the choreography project for middle eastern dance austin ... · is great at getting the best out of...

SEPTEMBER 2010

Published by the Austin Belly Dance Association, Editor M’lilah barAbba ENTERTAINMENT SECTION – Supplemental for Choreography Project

The Choreography Project for Middle Eastern Dance Austin, Texas

6th Annual Troupe Competition - Saturday, July 31, 2010! Various Comments and Short Articles – Bylines indicate Author or Photographer

Written by ‘Lyzabyth (Center) (Member of Desert Passion Middle Eastern Dance Company – Buda)

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all levels.

The entire weekend of The Austin Troupe Competition was fabulous. There are so many experiences to reflect upon and hold onto. The performance night was a wonderful thing unto itself, but today I want to focus on my time with Dalia Carella. I met Miss Carella Saturday morning for her second Austin workshop (Dalia taught us her choreography to Ghannali by Grace Deeb. The workshop held at Eternal Way, 1122 South Lamar, Austin, Texas was very well attended. The room was crammed full of excited dancers ready to work hard and learn all they could from Dalia. This was one of the largest workshops I’ve been to but Dalia was extremely attentive to all of students. She often had us make a circle around her in two rows so she and her teaching assistant, Amantha, could demonstrate from the middle. She was clear and focused. Dalia was able to challthe experienced dancers who could

grasp it all quickly and were ready for more, as well as work with the less experienced dancers who needed more explanation. It was awesome. Being a fairly new devotee of belly dance I appreciated her ability to connect with dancers of What I really felt and learned from Dalia was respect. The reverence she has for dance pours out of her. She tried to give us a little taste of what dance classes in New York were like. But although she has this amazing reputation, that is completely deserved, she was humble as well as regal. I think that is making her sound a little serious, she is seriously passionate about dancing and teaching, but this woman loves to have a good time! She kept us laughing while she kept us working. She did it all, and taught us the whole choreography in two and a half hours. Some of her great words of advice were “don’t panic” and “kill it!” You can tell that she loves teaching, she is a wonderful educator who is great at getting the best out of dancers.

Published for the Austin Belly Dance Association, September 2010, ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

Saturday night we were blessed to have Miss Carella perform a solo at the Troupe Competition. (R by M’lilah) I was lucky to sneak in and see her from the back of the theatre. I was really impressed. Her dance was a lively Turkish Roman piece which showed her personality, her knowledge and her mastery of her art. I was so taken by her ability to connect with the audience. I was at the very back, not even in a seat and I felt like she was looking at me and dancing to my heart. I ask her about her ability to reach her audience and she told me that she has had that quality since she was a child. She said that the stage is her home.

Sunday morning we got back to work after the excitement of the show the night before. Dalia told us what a pleasure it was to see the whole show Saturday night since she is normally on stage or back stage for most of her performances. She also mentioned that it was difficult deciding which of her pieces to choose since she performs seven different styles and was only doing one dance that night! Sunday Dalia taught a class on Arabica/Latino style, it was a fusion of Arabic, Latin Caribbean, Salsa and Mambo. This workshop was also very well attended, but not bursting at the seams like Saturday morning. Dalia worked with us on combinations, taken from Salsa, Samba, afro-Caribbean, ballroom, and Mambo styles. After a great warm up she had us break into four lines and move across the floor, drilling the combos. She again brought a little New York to us as she explained some basic classroom etiquette. She also brought home that sentiment of respect for our art form and fellow dancers. She said if you came in with an attitude you could take it right on back out the door! She talked to us about the fusing of styles, saying that both of the styles need to be well understood and represented in order to keep the integrity of each. She illustrated this by telling us that she has studied flamenco for many years but still shows her instructor her flamenco fusion pieces before performing them, to be certain that they are properly representing the flamenco style. As serious as she is about losing the attitude and keeping integrity, Sunday’s workshop was all about having fun. She wanted us to let go and have a good time, saying we needed to enjoy our time together. In this relaxed atmosphere we worked across the floor, learning several combinations. Dalia would pull girls out of line to show things she liked and have them show the rest of us. She praised individuality and having the right feeling of the styles. The music we danced to was from the CD “los Niños de Sara”. Dalia also suggested Baila Habibi # 3, Hossam Ramzy’s Vol. 1, 2, 3 of Flamenco Arabe and Alabina. It was an honor to study with Miss Carella and I am sure all who attended feel the same way. A huge thank you to Dalia Carella, Amantha, and Z-Helene, Rick and their team for bringing us such a fantastic workshop and competition

What I Learned By Competing in Z-Helene's Troupe Competition 2010 by Lori of the Damali Troupe


Z-Helene has been running a troupe competition for several years, almost as long as I've been dreaming of Damali entering it. The end of July date has been difficult for us, as is contemplating going up against the likes of Sa’diyya's Danza Della Luna and Austin's Typsy Gypsys. This year I convinced my troupe member Leeza to join me in a duet. We had fun and as usual, I learned a lot.

