Unlike real carnie folks, we do have most of our teeth. But I think that's about where all the differences end....
We have our own language - taxseem(or however we decide to spell), maya (which is NOT a person), snake arms, figure 8s, sidewinders and body waves.
We have our own style - dreads (real and fake), tattoos (mostly real), melodias, fauxlodias, yogirts, yogirts lite (not food or LOW FAT), hip scarves, hip skirts, feathers, flowers and funky little vests. And we have our own take on 'bling' -the more, the bigger, the chunkier, the clunkier, the older - THE BETTER! Thank you Calico Gardens, Five and Diamond, Ashner by Elizabeth, Geisha Moth, Zoh'ra, Tribal Virgo, Akashawear, Red Camel and all the other vendors.
We have our own music and musicians - IL Troubadore, The Mezmer Society, Jeremy Soto, Beats Antique, Brazz Menazeri and on and on and on. We dance to Greek, Turkish, Gypsy, Romani, World, Alternative, Techno, sometimes we dance to Jazz, the Blues, Hip Hop, R&B - and if we are at an after party where we can't control the music - Country.
We converge on a small hotel in the middle of somewhere with our friends, family, and belly dance superstars and set up tribal belly dance camp for 4 days. We pack up ridiculous amounts of jewelry, practice wear, performance wear, hair bling, floral arrangements, flip flops and tricked out boots.
We flood into the registration area, getting envelopes, folders, bags, schedules and updates. We slowly meander through each vending area while meeting up with our friends from different cities as far as Fort Worth, Texas and San Francisco California. We catch up on 'real' life and 'belly dance' life - slightly envious of those where 'real and belly' are the same.
Months earlier we signed up for lessons with some of the best in our business - Amel Tatsout, Rachel Brice, Heather Stants, Tempest, Onca, Jeremy Soto, Shay Moore, etc - to learn their secrets and lessons - because for the life of us -we are inspired and aspire to be as breathtaking or show stopping or innovative or just as good as they are. We file into their classes with yoga mats, notebooks, pens, water jugs, melodias, hip wear, and tank tops from all our previous events (Midwest Tribal Mafia represented almost every day!). And as we learn our teachers version and vision of the hip drop, shimmy, chest slide, lift, rotate, and pop in some new variation - we remember again and again why we LOVE this dance, why we love this environment, why we come to this event.
And then the performances start. Friday night hafla night is for the non-teaching performers. Anyone with two legs (or one leg and a lot of ambition) can apply to be in the hafla. My student troupe, Legacy, performed. I was nervous for them, but they performed like champions. Local troupes that I knew and never knew rocked it. I performed my solo at 11:42pm - more on that later. And then of course, we partied until the hotel put us out.
Saturday night Gala show is for the teachers and non-teaching special guests. And then our superstars reminded us again of why we do this. Thank you again Amel, Heather, Rachel, Urban Gypsy, Eliza, Kelly, Taramind, Elizabeth (Ashner), Blue Lotus Tribe, Mezmer Society, IL Troubadore, Amirah, Tempest and more.
Hipnotic was invited because we have supported this event from its infancy. And in honor of our hosts, we concocted this mash up of music and choreography from the previous years. We titled the song: When I lose my buttons, it's a wicked lil quest - which included Santa Maria, When I Grow Up, Buttons, Lose Yourself, Wikked Lil Girls, and Endless Quest. It was quite the collage.
We also debuted our newest invention with fellow long time supporters, Rakhshanda - named Rahknotic :) - we merged, blended, and fashioned a choreography piece complimenting each troupe. It was fantastic. And when it was over, of course, a lot of us partied until almost 4 or 5am into Sunday. Knowing this is the last time until the next event that we can get together like this. So we drank and danced and danced and drank - we laughed, told dirty jokes, silly stories, learned circle folk dances and stepped on each others toes.
Sunday came too soon. We packed away our fake dreads, half lettuce size roses with glitter and feathers, fake eyelashes, body glitter, giant necklaces, hip wear, cup size earrings, plate sized rings and tricked out boots. We rolled into our last few classes freshly showered, glassy eyed, wearing old eye make up and venti sized coffee mugs like the newest accessories. We get in our last minute purchases, hug and kiss our good byes, praise our teachers again and again, wave our promises of messaging, emailing and keeping in touch. We are exhausted - and so are our checkbooks. We check out of our rooms, pile into our cars and head back to our respective lives....and we wait for news of the next circus event.
And this is why I want to join the circus - and why I will be teaching at the original Circus - Tribal Fest in 2012.
Thank you, Blue Lotus Tribe - I appreciate you.
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