ha!). I have a feeling that I won’t end up there. It’s a beautiful city full of wonderful people and yummy food, with a lot going on in the dance scene, but while there’s a lot for me there, I’m not sure if there’s as much for my husband, who is going to school for molecular and cellular biology. Plus I think the winters there might be a bit much for me. That said, I definitely want to return in the future, and not just for 8 Elements. After all, I didn’t make it to Sock Dreams this time!
By the way, there was supposed to be a vlog to go with this post, as I’d really like to start doing some on-the-go videos of my adventures, but I got caught up in homework and forgot to take enough videos to make a good record. I’ll try again this week while I’m in Seattle, and hopefully have the concept figured out by the time I go to Tribal Fest in May.
This is the door to the office at the Datura Studio.
Ok, so usually there’d be some sort of Beauty Blog post here, and I feel bad about not writing one since I also didn’t do one before I left last week, but there’s no way I can wait until Monday to write about this. Next week will be crazy too, so Beauty Blogging for Belly Dancers will resume on Friday, March 28th.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about 8 Elements! As you might have guessed from the title, this is going to be a long post, so you might want to grab yourself a drink and a snack. We’re going to be here for a bit. If you don’t have time, here’s the short version: OMG SQUEEE it was AMAZING and I am SO GLAD that I did it and I CAN’T WAIT to return someday for Level 2: Cultivation!
Now let’s get down to the long version, for those of you who want the nitty-gritty details. By the way, this post will only be about the 8 Elements intensive itself. If you want to know my thoughts about the city of Portland, those will be coming on Monday.
I signed up for 8 Elements because I was at a point in my dance career where I needed a challenge. Without a teacher/troupe director challenging me, without a professional troupe to strive to someday join, I was kind of floating around with small, short-term goals of putting together a decent solo for the next hafla. I found that I was not just stagnating, but actually losing skill and losing confidence in myself as a dancer. I had a few friends on-line who were going through the 8 Elements process and it seemed like especially as they got to levels II and III that there was a lot of work to be done, a lot of goals to reach for. Plus I still have the idea that I would like to teach someday, and some places like you to have some sort of certification that says you know what the heck you’re doing, so it seemed like something good to have for the future.
As the intensive got closer, I started to worry. Mainly I was worried about my yoga skills, because while I take some yoga classes, I’m not super into yoga and here’s a secret: I do not like down dog. I was also worried I might have to know the Sanskrit names of all the poses, because they were in the book we were assigned as a reference. Plus I was worried about the test at the end, because as a homeschool student I never really learned much about note-taking, studying, and test-taking. Lastly, I was worried about spending most of my time alone, because I was traveling alone and wasn’t close friends with anyone else attending.
All of these worries proved to be for naught, and everything was awesome.
Initiation really is all about well, initiating you into the program’s specific approach to belly dance training and presentation. The yoga and pilates elements are introduced to teach you how to train and maintain the muscles and joints used in belly dance, and the expectation is to have a functional knowledge of how to have a safe yoga practice, not to be spiritually enlightened and 100% into yoga. More importantly, the focus is on honoring YOUR body and your limitations from day-to-day, so Rachel provided variations, or options for what to do if you were just not at all able to tackle something on a given day.
And this seems like a good time to bring up the pace of the intensive. With 7 hours of class time plus a couple of evening events, I was worried about being constantly exhausted. But the point of Initiation isn’t to drill yourself to death, the point is to learn. The day was divided into an early and late session, with an hour-long lunch break in between (and because there’s lots within walking distance of the Nia studio, an hour was plenty of time to go someplace, eat, and come back). Each session starts with a seated circle and a discussion period, where we’d find out about logistics of the course itself (when and where things were, what was required for testing, etc), and then have some educational chatter about our homework and concepts that would be covered that day. There was plenty of time for Q&A, too.
Once we were actually up and moving, exercises progressed at a building pace. Start out nice and slow so you can catch mistake in time to correct them, and learn how it feels in your body, then steadily ramp up until you’re going so fast you can barely keep up. Each day, we’d go back and briefly review what we did the day before, and maybe build on it by adding a layer, or maybe just drill it. The goal was to know things well enough that we can take them home and keep practicing, so we can be proficient in them by the time we go to Cultivation, for those of us who are choosing to continue training.
Because of this, while I got a little tired and sore, I didn’t feel entirely exhausted and wrung-out, so I was able to go home each night and do my homework, then get up the next day and do it all over again.
Speaking of homework, the amount assigned was pretty reasonable, so it was possible to do my assigned homework and then read back over anything we’d gone over during the day that I felt uncertain of.
On Monday night, we had an extra couple hours in the evening for Costume Cafe, where Rachel talked about the evolution of tribal fusion costuming and belly dance, and how to come up with inspiration for your own costumes, and a tiny bit about construction. She brought some of her costumes for us to look at and talked about how she sourced some of the materials and such. It was really educational and inspiring!
