tried by 5 over 4

Don't ask me what the heck the entry title means. It's just is. And it happens to be one of Tim Barsky's most memorable songs. Evah.

Tim Barsky's a one-of-a-kind flutist/beat-boxer/clown circus/all around guy. Apparently, he just wrapped a production in San Francisco that was in January and February. 2010. So I was late by a year. And I realized it after spending 20 minutes frantically figuring out where his production took place. Can I get a DUNCE hat, please?

Anyway, I was introduced to Tim Barsky's song (not the guy himself, although I'd be floored if I got introduced to him... One day) called "Tried by 5 Over 4" in this FCBD video below.

The dances started out with an upbeat music that the transition to a rather slow and, dare I say, emotional song was just electrifying, to say the least. The first time I heard this song and Ms. Nericcio's solo interpretation of it, I cried. There's something about that lady that just grabs your attention. She's just so fixating. Can I say that? I'm flunking over GMAT and GRE English classes, so I'm not quite sure about that word. But I know that my sight is completed glued on Ms. Nericcio. She has that commanding energy around her that just blazes out and radiates to the entire room. And to think that she did all that when barely moving or, as Orientals would prefer it, showing stage presence by travelling all over the stage. I guess Ms. Nericcio's arms are enough. Just one lift, one arc, and her energy is visible.

So today was the third private session with Ms. Lalwani. And I was almost overloaded with information. Who knew that dancing could be so hard? Well, I had some ideas when I first watched Tribal Basics volumes 5 through seven. And then new things were being introduced at FCBD's Youtube videos.

In the private session, we did all those. Or, well, I attempted to absorb all that new information. We began with fast moves and moved on to slower ones. During the slow-move drills, Ms. Lalwani introduced something that took me a long time to understand: dancing while facing each other.

It's not really a mirroring thing. It's more of a parallel kind of dancing. During the Reach and Sit with Pivot, when Ms. Lalwani turned to the left (her left), I turned to her left too (my right). I know. I can't even read maps.

And then there was the Arabic Orbit (I love this one! And finally nailing this move is just so fantastic!) and passes with: Chico Four Corners (fast moves!) and Barrel Turn, Wrap Around Turn, Camel Walk (slow moves). These passes are admittedly fun to do, but ya know... I might need a year to really understand them. They're just so effing hard! They look good up on stage too. It shows the skills of the dancers. But... Well... They're challenging. Ms. Lalwani's so forgiving, though. But yours truly here is a perfectionist.

Now, a little note that I'd like to share. It's really abstract but it struck a chord with me as I was chatting with Ms. Lalwani. We were discussing about manners in the class. Here are some manners that I think should be adhered to in a dance class:

1. Be on time
2. Set your cellphones on silent (not even vibrating) mode and put them in the locker or in your bag where you can't see it. If you have something more important to do than a dance class, don't come into class.
3. When a teacher is in the room, do not try to explain (or discuss) a move to (or with) a friend(s) who do(es)n't understand. Tell the friend to ask the teacher directly. It's not just downright rude, you also might not know how to do the move correctly.
4. When a teacher is in the room, do what the teacher asks you to do. If you'd like to create a class on your own, do not come into the class you're taking as a student.
5. Breaks are for drinking, not for checking messages on your CrackBlackBerry, shitPhone or IdiotDroid. Or whatever gadget you have. See manner #2.
6. Don't be over the top or invinsible. When you have questions, ask. But don't overpower the rest of the class and think you're the coolest of the bunch.
7. Do not play the zills when the teacher is explaining a move.

When I open my own studio, I'll impose these manners. Yeah!

Oh, and about Tim Barsky's Tried by 5 Over 4. When we were drilling the slow moves, we used this song and I felt all emotional all of a sudden. When I went back to the hostel, the first thing I did was download the song from Amazon.com. Now that I have it, I can't stop playing it.

creative juices

Call me an amateur in web-design. Call me whatever you want. I've been designing webs and blogging since 1998. That's been what? Twelve years? But I know we can't judge skills and abilities from the period of time wasted used on doing something.

Last night when I was sorting some four friggin' thousand (that's 4,000) photos from The Dance Within 2: Beyond the Dream, I found some really neat images I could play around and voila! In less than ten hours (yes, it was that long), the new Dancewave Center's website is up and running.

The screen shot.

I live in a house with somewhat little privacy. My parents never allow the children to have television in the bedroom. The TV (and dining) room is where we all meet and talk about the day's work. Sometimes it annoys me because I really want to just watch the television.

I have a laptop and my home is wi-fi enabled so I can bring my laptop to my room and do my stuff. But I really love working with my desktop since it's faster and the monitor is bigger. My desktop is situated in an area in the house with no partition whatsoever. So sometimes the noise from the other rooms reach my ears when I'm doing something.

