THANK YOU FROM MY BUGGY HEART!
THESE BUGS WILL NEVER DIE -- BUG SHOW ON DEMAND!
On March 13th Starbelly brought you into the wonderful world of BUGS. The reviews are in and, by popular request, we are thrilled to announce that we are placing the show On Demand. All proceeds of this show will continue to go to the Starbelly Financial Aid Fund!
Here are some of the rave reviews: "[Starbelly is] forging ahead to new horizons." Tamalyn Dallal, Oriental Dance teacher, writer and film maker "I have never seen anything so creatively brilliant by any artist in any genre...My heart is still thumping!" Gloria Skurzynski, Award Winning Author of 64 published books for young readers and young adults.
Not convinced? We think our final review from cultural anthropologist, Erik Messel
"The Bug Show is by far the most creative performance of its kind that I have experienced. As is true for all StarBelly performances, the costumes are gorgeous, the choreography is masterful, and the dancers are magnificent. This show, however, is something altogether different. Framed by a pleasantly haunting voice-over of some renowned naturalist, the audience is seduced into a psychedelic rite of passage through the pages of a 19th century entomological tome. Each piece begins with a hand-drawn fact sheet on a particular bug, complete with the Latin name and tagged with, “but did you know that…” That’s right, the show is also educational! The choreography and costume is true to each species, which really sets the performances apart. This dedication to the subject deeply impacts the dance. The movements associated with the dance styles morph as they take on the characteristics of each creature producing this fantastical space between the natural and the cultural. The video production and editing for the show makes that space transcendent. The use of green screen, layered shots, hand-drawn backgrounds and filters captures a wild and alien world of bugs. Set to an eclectic collection of traditional and experimental songs, the experience is truly otherworldly. It is like eating a handful of shrooms and randomly opening to a page in an entomologist’s field notes. I felt deeply engaged in each moment and at the same time, excited to flip the page to see what far-out, magical creature comes next. Mesmerizing is how I would describe the experience. If you haven’t seen it, see it, because you won’t have seen anything like it." Erik Messal, Med, Educational Consultant & Curriculum Supervisor View the Bug Show On Demand Today!
The Starbelly Dancers are thrilled to announce the 11th annual Big Bad-Ass Belly Dance Show: The Bug Show! This star(belly) studded line up of artists will be presented as a virtual spectacular. What do our smallest friends do when we're not watching? How do the creepy crawly critters of the planet share their stories? Through dance, of course! Join us as we embody our buggy friends and share their joy, sorrow, and slime. Tickets HERE! https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/48058 The Bug Show will star the 2021 Starbelly Dancers, based in Boise, Idaho Cecilia and Chad Rinn Tori King Bayla Night Cassandra Joan Featuring Starbelly Soloists Alyssa Kimm of Portland, OR Amanda Nicole of Boise, ID And our Superstar guests Phoenix of Denver, CO Kaeshi Chai of New York, NY Myra Krien and Mosaic Dance Company of Santa Fe, NM As always, this show will act as a fundraiser for Starbelly School of Dance scholarship program.   It's here it's here and it's totally buggy! Sometimes offhanded comments like, "What if we were a girl band?" or "Wouldn't it be cool to just be bugs for a minute?" manifest into art! The Bug Show will be spectacular, virtual, and feature friends from all over the globe. We have commissioned music, we are creating costumes, we are collaborating with world renown dance artists, and we are having an insanely insectually good time. That is a word. Click on the link below for the full updates, as we launch them... and see you on March 13th! Thank you for attending my workshopfundraiser!I cannot reiterate enough how flattered and loved I feel from you guys joining me to talk about makeup. It is very personal to me and I certainly hope I shared some helpful tips and tricks! I am not some fancy pants teacher from timbuktu - if you have follow up questions or would like any extra help, remember that I am your ~friend~ and only a dm/text away. Much love to you all who stayed for the TWO HOUR EXPERIENCE. who am I kidding, I knew it wouldn't be only one hour. Love love love. The workshop recording is available - please email me at torikingdancing-at-gmail.com for the link. HALP: Can you write me a testimonial?
