Yes, well, that is Zoe. But I know dancers who do drink onstage. Not namin' names.

And ultimately, whether the drink is real or not is kinda beside the point of whether or not drinking tied to dancing sends a message that is good, bad, or neutral for bellydance as a dance and a community. I tend to agree with Asharah on this one and have said as much many times. That girl has a great head on her shoulders, and is really thoughtful about her fusion, and I really appreciate that.

I still really feel like this trend needs to die, regardless of the proficiency of the dancer.

This is a tough one for me because *I* immensely enjoy schtick. I don't necessarily see it as the covering up of a bad technique but rather an individual and personal, creative touch ( when not copied ). Quite frankly...schtick makes what might have been a painful performance a little more appealing and tolerable. Speaking of Spring Caravan..those that were there Sunday night got to witness a late night, last minute add in with a dancer using toilet paper like a veil. Utterly brilliant! I could care less if she couldn't dance...she could...but it was serious entertainment which we ( the crew) desperately needed after a long weekend. There are three themes going on here. One is the use of drunkeness in a performance, one is copying and the last is the use of shtick.

Dinstinguishing between them I have to say ...I am NOT a fan of copying...copying music...copying choreography ( whether rights were given or not ), copying anything for that matter. Even in improv where the same moves are ueed...each performance is original..it has to be. I am a huge fan of schtick though. I think that uniqueness is what appeals to me so I would never bash vaudeville, schtick...well anything that shows individuality but there also exists the context as well as venue which I believe is an extremely important distinction as well. Those who know me know they can assume *nothing* in my own performances. Is it masking bad dancing?...well...that's a matter of opinion but I would never discourage it. Just the opposite, in fact. Not to say I don't like a stripped down, straight from the hip performance. I do...I just want to see THAT perfomer's straight, stripped down performance and not the work from a recent workshop or an admired teacher.


A drunk routine...I think within the context of a whole theme is..well...wonderful but...as Valizan stated...I wouldn't want to see it from multiple dancers nor would I want to see it at an inappropriate venue. But...certain venues are questionable in that they encourage creativity and fusion...like Spring Caravan. The hope is NOT to see the same old...the hope is to see individuality (in a family friendly environment..must always add that) whether that be with the use of toilet paper or going out in sweats or saloon girl and just putting your best effort forward. In a generla form though I don't approve of drunkness on stage...if you can't go out straight and scared shitless like the rest of us...well then...don't go out. LOL But...a cute routine in context is fine in my opinion.

I respect the article and can completely udnerstand Asharah's views ( I wa sparticularly humored abby her comment of acting out secret fantasies) but, the expert context troubles me a bit in that, what constitutes that and what level of quality is someone expecting who attends these festivals. The day that some of the promoters requires X amount of experience with X amount of approval with X amount of peope studied with is the day they shut down because no one will be good enough.
And...one can have X amount of everything and still be unpleasing on a stage. So...I say...bring it on but bring it on from your own heart and soul~ and please....whispering here...do it family friendly for the sake of your unsuspecting audience. ;)

TANGY!!

I like it!

But I still stand by what my brother and my friend Glenn taught me to say when I see a performance of some kind that I don't like...

"Well. They're good at what they do."

... what they are "doing" is subjective.

i am still really happy that my teacher, who's passion seems to be in tribal fusion, nevertheless started us off with really basic foundational tribal style. because how the heck can you say "tribal fusion" when there's no "tribal" to be seen? =p
so i've been appreciative of that

Well, another issue is people claiming to teach the basics who aren't. I started in an ATS class but, as I started watching more videos, going to shows, etc., it became clear she has NO CLUE what ATS is (I also caught her taking credit for choreography she'd stolen from the Indigo, which is never OK). I made the conscious decision to drop her classes and start driving 100 miles each way to take tribal fusion classes. Then felt I still didn't have a base and started studying actual ATS (still with a long drive).

But I had to educate myself and go a harder route to get the proper dance training and technique. Most people I run into just "stay the course" because it's easier, cheaper, less time, etc.

"Like walking into a beautiful temple. Not everyone is there to worship, but to have the experience of being in the temple itself."

YES! Sandi! I love it when you pop in with your wise words!

... you and me both. Specifically a berry-rita from Friday's. Holy cow are they good.

I'm not trying to disparage the performers in that piece. As you said, even without the gorilla suit, you would have remembered the performance for all of the reasons that you stated. The point is, the performance was good by itself, without the gorilla and the schtick. But in my mind, every time I think of that performance, I'm going to remember the gorilla instead of the pretty dancer and accordian player. Of course, not everyone thinks like me. I may be the only person in the world who will remember it that way. But what a shame for even one person to remember the schtick rather than the skill of the performers.

NOT saying performers shouldn't do schtick, as it does work in some cases as long as it is done in a skillful way in conjunction to skillful bellydance. But in this instance, I would rather have seen the dancer being herself and genuine to who she is - her original personality that only she possesses - rather than playing some character and getting chased off stage like that.

The other aspect of that performance that I think a lot of people miss is that the dancing-on-cans bit is a direct nod to the classic bellydance trick of dancing on glasses. That's part of the joke...one that only bellydancers and fans would know probably, but then again I've only seen Jodi do this piece at bellydance shows or on a stage where another dancer did do the real glasses bit, so they played off one another. I think that aspect of it is pretty brilliant.

Hey! I'd like a beer, too! Let's line up in chorus...who's ready to step up??