Tribal Happenings, GC in SF & Sashi Interview 2011

Tribal Corner
Tribal happenings plus Devi talks to Sashi

Bellydance Oasis Issue 42. 2011

TRIBAL HAPPENINGS HERE THERE & EVERYWHERE & AN INTERVIEW WITH SASHI.

Since I caught up with you last I have been all over the place, literally from one part of the globe and back again. It has been very exciting and tiring all at the same time but of course I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

In April I was asked to return to Belgium and this time I was also invited to Germany as well. My trip started in Germany where I was welcomed by Gabriele Keiner who has been dancing and teaching for many decades. It would seem that she is one of the first Tribal dancers in Germany. Gabriele of course has her own troupe Neas Tribal but also spends almost every weekend traveling all over Germany teaching regular workshops. As you all know Germany is way smaller than Australia and there fore they have a different view on travel. For us an hour or even two hours to travel for a weekend workshop is fine but it’s just unheard of in Germany! For this reason Gabriele gives up almost every weekend for dance. Now that’s dedication for you!

My workshops in Germany were very well attended with participants from all over Germany {yes they traveled!}, France and Finland. The ladies were all so lovely, most of which could speak English and for those that couldn’t we managed to get many a good belly laugh in anyhow. All the ladies seemed to have a good grounding in ATS, which is what they had asked me to mainly focus on. ATS has been around Germany for some time now with quite a few troupes sprinkled through out the country, largely due to Gabriele’s dedication in traveling and tutoring all the up coming dancers.

One of the highlights for me on my German trip was hanging with Gabriele and Jane from Berlin watching DVD footage of big dance events that the German dancers have put on. Wow! Do they know how to put on a show! Not only was there a great stage, lighting and sound but they have some fabulous talent in a variety of different belly dance styles over there. Another highlight was when the girls took me to a Chinese restaurant {because of my love of Asian food} and hearing a Chinese waitress speak German in a Chinese accent! How awesome is that! That’s something you don’t hear everyday in Australia.

After it was all over in Germany Hannele {my Belgium sponsor} and I drove to Belgium, again, nothing by Aussie standards, {3 hours or so} but for the Europeans it’s a whole other Country away, literally! My week in Belgium was nice and cruisy in that my workshops were spread out through out the week and just in the evenings and then the weekend. This gave me an opportunity to explore the city of Liege a little more which was nice. The weekday workshops were a little slower which is to be expected but we still had attendees from Barcelona, Norway, Poland, Finland, France & Germany and during the weekend the ladies from the U.K came along. It was lovely to meet all the new faces as well as see some familiar faces of dances that came to my last trip to Belgium. It was also lovely to catch up with Gudrun Herold, a lovely German tribal dancer who was based in N.Z for many years that had come to a number of my workshops down there. All in all it was a very successful trip. I met many wonderful dancers and made new friends. The whole of Europe as far as I could tell seems to really support each others events which was lovely and each workshop felt like a reunion as many knew each other and were happy to be connected again. I was glad to be the glue that made this happen for them. I am already in planning mode for my European tour in November 2012 which will include more countries again. I will be in Norway, Belgium, Germany and maybe Poland. If you would like to come along please contact Hannele @ [email protected]

So I get off the plane and have only a matter of days to rehearse both my student troupes Ghaziya and Ghawazi Girls as well as rehearse myself with Ghawazi Caravan before the Sydney Middle Eastern Dance Festival. I had a great time at my workshop which was on Ghawazi Caravan formations and then straight into the Saturday night concert. What a show it was! I must admit that when Leonie first changed the venue a few years back from The Enmore Theater to The Hurlston Park RSL I was a little concerned. “It’s an RSL!” I thought to myself. But how wrong was I?! Great stage with amazing lighting and sound, lots of room for the audience, parking, drinks and food at the bar! What more do you need? Well a great show of course and that it was. I really think the show just keeps on getting better every year. There was lots of Variety and something to suit everyone’s taste. Sunday was a fun and relaxed day as always watching all the performances and shopping. So even through my jet lagged haze I did get to enjoy the weekend.

