Venus Uprising Bellydance New York City

DANCING AT THE KOOZA AFTER-PARTY WITH ANIL: BY AYSHE

I wanted to wait for the photos before blogging about this..... Well they only just came, but were definitely worth the wait.  Geri, the photographer for the event, really caught the ambience I thought- pure exotic elegance (www.geripix.com).  Working for a large organization like Cirque du Soleil can be maddening with its complexity, but they really treat their artists with love and respect-- it's almost a shock, as in NYC one is often on the defensive, waiting for the next underhanded hit.  We worked hard, but were well-paid. Indian costuming was important as the event had to have a lush Indian feel to match the feel of Kooza.  Anil has so many costumes in his collection and the event organizer was in awe-- (seebelow)  

made me email photos to the board of directors in Montreal so they could oogle......

THE COSTUMES: Here are some of what we wore: my costume in gold/orange, flowers, garlands  and gold ornaments for the gods.  In India, a classical dancer can take 4 hours to get into costume and character.  In our case, 2 hours was the limit.  We were 3 American and 3 Indian dancers.  The two Americans, besides myself, had no Indian dance training at all, but Anil was great at giving them movements they could easily imitate-- that, plus an extra bit of makeup, some braided hairpieces (see photo above),  3 saris, and, presto, we fit in seemlessly (lol). 

THE BEST PART: THE MUSIC--- The event director found and amazing trio which played on top of the Cirque dj's mix.  The sound system was perfect and the mix was so spectacular, my anxiety just disappeared and I went out and danced with abandon--- What an unexpected thrill!!!  

There were other performers as well: a fire dancer, and my yoga teacher and his partner performing a yoga duet.  There was a gorgeous Brazilian bodybuilder, who Anil dressed up in the gold pieces to depict Shiva.  He spent the evening serving tea and basically presenting is be-jeweled physique.  An old guru read palms and a bunch of lovely ladies did henna and Indian makeup for the guests.  We were introduced to the board of directors and the owner who had come from Montreal for the premier.  All the performers attended, as well, and we got to entertain them for a change.  One upset, at the last minute the organizers decided my incense pot might cause allergic responses and the flower petals for the ceremonial offerings might be a safety hazard, so we had to stick the flowers in the pot instead of using the incense (it's always something)-- but the upside was that they gave us endless supplies of Red Bull on ice in our dressing room, so I forgot the let down of having to balance flowers on my head.  Below are photos to hopefully lend some of the excitement of the evening to the readers.  MAYBE SOME OF YOU WILL EVEN BE INSPIRED TO TAKE OUR WORKSHOP ON JUNE 13!!!

 

Spirit of the Tribes 9-- incredible spirit and inspiration:: Ayshe

Well, I just never expected to have such an amazing experience as what I encountered on my recent trip to The Spirit of the Tribes in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  I have been out to Rakkassah East and Spring Fest over the years, as well as dance camps, NYC workshops & Haflas, and the unbelievable New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (which also includes a lot of dance), but this was something else, and totally unexpected. The performers were so different and inspiring, and incorporated so many different styles of dance and elements in so many unique ways-- it was awesome!!!! and awe-inspiring!!!  Plus the weather and the people were so gracious,..... and the Saturday after-party down by the riverfront was so perfect with live drummers and firedancers on the outside cafe, and world music with the dj inside. 

Maja is a true spirit of the ethnic dance and her troupe blended the Indo- Sharqui together with such exquisite costuming, color, and staging.  The Friday and Saturday night shows featured true ethnic dancers and those that danced with that "ethnic" flavor plus so much more!  There was tribal mixed with hip-hop, modern dance, burlesque, gothic, fantasy, fusion, Indian ethnic, North African ethnic, african ethnic, Persian/Azeri/Afghan ethnic, and Latin/Flamenco fire.  What an amazing melting pot of excellence in dance this "bellydance" has become.  Like our country, our dance is evolving into something new, fresh, and absolutely magnificent!!! 