What is SEEDs Teacher Training? Click here to find out more! I feel that now, more than ever, that the world needs to heal through the arts and getting this credential will allow me to be a part of this movement! A Beautiful Valentines Day ShowThis promo text was ruthlessly copy/pasted by yours truly. Click on the image to go to the facebook event. We have some lovely number planned and I hope to see you there, love bugs!  Join us for one of our most popular performances of the year, our Valentine's show! This year is very special because we will be dancing in front of exquisite paintings by the incredible Antony Corso! We are also so excited to feature special guests Cecilia Rinn's Starbelly Dancers of Boise, ID and Teresa Tomb's Rakadu Dance Theatre of Mecca Dance Studio from Lexington, KY!
Enjoy a virtual evening of bellydance, poetry and art! Don't have a date? Let US be your Valentines this year! Ticket sales support our studio and our Pomegranate SEEDs® (Self-Esteem, Empowerment, and Education through Dance) Youth Mentorship Program. Spread the love, empower the arts, and enjoy a beautiful performance! Tickets on sale now! Purchase tickets and get your Zoom link here: https://tixoom.app/pomegranatestudios/hlxtunbv Pomegranate Studios Presents Valentine's Day: A Show of Love Saturday, February 13th 7:00pm MT On Zoom Tickets: $15 each Fall in love... with the dance Thoughts about January 6thI'm not someone for new years resolutions - I don't believe that a number change signifies a grand cosmic shift or the start of be destroying my bad habits. Achieving goals, creating change, and evolving into your greatest self are efforts that take time - is a year enough? Is a year too much? I try to be in the moment and do my best - but I won't lie that I was excited to at least symbolically bury the trials and tribulations of 2020 and take a fresh breath. It didn't last long. I can't be poetic about how deeply distraught I am because of the storming of the capital on January 6th. There are many levels to the "wrongness" of the events, starting from the struggle of American society to take care of it's people. All it's people. I think about this so I have a chance to empathize - I will never understand what train of thought occurred to the mob of rioters to allow them to perform a disturbing act of insurrection in the name of patriotism. Smarter people have said smarter things at this point, but I just want to share my emotions: The image of the confederate flag in the house of congress will haunt me until my dying day. So here I am, about to make a resolution. This year may be the start of it, but I see the goal of this lasting until I die. I WILL do my part to take care of people - to create some breathing room for people to deescalate radical actions, to open up hard discussions, to heal from violence and trauma, and to learn how to work together. This is vague, but I am vague. This is small, but I am small. This is difficult, but I am difficult. So why am I putting this into my blog about my dance thoughts and adventures? Well it's simple. I'm going to do all this through dance. More to come. Workshop - Comin' Atcha!There is no "one size fits all" way to apply your performance makeup. Are you dancing indoors or outdoors? What sort of lighting will you have? What is your skin type and undertone? How far away is the audience? What do you even LIKE? In this hour long, virtual workshop, Tori will offer her advice on performance makeup specifically for video performance (because that's what we're doing now) and close proximity, in-person performance (because that WILL come back someday). The biggest value of this workshop is that you will be able to ask your questions to Tori in real-time and talk in depth about your needs as a performer. This ain't your 2000s YouTube tutorial: bring questions, bring your make-up for Tori to look at if you want, and bring your enthusiasm because this is sure to be a fun workshop! --- Payment and Meeting Details: This sliding scale workshop is a fundraiser for Starbelly's annual production of "The Big Bad-Ass Belly Dance Show." All proceeds for this workshop will directly go towards the production of this dance event. This workshop is the first offering in our fundraising series for this show! Sliding Scale Payment Options: $15 USD - $30 USD - $45 USD Please use the following methods to pay Starbelly School of Dance: • Venmo- “Cecilia Rinn @Starbelly (preferred) • PayPal payments: starbellyschoolofdance@gmail.com • Facebook @Cecilia