A few weekends after that I taught for Maya Sheridan of Dance Studio 101 in Sydney. Maya is a versatile performer and choreographer with experience in jazz, Ballet, Tap and Contemporary and has performed at the Opera House as well as starring in the So You Think You Can Dance advertisements. Maya would like me to teach workshops at her studio through out the year so if you are interested in coming along please contact her @ [email protected]

So my next big trip for the year was San Fransico yet again. This time it was myself & 4 other Ghawazi’s that came along. We still had 6 Ghawazi’s remain at home as our San Fransico trip coincided with the Annual Blue Mountains event Winter Magic Festival. This is a big event for us every year and it was the first time I had missed it since 1997!

The day after I arrived in San Francisco we were straight into production for the next FCBD DVD Anatomy of a step where I present 9 of my steps into the FCBD format. Also featuring on the new DVD will be Jennifer Nolan from Tamarind Tribal based in Milwaukee and some of her troupe members as well as Megha and Devyani again and of course Carolena and Fat Chance Belly Dance. It will be a jam packed DVD for sure and I can’t wait to see the final product. There are so many new steps and combinations as well as formations and variations of pre existing steps.

Of course we weren’t there just for the filming of the DVD. We were also there for Carolena’s annual production, Devotion. We were very privileged to share a stage not just with Carolena and FCBD but also Megha and Devyani Dance Company, Teresa Tomb and Rakadu Gypsy, Elizabeth Strong, Colleena Shakti and music by the fabulous Helm! Now how amazing was that?! Each group had to present 2 to 3 pieces so it was a very well rounded show with plenty of variety, both dance wise and musically.

The theme for this year was The Home. The opening number was FCBD dancing as if they were Carolena’s furniture in her lounge room! Sounds odd I know, and I did have my doubts but it REALLY worked! They were table and chairs and even 2 tall lamps. In dances Carolena, happy to be home from her many travels and goes about fixing this and that in her home. From there every act would stay on stage after they had finished and be greeted by the previous group. An offering of tea or a comfy seat was made and the next troupe would stay to watch the next performance…in Carolena’s lounge room. The theme home was apt as San Fransico is the home of Tribal belly dance and for me personally as well as The Julia Morgan Theater is in Berkley and this is where I was born.

The whole experience was fantastic and ran like clockwork. Even our one and only 2 hour rehearsal with Helm ran so smoothly we had nailed everything in half an hour. They were lovely to work with and it was so nice to be able to dance live to the musicians that we had danced to on CD to for so many years.

So in between all of that was of course “Devotion Week” at the FCBD studio where many of the performers of Devotion taught workshops at the studio. Elizabeth Strong presented Turkish Romany dance, Colleena presented “Gooma” which is a folkloric style from India and heaps of fun. Colleena even had us singing! I also taught my 9 steps presented on the DVD and it was packed! So many dancers had come from all over America and even Japan just to attend the show and the workshops on that week. It was lovely to see many familiar faces including Melbourne dancer Giselle Sibyl who seems to be spending a lot of time in the states dancing these days. The full on week was finished off with a 17hr {yes that’s not a typo!} day of filming for the DVD at the studio in 35 degree heat! It was a tough day but not a one complaint from dancers or film crew and we still managed to be laughing at the end of it all.

My 2nd week in San Fransico was spent with my Dad who is based in San Fransico which was a lovely week spent together and then off home but not before doing a kick %(&^% workshop with Zoey Jakes. Now that was fun!

So I was home for about 10 days before heading off to Adelaide with my ever lovely talented assistant {don’t know how I’d work a computer without her}, fellow Ghawazi member, dear friend and neighbor Cristie Fuller. This was once again sponsored by the lovely Achushla Mkrtshjan. Cristie and I presented my Drills & Individual Critique Level 1 course. This is a course that has 4 levels all up and is basically like a semi private. We go through ABSOLUTLY EVERYTHING to do with ATS and then more on specific Ghawazi Caravan staples. We look at the ins and outs and in particular the “little nuances” of each step that turns it from just a step into a dance step. After we have talked through each movement the students drill with Cristie. I sit behind and take notes which I later compile and email to each participant. I give a breakdown of their strong and weak points as well as tips and ideas of where and how they can improve their ATS dancing. The ladies that attended were really up for it and all agreed that it wasn’t even nearly as scarey as they thought it would be!

