Blogging Badawiyat and Beyond

Oh the pain!!!

Don't get me wrong, though -- the performance at P.S. 122 went well -- really well -- so much so that the good people at LaMama have asked the Collective for a reprise at their space in May.

BUT... I suppose there is always a tinge of bad with the good.

I haven't seen the video yet, but as far as I could tell, we started off fine... all in synch and in stoic Bedouin character.

And then came the veils.

Let me tell you a little about the veils......

Now, these are beautiful veils, and a huge part of Dalia's vision for the piece, as we sweep from a stoic debke line into the piece's sandstorm climax.

As you might expect, they are a deep, sandy gold, made of heavy poly-silk, which drapes beautifully and glows in stagelight.

And they are long. Long, long long. Mine was the longest, at over 4 yards. The shortest was just under 3.5 yards.

We start sans veils -- very stern, lean and mean.

About two minutes in, the group of eight splits, with my half exiting as the others hip-twist forward.

My group returns, ritualistically draped in our veils (sorry, I can't show you a pic of that here... these photos are from the DNA performance in October '07).

Anyway. We cross forward and split to the four corners of the stage.

Now, bear in mind, it looks like the veils are draped very simply over us, so we look like a bunch of sandy ghosts, but in fact they are slyly tucked into the backs of our dance pants so at the right cue -- woosh!

The veils go up, forming a sail behind us. This looks especially nice when you spin.

So, while I'm there spinning my little head off, I feel something at my feet. Of course I can't look down. But I feel a tug at the veil in my hand.

Ack!

During the first cross, my veil came untucked from my pants and was dragging on the floor behind me, completely ruining the effect of the sail!!

And what killed me was that, in all the rehearsals and performances, I have never had a problem with my veil. In fact, I think this whole sail-veil thing may have been my idea!

So my pertard was firmly hoist (and, no, a petard is not a sail or other nautical device... it's actually a bomb -- no kidding!).

But I didn't look down, and I didn't trip. I just went on as normal for the minute or so that the section lasted, and then leaned waaaaaaay back, as far as I could, so Yowalka could grab the veil -- as planned -- with a spectacular flourish.

Beautiful, huh?

Anyway. The people I spoke to after the show said it looked all right. It helped that I kept on going, which is the most you can expect from anyone in a prop/wardrobe malfunction situation.

And sometimes it is exactly the malfunction that shows just how professional you can be.

Feeling my pain, a friend sent me this hysterical clip of the unforgettable Anita Morris. Keep your eyes on her little skirt -- especially around 2:41.

Yes, she was a goddess -- and a great inspiration to us all!!!

Badawiyat, MOTM and Egypt-Bound!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope the young archer has been good to you -- and if he hasn't, may you fill your heart with music and dance! I will be doing exactly that tonight at a charity event for the Jewish Home of the Aged.

Technically, this is a private event, but if you're absolutely dying to see some dancing and share a lot of love with those who need it most, please let me know and I'll try bring you as a special guest.

In the spirit of love (and the hefty Dalia Carella rehearsal schedule) I'm only doing a few charity events this month.

My one public performance will be Badawiyat, which The Dalia Carella Dance Collective premiered last year through Dance New Amsterdam's Performance Project.

We are remounting it as part of The Field's modern dance performance showcase, Fielday at PS 122 this

Sunday, February 17 @ 7pm

PS 122

150 First Ave. at E. 9th St

212-477-5288

Admission: $10 at the door

We are the first act, so please get there on time!

Other things going on in Tandavaland......

Yes, I'm Raquy's Messenger of the Month for February 2008! And if that's not cool enough, I'm going to hang with her in Egypt in March!!

I'll be posting more details about this later, but at the moment all I have are departure dates --March 12th through the 18th -- and Raquy's awesome three-bedroom pad.

Yay!!! Alhamdulela!!

And I've been studying Pimsleur's Comprehensive Egyptian Arabic CDs which, I have to say, are very effective. Granted, the vocabulary is limited, but you learn all the important stuff, and it's taught in a way that gives you strong retention.

Of course, I'm sure I'll be pretty lost when trying to understand others, but at least I'll know enough for bargaining at the bazaar.

Archive: Events for January 2008

This is a list of my public events during Jan 08:


Tuesday, January 22 @ 7:30pm - emceeing and dancing at BEYONDFUSION: a Belly Dance SHOWCASE at Le Souk 47 Ave. B, bet. 3rd & 4th Sts --with Tahya, Mimi Fontana/Manhattan Tribal & Nadia Moussa with guest dancers in "Tumbao". NO COVER. $15 food/drink minimum at tables.

Sunday, January 27 @ 7pm - emceeing at SharQui's Night of Stars at DROM, 85 Avenue A & 5th -- with Nadira, Aszmara, Jeniviva, Kazja, Ranya, Tarik Sultan, Layla Isis and Oreet. $20 cover.

