After my last show at the New York Library’s Donnell Media Center, Danse Orientale, a trusted teacher said something to the effect of “you’ve done a good job putting cabaret bellydance on stage, but you should use your theatre background to make dances designed for the stage.”

She also recommended I go to the Performing Arts Library and watch the Ibrahim Farrah footage there. I did that, and watched almost all of a fairly extensive collection of the Near East Dance Group from the Seventies through the early Nineties.

I highly recommend that dancers watch this footage if they haven’t seen it already. These videos are documentation of our roots as New York Oriental dancers.

I was struck by the sculptural elements in the configurations of bodies on stage, as well as the sculpture of the costumes and the enchantment of color interplaying with light as the dancer moved in dynamic patterns that turned the stage into an expressionist canvas of shape and negative space. Theatrical image. Impactful image is the thing I have sought most passionately as a theatre director.

Then I started to ask myself what would be the link that in my mind would trigger wonderful imagery that I could create in either theatre or dance. The answer I came up with was “Magic”.

I love theatre that relies on theatricality to create the impression of the impossible occurring in real time (never been a fan of Realism, I let the movies take care of that). So I begin to devise a show that asked for beautiful and magical imagery. I thought of magical or enchanted archetypes, and Oriental archetypes – fairies, genies, priestesses, goddesses.

Then I searched for a way to tie these things together. The idea of the oasis came to me – it's an Oriental stereotype, but I would create all these dances with a contemporary flair and modern music, from a feminine perspective.

I structured the progression of these magical dances around a group of Water Women, residents of the oasis, who, while not enchanted themselves, are in connection with the life-giving power of water, and are revealed to have the ability to summon rain. To a person in the desert, this power would be the most magical of all. While our oasis is fictional and not set in any given country, I researched rainfall in the desert and life at various oases.

I also researched water dances, especially Tunisian jug dances. My work is not folkloric, the music was not Tunisian, but I did borrow from Tunisian dances to create the Water Women’s movements. I also researched images and some folklore of fairies, genies, fire summoners and Hindu goddesses in creating the other pieces. The result was Enchanted Oasis: A Contemporary Bellydance Fantasia which performed at the Donnell Media Center Tuesday, January 24th.

The journey to the oasis has been long and paved with much hard work, but it has been wonderful, with lots of personal growth and human connection along the way. I am fortunate to have found a generous and trusting producer, MariAnn Bocchini, who also dances in the show, to aid the process in all forms, fundraising, costume creation, shopping, printing programs, moral support, etc., etc.

I have also been blessed with a troupe that is willing put in all the rehearsal time, their individual practice time, adjust their own costumes, make suggestions in rehearsal, etc. in addition to their daily work and personal lives. Basically this has taken the production to its highest possible level. The Dunyana Dance Ensemble features Esmahan, Amy, Peishan, Jenan, Sholeh, and Ruth, and I adore them all.

I began the choreography in September, and worked intensively through November and December to complete it. I did not complete my own solo until the week before the show! I have to say that I did underestimate the number of hours it takes to choreograph a forty-five minute show. Now I see why dance companies frequently revive old choreographies.

As a group we began rehearsals the first week of December, two rehearsals a week, going to three in January. This in addition to me having two choreographic rehearsals on my own each week, while working as a massage therapist. One thing I know now, after this process, is that I have strength and reserves of energy to rival any athlete.

In the case of most of the pieces I taught the dancers the choreography and they worked on it at home. Then we reviewed and refined. Sometimes small changes were made. We reviewed and reviewed and ran the pieces over and over. I consistently gave feedback on ways to make the moves more precisely on the beat or more synchronized between the performers.

For the ending two pieces I decided to try a more collaborative approach. I came in with some ideas and we fleshed out the piece together on our feet. This was a challenge as I still had to be in charge and keep things focused while simultaneously acting as an ensemble member. But the group is so well adjusted we had no problems. There were never any ego clashes, the troupe was always supportive of one another, for which I am eternally grateful.

Some of the costume pieces were purchased in clothing stores, others were sewn by Esmahan and myself. We sewed a lot of spandex. Spandex is very forgiving, if it is not cut just right or a seam is off, it kind of molds to the body anyway. I love spandex. We had ordered a set of halters and belts from Turkey. When they arrived they were totally wrong. They were supposed to be all silver with a halter neck top. Instead they had a tank-style top and were black with silver coins. They were very pretty, but weren’t what we ordered.

I had wanted the silver to blend with lighter colors or darker colors. These black costumes made us look like a pack of vixens – which is not a bad thing! But when you have a number called “Desert Faeries”, vixens isn’t really the look you want. So, we broke out some more spandex in silver and quickly sewed some tube tops and belts. Not the most sophisticated wardrobe, but it worked, and the black and silver suited the Tribal-esque number at the end of the show very well.

I think we were all a little nervous on Tuesday. There is a reason why big theatre shows have months of previews – to work out the kinks and get over the jitters. When you only have one shot to get it right, it’s hard not to get nervous.

I arrived at the library at 2pm. The stage manager and I had to refocus some lights as some of them were focused out at the audience. We finally got the stage lit separately from the rest of the auditorium. Then we set sound levels. We had a run through at 4:15pm without costumes so the stage manager could practice. Then we got into costumes and make-up.

I had a little huddle with the troupe before we started, where I thanked them and urged them to have fun. Being the creator of the show, I always have to play the task-master. I was really hoping now that they knew I valued their commitment and the energy as individuals that they brought to each dance. Every one looked stunningly beautiful and was smiling. That was a good sign.

I didn’t allow myself to peek through the curtain and watch anything. Another challenging thing about choreographing a show you are performing in is knowing when to let go. I had to keep my head on my own performance, and keep breathing. Fortunately, I only messed up in my solo, so you couldn’t tell. The audience was incredibly receptive and I enjoyed hearing their reactions to different moments in the show, even though I couldn’t see exactly what was going on.

The show was followed by a Question-and-Answer period. This is a library structure. Questions range in complexity and there were some repeats from the last time we performed at the Donnell center, like how long has each of us been dancing, what is the appropriate name for this dance, etc. I enjoy the talk-back, it forces me to “put my money where my moth is” so to speak, and be held accountable for the work I am presenting. Rarely do you get any feedback from a large audience like this, and presenting it as a Q &A keeps it from disintegrating into a critique, which would not be productive right after we had performed the show for the first time.

Although we did receive an overwhelmingly positive response, I will ask for critique from trusted teachers and theatre colleagues in the coming weeks. I need some time and emotional distance before I can discuss what didn’t work, but I do want to discuss it. I’ve learned over the years to get this angle from people who you are sure share some of your esthetic preferences. I’m not interested in whether someone “liked” the performance. I can’t control that. But I can discuss experience, and pinpoint when the performance was creating the strongest experience for the audience, and when that experience was weaker. I can gain an understanding of which elements need strengthening, what additional choices need to be made to enhance the impact of the show.

We are in the process of finding a theatrical venue for this show, where we can incorporate lighting design, and have a weekend long run to get over the first show jitters. I’m excited by the idea of expanding some of the dances, fixing some of the more problematic costumes, tweaking the show in any way that makes it stronger. In the meantime, I’ve been resting. Sleeping as much as possible, getting bodywork, eating a lot. Its taken a full week for me to feel normal again. But I must be fully recuperated, because I was listening to a drum CD this morning and thinking “you could do a hot group piece to this…”
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Photos by Ken Stein