After years of suffering adapting to the situation, I've become quite nocturnal. I appreciate the silence and stillness of midnights and early mornings or when my family is away. Don't get me wrong, I love their companionship. I'd go crazy without them. But I also like a time of my own when I can put on my headphone and create a choreography in 30 minutes (albeit a simple one).

Ah, Amr Diab... You sexy beast! I can't believe he's 47!

This is the song I'm talking about. It was sitting in my library for months and then one night,

I was listening to it and the inspiration hit me.

It left me sweaty and breathless and my juices running like the Japanese bullet train.

I rarely blog during the day, let alone write an essay or a poem. And since night is the only time I have for myself, to reflect and to think, I didn't have the time to blog about anything in November due to the rehearsals and practices and sewing.

No, I'm not trying to make an excuse as to why I've only written ten (eleven with this one) entries up until now and 2010 is almost over! And no, I'm not trying to write something random just to make it look like I'm being productive. *sigh*

It's really... I don't know... liberating to be able to write something that's almost not related to dance in this blog.

I think now that I can focus on other things in my life (more stressful than managing a dance performance), I can write more. Hopefully tomorrow evening.

Don't forget to check out Dancewave Center's new website, guys!

dancing with lilith

I met Lilith at TribalLine.com. She was the last of the owner's stock for that period. The owner, Merilyn, was so helpful that even when I had problems with PayPal due to some technical difficulties and absurd stupidity (you don't think it was possible, do you? Well, think again), she promised to keep Lilith for me.

On 21 January 2009, I finally got her in my arms. Some tips for those living in Indonesia and expecting a really important package that you simply have to track by the minue, apart from tracking the item using the website of the delivery handler (DHL, FedEx - Merilyn used the Australian Post), you can simply go to Pos Indonesia's website and use their tracking system. It actually worked.

Actually, it was Pos Indonesia's tracking system that informed me that my package was sitting at the post office because Mom refused to pay a helluva amount of money (about USD 100) for the custom. I went to the post office that day and the next day during lunchtime to settle the bill. When I got there, it was not USD 100, it was only USD 10. Well, still a lot of money, but better than USD 100. I had no idea how it could get mixed up.

Also, when you're picking up a package at Pos Indonesia, always, ALWAYS ask for a valid receipt, with a stamp and a signature and all the works. Thanks to Anisa for this advice.

As soon as I got the then unnamed sword, I balanced it on my head, all the way while driving back to the office.

Michel Emile "Wael" Kfoury. My, my...

I have two songs in my head that I feel are perfect for sword dancing. The first one is by Wael Kfoury (such a hot, hot Lebanese hunk) entitled "Aahat". If I'm not mistaken, "Aahat" actually means "heard" in sanskrit (as opposed to "Anaahat" meaning "unheard). Ansuya uses the song for her floorwork piece in the Bellydance Superstars Live in Paris performance.

The song is only 2:55 minutes. Short yet dramatic.

The other one is a haunting number by Massive Attack, "Inertia Creeps". Now this is a very long song. I might do this one when I have enough vocabulary of movements in sword dancing and enough agility to balance the sword for about five minutes.

There are several reasons why I chose this type of sword. To be correct, it is actually a scimitar because of its shape. And based on my research, it might be the Turkish kilij. The dance community will know it as the Balady Sword, a smaller replica of the legendary Cas Hanwei sword.

I chose the kilij because it is actually affordable (unlike the Saroyan), it looks gorgeous and fierce at the same time, it gets terrific reviews, and it is available at TribalLine. TribalLine is based in Australia, a lot closer to Indonesia than the USA and it promises to send to everywhere in the world, and it has kept its promise.

"Lilith" by John Collier (1892)

Not so while ago, I christened the scimitar "Lilith". In Judaism, Lilith was Adam's first consort. However, she refused to lie underneath Adam during copulation because she believed that she is equal, not inferior to him. A fight erupted and Lilith abandoned Adam and Eden to the edge of the sea where she was said to become a demon and gave birth to baby demons. Even the two angels sent by God after Adam's whinings couldn't bring her back because her mind was set. But they finally made an agreement about demons and human babies.

Now, scholars and feminists have placed Lilith as an archetype of strong-willed women. She was the victim of patriarchy and served as a scary bedtime story for intelligent women who just couldn't keep their mouths shut. I am sure lots of women - even today - share Lilith's burden: to be called a demonness, to be cursed, to have to run away.

Remember Sarah McLachlan's "Lilith Fair"? The music and arts event was designed to celebrate women in music. Strong, intelligent women. Lilith is now a name that is synonymous to emancipation and fierceness.

And so I named my scimitar "Lilith". In the story, you'll also find that Lilith slays human babies, except when the human babies wear the amulets bearing the names of those two angels that tried to get Lilith back to Eden.

I hate babies and children, so it just seemed like it fell into place. Ha!

Want to know more about Lilith? Go here.