Wednesday, January 30 @ 7pm (dance performances start at 8:30pm) - dancing at Bellyqueen's weekly Djam Under Je'Bon, 15 St. Mark's Pl & 3rd Ave -- with Dunya. $10 cover. $5 food/drink minimum.

Show at DROM

Just got back from the DROM show -- which went really really well. In addition to being a fabulous dancer, choreographer and teacher, Oreet is some kind of promotional genius. She packed the place. And it was a truly lovely crowd.

And the talent was stand-out, drop-dead amazing.

One of the things I love the most about emceeing is that it gives me the opportunity to say nice things about the people who have inspired me.

I got a lot of compliments on the emceeing, but the truth is that when I did stand-up oh-so-many years ago, I don't think I was especially good.... perhaps because at the time it was mostly about me -- my ego, my image of myself, and how well I was doing, and yada yada yada.

And there is something perverse in my nature that makes me want to serve something larger than myself. And I think that serving these wonderful dancers -- and through them that divine energy of dance, performance, comedy, whatever. And somehow that makes me better, funnier, more enjoyable. And I enjoy it all so much more, myself.

Yesterday I caught Charlie Rose's interview of Jerry Seinfeld, and Rose asked him why Larry David hadn't had Seinfeld on Curb Your Enthusiasm more often.

And Seinfeld replied that neither he nor David was interested in "serving" anyone's ego or agenda or anything other than "the comedy gods... And if you respect [them]," he added, "they will keep you in their graces."

And those graces are lush and bountiful indeed!

Quote of the Day

"Everyone must, from time to time, make a sacrifice on the altar of stupidity to please the deity and mankind. " - Albert Einstein

Yay! I'm Raquy's Messenger of the Month for February 2008!

So, here is the bio I submitted to Raquy today (which I then revised like four times, probably driving her batty with emails saying, "Oops...I forgot to add such-and-such...!").

I figure it will be posted on her site at the end of January. I'll include a link when it's up.

Raquy Raqs!!!
______________________________________________
Four years ago, Tandava (Carol Henning) would have considered the possibility of becoming a professional bellydancer and avid dumbek student about as likely as becoming a trapeze artist.

Although she had performed for many years as an actor and stand-up comic, she found the stage unfulfilling and all but abandoned it to the workaday joys of computer programming.

In mid-2004, however, her struggles to recover from a severe back injury led her to bellydance -- first with Oreet, then with Kaeshi and Ranya, and onward to many, many student showcases, where she began to feel at home and alive on stage again. But still something was missing…

In late 2005, she first experienced Raquy's dazzling prestidigitation at Oreet's annual showcase, immediately bought all her CDs, Dumbek Fever, a dumbek, and signed up for Raquy's Catskills Retreat, where she continues to return whenever possible.

Now she performs frequently in New York as a dancer and, returning to her stand-up roots, as an emcee at many bellydance shows. She's honored to perform with Raquy's Messengers and promises to get her double-decker snap in shape by the next Retreat.

And she is signing up for the next class at the Trapeze School of New York.

For schedule, contact and commentary, please go to http://tandavadance.blogspot.com/

Gauging the Greenshift

A friend recently sent me a NY Times article, Can Burts' Bees Turn Clorox Green, about this true, honest-to-God, home-grown, mom'n'pop enterprise.... that developed into a company worth $913 million -- at least to Clorox, which purchased it last November.

Like Ben & Jerrys, Tom's of Maine and other eponymous leafy green companies (also bought out by larger corporations Unilever and Colgate, respectively), they have a "Greater Good" policy that values environmental responsibility, natural ingredients, animal rights, responsible trade and, yes ladies and gentlemen, employee benefits.

"The premise is that if companies are socially responsible, profit will follow," the article states of Clorox's motive, "[Their] research recently found that 53 percent of consumers planned to buy more eco-friendly products this year and that 47 percent were willing to pay 20 percent to 25 percent premiums for them."

In short, and to my cynical mind: for all their greenspeak, profit is still king. They, like so many companies, are going green not because it's good, or responsible, or will help us and our planet in the long run, but because it's fashionable. And, with current energy prices, it's less costly.

Burt's Bees, Tom's and Ben & Jerry's became the companies they were as a reflection of the values of the people who created them.

But corporate America is created and run by people whose value system revolves around profit. This is not necessarily bad, but it can't go unchecked.

And one way that it can become good is if we, the purchasing public, remember the power of our dollars -- because their professed "values" will always follow and attempt to reflect ours, enabling us to influence these companies in a less profit-centred, more socially responsible direction.

And maybe this influence will last long enough to be entrenched enough in their business method too make it costly to reverse when fashion switches back again...