Venus Uprising Bellydance New York City: PETE LIST'S ARMY

Nobody says it better than Melissa and Scott, so I'm going to quote them:

"Pete might have the highest talent:ego ratio of anyone I've ever collaborated with. He's a rare musician who, while brilliant himself, also lets others shine through."
-- Melissa the Loud

"Pete you are a force of nature and art incarnate. The composition, the performance... all fabulous. Let's do that again real soon - !!"
--Scott Shuster, World Dance New York

On Friday we celebrated the release of Pete List's, Kassar's and my new babies (Songs for Kassar CD, Fluid Precision DVD, Sensual Bellydance DVD and Gothic Bellydance Revelations DVD)

Wow! What a night! I danced to amazing, AMAZING live Gothic music by Pete and Melissa the Loud. I have no idea how but the two of them can sound like a full orchestra. You can see from the pictures (make sure you view the entire gallery) that they inspired me to transform into some kind of hairy beast.

There was one inspiring artist after another on that stage... Pete must have a magnet for unique and talented friends who are also super nice. Julianne Carney's violin made us dream, Tbird Luv combined her flute and her voice to make us feel like we were in a magical forest at night (if you have ever been to one, you'll know what I mean. If not, check her out). I love how Pete combines with all these artists and something very special appears.

Sarah Locke was graceful and strong at once improvising to Pete's music. I met Irina for the first time and got to see one of her pieces--her dancing is lovely.

Being there reminded me of the first time I met the mesmerizing Melanie and Karin of Kassar, while changing clothes after we performed at Figaro... we didn't imagine back then that the next time we would find each other backstage would be at our DVDs' release party.

Irina's dance to 'Kassar Army' thrilled me. She transformed each of Pete's drum beats, and each wail of my mijwiz, into moves of stunning grace and precision. I have a message for all the dancers out there: If you buy this CD, you'll be able to dance exactly like that too. Trust me on this.

"Also, thanks to Blanca for inspiring Pete and me to learn a new tune for her gothic dance. This might be the start of a whole new era of gothic music from Djinn. Playing music is fun on its own, but seeing such wonderful dancing to it is even better."
-- Melissa the Loud

The audience was full of wonderful talent as well! Thank you all for coming. As I watched part of the show it dawned on me: all of this was possible only because of Neon. She had the vision and provided full support for Pete to collaborate with all of us. Wow. Thank you Neonie.

I blame Neon for making this all possible. She blames Pete List:

"I loved the richness of texture in the CD/DVD release party show: the interweaving of dance styles and music styles, and the blending of the avant-garde and the traditional elements. It was very refreshing to see dance transcend the artificial style divisions (e.g. classic bellydance vs. tribal bellydance vs. avant-garde dance) - it is a winning recipe for a truly engaging, modern show. And the way it all magically came together into one artistic whole reflects the remarkably wide range of stylistic and emotive modes in Pete List's work - it was his music that made it all happen."
--Neon

"I wish Anasma, Carmine and Chern Hwei could have been there... but that is the perfect reason to have more shows."
--Pete List

The last piece of the night was an improvisation by all the musicians. It was magical how this piece of music was being created right there. I wanted to keep dancing to it but had to leave time for my fellow dancers to give their bows... one shouldn't hog the stage!