Tribal Freakout!

I am back from Tribal Revolution (midwestern dance edition) and full of inspiration. I am going to wear 10 scarves at once. I'm going to hand stitch my own costumes, made from fabric I dyed myself (that part isn't entirely hype - I do intend to try that this summer). I'm going to add yoga to my practice and dance every day. EVERY DAY.

This post title is a tribute to the choreography I tried (and tried and tried) to learn from Rachel Brice. But I'm starting at the end again. Just play this music and read on.

So, Thursday night I arrived in beautiful Wheeling (ugh) after 5 hours on the highway. Not because Wheeling is 5 hours from my home, but because I have poor timing and don't believe in rush hour. Kat, my hotel roommate and hometown troupe mate, had wine in the room, so I called Jimmy Johns for some room service, to get ready to roll for Friday morning to learn about costuming from Mira Betz.

Yeah, Mira Betz!! I took the most notes there. We all brought costumes we had made which she then used as examples, and was kind enough to let us touch some of hers. This sounds silly, or perhaps overly worshipful, but I assure you I am a hands-on learner and needed to touch examples to understand. We also observed while she pointed the issues and fit of a regular base bra, on a participant willing to take off her shirt and be observed by 30 women who wanted to learn about bra fit. Biggest take-away: costumes are not meant to be comfortable.

(Underlying lesson throughout the gathering was that we're all beautiful. I know, woo woo, but it's an important lesson. All kinds of bellies were out. I still like a nice long t-shirt, though.) Mira's point was more along the lines of, make your stuff look its best, and you don't need to hang a bunch of fabric and metal on it unless you want to, or it means something to you.

Kami Liddle is my new favorite dancer. I know, I'm late to the game (as usual). I took 2 workshops from her, and found her to be charming and helpful. Can I layer 3 moves at once? Uh, not yet. But I'm going to be dancing every day (see above!) so it could totally happen. She pointed out that not every audience can comprehend or appreciate too many moves at once. I think I am most in love with her hand movements.

And again with the Rachel Brice! I took 2 workshops from her as well. I even worked up the nerve to ask her about my low back grinding sensations when I do a Maya. (She said she has the same thing, and that maybe it's because I'm holding it too flat. Yep. I'm going to try that.) I LOVE LOVE LOVE Rachel because she has the music. I wrote down everything I could, and still my notes puzzle me. I clearly heard "Turkish Freakout" as a suggestion and Two Fingers, "Fools Rhythm". Rachel also tried to tell us we were just like her, but she practices A LOT. I think that's true, she practices a lot more than I do, but I don't see myself approaching her level anytime soon. Dancer namaste, I am not falling for that one.

Donna Mejia was last year's mind blower, and her workshop this year was fantastic as well. I love how stern she is with us, and that she thanks us for lowering our shoulders, or invites us to take steps across the floor. I know that doesn't sound stern, but there's a real authority emanating from her. And she has got a great playlist, too. Last year I took a picture of her playlist from her laptop, but I fear that picture was lost with the technology thefts of my last 6 months.

Shows! The Participant Showcase was a wild ride, as always. Many, many troupes. Lots of beige costuming. At least 20 swords. Move. Hold. Next move. Faux dreads. We're not ready.

But Carrie was amazing! Carrie was my first tribal teacher, and I have always loved her dancing. Sparkly, elegant costume and I always enjoy watching her face as she dances.

The Gala Show was super amazing, despite being unable to see anyone's feet because I was so far back in the hall. I am having trouble even trying to describe it. Highlights were Kami Liddle and Mira Betz for me, and I loved watching the flamenco numbers.

If I had it to do all over again, I would have taken a workshop from Tempest, and a dance workshop from Mira Betz. I would have bought some dance capris and even more jewelry and costume items. I would have avoided the Dan Ryan. I would have had dinner in Chicago on Thursday night. I would have pulled up my tank top and showed my belly. I would have taken more pictures. But I hope that's what I can do next year.

Revolution revelations

I've just returned from Tribal Revolution with a new idol and attitude. I learned a lot. I loved a lot! I now mangle sentences and cliches just trying to relay how much I freaking loved it.

Lesson 1. I drove to Chicago (well, past Chicago) by myself for the first time since the early 00s. Now, we have the benefit of GPS, but I was proud of myself nonetheless. I do not want to get stuck in one place.

Idol 1: Rachel Brice Serpentine Scales was my first workshop. First of all, she's adorable and an amazing dancer. Is it fair that she's also hilarious and smart? No, but that's how the world works, sisters, so get up offa that wall. There were a lot of amazing concepts to absorb, from the 90 / 90 principle (practice something 90x a day for 90 days and it's yours forever) and the whole idea of playing your dancing "scales" on a regular basis, to her cool and unusual footwork and drills. Plus, yoga. I miss good yoga instruction. We even took a picture with her afterward! That's my sometimes dance collaborator and hotel roommate Michelle on the right. I am wearing my new beloved Girl Walk // All Day inspired scarf.

Next: Elizabeth Strong. She was teaching Upper Egyptian Fusion, which included geography, history, culture, and duh, dancing. I knew a lot of the dance moves from studying with Joette, but I am ashamed to say I did not know as much of the culture / history / geography as I should. Revelation 1:  it would be good to be a well-informed and articulate speaker, as well as dancer.

New Idol: Donna Mejia. Her class was called Le Funk Araby, which I was attracted to for the promise of new playlists. But there was so much more! It was kind of a hip hop / pop and lock dance style, which means I am quite thankful there were no mirrors in the conference center to reflect my clueless-ness. For example, see this:

There's a long intro, skip to 2:15. I wore my wow face during her entire performance. She stopped time and held it at 5:40. And then sped it up at 7:15. How can a human do this? She can't. She's a goddess.

So, 3 classes in one day was a lot of dancing.... The next day I only had 2 classes.

Idolatress Extraordinaire: Tempest. I've taken a workshop with her before. Heck, I may have already heard some of this before. But it's an excellent reminder. Revelation 2: We are dancing to tell a story. It's not about looking sexy. (Also, Revelation 3: very sage belly advice - that avoiding performance until your belly looks the way you think it should is really just avoiding performance.) We did an exercise where we improvised to music and then told the group what we were imagining. I was kind of annoyed that my brain went into Hollywood pitch mode, "Goddess surveys the destruction of war in Sarajevo, meets cute boy. Scene!" whereas others had more details, or at least said them out loud. But I realized that I had used a similar approach (at least in my own head) when I was choreographing with Julee and Michelle for our trio at the Greek Fest, and that made me feel better.

Then, the athletic workout of Asharah! Seriously, two hours of shimmying on releve'. Ouch. But awesome ouch. I thought I had lost my shimmy, thanks to running and the IT band. But no, you can use your glutes. Thank goodness, as I reputedly have lots of glutes.

There were two shows. Friday night we saw our local tribal school dance (Boheme), which  was cool, and Saturday was the big gala craziness where Donna Mejia removed my brains and scrambled them, Tempest charmed them, and then Rachel Brice messed with the time-space continuum again and everyone was really awesome actually until Unmata killed me with this (again, from Tribal Fest, so different stage and audience, same performance). It's long and loud.

I know there's a lot of links here. But I want to share! It's an awesome world out there.

Lesson 2: Keep in touch. I had meals with some new friends, and some old friends, and it felt natural. No need to stress. Give love, get love, platitudes can be right.

I am sure the next 51 weekends will not compare, so I want to remember these things. I want to practice them. Happy half-year and summer.



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