Tales from the Caravan...
Show: TribalCon Feb. 25, 2006
This was my first time at Tribalcon. Then again, thanks to
Mother Nature's wicked ice storms that completely
closed down Atlanta last year, this is technically the
first one thats fully happened. (I thought we lived in
the South to get away from that crazy cold weather?!)
Alchemy wasn't able to make it to the workshops due
to February being so crazy in the local belly dance
scene and our Southern Oasis coming up so soon. Resources, time, and
most importantly ENERGY were stretched thin. :D
But, the Sultan, Alche-mámi, Alche-pápi, and myself
were excited to be able to make it to the show. I had
heard rumours that all sorts of people were going to
be there including Domba, a
high energy African dance fusion belly dance troupe I
had the great pleasure of taking classes from a few
Spirits ago.
We headed to Atlanta a bit early and had dinner at
the Hard Rock Cafe.
I had the best veggie sandwhich ever with yummy spicy
hummus on it. Nothing gets ya in the mood for a belly
dance show like some hummus. :D The Sultan had a
burger, duh, and the Alche-parents had ribs and
chicken. All in all the wait was only a little more
than a half hour, not that bad considering you'd wait
at least as long on a Saturday night to get into any
restaurant in Augusta. The food was awesome and I
can't wait to go back.
After that we got a bit turned around but managed
to make it to Tribalcon before the show started. It
was nice seeing familiar Atlanta faces and some from
further away. The event was held in a hotel ballroom
with a raised stage, nice sound equipment, and rows of
metal chairs for the audience members.
I've probably been to one too many sci-fi/fantasy
cons, but I kept having the feeling of waiting for the
costume contest to start. Where was the free booze?
The Dead pirates? The legions of geekdom fans? :D Ok,
I finally got over my con longings and got into the
show.
Awalim and their student
troupe, Banat Z'iah started off the show with an
impressive large group balacing number including
swords, baskets, platters, and fire. It was a feat
seeing so many dancers balancing at once on stage.
The most impressive dancers of the evening to me
were in the first half, Urban Tribal. I had seem them perform
at Spirit the first year I went, but my high opinion
of them was newly renewed after this performance. I
hadn't realized before how similar in style Urban
Tribal and Rachel Brice
are. Theres a fluidity of movement, even amongst the
sharp pops and locks, thats unmistakeable. Rachel
Brice is a huge inspiration for me, so I was hooked.
There were two members and their performance started
off with Heather moving to the melody. When the beat
kicked in, the other dancer represented that patr of
the song. There were parts where they moved in unison
and parts were the movements were quite different
depending on what the song did. I was very impressed
with how well put together the choreography was.
Other impressive dancers in the first half were
Devyani from Birmingham, who did Fat Chance style ATS
in all the Fat Chance costuming glory. They did a
great job of transitioning and seeming to create a
mini show within a show. Masmoudi and the Naughty
Nomads were in their luscious skirts with pants
costuming again and did a lively Bangra number. I love
their style and interplay with the audience and found
my shoulders bouncing along a few times of their own
accord!
At intermission, there was shopping! Highly
important to me, I had a great time browsing cholis,
tops, Kuchi, belts, and jewelry, and bought more than
I intended to. I'll be wearing some of it at Southern
Oasis though so it all went towards a good cause
right? :D
The second half of the show started off with Gypsy
Red Tribe's group improv and went well. I would say
that the highlight of it for me was Blue Damsel's
performance with Solace live. Her movements were well
defined and her interplay with the audience was
delightful and refreshing. Towards the end, she had
Urban Tribal and Z'iah of Awalim come on stage and do
improv with her. The only other group I remember doing
improv was Devyani. I consider group improv to be a
key element of the Tribal style, so I was quite happy
to see it.
The only real negative issue I had with the show
was some issues with some of the costumes. All of the
beautiful dancers were well established and should
know the rules of dancing in your costume prior to a
show and about what sort of costuming is appropriate
for what audience. And yet, there were several
performances where boobs were threatening to make
appearances out of costumes and or where
costumes/dance movements were inappropriate for the
venue. All in all, it was a positive experience that
has me excited about Spirit in April.
~Mari
|
|
Alchemy: Transforming the ordinary into the sublime
|
|