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of even more interesting changes we could have made.

The first question every troupe must answer is whether to dance from the current repertoire or create a special choreography for the competition. Since choreography is a third of the score, you want to have something with pizazz and substance. We chose from dances we already knew, but had to rework some sections since we didn't have the whole troupe there. I believe that in reviewing the existing choreography that we didn't have to learn from scratc

we were able to find areas that needed sprucing up and enriching. Specifically, we added level changes and more complex arms work to our number. And as usual, about an hour after the show I thought The two other areas of scoring are technical execution and presentation. Because we were refining stuff we already had learned, we were able to pay attention to technical execution, but we could have done more. We should have either filmed ourselves or had some troupe members spot us and point the areas we needed to tighten up. Well, when the DVDs come out, I'll be able to do that myself, I guess. Presentation always has an element of luck to it- are you 'up' and 'on' the evening of the show, physically and emotionally? Anyone who's ever gotten her period the day of a big performance knows all about this, but there are other things that can knock you down or build you up. I'm thinking the best way to approach it is to really embrace the thrill and feedback of performing live. Some people have this naturally; others of us may get stage fright. I'm working on feeling the support and interaction with the audience and letting it shine through me. (Again, let's wait for the video before calling that successful). Aside from the actual dancing, I learned from watching my competitors. When you're not competing, it's just another pretty show that you can sit back and enjoy. But when you're thinking about gathering all the points you can, you watch to see how others are doing and see things that you should have done yourself. Specifically, I could have used the stage area better and moved around more. I could have added more surprises and personality into the choreography. Oh well. Wait till next year.... Editor’s Comment: The judges thought they did it right though – placing 2nd in the Duet Category.

Two Gems of Wisdom from the July Choreography Project Workshops by Lori of the Damali Troupe

The main reason I go to workshops is to be exposed to the dance philosophy of the well-known and successful dance teachers that come visit us here in Austin. Here are two gems I gained from the Austin Troupe Competition’s workshops.

The morning workshop was taught by Dalia Carella of New York City. She made the point that when you're dancing on a stage, your feet matter. If you're dancing at the same level as people on a dance floor or among tables, the observers don’t focus on your feet; they can't really see your feet. But up on a stage, the overall body line is easy to see and you must finish it off all the way down to the toes. Dalia credits her strong dance background with providing the focus and training for her feet, but belly dancers who are coming from the pure folk/ethnic training need to learn it deliberately if they're going to perform on stage. (I found this especially interesting because when I asked Sonya for one thing that would improve my Jukebox performance, done on the raised Dougherty stage, and she said “point your toes.” (Sonya has classical dance training!)


The afternoon session was led by Shakira Massood Ali from Sirrom Schools in Houston. Because she had a troupe competing, many of her dancers were in the workshop sessions, all wearing black tee shirts with striking green cat eyes over the

breasts and “Keep Your Eyes Open” printed on the back. She explained, “I have to keep telling my students to lift their chests and keep their shoulders back. I can't yell 'stick your tits out' in class, so I say 'keep your eyes open'.” Good posture makes all the difference in a performance, and many people today don't learn what that is, exactly. This is another area where I need to improve- I wish she were selling those shirts. They were cute and I need the reminder.

HOW TO OBTAIN A DVD ! (Whole Show minus Dalia Carella’s solo)

Write a $20.00 check to Rick Fink and snail mail it to: Richard Fink 2403 Stevens Cove Austin, TX 78723 Also, the photographer at the Competition, Rick McMaster, says he got over 400 pictures of the performance. If you want to see and use them (no watermarks!) email him at [email protected] and he will send you a link to his Flickr photostream.

mailto:[email protected]


There were 14 different entries listed on the Program –a really long show ! ThKate Warren, Shakira Massood Ali and Dalia Carella. They graded the participants on Choreography Concepts, Technical Expertise, andOverall Presentation. The

e judges for the event were (L-R Picture by M’lilah) Tambra,

numbers were divided into 4 categories…..Duet (2), Small

$$$$$

any, many “Thank Yous” go out to Z & Rick (and all the rest of l.

ditor’s Comments: To simplify this, first there are 2 pictures of each group’s performance, and then the “winners” are treated

For the Duet Category – Act 1 – Sonya & Celeste (picture by M’lilah)

Troupes (3-4), Medium Troupes (4-7) and Large Troupes (7+ members) plus a “Best Overall Category” – and there were 3 winning places in each category….and this time the prize was Mtheir assistants) for all their hard work to make this show so specia

Eseparately at the end.