After the intense level 1 D & IC we had some fun with workshop on new and inventive things to do with ATS that we learnt on our San Francisco tour as well as sharing with the ladies some of my brand new Oriental/Tribal and Flamenco/Tribal combos. What a great way to end the weekend.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. Would love to hear what you have all been up to so please drop me a line and get your mug in Oasis! www.ghawazicaravan.com or [email protected] .

So now we talk to the absolutely delightful Sashi who I had the pleasure of meeting in July 2010 when she was here on her first Australia tour. We are hoping she will come back really soon.

Sashi Interview

  1. If you weren’t a dancer, what do you believe you’ll be doing right now?

If I wasn’t a dancer, I would be working full-time in private practice as a psychotherapist because that’s what I’m trained to do for a living. I specialize in death and dying, catastrophic illness and loss, chronic illness and pain, polyamory and alternative lifestyles, GLBTQ, disability and learning.

  1. Do you work only as a dancer or do you work in another area?

At this time, I work in the school system as an educational psychologist specializing in helping children with all types of disability function in the public education system. I also handle crisis intervention.

  1. Do you think that you life before dance is different than it is now?

I definitely think that my life is different since dance came into it for many reasons. The most important reason is because the dance came into my life at a time when I was suffering from a lot of residual physical disabilities from being paralyzed as a teenager. As a teenager, I was struck with encephalitis, meningitis and Guillian Barre syndrome and was not expected to live. I survived these illnesses but still had many problems with rehabilitating proper use of muscular control and the sending of messages from the brain to the body and back again. Dance gave me an opportunity to reteach my brain from a different starting point which turned out to be most helpful thing I could’ve done. So because movement is so precious to me, every time I move, I’m reminded on all levels, conscious and unconscious, of where my starting point was, could’ve been, and actually is right now. And that makes me undeniably reverent to the true spirit of the dance and not just the physical accomplishments.

“The actual ability to move, having been something that I almost lost as well is my life, is completely sacred to me and something I honor, cherish, and never take for granted. I dance because I can dance. I dance because when I move I feel my connection to life. I feel a sense of accomplishment that moves beyond just learning a technique, movements in sequence, and coordination with music. That sense of accomplishment is about overcoming my obstacles, never saying defeat, never thinking of myself as unable, and never letting those days when my body is having a hard time get me down and forced me to quit.” – Sashi

  1. Do you think that you life before dance is different than it is now?

I definitely think that my life is different since dance came into it for many reasons. The most important reason is because the dance came into my life at a time when I was suffering from a lot of residual physical disabilities from being paralyzed as a teenager. As a teenager, I was struck with encephalitis, meningitis and Guillian Barre syndrome and was not expected to live. I survived these illnesses but still had many problems with rehabilitating proper use of muscular control and the sending of messages from the brain to the body and back again. Dance gave me an opportunity to reteach my brain from a different starting point which turned out to be most helpful thing I could’ve done. So because movement is so precious to me, every time I move, I’m reminded on all levels, conscious and unconscious, of where my starting point was, could’ve been, and actually is right now. And that makes me undeniably reverent to the true spirit of the dance and not just the physical accomplishments.

  1. What are you currently working on and what are your upcoming projects?

Right now, I continue to teach in Southern California, tour the world doing workshops and performances, produce my Dark Fusion Bellydance Festival Gothla US and run my production company Ascend Tribal Dance Productions. In the future, I will be working on projects on the East Coast of the United States in combination with other well-known performers and will continue to tour the world. I will also be starting online classes so that people who are not in my immediate area can have access to my teaching style. In July of 2011, I will be teaching and performing at Gothla UK and in August of 2011, I will be performing in New Zealand. And…ssshhhhh…guess who may be returning to Australia soon? Oh yeah! Yes, yes, new things are in the works with the Aussies! Stay tuned!