Wednesday was testing, and they really did their best to put everyone at ease for it. We were given a practice exam on Tuesday so we could get an idea of what sort of questions to expect, and use it to brush up on our knowledge. Wednesday’s session ended with a restorative yoga practice (this was the only day we had a yoga cool-down, which surprised me, I expected like a TON of yoga) that ended with a calming guided meditation. Once we moved into the testing room, Rachel, Sol (her partner in life and business) and Brittany (their assistant for 8 Elements, together with Sol she handles the non-dance-class logistics of the event to keep it running smoothly) came in and gave us a pep-talk and explained how the testing would work. They had a really upbeat and friendly attitude. Throughout the week the test was referred to as a “Jamboree” to try to make it less scary, which amused me.
The test – or jamboree, if you prefer – was not too difficult. There were a couple of questions I felt unsure on, where I knew I had learned it in class and studied it but the concepts just didn’t stick in my mind, but for the most part I felt confident about my knowledge and opinions and ability to express them. I will say, we were told there would be a mix of multiple choice and written questions, but they ended up being all written.
I’ll find out in a week if I passed. I’m pretty sure that I will, but if I didn’t, I can make arrangements to re-test.
After the test we had some time to refuel (hello, Voodoo Donuts located on the way to the bus stop!) and then it was time for the HAFLA! This was a hafla in the traditional sense, a come-as-you-are dance party, rather than a structured performance opportunity. Some came in costume and some in street clothes and some in our workshop clothes, and everybody got a chance to have their moment in the center of the circle on the dance floor before it turned into a free-for-all. While the classes had been held at Nia Studio downtown, the hafla was in Datura itself (where I snapped the photo at the top of this post), so we all had the chance to see the studio and shop the merch (which we descended on like a swarm of locusts, if locusts liked hoodies and kuchi). There were drinks and snacks, and spots away from the dance floor where you could snatch a few minutes of conversation with your new friends before you went home.
Speaking of friends, remember the part where I thought I’d be alone? Yeah, that didn’t happen! The first day there I connected with Sabien, who had friended me on Facebook sometime before the event. We hit it off and ate lunch together every day, had a study date before Sunday’s session, and did some shopping and dinners together. She was also chatting with me on FB while I wrote this post. I’m not sure I’ve ever formed such a close friendship so quickly! We also did a few exercises in class where the idea was to pair up with someone you didn’t know, and I made some friends that way, too. Plus it turned out that there were at least 5 of us there who love the music of Nick Cave (it was funny, two of us were talking and other people would hear the conversation and chime in). I feel like I have a brand new community of friends, a subset of my greater dance community, joined together by the 5 days we spent learning and dancing with each other.
A couple other points I wanted to mention but didn’t manage to fit in to the natural flow of things:
-There were SNACKS every day! A bowl of fresh fruit, and a bowl of almonds, and a bowl of raisins (which for one beautiful day, magically transformed into a bowl of chocolate chips), all right there on a table in the studio, so that if you felt like you were having a blood sugar crash, you could grab a bite while still watching the class and not miss anything.
-Rachel spent a lot of time talking about things she’d learned along the way as a dancer, including new things she’d learned and changed her mind about even within the past year. It’s always really refreshing to see that people who have “made it” are still willing to learn, and admit that they were wrong or misinformed in the past. Plus it’s inspiring to know that there is always more to learn and know about belly dance.
-The music was REALLY good, a mix of “authentic” music from “over there” (I learned I really like Moroccan music!), world fusion-y music and electronica, so there was something for everyone.
-Oh hey I forgot to talk about ZILS! I feel a lot better about my finger cymbal skills after spending 5 straight days learning and drilling rhythms and doing exercises and playing zils over different foot-arm-isolation patterns. I already knew I liked Rachel’s approach to zil training from her How to Be a Zil-Ionaire class on Datura Online, but it was an even better experience in person, since she was there to answer questions and offer corrections.
-Rachel, Sol and Brittany are all just wonderful people, they were great at answering questions, and ran a really well put-together, organized, smooth event that was a joy to be a part of.
So to recap, this was pretty much the best 5 days of my life and I am really struggling to return to daily life! Being immersed in dance and surrounded by dancers is an amazing experience, and something I wish I could do all the time.
Excuse me while I struggle to contain my excitement, and for once I’m not saying that sarcastically. This week is shaping up to be awesome! Obviously the biggest thing is that I am flying off to Portland on Friday, and 8 Elements starts on Saturday! I really cannot wait. Not only do I get to study with Rachel Brice, learn a ton of things, and take the test to hopefully pass Initiation, but I also get to stay with my friend Swati, who moved to Portland from Tucson a few years back.