For the Duet Category – Act 1 – Damali (Lori & Leeza) (pictures by Rick McMaster)

For the Duet Category – Act 2 – Chthonique, with Pat Taylor (Clo-aq'a al-misr) & Kiki de Montparnasse (pictures by M’lilah)


For the Duet Category – Act 2 – ‘Lzyabyth & Diya (Desert Passion) (L pic by McMaster – R pic by M’lilah)

For the Small Troupe Category – Act 1 – DPMED Company – Fire of Anatolia (Drakon, Diya & ‘Lyzabyth) (pictures by M’lilah)

For the Small Troupe Category – Act 2 – Typsy Gypsys (Liora, Sahhira & Sonya) (L pic by M’lilah R pic by Rick McMaster)

For the Small Troupe Category – Act 2 – Desert Jewels (L picture by Rick McMaster R picture by M’lilah)

For the Medium Troupe Category – Act 1 – Solange (pictures by M’lilah)


For the Medium Troupe Category –


Act 2 - Danza Della Luna (pictures by M’lilah)

For the Medium Troupe Category – Act 2 - Sabaya (L picture by Rick McMaster R picture by M’lilah)

V

eiled Intentions (pictures by M’lilah)For the Large Troupe Category – Act 1 -

For the Large Troupe Category – Act 1 - Ameelah’s Sapphires and Jewels (pictures by M’lilah)

For the Large Troupe Category – Act 1 - Dan Mar (pictures by M’lilah)

For the Large Troupe Category – Act 2 - Texas Gypsys (pictures by M’lilah)

After Act 2 we enjoyed a brief intermission and snacks – long enough to get the energy moving through various parts of our bodies ……..then our lovely Mistress of Ceremonies, Z-Helene, explained how the judging would be tabulated and how careful they were going to be to make sure there were no errors, and introduced the “Special Numbers” we had in store while the math was being done…….


Act 3 started with “Baharat” performing choreography by Najla (pictures by M’lilah)

Dalia Carella’s “teaching assistant”, Amantha (pictures by M’lilah)

Z-Helene and Rick Fink performed “live” as they always do; when her zills and his drum combine with their expressions, they create a thrilling piece of art. (Pictures by McMaster)


And every year, Z-Helene’s own troupe comes up with a “themed” performance that really “takes a prize” too ! This year it was called “Cycles” and contained tributes to the seasons and elements. This year, they were joined by Tim Padraic and Jai Kartar from Kate Warren’s School of Dance to honor the “Modern” side of dance. (all pictures by Rick McMaster except the first one on the left which was liberated from Facebook) You will have to ask Z-Helene to explain the story sometime !!


And the winners are ……..! NOTE: All captions and pictures are to be read as Top, then L then R (all by Rick McMaster) Duet Category 1st Celeste & Sonya, 2nd Lori & Leeza (Damali) and 3rd ‘Lyzabyth & Diya (Desert Passion)


Small Troupe Category - 1st Desert Jewels, 2nd Typsy Gypsys and 3rd Drakon, ‘Lyzabyth & Diya of Desert Passion ME Dance Company


Medium Troupe Category – 1st Sabaya, 2nd Danze Della Luna (DFW) & 3rd Solange (Houston)


Large Troupe Category 1st Dan Mar (Katy) , 2nd Ameelah’s Sapphires & Jewels (LA) & 3rd Texas Gypsys (Corpus)


“Best Over All”

“Best Over All”

1st Dan Mar ($500.00), 2nd Ameelah’s Sapphires & Jewels ($250.00) and 3rd Desert Jewels ($150.00)


Published for the Austin Belly Dance Association, September 2010, Page 15 ENTERTAINMENT SECTION


new touch for the Scottish Rite Theater – They closed off n entire section of the patron area (normally filled with enders) to use for a staging area. It was so much better than aving this many dancers crammed into the small back stage ressing area. Also, a snack was provided to keep the nergy up and flowing while waiting out the sound and light hecks. Great idea !

he show was a lot of fun and will be an annual event to look orward to for many more in the years to come!

nd if you want to really read the neat comments – visit

Aavhdec Tf Athem on Facebook !! Practically every participant has posted pictures and comments…..you can spend hours reading.

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