  1. What do you love to see in people who work with art?

I love to see people who work with art who are truly able to engage in their medium for the sheer enjoyment of what they do and not for the sake of outside recognition, need to change other people’s minds, need to fulfill something missing within themselves, or malicious intent. There is something so special about being able to tap into the creative flow inside oneself and it’s amazing to see another artist cultivate that and share it with the world.

Tell us about your costuming inspirations.

In relation to the character I am portraying in my dance, I usually create a concept then create a costume around that character’s storyline. Many people ask me about my blue winged corsets and detachable wings. I have always loved the motif of wings and mystical beings and grew up idealizing artists such as Luis Royo, Borris Vallejo and Michael Parkes who depicted strong, sensual powerful women in their pieces. I’ve sought to bring my fantasies to reality through the characters in my dance and their costuming.

  1. Tribal, Tribal Fusion, ATS, ITS, Burlesque, Gothic… How do you define your personal dance style?

My personal dance style, Dark Fusion Bellydance, is my own blend of my experiences throughout my dance education. It is a mixture of my dance training in Egyptian. Lebanese and folkloric cabaret style bellydance, American tribal style, tribal fusion, Gothic tribal fusion, African Haitian, West African in combination with theatrical dance styles and theater arts techniques I have studied throughout the years. With that said however, I believe what makes my personal style unique is that I do bring a “spirit” to my dance that stems directly from my reverence and joy for being able to actually move and be alive

  1. An important person(s) in your life would be… And why?

Equally important people in my life would be my spouses and New Zealand and Australian families who embrace my art form with love and joy and enthusiasm that envelops me and carries me through any storm in every way all of the time. They take joy in watching me create and express my Spirit of the dance and offer on ending amounts of support, on all levels in ways I never imagined I could ever know. I am very grateful to have these people in my life.

8-What do you like most about dancing in public?

I love dancing for a public audience whether it is one or many. The transforming experience of sharing the energy I feel while dancing, transmitting it to others and having it reciprocated back to me is truly amazing. It is the physical embodiment of the reverence I feel about my ability to move, be alive and dance. It humbles me.

10-   Why do you dance?

As I mentioned above, the actual ability to move having been something that I almost lost as well is my life is completely sacred to me and something I honor, cherish, and never take for granted. I dance because I can dance. A dance because when I move I feel my connection to life. I feel a sense of accomplishment that moves beyond just learning a technique, movements in sequence, and coordination with music. That sense of accomplishment is about overcoming my obstacles, never saying defeat, never thinking of myself as unable, and never letting those days when my body is having a hard time get me down and forced me to quit. While my disabilities have shown me the concrete reality of my limitations they have also helped me see the mile markers of my growth and the sense of balance. There’s a way in which a physical limitation is only just an obstacle is there many ways around one thing lying in your path. Disability helps one realize that there are far more roads to travel than just the straight path in front of you. Dance is one of my favorite paths around my limitations that is exactly why I dance.

 11- You were featured in Dani Graczyk’s (UMBRA Theatrical Gothic bellydance)

EVERNIGHT “2” show and workshops in July 2011 in Australia! Tell us about that experience

Wow, where do I start? I had such a wonderful experience with this show and workshops! I think the most overwhelmingly impressive aspect of this event is the people who run it and the dance community that supports it. Dani and her girls are so kind, warm, loving and genuine which makes working with them such a delight. I felt so at home, especially because of the way that they approach the dance with reverence and the idea that the dance belongs to everyone. The show was packed with rich characters and dynamic themes. I had a chance to meet many Aussie superstar dancers such as Devi Mamak. It was so entertaining to watch let alone perform in. And the enthusiasm of the students in the workshops was inspiring as well. The Evernight Show and Festival is a gem among gems in the world of bellydance festivals that I would suggest to anyone anytime.

Sashi & Ascend Tribal Dance Productions
Instructor/Performer/Producer
www.ascendtribaldance.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ascend-Tribal-Dance
http://www.myspace.com/sashiascendtribal