Before I take off for Oregon, however, Open Stage is happening here in Tucson! This is going to be a special one because not only is Fire & Gold Belly Dance debuting our latest choreography, but we will also have some very special guests — Tempest and Nathaniel Johnstone! They’re going to be in town this weekend for Wild Wild West Con, where Nathaniel will be playing music with The Cog is Dead and Tempest will be performing belly dance *and* teaching workshops. Anyway, they’re getting in Thursday afternoon and agreed to bring their amazing live music and dance collaboration to our humble open stage. I’m, uhm, kind of excited.
Of course, my excitement is tempered with a bit of sadness, because I am going to completely miss WWWC. I really love that event, it’s my own chance every year to really layer on all my steampunk stuff and indulge in that side of my geekiness. Plus it’s gonna be extra belly dancery this year, with Tempest and Diva Dreads and Geisha Moth all there in addition to local belly dance groups Lykiska and Osiris. Basically what I’m saying is, if you’re a belly dancer in AZ, you should really go buy a day or weekend pass to the convention and let me live vicariously through you. It’s only fair, since many of my friends are planning to live vicariously through me while I’m in Portland.
Speaking of which, if you want to stay on top of what I’m up to while in Portland, you should go ahead and give my Facebook fan page a like, and consider following me on Instagram, too! I’m really not sure if I’ll blog while I’m there, my schedule is going to be pretty jam-packed so I may just be limited to quick social media updates until I get home.
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!
The two or three days before leaving for a dance festival or workshop weekend are the worst. There’s so much to do, and most of it isn’t really fun… make sure all the necessary costume pieces and workshop yoga pants are clean, pack everything and hope you don’t forget anything important, double-check what special things you need to bring for each workshop, take care of any other last-minute arrangements. Meanwhile, all you want to do is be there already!
I leave for Waking Persephone the day after tomorrow and I really can’t wait. I’m excited about the workshops I’m taking. I’m eager for some Fall weather. I’m looking forward to performing my Fem Bot piece again. It’s hard to get excited about anything I’m doing at home, because it feels like I’m just killing time until this weekend.
Plus there’s the worry that I’ll forget something important. For Tribal Fest, I left my entire bag of food stuffs sitting at home! For Bisbee, I forgot to pack a jacket. For LVBDI I was sure I had everything, but I managed to miss my concealer when packing my makeup, and I forgot to grab the card for the happy couple whose wedding I was attending. What will I miss when packing for this weekend?
Hello, my name is Sophia Ravenna and I am addicted to dance festivals and workshops.
Just a week ago I was freshly back from Vegas. This weekend, I am attending workshops with Donna Meija up in Tempe. And next month it’s off to Washington for Waking Persephone. November is a local workshop with Amanda Rose (within walking distance of my house, no less!) and December is Kaeshi Chai in Phoenix. I’m not registered for anything in 2015 yet, but there are events on my radar. I may or may not sneak a visit to Third Coast depending on when my husband’s holiday-break TX business trip gets scheduled for.
Right after we both got back from LVBDI my friend Becka Bomb said to me on Twitter “I feel festivals could become an addiction how do you keep from wanting all the festivals” and I had no answer for her, because I already want all the festivals. ALL of them! I want to check out Art of the Belly in Maryland and the NY Theatrical Belly Dance Conference. I even want to go to the Henna Intensive & Retreat, and I don’t even do henna, I just want to serve as a model and dance and hang out.
It’s so easy to become addicted to festivals, because they’re a total and complete escape from real life. You go out of town, likely leaving work, family, pets and other obligations behind. You spend anywhere from a couple of days to a week surrounded by nobody but your fellow dancers. You take hours of workshops, watch hours of performances, maybe get to perform yourself. You get to shop, trying on tons of things, maybe even things you could never afford but you just have to try it anyway and daydream about saving up for it. You eat meals with your dance friends from across the country. Perhaps you’re rooming with a fellow dancer, too, and you spend all night comparing notes about your workshops and showing off your purchases, before doing a little yoga together and then falling into a blissfully exhausted sleep.
For however long you’re at the festival, you’re among friends. Everyone else there gets you. They don’t raise an eyebrow at the fact that you’re seriously thinking of spending $175 on one skirt. You never have to explain what tribal fusion belly dance is. You can walk around wearing sparkly makeup at 10am and you’ll get no strange looks, just questions about your preferred glitter fixative.
Who wouldn’t want to experience that constantly?
I spend a lot of time trying to figure out good ways to fit even more festivals into my life. I could try getting a job as a booth helper, since I have years and years of experience working the Tucson gem shows, but if I’m working at a booth, when am I going to take workshops? I could get myself a VW bus and drive from event to event, but I think my husband would miss me if I took off on a months-long road trip.
My original plan was to make Tribal Fest my one constant, and attend a different secondary event each year, but then I found that I really didn’t want to skip LVBDI. I have a feeling I’m going to fall in love with WP, too, which may be a problem since they’ll both be in September next year.
Ultimately, of course, the goal is to be awesome enough that I’ll be able to teach workshops myself and festivals will hire me, but that’s years down the road and I want to attend all of them NOW! Guess I’ll just have to keep being patient and keep working harder.
