#theactrical

Last Saturday myself along with the Eastern Delights troupe performed at ‘Eastern Oasis’, a belly dance showcase in Broadstairs. This event included dancers from Thanet, Maidstone, East Kent one ATS group that had come from Essex. There was such a variety of styles and dancers of all levels which was interesting to watch.

In fact watching a show that my troupe and I were also performing in was a new experience for me. Usually I am performing in one act as a soloist and then the other with the Eastern Delights, giving me no time to watch any of the other performances (except maybe some near the end). I was able to do this since I decided to take a step back to choreograph and direct rather than perform. This choreography is one of my favourites, a theatrical Mermaid veil dance and since watching the rehearsals I have come to love it even more.

For starters the music ‘Yearning’ by Raul Ferrando is such a wonderful piece that it already assisted in making the dance beautiful.  Include the storyline of a girl asleep by the shore who is approached by two powerful mermaids and her torment between going back to everyday life or escaping into the sea to rule and it becomes even more of a spectacle. Lastly the costumes/ silk veils add the final touch to this amazing performance which received a lot of appreciation.

This dance was choreographed as a three person dance and when my good friend Lia became a member of the troupe I gave up my part so I could focus on how it looked and if the story was coming through.

So on the night (still in my own clothes amazingly) I wished my lovely ladies the best and sat in the audience waiting for their performance. This is the first time I have ever felt butterflies while not being backstage waiting to go on. Of course this dance was still my baby and I knew that there were certain parts that dancers were worried about which of course naturally made me empathize for them.  I knew that whatever happened they would handle it gracefully.

They performed the dance wonderfully and even though there were some mistakes they performed like professionals even though they are a semi professional troupe in a comfortable environment. I had goose bumps by the end and it all just came together at which I jumped and cheered for joy.

There was also another dance that I was very excited to watch. Rosie, one of my students and a troupe member choreographed and performed her first solo. After watching her rehearsal video I was very excited for everyone else to discover what a great dancer and performer she is.

As the event had a James Bond twist Rosie performed to ‘Die Another Day’ in a theatrical Tribal Fusion style. Everyone wowed at her great acting skills and her wonderful isolations (her body shape is perfect for belly dance).

Once she finished I hurried backstage to give her a big ‘I’m so proud of you hug’ since she really did make me proud. She also received many compliments from fellow dancers who couldn’t believe it was her first time. I was a very proud Belly Dance mother and it made me sit back and feel proud of myself that she had the skills and confidence to just go for it.

Lastly I did actually perform a dance myself but I think I was more interested in Rosie and the Troupe rather than myself. I first picked out the music which was the 007 theme by Fanfare Ciocarlia since it is a great upbeat track. I was deciding whether to go with Tribal Fusion or Gypsy Style dance and ended up picking the latter since I felt the music was quite bouncy.

The dance began as an improvised piece but ended up choreographed as I had certain skirt moves that I wanted to include and I found the more I practised the more I found myself doing the same moves each time anyway.

I guess I felt that maybe the dance could have gone better, especially after my dancers doing so well but sometimes it can be difficult to do both but I still gave a lot of energy. If I was to do it again (although I probably won’t since I picked this track due to the James Bond theme) I would probably have picked a brighter costume since I probably faded into the black background more than I would have liked.

On the whole the night was so special and it makes me so grateful that I have such wonderful dancers and people who want to put the effort into creating beautiful art as much as I do.