Tales from the Caravan...
Show: Mellow Mushroom's, February 7, 2005
I wanted to let you all know how things are
progressing with our quest to have a Hafla. Myself and
Ame went Thursday before last to pitch to three
different venues. The first went very well, the second
not so hot, and the third was actually a friend of
Ame's so we got some ideas, a (non-paying but could
lead to more) gig and lots of great advice out of it.
So far, not bad!
The first place we went suggested we dance at open
mike night the owner of the place has at his pizza
place down the street, as the owner was at that time
in Colorado skiing. Ame and I were on that like a
cheap suit! We got together with the other members and
we were all excited to go to our "audition." Then,
Akantha was unable to attend due to a serious family
emergency.
Well, with Mari, Ame, myself and The Sultan, our
token testoterone producer, we headed out the The
Mellow Mushroom to give it our all. We were all
surprisingly nervous, but when we walked in, at least
two of the people working there said, "Hey, you must
be the dancers we've heard about." Rock on! Then, a
guy who looked no older the 22 came up and said, "Hey,
are you here to dance for open mike?" We smiled and
assured him we were. We had never met the owner
before, so didn't know who to expect. I sure am glad
we were all polite and sweet to the 22 year old! LOL
We got up on stage immediately because the guy with
the guitar asked us to go first. I don't know why that
is. Maybe he was being polite, just wanted to watch,
or thought we would make a good opening act. We danced
to one song, The I Dream of Jeannie Remix, true,
classic Tribal improv style, something rarely seen on
the East Coast.
The place stopped dead in it's tracks, which isn't
surprising when you consider seeing bellydancers in a
pizza joint! lol Not one eye in the place was looking
anywhere but at us and we nailed it! After the song
and thunderous applause were over, we received lots of
compliments, handed out some cards and gained some new
students, explained to the owner that we were really
doing improv, not choreography, and sat down to
politely watch the guy with the guitar.
Ame, being who she is and doing exactly what she does
best, waited for a few minutes, then went over to
negotiate when he wanted us to dance at his bar, The
Mission. Well, that girl sure can talk, because we've
got our pick of a SATURDAY in May!! Yes!! He said was
really impressed, not only with our dancing, but with
our promotion kit. We are even invited back to open
mike night anytime we want. Very sweet.
As always, having a fun, interested audience makes it
all worth while. Thank you to everyone, customers and
staff at Da Mellow for making us feel welcome and
being so complimentary.
Keep an eye out for the Hafla date once we get it writ
in stone, and look out for us if you're ever at open
mike night at The Mellow Mushroom in downtown Augusta!
Jeannie
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This was a very last minute thing for us, but it was also very exhilarating.
It proved how hard work and continuous practice can pay off and make you
look good and pulled together even with only a day's notice! This was a sort
of invite to audition for the owner of The Mission, a bar where we are
wanting to host our Hafla. We all get together very quickly and are able to
wear the awesome black velvet gawahzee coats Ame made for us to wear to the
TribalCon performance. I was in blue as usual, Ame was red, and Jeannie was
yellow. I honestly wasn't at all nervous until we got to the restaurant. I
was unsure of what to expect. I have never been to an open mic night of any
kind anywhere, let alone performed at one. As soon as we step in the door
butterflies start doing summersaults in my stomach. We get ourselves set up,
talk to the owner and some of the staff and then get down to dancing. We did
Tribal Group Improv to a remix of the theme song from I Dream of Jeannie. We
got a great reaction from the crowd. Afterwards when I lead (an almost
blind, glasses-less) Jeannie to the restroom we got several compliments in
there. Apparently everyone stopped to watch us and everyone wanted more.
Awesome! More will definitely be coming at the Hafla in May!
Mari
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Wow, has it been this long? Alot has happened but what I really
want to talk about is our recent performance at the Mello Mushroom's
open mic night. First off let me just say that I had worked a 12 hr
shift that day and was really exhausted. But, I knew that we had to do
this. Let me explain. You see, the owner of the The Mission, the
venue we want to secure for our hafla, is also the owner of the Mellow
Mushroom in town. So, this was an audition of sorts so we could have
our Hafla. That being said, I get off work at 7:30 and immediately
drive to Mari's house (belly-headquarters) to get ready so we can all
drive down together. We all got ready in record time!! Performances
started at 8 and it's amazing what you can do when you have no choice!
: ) We looked fabulous as usual and with butterflies churning left for
the audition.
We had such a good time at the Athen's Hafla I think immediately we
wanted to host one as well. There are alot of great bars in Augusta
but most of them are relatively small, and very few actually have
large stages. It was the Sultan who showed me The Mission and as soon
as I saw it I knew it would be perfect. Okay, enough digression...
We got there and there was only one other performer signed up so we
checked out the stage and sat down to wait. Well, everyone was
surprised and intrigued to see us there and the guy before us wanted
us to perform before him, so we figured that would be fine. No time
like the present. After finding the owner, and making sure he was
watching we put the "I Dream of Jeannie" song in and tribal improved
our hearts out. We were told later that everyone really paid
attention and enjoyed it. Yea! The owner was also pleased and we are
in negotioations for a date to host the Hafla now! Double yea! Keep
coming back for more Tales from the Caravan and updates on the Hafla.
Namaste,
Ame
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Alchemy: Transforming the ordinary into the sublime
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