Rinn • Credit & Debit Cards online at https://bit.ly/3bIRzWt or over the phone 208-891-6609 Once you have paid you will receive a confirmation email. The workshop link will go out 15 minutes before the event and will be over zoom. Please be sure to check your spam or junk file just in case your invitation lands there! If you cannot attend live, this workshop will be recorded for your convenience. If you have a makeup question you'd like to submit in advance, please email Tori at torikingdancing@gmail.com. Please DM the Starbelly Dancers with all other inquiries. The event will occur at 1pm MST and last until 2:00PM MST on Saturday, January 23rd 2021. New Video in my GalleryThere should be a few more coming your way soon - perhaps even my Mozart Medusa choreography en pointe? Haha, for now enjoy this piece from The Art of Belly Dance. My hiking fusion piece will be up soon and I have also posted the incredibly special group piece with music by Matthew Voorhees. Grateful for SO MANY things - a totally unpoetic list in no order
I am also grateful for you. Thank you for joining me as we traverse this journey. I promised a better blog and while I am sorrowful at this disappointment, I am still so grateful for this mode of communication and that you are listening to me. Thank you thank you thank you. A special thank you!Thank you to the Idaho Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts for providing funding to me and other artists in Idaho through the CARES Act. Thanks to your help, the Treasure Valley will continue to create beautiful and inspiring art. I am beyond grateful for this funding during these important and uncertain times!
TONIGHT!!!
Enjoy this snippet from Starbelly's part in the Belly Baile Show with Beatbox Guitar!
Words cannot express my gratitude to the musicians that make the music I set my heart to! You're in for some incredible dance to these incredible beats! Thank you to the incredible Myra Krien of Pomegranate Dance studio for inviting us to perform with Mosaic Dance Company in Santa Fe!
In true genius fashion and perhaps because blog/social media/any extra screen time is difficult during this small, global pandemic, I didn't post about our viewing party of Medusa Head and the Witches of Raq. This show also served as Starbelly Artistic Director, Cecilia's, birthday. The Starbelly Dancers and I got together and created a bit of an homage for Cecilia and while I'm certain I've gushed about her before, now I'm doing it on video with my friends. It was fun to edit us all together to celebrate the life of this incredible woman.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for the excellent viewing party.
To be honest, it is difficult to write extended hopeful posts at the moment. So I'll write a short one.
Despite all the hate, vitriol, conspiracy and uncertainty, I have seen a lot of beauty during these difficult times. There is strength in embracing being uncomfortable... in naming your demons and struggling with them. I think that leads to growth. How's that for hope? My posts are short by my love for you is long... distance. I have been busy in Tori land and perhaps an update will come soon! Perhaps. One thing that is certain, for me, is that the dancing never stops even though the writing does sometimes. I hope you're dancing too. I promise I have a good reason for my brevity. In this pandemic world, these uncertain times, these important times, the thing that is keeping me in reality is walking my dogs, bothering my husband, and dance. Sometimes I feel like I live in a zoom meeting, so those moments where Desmond nudges me, or I laugh at my husbands antics, or my body reacts to moments of dance - that's when I know that I am not a series of 1s and 0s.
However, I am proud to be a 1 or a 0 if I can be associated with beautiful and incredible dancers. I don't have the heart for graphics, only for gratitude - Starbelly School of Dance and Mosiac Dance company have given me so many performance opportunities filled with JOY and MEANING during this time. Words are not enough - so I hope my dance is! Thank you Myra and Cecilia and all of the beautiful dancers who have joined me on these digital journeys. Can you believe this was only a few months ago? The world is so different!
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AuthorTori King is a belly dance artist, culture enthusiast and general weirdo. Is this a good biography? Do you like me yet? :-) Archives
November 2021
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