My first time dancing in public with Lilith happened on April 1st, 2009. It was during a surprise party for one of the general managers. His wife takes classes at the Interlude Dance Academy under the tutelage of Ms. Venyci Yefriadi. The GM's wife invited me to dance and I said yes and I would try to dance with my scimitar.

It was in Samarra, one of the most popular middle-eastern eateries in Jakarta and there, I met my other general manager and the financial controller. Thank goodness Friday, April 3rd, 2009 was my last day at work (I'll tell you about it later). So I danced my heart out.

I so hate my belly here. That's what no gym in three weeks can do to you!
Photo by Mrs. Suci Shipman.

It was almost perfect, but when I did my turns and rolls on the floor almost at the end of the song, my Lilith fell! Of course it was my mistake since I kind of tilted my head and hadn't isolated properly. But something unbelieavable happened: the guests, most of whom are complete strangers, wanted more!

The CD only contained that one song, "Aahat", so it got played again, and this time I improvised. And on that second time, Lilith stayed still on my head (and my thigh). I still can't believe the amount of praise I got. It just felt so underserved, especially because I flunked on the first try.

We all danced again with Ms. Ve at the end, and thank goodness I knew the songs, so I could improvise good enough.

Well, Lilith is now officially out and about. I hope in the next hafla (sometime in June or July), I'll get to dance with her once again.

i live for you, the best years of my life

OMG. I can't believe this.

My gym teacher, Ms. Miftah is organising a hafla for her cardiobelly students. She teaches in quite a few places and her first ever hafla will be done this Sunday, 8 February 2009, at Shisha Cafe, Kemang.

But that's not it.

I'm going to be dancing too! *screams*

I won't be dancing the elegant Egyptian style that Ms. Yaven teaches, though. I mean, apart from not having the guts and enough knowledge, I am more inclined to the American Cabaret style. I don't even mind calling it "Cabaret" or "Nightclub" because no matter what, I do love cabaret and I do go to nightclubs (although I don't drink alcohol or smoke). But I know for a fact that it is impossible to do any style without learning the basic first. And the basic is Egyptian.

I'll be dancing solo twice. The first one will be the (attempted) American Cabaret style with veil. I've actually been making, completing and practicing this choreography since July last year. The songs I use are "Kamasutra" by Sarah Brightman, "Ayshalak" by Elissa, and a drum solo that I have yet found the title and the artist.

The "Kamasutra" song is actually one of the pieces from the original soundtrack of Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (directed by Mira Nair, released in 1996, rated "R" for American audience). The title of the piece is "Maya's Theme", which I found appropriately said because I love, love, love the maia movement. To tell you the truth, it's kind of a rip-off from the seven veil choreography of Ms. Tamalyn Dallal, because that's where I got the inspiration to do something with the song.

That song will be used to enter with veil.

The second song is "Ayshalak" by Elissa. I first heard this song last year after an impulsive purchase of a double CD Arabic album. "Ayshalak" is the first song in the first CD and I didn't know how, but a set of choreographies just flooded my mind. Below are the lyrics (in Arabic) and the translations.

"Ayshalak"

ayshalak ahla sneen
fil omry ya dayy el ain
wa bi alby ya ghaly haneen
wi gharam min awwel youm fi hawak
kan helmy akoun wayak
law youm min omry maak
wa kteer wana batmannak ya habibi
el alby we bastannak

arabny habibi kaman
ana shoui eleek we elhan
emlani iddounya hanan naseeny
maak kull el ahzan
ashak wana mahma aoul
ana rouhi maak ala toul
dana alby kteer mashghoul
ya habibi el omry baa li zaman

ayshalak
aaah arabny beek

***

"I Live for You"

I'm living for you
the most beautiful of years In my life
oh gleam of my eye
And in my heart,
oh precious, there is desire
And passion from the first day of your love
My dream was to be with you
Even for one day of my life with you
And much time I spent dreaming of you my love
My heart and I'm waiting for you

Come closer to me my love
my yearning for you "walhan?!"
fill my life with desire,
make me forget with you all the sadness
I adore you and whatever I say
My soul will be with you always
My heart is so occupied
My love, my years have been long

I live for you
Get close to me

***

I just love the music and when I found out about the lyrics, I was so overwhelmed by the fact that I was going to use it with my first ever solo choreography. And indeed, the best years of my life I've spent with dancing. I've danced my sadness and broken-heart away, I found new friends, new talents and passion through dancing.

Since Elissa is Lebanese, I'm definitely going to (attempt to) dance Lebanese style, fused with American Cabaret. Hopefully Anaheed and Ansuya would be proud.

The second one will be my (attempted) glam Tribaret (Tribal-Cabaret) piece, with a song from Raul Ferrando called "Yearning". The song is quite a sad one, very good for slow, hypnotic, undulating movements.

Show starts at 7 PM, do come if you have the time!