dress like an egyptian

I forgot the time I first fell in love with an elusive piece of fabric called Assuit / Assiut / Asyut / Tulle-bi-Telli. However, like so many things Egyptian (their reverence of cats, the jewelry, the pharaonic scale drama, the eyeliner, the dark and handsome men), I've come to fall in love with this fabric.

This is going to be weird, but I just bought fortune-worth loads of books that I'm using as references for my (hopefully) up and coming novel. In one of the books, The Cat in Ancient Egypt by Jaromir Malek, it is said that:

"The earliest known remains of a cat in Egypt come from Mostagedda, south of Asyut in Middle Egypt, and are dated to sometime before c.4000 BC. One of the graves in this cemetery contained the burial of a man who, judging by the tools and other material accompanying him to the next world, probably was a primitive craftsman. The bones of a gazelle and a cat, the former probably intended for his funerary repast, the latter perhaps his pet, were found at the dead man's feet. (p. 45)"

I know there's something sinister with the Egyptians, or rather humans, in that when they're dead, they expect their loved ones to follow suit, hence the killing of the cats, the entombing of lovers, etc. In Classical Cats by Donald Engels, the Celts also killed cats by roasting them slowly in a basket to ensure fertility, a horrifying tradition that was later adopted by the English and the French (pp. 128-129). Perhaps the inhumanity of humans is so innate that at times I wonder what makes us think we can be called humans indeed.

But, I digress.

Let's get back to the subject.

After a long, dwindling fascination I had with Assuit, not unlike the fascination I had with Banjara skirts, and after a few unsuccessful eBay bids, I found this site: Nilemarket.com. It was selling quite a few Assuit shawls, including one cream with gold metals and one black with silver metals, each for the mere price of... drum rolls please... USD 35. So, I ordered those two shawls and a golden Ankh necklace. Sounds like a perfect bargain? Wait, here's the catch: Nilemarket ships from Egypt.

I cleared the payment for my package on September 12, and the next day, I received a notification that my purchase was shipped. I contacted the seller about the tracking number straight away (because there was no mention of the tracking number on the notification), but my e-mail wasn't answered. I used the website's inquiry form, and still no answer. I was worried and half-pissed, but then Haitham (the seller) replied my e-mail and provided me with the tracking number. He also wrote that the number would become visible once my parcel landed in the USA. So, I waited.

I waited, waited, waited for about ten days, each day opening the USPS website to track my package, and then one fine day, the USPS website said something else other than its usual: No record of this shipment, check back soon. It said: Origin post is preparing shipment. That sounded strange. That sounded like it was still in Egypt. I asked the omniscient Google and it confirmed. Still, I decided to wait.

Then ten more days passed, and me being the paranoid that I am, checked the USPS website every single damn day. And it stilled showed the same message: Origin post is preparing shipment. So I shot Haitham another e-mail, concerning the fate of my package. I also grew worried because I learned that some mails from the USA to Egypt had been experiencing difficulties due to the uprising in Egypt (but this issue was later resolved, thank goodness), so I thought that the same thing might have occurred the other way around. Haitham was at first unresponsive (like the first e-mail), and I also used the form to ask him the whereabouts of my parcel. Then he finally responded and told me not to worry because the package would arrive within the week.

There is one thread on Tribe.net about Nileart / Craveegypt, which I think is / are the same with Nilemarket for two reasons: the eBay page of Nileart / Craveegypt sell the same things with, or at least using the same photos of Nilemarket and if you look at Nilemarket's contact page, the e-mail that says @nilemarket.com will link to @craveegypt.com if you hover on it. In the Tribe.net thread, one purchaser wrote that she was happy with the purchase, although she had to endure a long wait (19 days). Here's the link. So, I took solace in it.

Then two days after Haitham responded my e-mail with warm consolation, the package arrived. It appeared out of nowhere on the desk in the building's lobby. I touched it and the inside felt soft, like layers of cloths. I was also expecting another shipment of clothing, so I didn't think it was my Egyptian parcel. However, I was in a rush to go to school and my bag was packed as it was so I put it back on the table (I also didn't have time to run upstairs to my apartment and place it inside). It was during a very boring lecture at school when I was approached by an epiphany: it had got to be my parcel from Egypt because my other package would have been a lot thinner! So the day went by so slow because all I could think about was to rush home to open it.

