Anyways, it was at the Transylvania Club in Kitchener. It was a rotten night to drive to Kitchener, rainy, cold and blustery, and Swee'pea was none too happy about it either. I had to hold his little hand all the way there or he wailed. Rather, he held my hand, rolling my fingers between his. (The drive home was worse. No amount of handholding would soothe him and he screamed the whole way as we drove through windy freezing rain type precipitation. Ugh!) As we drove, in between speculations about why Swee'pea was crying (Are you too cold? Maybe he's too hot... Maybe that adorable little lamb's costume is itchy? It didn't feel itchy when I dressed him in it but... Maybe the kiwifruit we gave him this morning upset his tummy. Maybe he's teething? That left eye tooth is SO close, it's totally bulging the gum out.) it occurred to us that maybe the Transylvania Club was actually a gothic dance club type thing. And that they wouldn't have changing facilities for Swee'pea. What were we taking him to?
When we found it eventually (both google maps and mapquest apparently made up a street name that didn't exist so it was a bit of a challenge), it was just like an Italian club but for Transylvanians. Who knew? Who knew there were enough Transylvanians in Kitchener to merit a Transylvanian Club? Of course, I guess it goes with the whole Oktoberfest thing.
Anyways, whatever was bothing Swee'pea in the car was not a problem at the show and he was a dream. He even fell asleep for the last half-hour, oblivious in the sling to the loud music and the enthusiasm of the crowd. The show was fantastic with three especially standout performances to me. First, a tribal fusion performance by Audra, a disciple of Rachel Brice, who I just discovered last week on youtube. This is Audra (not last night but at a show in Toronto last month):
I'm lovin' this tribal fusion thing, and apparently Rachel Brice is planning to do a workshop in our area in 2008. Maybe I'll have time to get in good enough shape to even learn something. Watch at least some of this compilation of youtube footage of Rachel and you'll see what I mean. This stuff is incredible.
Or check out this one of Rachel Brice's Indigo dance company:
Ok, so back to last night's show. The second highlight was Ishra's improv to Santana's Black Magic Woman. Seems she's getting a whole classic rock thing goin' on. But she was beautiful as always.
Aziza, the headliner, capped off the show with some extraordinary dancing. She has a great sense of humour, which came through again and again, and really captivated the audience. She did some moves I've never seen before, most amazing was basically a shimmy isolated in her upper abdomen. I haven't the slightest idea how she does this but it's incredible. I tried to find footage on youtube of this fluttery business but, although there's lots of Aziza, I couldn't find any of her belly shimmy. Wah.
And she doesn't just float across the stage, she zooms, like she's in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or something. Wow. This video shows some of her sense of humour and gives you a sense of the speed she crosses a stage with, but just a hint; it's better in real life.
She also performed what she calls extreme veil, which is like poi (fire dancing) but with a veil. It was beautiful too.
Ok, so I've mentioned before that I'd love to see a belly dancer in the finals of So You Think You Can Dance. My first choice would be Ishra because I think she'd kick ass but I don't think they let Canadians on the show. So I nominate Rachel Brice. Even though she's no doubt WAY too cool to even consider something so silly, I think she'd rock the house. And she has the hot goth thing going that I think would get her some serious votes. So, Rachel, if you're out there, will you at least think about it??? You went on Regis and Kelly after all, so maybe...
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And, in some blogging news, I've decided to do the NaBloPoMo. I was torn, because IzzyMom's blogging rules also spoke to me, and because I already pretty much post every day, but I want the cool picture of Yoda. So I signed up.
5 comments:
sounds like a very cool show. great vids.
so, what did you think of snow on season 1 of sytycd?
she was the closest thing, i guess. but belly dancing is a long way from benji, so...
and good luck with the nablopomo - i really wanted to give it a shot but we'll be at my dad's for a week soon, and there's only dialup not to mention sunshine and a beach, so i'd never make it.
Belly dancing! Hey, that's cool. To answer your question... my pie was a lot like chocolate mousse, so yeah, definitely pudding-esque. You could also make more brownie-type ones or custard-type, should you feel like doing so.
Brownie? In a pie? My God... I must learn how to do that. Or at least find somewhere that sells such decadent things.
The Transylvania Club? Oooo you take me Back to Octoberfest 1984. It was the first year I could drink legally. My best friends from high school joined me there for our first real bender. Zoinks!
I love your descriptions of the Belly Dancing but haven't been able to look at the vids. I am taking a quick blogging break at work and, well, videos of Belly Dancers might not be appreciated in my shared office.
As for blogging every day, hats off to you. There is no way I could ever find the time (or the desire) for it. Good luck and I promise to read as much as I can even if I can't always comment.
Yes, it also brought back my hazy Oktoberfest memory... It ended with wandering through a subdivision at 2 in the morning, thinking we'd take a shortcut off the bus, realizing it wasn't a shortcut at all, eventually getting home, missing my Shakespeare midterm the next morning (it was at 8 what did my prof expect?), writing it at 3 in the afternoon when my awesome prof ignored the beer fumes and hungover eyes and kindly let me write the exam in his office.
And yeah, bellydancing vids at work not such a great thing without a door... but check them out at home if you have the slightest interest... I've spent several hours over the last week or so watching youtube.
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