Here is the second in a series of blogs by the intrepid Holly Lloyd recounting her varied experiences in the belly dance world. Enjoy!
As students of belly dance, most of us will want to perform
at some point.
Fortunately, many of us will make our performance debut
during a student showcase. Student showcases are a great opportunity to give performing
a try.
(And I can personally attest that World in Motion student
showcases are a great venue for first performances.)
The audience at student showcases will be mostly comprised
of fellow students and the friends and family of fellow students.
They want you to do well.
They are eager to applaud your efforts.
They are prepared to be dazzled.
You will try your best and they will give you their undivided
attention and their enthusiastic applause.
Everybody’s happy.
Eventually, you may want to take on bigger audiences and
different venues. You’re feeling more confident and taking a bigger risk is
slightly less horrifying.
Stepping outside the safety of a student showcase is a great
opportunity to meet other dancers, to see other dance styles and to feel adored
by a bigger audience.
It also increases your risk of finding an uncooperative
audience.
Fortunately, so far, I’ve only had one extreme experience
with an uncooperative audience member.
It was several years ago at a conference for women. Our plan was to dance through the crowd, then
give a short performance/demonstration of belly dance moves and then lead the
audience through a few basic moves.
I was decked out in
my most fabulous costume. I felt a bit out of my depth but I was excited and
ready to perform.
We began playing our zills and dancing through the doors to
our dressing area. The “crowd” consisted of probably 300 or more women.
My heart started to pound. My mouth went dry. I felt anxiety
bubbling up. I thought “What have I gotten myself into here?”
And then I saw the smiles and heard the cheers from all of
these women.
The majority of the crowd had stopped to give us their
undivided attention. I felt appreciated
and empowered.
We finally made it to the stage. We ascended the stairs and took our places as
we waited for the next song to start.
Somehow I ended up in the dead center of the stage. A woman a few rows back in the audience caught my eye. She was sitting in her chair, arms crossed, glaring stonily
at the stage, face twisted into a grimace.
I kept getting distracted by this woman. Part of me hoped
that she was okay. Another part of me wondered what her problem was.
We finished the demo and the emcee for the event announced
to the audience that we would now lead the audience through a few simple
moves. A cheer erupted as the audience
came to their feet.
But Grumpy Pants did not leap to her feet. She threw herself back against her chair and yelled
“Boo! No! Get off the stage!”
I was shocked. That
wasn’t the deal. The deal is that we
dance and you smile and clap. That’s the
unspoken bargain.
I looked frantically over at my dance teacher to see her
reaction. What did we do? How could
someone not love belly dance as much as we did? What could possibly be
happening?
My teacher followed my gaze to Grumps, looked back at me, shrugged,
winked at me and continued on with the lesson.
I felt the tension in my chest loosen and I felt myself
smile.
My teacher was absolutely right. So what if Grumps was unhappy? That didn’t mean I had to be.
I made sure to look over the top of Grumpy’s head after that.
At one point the music became quiet and I heard Grumps yell “No!
Boo! No! Boo! Get out!”
(Note: The exit door
was literally 10 feet away. I’m not sure
why she didn’t just leave.)
Our music ended, we took a bow, the crowd applauded and we
left.
I’m not sure what happened to Grumps but I do hope she
enjoyed the next performance more than ours.
In the end, I still remember the event fondly. I decided that day not to let the fear of
another Grumps stop me from performing.
Not everyone will get belly dance.
Not everyone will think it is as fun as you do. And that’s okay.
When you are in the audience, think of Grumps. Give the
performer your undivided attention and your best vibes. Clap along with the music to encourage
them. Give a zhagareet when they do
something tricky or beautiful. Smile if
they look at you. Applaud with gusto
when they are done. (If nothing else, you are applauding them for taking a
chance on performing.) Be kind. And when you can’t be kind, be quiet.
And if you are the one dancing, remember my teacher’s
reaction to Grumps….shrug, smile and carry on!
