The show, the show!

So, I am a woefully poor photographer, I'll easily admit it. My biggest problem is that I forget to take pictures...so when I do have photos that come out clearly...I get very excited. I also get a little sad when I realized how many other beautiful moments I failed to get on film. Bad photojournalist...bad! To the dancers I didn't get photos of...I'm so sorry, but I got a little distracted with Sherry, Katarina and Rania and my batteries only last so long. *sigh*

That being said, here are some moments from our show on March 6. And keeping to our semester tradition, we still didn't have all nine Mirage dancers at the show. It's funny, our biggest concern about having a troupe so large was our fear of too many dancers at one time...the truth is that it has allowed us some scheduling freedom we didn't have before. And, each show has such a different flavor and style to it because of the ladies in attendance. It's really quite interesting! This show, we were missing our long-time members Nisaba and Jeanette (I think this was a first!) as well as Dana Winn...everyone was missed, but they will be extra-rested for the next shows.

Okay, enough preamble...here's the scoop on the show. It was short and sweet...and everyone was hot, really hot!!!!! The audience would have been unable to tolerate a longer show because of the fabulous performances...they would have left gasping for air and breath...we love our audience but we just don't want to risk their safety...so we kept the show short. You cannot say we don't practice 'safe shimmies', now can you?

Our guests include the Jasmine and Maribel. Jasmine first performed on our stage last semester when we had a live show with Belahaar. She's smart, sultry and such a sweetheart as well. Rumor has it that when she finishes school she'll be leaving Austin...I'll just pretend to be in denial until it happens...and in the meantime go watch her dance again. You should do the same.

Maribel has of course graced our stage before, but it's been quite a while...our schedules just didn't seem to sync up. She honored us by closing the show and had everyone dancing behind stage to her beautiful music. (Which I have apparently only on tape...I believe it is Amany Blue). If I had to come up with one word to describe her, it would be 'juicy'. In a nutshell her shimmies have their own law of gravity...even Newton would be jealous about the perpetual motion of her hips, When my hips grow up, they want to be just like hers!

I've also have a photo and a clip of Eva Tennessee...who is blazing her own trail of 'modern folkloric' belly dance here in Austin. One viewing of this video will have you hair tossing every time you dance now!

In the presence of a goddess

There are some performances that really hit home, they make you feel a deep emotion (yearning perhaps) or move you in ways you didn't imagine. There are also some performances where you just say...doggone it...how does she look so hot and how can I have some of that! (I mean that from a dance perspective not a 'I'm changing teams' perspective...in case you are now wondering).

I have to admit that Sherry's performance at our last show hit home on all those marks. Really, she's channeling some goddess or sultry 50's movie siren, or one of the classic, golden age belly dancers we've all admired. Her music is always intriguing and interesting and she moves so effortlessly across the stage, it's like she's floating! If you missed the show...shame on you, you'll just have to sit back and imagine the entire performance. The following photos and clip may help a bit but you'll only experience 1/10 of the passion and emotion everyone felt in her presence.


Now for a collective sigh...

The anticipation

Okay, last weekend I did something spontaneous and bought my first costume online. I know, it doesn't sound that dramatic and everyone is doing it anyway...but I took the plunge. It's all because I've been jonesing for a new costume for quite a while and it's difficult to find one I like and that fits well. You could argue that all I needed to do was order something to fit and I'd be set but the truth is I have a hard time visualizing how things will look on me. I also have some difficulty because of the girls*, which complicates costume shopping. So, I only buy costumes that I can try on.

This weekend, the allure was too great and the costume was so pretty...and blue...and I don't have anything blue right now. So, I splurged and bought a beautiful Hanan costume online and I'm worried about how it will fit and look. Will I love it???? Will it love me???? I just want to know, and soon!

They** told me it would ship promptly and even though I know it wasn't sent overnight I was disappointed that it didn't appear yesterday. Today when I came home, again my heart fell when I didn't see a box at my door. However, when I opened my mailbox I found a note saying it did come today but it's sitting at the local post office, aargh!!!! Really, if I had known I would have snuck away from work just to retrieve it.

Now, the anticipation is even worse because it is so close and yet so far away and I have to wait until tomorrow morning and then make a special trip over there to pick it up. And all I can wonder is if it lonely right now, and is it looking forward to meeting me as well?

*One of these days I'll do a post on the 'girls'; some people who know me have already met them...not everyone will be that lucky though.

**If I'm happy I'll tell you who 'they' are, but I may not...especially if I want another one (which I already do).

Imagine the Possibilities

There is nothing like the promise of a new costume to send dancers into a tizzy. We are in the process of picking out one color (yes, just one right now…) to order some skirts, gauntlets and tops for the troupe. Here are the samples of the fabrics we received from L-Rose. I put them on the cards for easy viewing (and not to lose any), and the photo cannot do justice to the beauty of them in person.

I don’t have an actual photo of us looking at the samples, but I wish I did. You would see us huddled together, lovingly examining each small sample. We all had to touch, hold and caress each little square of fabric. And, when one of us would suggest a color choice a collective chorus of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ went up, as if a world of opportunity was contained within each small square. The process is delightful, but the product will be absolutely yummy...I'm sure of it.