From our area, Sera solstice added her own unique blend of modern, gothic, tribal, martial arts, robotic, hip-hop bellydance-- just amazing!!!  Elena made a riveting, breath-taking appearance to music by Phillip Glass, which had a Spanish feel to it.  She glided out on the stage with a flowing silk veil in brilliant chinese red, with one end fading to black. Her dance layered moves with highs and lows, and seg-wayed into a fan dance.  The auditorium was so still you could hear a pin drop.  Also, there was the electric salsa dance of Griselle Ponce and her group from NJ.--- what a wild freeing dance they did....  Oh, and me-- the fantasy/ fusion/ wings representative.  I did my Firebird dance with all red costume and wings, which appears on our new Fantasy bellydance dvd.

I wish I had time to go through all the different groups I saw and describe their unique visions, but no words could describe the beauty and delight of their performances.  I will post photos here as they come in and suggest you all visit Maja's website to see what went on:  www.majanile.com..... and of course, if you ever can get there, I highly recommend a journey to the Next Spirit of the Tribes!!!

Many, Many, Many thanks to Maja who created this event and makes it all possible year after year-- you are an amazing blessing to our community and to women everywhere! 
    

RAKS RABIA :: tanna

While I perform in many "alternative" bellydance events, my roots and training are very traditional.  So, it was with delight that I participated in "Raks Rabia - A Spring Dance Celebration" produced by Gamila El Masri .  Gamila is one of NYC's finest dancers and teachers, and many currently working professional dancers have profited greatly by the instruction they received in her classroom (including myself!)

With the exception of the special guest artist, the very talented Zoe Anwar from Spain, all the performers had trained extensively with Gamila.  Gamila's forte is Egyptian style, both classical and folkloric, and the majority of the performances were in that mode.  Gamila herself danced two numbers - fluid Oriental and sassy Saidi, both of which got rave reviews from the audience.   The other performers were Anastasia, Cristina, Jamilah, Naima, Panayiota, Sheri and Sirrah Nur.

The audience itself was not without a certain intimidation factor.  Seated at two tables on the upper level were a number of the NYC bellydance scene's other master dancer/teachers - including Layla, Zenaide, Altagracia and Ranya Renee.   Pressure!

In addition to my performance I was assigned the duties of hostess/announcer for the evening.  Since running around all night with a drink in my hand and chatting with everyone I know is my normal operating procedure, this role was not exactly a stretch for me.  Especially since we ran the whole show off an Ipod, so I only needed to make a brief intro and exit.  Plus, at Gamila's specific request, it gave me an opportunity to wear my super-sexy pirate boots all night!  (I have created a new look which I am naming "fluffy goth".  It consists of pink and black, accented with marabou and a little lace, and finished with a miniskirt and pirate boots. You heard it here first.)

The night was a lot of fun, and all the performances were really lovely.  As an added bonus, my friend Brian Lin was on hand to share his photographic skills.  These shots are courtesy of Brian.  The only downside of the event is that I was reminded of how much I love dancing to live Arabic music, and how little opportunity there is for such dancing anymore.  Below is my final pose.  I don't remember what I was thinking, but it is pretty funny all the same.

INDIA PART 1 - DANCING WITH MALA :: blanca

When I was seven my parents decided that the entire family would begin to practice yoga every day. With her healing hands, her strong and slender body and her magical stories of India, our teacher Shanti initiated me into the journey of the body that eventually turned into my whole life. I am a dancer now and as I write this I feel humbled with gratitude for her and my parents. I had been craving India ever since the days I listened to Shanti's stories. I knew that one day I would finally get there but never acted on it until last October when I felt a sudden urge to buy a plane ticket and worry about the rest later.

Well... it wasn't so sudden... I had been entertaining the idea of meeting in person my dear friend Mala. Mala and I had been email friends for a couple of years, matched through our love of bellydance. As Neon remarks, it's fascinating how two people who live at opposite sides of the world can be kindred spirits. It felt as if I had known Mala my whole life. She made me laugh so much. At  every moment, from the day I decided to go, she showered me with advice, contacts, a wonderful travel agent, gifts and more gifts... she shared her dear friends with me... and --best of all-- she danced for me. Mala is proof that dance instruction through DVDs WORKS. I was nothing short of amazed. She performed entire choreographies for me, including my very own "Venus" choreography. WOW!!! Her hipwork is really good. She is an extremely intelligent person who constantly self corrects. I can't wait for my next trip to India and witness her evolution... I had the privilege of staying at Mala's beautiful home in Delhi. She's a lucky girl with her own dance studio, packed with hundreds of dance DVDs, full-length mirrors and a huge basket full of hipscarves.

