Tori Types Thoughts
Tori's very average blog
This month hasn't quite gone the way I thought it would... and it's not over yet! Nothing negative has happened, but the universe has given me some lessons in humility when it comes to energy management and patience. I have a lot of ambitions, a lot to practice, and minimal time and zesty creative yummy greatness. My biggest realization came when I gazed upon myself in the mirror as I taught my workshop for Chad's knee (my first time teaching a dance workshop based in raqs sharki woo). I decided to become a dance teacher that can teach more than just moves and combos. I have a long way to go to reach this goal, but that means it is a goal worth having... and more time/work on my part. The effort is just endless, but for me it is worth it. Keep your eyes on this page for the inevitable Saidi workshop that will emerge from my eager and loving (and unfunded thus far by grants) heart and more workshops that will include theatre exercises, history lessons, and pontificating on the importance of music choice! I will always be grateful to work with my amazing troupe, the StarBelly Dancers. We have come a long way together and the level of artistic energy fills me with life (zesty creative yummy greatness). The StarBelly Performance Team, the StarBelly Student Troupe and the students at StarBelly School of Dance also continue to inspire me to continue to learn, grow, and try my best to be humble (even though it is not my instinct). Even when I'm running low on whatever it is human beings run on, I am filled with love for and from this group of amazing ladies and gentlemen. And now for a dose of promotionsYes, this post is AFTER the Taj event, but Jess and I match too well not to be documented.
Chad Rinn is a Starbelly Dancer, teacher at Starbelly School of Dance, and a treasured friend to our community. He was recently injured and awaits knee surgery scheduled for next month followed by months of physical therapy. This type of injury for anyone is painful and can be very difficult to heal from; but for a career dancer such as Chad, it can be devastating.
Cecilia and I had the chance to go on a local NPR Show, Idaho Matters. Thank you to the team at #IdahoMatters and Gemma Gaudette for taking the time to speak with us yesterday about Raks Sharqi and our show Starbelly presents Elemental The 9th annual Big Bad-Ass Belly Dance Show.
For those of you interested in learning this art form or those of you old hats who want to hear two people gush about what raqs sharki means to them - I think you'll like what we have to say! We had the opportunity to work with a wonderful photographer named Kevin Shultz (more from him here) who reminded me how much fun it is to be a part of a professional photo shoot. While Kevin would say he didn't have everything he would have liked, the StarBelly Dancers have never worked with such a good light and backdrop set up. What Kevin allowed us to do is simply dance while he captured moments of blissful movement. I have a lot of feelings about how dancers, especially folkloric dancers, should be shot (photographed) and portrayed in marketing, but for now I purely want to express my delight in expressing myself through another avenue. Hopefully the photos will allow me and my dance friends to further our reach and spread joy to new audience members all over Idaho and beyond! Pretty girls dancing at a party! The StarBelly Dancers pride ourselves in donating many performances to the community or giving our earnings to the StarBelly School of Dance Scholarship Program. I love the program because it gives dancers the opportunity to keep on learning at StarBelly School of Dance in case some financial emergency occurs and they may not be able to afford classes for a short period of time. I am so grateful to be in a school that understands that art should not be taken away from those that need it most - well done Cecilia and Chad! The StarBelly Dancers also get paid to perform at events and at restaurants (Sofia's Greek Bistro and the Taj Mahal of Boise are our current landing spots for restaurant dancing and they are amazing and delicious). Bayla, Jessica and I recently performed at a private party for a wonderful family who kept on gushing about how beautiful, talented and professional we are. Yes, I'm bragging: we are definitely all of those things! Something that strikes me though is how often people applaud our professionalism. My hope is that someday "professionalism" in belly dance will be taken for granted and that men and women who perform in this style will approach every gig, job or performance with grace, rectitude, and sophistication. How we are seen as a collective depends on all of us working together, so I have a list of promises that I am making to everyone that ever hires me and to my fellow dancers so that I can continue to push forward this art that we love.
Which one should go in my gallery?Do we even need to talk about how much I love Saidi dance? Nope. Also some photos of the StarBelly Dancers doing Tribal X with Myra (who invented the style) and the Ente Omri Remix choreography by Cecilia Rinn. These photos are courtesy of Diamond K Photography, owned by Keri Anderson who is a member of the StarBelly Performance Team and a lovely person! This was at the last Art of Belly Dance show, featuring Myra Krein. For those of you who celebrate, I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving. I'm very grateful for you. Yes, you specifically. You encourage and inspire me everyday. Thank you for joining me.
StarBelly reppin' in the center of the photo. My raptor arm came out to PLAY. The Arab Dance Seminar (ADS) happened during the first weekend of November in beautiful, sunny, inspiring LA. Jess and I stayed at a cute spot within walking distance to EVERYTHING, including the studio, and we had some interesting adventures along the way. The theme of this year's ADS was Authenticity, which is a loaded term in the beautiful land of belly dance in America. The phrase "belly dance" itself is in many ways inauthentic, for (paraphrasing the instructors) how can an entire country and history of dance get minimized to a single body part? In addition to incredible discussion about this topic, we learned from native instructors Karim Nagi (who organizes the ADS), Amel Tafsout, Nashwa Cahill, and American scholar Kay Hardy Campbell. The ADS website hosts short bios of the instructors, which I strongly encourage you to look at. They are all incredible teachers, performers, and human beings. www.arabdanceseminar.com I could easily summarize the discussions we had or break down the moves we learned in the courses, but I think this would dilute the lessons and minimize the experience as a whole. How can you convey the passion of a group of people that can sing along to every single folk song they hear? How could I effectively share the dismay of seeing the songs of your ancestors and relatives minimized to a sexy stage performance by someone who hasn't seen the face of your homeland? It is hard enough to take on the challenge of defining my own authenticity... or to do the synchronized clapping thing that Kay taught us during our khaleegi class. I may never get that. In my opinion it all breaks down to is a single thought that Amel shared during the Q&A portion of the seminar on the last day. I asked something about Fusion and Tribal dancers and the teachers paused (my question wasn't that great, but this is a big topic). After some comments, Amel said, "keep Arab voices in the conversation." I think that says a lot... it may even say everything. You really dance better when you honor the past of the dance you're performing and practice a craft with love and humility. When you study dance history, every figure that you've learned about will be with you on stage when it comes time to perform. You cannot innovate without the foundation set by those you'll never know. Respect them. Actually, let's respect everyone (within reason). Shameless Self-Promotion :
|
AuthorTori King is a belly dance artist, culture enthusiast and general weirdo. Is this a good biography? Do you like me yet? :-) Archives
April 2024
Categories |