FANTASY GEISHA :: tanna

Really, I am a fairly hard-core traditionalist when it comes to bellydance.  Just ask anyone who knows me.  But periodically I get very strong creative urges to develop a wildly alternative dance concept.  Last June, immediately upon receiving my treasured fanveils, I was struck by an overwhelming compulsion to use them in a “fantasy geisha” piece.  A suitable showcase vehicle was available to me as Yasmeen El Qa’hira was going to have one of her great haflas on the weekend before Halloween.

Lots of other projects were ongoing this summer, and I quickly realized that making the fantastic costume of my dreams was simply not going to be feasible.  Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, I hunted online for a suitable commercial “geisha” Halloween costume, figuring I could both perform in it and also use it as my actual Halloween costume.  My ultimate selection was an anime-inspired faux geisha robe with a mini-skirt.  I slit the sides of the mini-skirt so that I could wear the robe over one of my regular black circle skirts.  The wig was problematic, but I experimented with hair ornaments until I got a pleasing effect.  At Rakkasah, during my fanveil purchasing orgy, I chose a pair in a turquoise-purple blend that very closely matched the color of my robe.

Finding suitable music was really the hardest part of the whole project.  I will confess that I finally settled on a piece about 7 days before the hafla.  It was Chinese music, but it had the right vibe.

With all in readiness, I test-drove the costume by attending party promoter Andy Troy’s annual Halloween bash.  After checking my coat and hurrying to beat the rush to the bar I stopped dead in my tracks.  Standing right in front of me was my twin!  Yes, we were wearing the EXACT same costume.  After a moment of stunned silence we both burst into laughter.  It was so funny!  Eventually there ended up being at least 6 geishas at the party, but we had the privilege of being the only twins.  The costume was a visual success (one friend told me I looked like I should be placed under a glass dome, which also made me laugh), but the extra-heavy weight of the wig did give me a bad headache.

Undaunted, the following Sunday I arrived at Yasmeen’s hafla. Now, from the beginning of this project I had been under the impression that since it was so close to Halloween, this hafla was going to showcase alternative pieces.  Apparently I was the only person suffering from this delusion.   Everyone was doing solid cabaret, both AmCab and Egyptian.  I felt like a fish out of water, but as I said to my announcer Zobeida “Just tell them this is the Monty Python segment – ‘And now for something completely different, here’s Tanna!’”.   To add to my discomfort, while going backstage to change I discovered that I had forgotten my black circle skirt.  I truly felt foolish performing in my street skirt (stylish though it is!), but the show must go on.  And thankfully, one of the reasons why I love Yasmeen’s haflas so much is because she gets the very best audience of totally nice fellow dancers.  Everyone was warm and supportive, and I had a great time.  All of the performances were really lovely, and it was truly a perfect event.

I am not done with this geisha fantasy.  This was just the rough draft.  I’m taking it back to the drawing board now, with an anticipated revival in the early Spring.  My search for the perfect music continues, and I have now purchased enough gorgeous brocade fabric to make 4 geisha costumes.

Comments

[Neon]

Tanna, listen to Ruben van Rompaey's Far-East-inspired CDs: "Eastern Expressions" and "Gomera" - you may find an inspiring piece of music for the Geisha number. Borrow the CDs from me, preview them here:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/rompaey
http://cdbaby.com/cd/rompaey2