Mala and I share a love of Indian food. Her friends Prasanto and Moushumi took us to Oh Calcutta!, a Bengali restaurant (Prasanto is Bengali). The best food and the best company...

This item here was the most amazingly delicious thing I ever drank. Don't ask me what the name is but it was made of roasted mango and chili pepper.

Bellydancers love their bracelets.

I love Indian sweets! My favorite is Rasmalai but also Gulab Jamun and Kulfi.

Our last meal was at an elegant hotel in Delhi. The entire menu was Continental... for the tourists I suppose.

The elegant Mala matching her surroundings quite harmoniously.

You can read Mala's blog entries: My first live class Dancing with Blanca

ANGEL FANVEILS ON YOUTUBE :: tanna

So, having had a miserable work day (exacerbated by our monthly regional meeting) last Thursday, I came home and decided to try my luck one more time at getting a clip loaded onto YouTube.  My previous efforts had met with failure, and since I have a low frustration threshold, these efforts left me in a very bad mood.  However, since I was already in a vile mood, I felt I had nothing to lose.

Lo! and Behold!   The whole process was as smooth as silk.   Well, pretty much so.  It's embarrassing how alien much of this commonplace technology still is to me, but I am sincerely trying to expand my knowledge in this arena.  My first-ever clip loaded onto YouTube is my "Angel" fanveil number from our very first Fantasy Bellydance concert. 

Now I just hope that the link will work.

(photo by Kevin Fox)

THE NEON REPORT :: neon

Since our grand "Tarot - Fantasy Bellydance" Venus Uprising show the first days of November, two months have rushed by leaving me dazzled and swirling in circles and spirals from the intensity of work and the never-ending kaleidoscopic festive mess of our New York City bellydance world. When asked "what's new?" I am slow to answer because everything is new, and yet everything is the same.  Since I spend a lot of time around cameras -  photo and video - here is a *brief* report in pictures!  These are just highlights that happen to be documented.

For the "Tarot - Fantasy Bellydance" conceptualized and hosted by Venus Uprising, I choreographed two pieces: "The Lovers"  (or "Venus and Tannhauser") duet, performed with Angel Burgos, and "The Magician" duet with Blanca.

Neon & Angel Burgos

Blanca & Neon

Right after this amazing show, inspired by the privilege of having shared the stage with the brightest stars of our New York City bellydance heaven (and guests from Miami, BellyCraft!), I crashed on my new fitness video program, "Love Potion." My friend Mala, a dancer and journalist in Delhi, interviewed me about "Love Potion" and our recently released bellydance fitness workout, "Luscious," for her blog.  If you have a moment to stop by and read it, here is the link! and here is me practicing the Love Potion choreography at home.  Those spectacular silver candelabra are props from Sarah Skinner's "7 Veils" instructional DVD  -- which is about to hit the shelves of Barnes & Noble for Valentine's Day!

The rehearsals for "Love Potion" with Blanca and Sarah will start this month. 

 

Meanwhile, the "Bellydance Rhythms Workout" DVD - result of my collaboration with Raquy (who designed the drum solo sound track  of "Rhythms") was released by World Dance New York in late November.  Here we are doing the video - Raquy, Liron Peled and me!

And if you are curious about the trials and tribulations suffered by an actual human being who gave this "Bellydance Rhythms Workout" a try, go back to Mala's blog and read! These are posts from Mala's dance diary: I am thrilled to see that 'Rhythms" has given her so much grief that at least 6 installments of her diary are dedicated to her struggle to survive the DVD's  intermediate flow!

Holidays! I am not really into holidays, so if I celebrate them, it's always by accident, but if this happens I put all my enthusiasm into celebrating, because hey... life is short (even though it is overwhelmingly long!) This year I had a most wonderful Christmas dinner with Jena, a friend of ours, and Scott, my boyfriend. Jena was leaving to spend Christmas with her boyfriend's family in California, when she suddently discovered that she was misticketed and had to stay in NYC for Christmas.  This mishap resulted in a magical night at the historic Keen's Chophouse around the corner from us, with a bunch of other New Yorkers who chose to pay their way through Christmas rather than rely on their own culinary talents.  Here is our picture: You can tell that Scott just loooooves posing with good-looking girls. Oh...male vanity.