When I finally arrived home (it takes me a good one hour of commute with bus and BART and bus where it takes only ten minutes by car), I grabbed the parcel that was still waiting on the lobby desk and examined it as I climbed the stairs briskly: It had Arabic markings. My heart raced. Then once I'm in the safe confinement of my room, I opened it, and here they are, my first Assuits, 21 days after the payment:

Oh, and the weird thing is, up until this very day, the USPS website still displayed the same message when I tracked my package: Origin post is preparing shipment. I stumbled across another, more detailed tracking website called Track-Trace.com and up until now, it displayed the information that it had been sitting in the Cairo customs office since September 22, 2011. Don't believe me? Type in RS002330044EG (the tracking number of the parcel) and see for yourself.

skirts

A few months ago, I got connected to a male ATS dancer, the first male to ever receive the Teacher Training 2 certification for the FCBD format. His name is Valizan. I shot him an e-mail, asking him about the costuming guidelines for male ATS dancers. He told me about two more dancers, one of them is Michael McElhaney (formerly of Azure Bellydance, the first male ATS dancer, and part of FCBD student troupe in the nineties). Michael's name came through quite a few times during Teacher Training 2 where we discussed male ATS dancers, and both Ms. Nericcio and Ms. Sandi Ball agreed that he was very handsome. Valizan sent me Michael's photo and I had to concur.

In our e-mail exchange, I told Valizan that I was envious of the fact that our dance sisters could wear skirts that accentuated their movements (have you ever seen ATS dancers spinning while wearing the full, 25 yard skirts? It's a gorgeous sight to behold!) and he told me to try one of those Banjara Skirts.

So, thanks to Valizan (he's the male dancer in the video above that showcases how awesome Shades of Araby is), I caught the Banjara Skirt bug. After many months of the fever, I finally relented and began my quest for the perfect skirt. Tribal Fest 11 came and went and still the skirts were too Goldilocks-and-the-Three-Bears for my taste (too blue, too red, too orange, too many colors, too little colors, too wide, too short, too expensive, too new, too old, and other toos). Then I scoured for many nights and days (mostly nights, therefore sacrificing my precious sleep time) for the perfect one. If I had to be broken in, it must be perfect.

My trusted Amazon.com didn't have anything, and so, with a heavy heart, I opened an eBay account. Then I found Sirik's store. It's like a candy shop for kids, a sex shop for lonely adults, a sequin shop for Cabaret Oriental dancers. It has so many things to offer for ATS dancers, and then some. And I saw it. The Skirt.

Alas, it was still quite expensive (USD 89, plus USD 10 for shipping and handling), so I retreated. From time to time, I stalked Sirik's page, looking at the beautiful thing (and some others), and then it happened.

A 30% discount. So I bought it without thinking more.

After a few hassles (Erec, Sirik's owner, didn't respond to my initial messages asking for the tracking number, and then during my search on the Interwebz, I realized that the USPS Priority Mail didn't offer tracking number unless requested - and there's a fee for that; I ended up not knowing when the package would arrive, and finally received a notification in my mail slot that the package was waiting for me in a nearby USPS office), at long last, I received it.

And yes, it is beautiful. Despite the initial mixed-up, I highly recommend Sirik. He replied to my other messages with genuine concern, so yes, there is a good chance that I will buy from him again.

class notes (spins, shimmies, smiles)

Yes, I know. I didn't post anything for more than two weeks and I know I have my notes with me, beginning from a Thursday night class two weeks ago until the Saturday two days ago.

I'm really glad to be able to generate hits from help people who are looking for specific moves and steps, like the Chico Four Corners pass, for example. I hope I did help you, whoever you are! Probably next time you can leave some comments?

