Weekend in review
Crazy busy weekend.
Okay, so the birthday party on Saturday afternoon was held in the back room of an Indian Pentacostal Church in North East Philly. Considering the venue and the audience, I decided to go with my most modest costume - my Ghawazee coat and a full skirt with harems. There were about 40 or more people in a relatively small back room - a few tables around the perimeter and a space in the middle for dancing. Some of the people there were family, but most of them seemed to either be clients from the assisted living facility or staff. I led them in a Turkish line dance. They all seemed to have a great time and they really got into dancing. The mother bought these little colorful scarves and had me hand them out to everyone to dance with, and they got to keep them as party favors. The birthday boy's father was so pleased with the event he gave me a $20 tip in addition to my fee. :D Sweet.
Later that night Sean and I went to King of Tandoor for a big delicious Indian dinner. It was so good!
On Sunday I went to two workshops with Autumn Ward at the DDLC. They were really great, and were all about refining your presentation as a dancer. Unfortunately I had to miss the last half hour of the second one to get ready for the Sunday gig. I tried to leave as discretely as possible so I wouldn't distract from the workshop. I felt bad about having to leave early. I apologized to Autumn about it ahead of time and she told me not to worry about it, but still.
The party on Sunday was very different. It was at 6pm at the trendy North Bowl night club / bowling alley. Since I was hired by a couple from Las Vegas I figured I should wear my most sparkly costume. It's a black velvet bra and belt with teal and silver beading, and a black velvet trumpet skirt with teal gores (the inserts at the bottom of the skirt that flare out), and matching black upper arm sleeves with teal drapes at the elbow (which I just finished sewing on Sat). Very caberet. There were about 40 people there too, but they didn't get as much into the bellydancing as the Saturday people. They were mostly in their 50's and 60's, drinking wine and nibbling on hors d'oeuvres as they bowled, and not one of them had the courage to dance with me and face the disdain of their upper middle class peers. I'd toss veils to some of the ladies and they'd each insist that another should get up and dance but not themselves. But, there were two little girls around the ages of 5 and 6 there who had a great time dancing with me. It's funny because before I went on one of the ladies from the party wanted to make sure I understood that there would be children present so that I wouldn't do anything innappropriate in front of them. Aside from being mistaken for a stripper, I found this incredibly ironic, because the presence of children usually makes the audience behave. They also add to the entertainment value, because watching their own children dance and have a good time is always more interesting than watching a stranger dance. May there always be children present at all my gigs. :D
In other news, my Geisha Moth outfit arrived in the mail on Saturday! It looks awesome and fits perfectly. I think it will really look nice with the navy blue trumpet skirt I bought for the July DDLC Student Showcase. Speaking of which, on Saturday July 25th we're doing a big show, so if you want to see a fabulous bellydance extravaganza featuring the DDLC Ensemble, Kim Leary and Ashara, you should come.
Okay, so the birthday party on Saturday afternoon was held in the back room of an Indian Pentacostal Church in North East Philly. Considering the venue and the audience, I decided to go with my most modest costume - my Ghawazee coat and a full skirt with harems. There were about 40 or more people in a relatively small back room - a few tables around the perimeter and a space in the middle for dancing. Some of the people there were family, but most of them seemed to either be clients from the assisted living facility or staff. I led them in a Turkish line dance. They all seemed to have a great time and they really got into dancing. The mother bought these little colorful scarves and had me hand them out to everyone to dance with, and they got to keep them as party favors. The birthday boy's father was so pleased with the event he gave me a $20 tip in addition to my fee. :D Sweet.
Later that night Sean and I went to King of Tandoor for a big delicious Indian dinner. It was so good!
On Sunday I went to two workshops with Autumn Ward at the DDLC. They were really great, and were all about refining your presentation as a dancer. Unfortunately I had to miss the last half hour of the second one to get ready for the Sunday gig. I tried to leave as discretely as possible so I wouldn't distract from the workshop. I felt bad about having to leave early. I apologized to Autumn about it ahead of time and she told me not to worry about it, but still.
The party on Sunday was very different. It was at 6pm at the trendy North Bowl night club / bowling alley. Since I was hired by a couple from Las Vegas I figured I should wear my most sparkly costume. It's a black velvet bra and belt with teal and silver beading, and a black velvet trumpet skirt with teal gores (the inserts at the bottom of the skirt that flare out), and matching black upper arm sleeves with teal drapes at the elbow (which I just finished sewing on Sat). Very caberet. There were about 40 people there too, but they didn't get as much into the bellydancing as the Saturday people. They were mostly in their 50's and 60's, drinking wine and nibbling on hors d'oeuvres as they bowled, and not one of them had the courage to dance with me and face the disdain of their upper middle class peers. I'd toss veils to some of the ladies and they'd each insist that another should get up and dance but not themselves. But, there were two little girls around the ages of 5 and 6 there who had a great time dancing with me. It's funny because before I went on one of the ladies from the party wanted to make sure I understood that there would be children present so that I wouldn't do anything innappropriate in front of them. Aside from being mistaken for a stripper, I found this incredibly ironic, because the presence of children usually makes the audience behave. They also add to the entertainment value, because watching their own children dance and have a good time is always more interesting than watching a stranger dance. May there always be children present at all my gigs. :D
In other news, my Geisha Moth outfit arrived in the mail on Saturday! It looks awesome and fits perfectly. I think it will really look nice with the navy blue trumpet skirt I bought for the July DDLC Student Showcase. Speaking of which, on Saturday July 25th we're doing a big show, so if you want to see a fabulous bellydance extravaganza featuring the DDLC Ensemble, Kim Leary and Ashara, you should come.