More holidays: the fabulous New Year's Eve with Blanca, surrounded by the glitz and glow of NYC's nightlife replete with all the beautiful people, crazy artists, nude body-painted models and bejeweled drag queens you could ever wish or dread to encounter!  Lots of pictures were raken, here are just a couple: me and Blanca.

Scott

iPhone! Blanca, busy with global stroke-of-midnight essential telecommunications. 

Actually, my work is more of a party than any party could ever be, so, before, after and throughout the holidays I was partying at work, as the publisher of the sexy World Dance New York. Look!

This is Jo Weldon, the star of our upcoming burlesque instructional DVDs and the fierce founder and Headmistress of the New York School of Burlesque. Gorgeous, witty, glamorous Jo is everything you ever imagined burlesque to be.  Here I am adjusting the microphone on Jo's cheek during the videoshoot at the Merce Cunningham studios in Greenwich Village. (Note my red hat: It's impossible to compete in glamor with a burlesque diva, but the hat helped me to be at least moderately visible next to her! And yes, that's my everyday winter hat).

And here is the stage of the mysterious Slipper Room, where Jo and friends present regular burlesque shows, and where Jo teaches burlesque classes during the daytime.  I've recently gone to one of the Slipper Room burlesque shows and enjoyed it tremendously.  The only thing you need to know before you go is that the format is a bit difficult to handle unless you treat the event as an evening out with your friends. The 3 acts of cool and funny burlesque performances are separated from each other by 40-60 min "intermissions" with some go-go dancing, designed for keeping the party and the alcohol flowing.  So, bring a crowd of friends with the intention of spending the whole night at the show, and you will love it.

More fun at work!!!! Magnificent Autumn Ward has created a unique and delicious instructional program (beginner intermediate bellydance instruction) "Beautiful Technique from Step One: The Beginner's Guide to Flawless Artistry"- it will be released on DVD by World Dance New York at the end of January.  See the trailer for this DVD here!  I am honored to be working with Autumn as her publisher. It is incredible pleasure. With Autumn the work process itself is so flawless as to qualify to be a manual of clean and impeccable technique for ANYTHING you ever want to accomplish and achieve!  Perfection of process and result are a part of Autumn's genetic makeup.  Here she is in a meditative state with her makeup artist Andy Jones before our videoshoot.

And these are a couple screen images from Autumn's video:

And even more fun at work: Ranya's "Bellydance - Egyptian Style" DVD series! "The Baladi" 2-DVD Set. It's VAST!....It's GIGANTIC and enormously rich.  It is almost done, but not quite - but almost....a few more days and we'll be there!

Here we are, Ranya and me, proofing the video at my desk (a plate of pastries provided by Scott to keep us going).

That's about it - there is so much more I can't share because just thinking of the volume of stuff happening exhausts me.  So I am closing the report with this view of Fifth Ave. from our windows, with the lovely dyed calla lillies obtained at the corner deli.

A VERY PROUD TEACHER-- AYSHE'S FIRST STUDENT SHOW

September and October were very bus  y months in every area of my dance interests.  End of Sept. was my Mega Choreographic Workshop, followed by a weekend of selling at Rakkahsah, then my Student show and finally the VU Tarot show.  Wow, what excitement!  Anyway, my first student ever to present a piece of choreography that I created was Calixta (aka Misha) from Long Island.  She recreated my Firebird Dance from my workshop in the spring and added her own special touches.  I was so excited and awed by her.  she made her style more gothic/tribal-- tying up her hair with bunches of red feathers (instead of flowers), cutting a red silk "bat veil" to overlay her gold wings, and then at one point, from out of thin air, she pulled red veil-fans which were so affective with all the red of her costuming.  Wow, I love my students to be    

creative.  Here are a few photos she mailed to me to share with all of you! 

No sooner was Rakkasah over, and 4 days later we had our student show at Lafayette Grill-- the best place in New York to see belly dance in a dinner club/ nite club setting (www.lafgrill.com).  The owners Dino and Billy are very BDer friendly and really helped us with lighting and setting up the stage so we could get everyone and their wings to fit the dance floor. 