Okay, now on to the notes from Thursday night class with Ms. Stefanie Kelly:

1. Spins: When doing them, always make sure that you open your feet as wide as your shoulders. This might not be automatic at first, but it comes with practice. Ms. Kelly gave a cool analogy: the Nutcracker doll! Feet planted firmly shoulder-width apart, arms and elbows are gracefully up, not droopy. Hmm... So I took one minute to look for a picture of the doll and wasted ten minutes to drool over ballet guys in tights. Here. You're welcome. Here's uh... Some more... If you're into that sort of thing.
2. Spins: Remember the Phone Booth / Pizza Box (PB) concept? Well, Spins is one of those things that will greatly improve with the help of PB. The head faces the right corner of the PB to spot. This way, the whole body opens up and not closes up, therefore providing an excellent Kodak moment.
3. Spins: Another thing to remember (and to help angling the body) is to make sure the outer side of your right foot faces the right corner (see the picture I made. Haha, sorry for the quirky-looking toes and footprints, but you get the idea. The red square is the PB outline).
4. Spins: in addition to not setting your feet too wide apart, watching the body alignment will also help balancing your spins. Make sure you have a straight angle from the top of your head to your feet.
5. Performance Drills: Ms. Kelly reminded us about checking in by turning whenever we assume the lead position (this works for both one-side and multiside gigs, although assuming the leadership can be trickier during multisided performances). However, if you happen to screw-up, keep smiling! Don't change your facial expression, don't mouth or drop the F-bomb, keep your cool and do a smooth transition. It happens, and if it does, then let it slide off. There's no disappointment with yourself or other dance members.
6. Shimmies: make sure to bend your knees to create larger shimmies and more upper-body stability (therefore, your upper body won't jiggle along with the hip shimmy). Ms. Kelly showed us a really neat thing: she did the Turkish Shimmy with Arms and Turns WITH the Turkish Shimmy, meaning she didn't lose the shimmy even while turning. That's my goal. I mean, seriously? Sometimes I just get too caught up in the turn itself that I lose my shimmy.

The following Thursday, we had a class with Ms. Elliott and I was late. Of course. I missed the bus and I ended up missing the BART ride, and so I came to the studio about ten minutes later. The disadvantages about coming late to a dance class are not getting a good spot (I can be very nit-picky about positioning myself on the back right of the teacher, because it's the follower position) and not being able to mingle and chat with the other dancers before class.

In the class, she also taught us the regular Oriental Shimmy (not the Tribal Shimmy where it's actually the Three Quarter Oriental Shimmy). She likened it to the unhinging of the hips, so the hips go up and down and up and down in a rhythmical way. I find that by bending the knees lower, I can get bigger up and down range of motion.

She also drilled us on milking the movements. She said that it was impossible for a Slow Move to be too slow, but it was possible for a Slow Move to be too fast. Then she reminded us about the Arm Undulation while circling. Sometimes we get too carried away with trying to get from Point A to Point B that our feet star to move fast and our Arm Undulation automatically follows. We need to remember to isolate our arm movements from our feet.

Last Saturday's classes were taught by Ms. Wendy Allen and we did a very mind-blowing exercise for multigig performances!

We grouped up in trios and here was the plan:

1. Shimmy to expand and move into position (leader, followers)
2. Arabic and Turn
3. Arabic and shrink (the dancers bunch up together, sort of like a modified Arabic Orbit)
4. Arabic and do a quarter turn
5. Back to Shimmy to expand and another dancer take the lead

It sounded pretty simple. It was level 1. Then we moved on to level 2: use corners, instead of the walls, for the audience. Then we moved on to level 3: use whatever object in the studio as the audience.

Honestly, I found that the level 2 was the hardest. I believe this has to do with my needing more PB exercise. I also found that this exercise helped me in three things: be aware of my body alignment / performance angle, give a clear-cut cue, and take the lead with conviction.

the birds at tannourine

Last week (yes, last week. I did one heck of a procrastinating job), I finally went to Tannourine, the Middle-Eastern eatery at San Mateo. The restaurant is small, intimate, and quaintly located on a rather ordinary street, in that you wouldn't know Oriental and Tribal decadence regularly takes place inside it.

It was a special night, since not only FCBD performed, but also many of my friends from L3 and L4 - known as the BlueDiamondBellyDance (BDBD) - including three special ladies with whom I was particularly close to (we had a couple of private sessions with Sensei Kae and all of us seem to have a rather unhealthy fondness of cats). Needless to say, I simply had to watch them perform. Julia, one of the three girls, picked me up, her mother (an engaging conversationalist and excellent backseat driver), and Theresa (another friend who was performing).

The show opened with FCBD troupe. As usual, I chose not to take pictures and just see the performances. The numbers were energetic, although at times, due to Tannourine's seating arrangement, I couldn't see when the dancers were doing floorworks.

Up next were the BDBD gals: Michiyo, Theresa, Jennifer, Shelley, Kelsey, Yuka, Laura, and Julia. I'm telling you, when they performed, you wouldn't know that they were students. Even Sensei Kae said, when watching the performance video, that the smiles and the hip works were really the kind of smiles and hip works that she would like to see every single time we were practicing in class.

Another highlight of the show was Colleena Shakti. I just... I have so many mixed emotions whenever I see her dance, and that night was no exception. She was so amazing, so graceful, so effortless, her hand gestures and fingers were so beautiful, I mean, Colleena Shakti is definitely one of those people who couldn't do anything wrong. After being stricken by such grace and beauty, I became envious, and then motivated... and then I went home, saw the bed, and forgot everything. Ha!

The last picture shows the three girls (Yuka-Julia-Laura) I talked about, and we just christened our "troupe" name (there's another girl - Maya). The idea of the name is not that we are going to accept gigs or dance in public on our own anytime soon, but so we know how to call ourselves. I told the girls that I could only stay in the USA for two years and I really hoped to be able to dance with them before leaving. It is truly an honor to perform with people you grow up with, in ATS that is.

I'm getting so melancholic thinking about this.

I proposed "Four Gals and a Dude", but Julia came up with a better one: "Rara Avis". The literal meaning is "rare birds", but the expression really means a miraculous being that exceeds all expectations.

DEEP. And it's Latin! You can't beat that.

Well, my expectation is to dance with Rara Avis before I leave this country for good. I hope I can exceed it. For now, here's to the birth of the Rare Birds.

CREDITS:

Second photo by Mr. CheekyMonkey. Third photo by Luke Terheyden.

class notes (fades, dueling duets, passes)

The Thursday class was so nice and it felt a lot like a reunion - a good kind of reunion. On Saturday, after classes with Ms. Sandi Ball, we did a little session with Sensei Kae. I forgot to bring my notebook yet again, so I could only recall some few notes from the class with Ms. Ball:

1. There is such a thing as a Wet Dog Fade, but the leader needs to angle his/her body instead of being flat like the original Wet Dog (that travels backwards). The angling of the body serves not only as a cue for a fade, but also to give room for the followers in the back to move forward.
2. Always communicate with your group if you're going to do floorworks and what level of floorwork you will be doing.
3. Chico Four Corners Passing (duets) can be done in two ways: the first one is while already facing each other, turning flat to face one another, then doing the first eight counts of Chico Four Corners as usual. On the second first count (of eights), step closer to your partner (this signifies that you are going to do the Passing), and then the second set of the Chico Four Corners is done with back-to-back passing on each one-two and five-six (etc.) and stop in front of each other during three-four and seven-eight (etc.). Remember that Chico Four Corners set consists of sixteen counts.
4. The second way of doing Chico Four Corners is from the usual Leader-Follower position, but the Leader stays in place in fifteen-sixteen counts after doing the thirteen-fourteen counts, this will make the leader and the follower face each other. Then you can do another set of Chico Four Corners Passing just like the above recipe. I hope this makes sense.
5. Egyptian with Spins Fade: Egyptian, cue Spin, then Fade with another Egyptian. If the Fade leader still continues the Egyptian for eight counts (that means two sets of Egyptian), then spin happens automatically.

Then here are the notes from Sensei Kae:

1. Dueling Duets can begin in two ways: from a circle and then two dancers fall in to the place to become the leaders for the each of the duet; or with a fade, with the fade leader pivoting and then stopping when in the position for the Dueling Duets, then the others will fall in to their places.
2. Dueling Duets can be neutralized by going into a circle and circling each other.
3. Picking Up is done while circling and opening the circle for the next dancer(s).
4. Dropping Off is done also while circling and then the dropped-off dancer(s) can slide back into the chorus.

Oh, and before I sign off, I just have to share this: Ms. Kristine Adams decided to travel around the world to document American Tribal Style from all corners of the Earth. Amazing, huh? You can follow her blog here: From the Belly of a Traveler. Below is the hilarious and inspirational "press conference".

I hope one day she'll stop by in Indonesia!

back to the mothership (which is currently on sale)

I couldn't have planned it better: I arrived in San Francisco on Wednesday and planned to go to FCBD on Thursday. I jetlagged myself to Friday. So, I missed the class and had to wait all the way until Saturday to go to the mothership. When I finally did, I realized that I had been so out of shape! I was limping and practically dragging my ass during the second set.