My four regular students got to perform 2 group numbers which we had worked on in class.  Both were dances made for wings, but to present   variety, I transformed one into a fan number, where we used large ostrich-feather fans in a Spanish style.  All four girls rehearsed every day for 2 weeks to perfect these dances and were 'real troupers'! 

On top of this each one got to do a solo of their own choosing, be it from a workshop or something they created. Jennifer Bowen did a unique candle/wing dance accompanied with the classical guitar performance of John La Barbera.  Patricia Delgadochoreographed her own solo to pop bellydance music from Hakim.  Kai Wen did a lyrical dance, choreographed by Yousry Sharif, and Sirrah Nur ra 

performed the pharaonic/wings choreography from my 9/28 workshiop.

Two participants from my workshops performed 2 of my choreographies which included: Lyla

performing the drum solo from the 9/28 workshop and Tessarita, performing the dance of the Firebird.  Other students-- Enzina and Elena did their own choreographies and special guests, Nana and Miyoko from Japan, performed Bellydance and Japanese fan dance. 

In all I was very excited and appreciative of all the hard work my students did to pull off the event.  Happily, I received some photos from the show  that I have included here......Enjoy! 

JENIVIVA'S OPIUM PARTY :: neon

Jeniviva's Gothic bellydance Opium party has moved from the Horus Lounge to Katra, 217 Bowery. A bunch of us converged there on Sunday. Dance performances featured Jeniviva, Teuta Ilyriana and other beautiful dancers (bellydance and burlesque). Katra lounge is gorgeousl, pomegranate martinis were inspiring, and the music was great (Dj's Aengel and Templar.) The spirit of lavish and unapologetic sensual decadence characteristic of Jeniviva's events was as intense as ever. The party started around 10 p.m., the dance performances occurred around midnight, we stayed till 3 a.m.

Thank you, Jeni - it was a treat!
Here are a few pieces of social photography from the event.

Jeniviva, Ranya Renee, Neon, Blanca

Neon, Teuta Ilyriana

Ranya, Neon

outside Katra lounge

AYSHE'S MEGA CHOREOGRAPHIC WORKSHOP :: ayshe

Wow!!!  I'm so amazed, I completed/created all these dances, prepared my teaching guidelines  and executed them to the students without any major mishaps.  Had a wonderful turnout; an exhuberant group that was always ready for more!!-- we wore each other out..... but I think I imparted much valuable information to all-- certainly, there was something for everyone; fast, slow, rhythm, taksim, floorwork, hipwork, wings, sword.... Now, we have the student show (October 23rd) where they get to practice what they learned.

TAROT

Wednesday night was the first company rehearsal for our upcoming show TAROT - fantasy bellydance concert. I sat there in amazement as each dancer or group of dancers embodied these powerful archetypes... At some points I got goosebumps, feeling the kind of emotions only dreams provoke. Whew! and this was only a rehearsal.

I must warn everybody that tickets are very limited this time so go and get yours right away, we would love to share this with you!

Venus Uprising presents
TAROT - A FANTASY BELLYDANCE CONCERT
Saturday November 1
Sunday November 2
8:00 PM

Merce Cunningham Studio
55 Bethune St
(at Washington St)
West Village, NYC

Subway: A, C, E to 14th St. L to 8th Ave.

Buy tickets now

Here's the program:

The Fool - Blanca
The Magician - Neon and Blanca
The High Priestess - Sarah Locke & Alchemy Tribal
The Empress - Ayshe
The Emperor - Toshi Hamada
The Lovers - Neon and Angel
The Lovers - Yoshina
Adjustment - Irina Akulenko
The Hermit - Tanna Valentine
The Wheel of Fortune and Lust - Sarah Skinner, Kazja and the Sisters of Salome
The Hanged Man - Alicia and Heather of BellyCraft
Death - Fayzah and Aurea Dancers (Sangeeta Vallabhan & Zahra Hashemian)
Judgment - Autumn Ward & group
Temperance - Andrea Anwar
The Devil - Anasma
The Tower - Sherene Vismaya
The Star - Elisheva & Kittarina

Buy tickets now