Ms. Suzanne Elliott was in charge and here are the few notes during drills that my brain managed to recall (I didn't bring my notebook):

1. The Rainbow: it begins with the arms in table-top position; even if your arms are above the head, put them down into table-top and do the Rainbow. It's four floreos on each side, during the first two floreos, the head looks at the direction of the fingers; during the third and fourth floreos, the head looks to the front. Dance angle is important so we won't flat-out on the second section where our right foot crosses behind the left. Wrap Around Turn looks good after the Rainbow, but not necessary (I remember Devi Mamak also said this when I took her workshop a few months ago at FCBD studio).
2. Wrap Around Turn: Gathering (right arm floats and the right hand floreos in front of the body but not directly in front of the chest, left arm floats down and the left hand floreos on the back side of the left hip); Tension (right arm stays there, left arm floats so both arms are in table-top, while doing the half turn, both hands do reverse floreo, weight on right foot); Release (both arms float up, and while doing the one and half turn, both arms float down in front of the body and follow it through with the arms floating up again to the sides of the body, but with power, as if swimming in honey).
3. Push Forward Push Back: On the eighth count as the foot switches from one to another, there will be a slight bump, this is acceptable.
4. Shimmies: unhinge the hips so the shimmies will look better.

Then there are some notes from performance drills:

1. When there are multiple sides where the audience sits, face the side with the most audience, then switch to the side with the second most audience, and so on.
2. Come in with a bang, stay in with power and skills, take a bow with attitude, go out with a bang.
3. You don't have to throw in all the different moves, it's good to have a sort of continuity using the same moves, especially if you're dancing in a quartet or doing pick-ups.
4. Know the phrasing of the song so you'll have perfect timing to milk it (superslow Taxeems, Bodywaves) and to wow it (rapid Pulse Turns, Reverse Turns, etc), so the number doesn't come out monotonously.

Oh, and FCBD is having a summer sale, 25% off store-wide, except for some items. The sale is until 31 August 2011!

Now excuse me while I tighten the elastic band on my zils.

lilith's new scabbard

The one thing I missed when I went to San Francisco was my scimitar, Lilith. I was (still am) clueless about taking a weapon, albeit a dull one, on an international flight, into a country as paranoid as the USA. I'm still shuddering every time I remember getting into a full-body X-Ray machine, and if Lilith got confiscated, it'd be even worse.

Being back in Jakarta has been quite surreal, and just like the old adage, as cliche as it sounds, time does go by so fast when you're having fun, and it's been a lot of fun, indeed. Still, it's time to go back to face another reality, and although it is exciting, I'm heartbroken to once again leave my loved ones. I know it's just for a few months (if everything is in order, I'll be coming back for Christmas) and hopefully with all the school work and dance, it will be over before I know it (I have to admit, I'm feeling very intimidated).

As a parting gift to my gorgeous scimitar, I made her a new sheath. Originally, Lilith came in with a leather scabbard and, well, leather and animal products just don't mix with my lifestyle. So, last year when I went to Bali in August, I bought luxurious purple velvet. Being a procrastinating lazy-ass that I am, the fabric sat in multiple places for approximately a year. I was feeling sewy (is there such a word?), so after mutilating and modifying some shirts and turning them into cholis, I decided to finally make a new dress for Lilith.

It was not a tedious experience, I finished it in under an hour. Mom's Singer has been broken for a long time so I'm used to hand-sewing; it gives me calluses, I know, but I don't mind.

Apart from Kenji, my cat, who was just being a cat by lounging on top of the fabric exactly after I set it on the floor, I didn't meet any significant challenge. Then again, the design was also not difficult and I'm quite happy with the result.

I was thinking of putting sponge-like material inside the velvet sheath, but after some thoughts, I remembered why I also decided against leather scabbard: leather makes the sword rust easily, especially when the sword is stored inside the leather scabbard for a long period of time. I'll be leaving Lilith for at least four months, and at least I know now she has a new cover to protect her in dry and breathable environment.

I guess my next project is to sew (or make) handles so I can easily carry Lilith. Maybe attach it to the sword handle and the hilt... Now that would take some ingenious design skills.