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Photo via CU Bellydance
Last night, CU Bellydance put on HIPnotic, its first troupe showcase in four years. Megan McGregor, Bwog’s Favorite HIPster, was there to report.
After HIPnotic, one can be certain that its fantastic women dancers could surely “shake forever and never care.” Those in the audience that nearly filled Lerner’s black box theatre waited in great anticipation of the show’s commencement, some unsure of exactly what they were about to witness, but the audience was visibly captivated from the opening number. The dancers were precise, fluid and extremely impressive overall.
The two acts of the showcase comprised several group numbers, solos, duets, and trios. One of the most riveting performances of the evening came from Joanie Atkinson. Joanie’s intense solo showed a somber and sensual side to bellydance of which some less seasoned bellydance spectators may have been unaware. Her performance was engrossing as she seemed to slice through space with her controlled and emotive movements. She wore a fluid multi-layered skirt and danced with a veil; despite these distractions, it was apparent that every part of her body was placed and controlled down to her very fingertips.
The second act opened with a true crowd-pleaser–the Raks Asayya, or Egyptian Cane Dance. The bellydancers, clad in crimson dresses that sparkled with golden trimmings, spun gold canes around with such speed and precision that one wondered what would happen if a cane were accidentally released. One cane did indeed go rogue during the middle of the number, but luckily it only attacked the wall of the theater and not an innocent audience member or fellow dancer.
Three numbers featured the exciting and traditional act of dancers balancing items on their heads while gyrating their hips. Such items included a sword, candles, and, perhaps most impressively, a large liquor bottle. Despite Jen Shearer’s surreally sharp isolations of her hips and ribs, the bottle on her head barely shook as she danced.
The pieces varied in cultural origin, ranging from Polynesian to Indian to Egyptian and even Russian dances. In addition to this ethnic multiplicity, the costumes were equally dazzling for both the eyes and ears. Sporting vibrantly colored skirts and clanking coin belts, the dancers offered their audience a cultural experience that left many observers with an intense desire to join the troupe in Lerner next Friday for bellydance class in hopes of learning the ways of their fluid sex appeal.
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16 Comments
@can we see? are there youtube clips for those of us who couldn’t make the live performance?
@CUBD Videos Yes, there will be clips available on the CUBD YouTube page (http://www.youtube.com/user/CUBellydance) with in the next few weeks :)
@cc '08 shout out to ms. sara arias who started it all back in 2005!!!
@Anonymous STFU. No one cares. Five years and this is the best they could come up with?!
@cc '08 bitch please!
@actually... To be fair, when CUBD first began it consisted simply of weekly classes- no troupe or performances. It continued like this for some time, with no regular performances or shows. The club was only University recognized in Spring 2008 and even then was still getting off the ground with only a few core members. Even at the beginning of this school year there were only 5 dancers. So actually, CUBD as it exists now has only been together since October of this year. Most of the dancers save four had never even bellydanced in their lives before joining, and I think the show was great considering the group’s short time together and the fact that most of the girls have at this point only had a few months training and are learning at an incredibly quick pace. You should judge the show not as a group of 5 fives but as one of about 4.5 months. Great job ladies!
@Gene The two acts of the showcase COMPRISED, not “were comprised of,” several group numbers, solos, duets, and trios.
@*WEEWOOWEEWOO* Grammar po-po!
@dude jen shearer’s performance had the most sass and class. she is so technical and her solo had the most character. definitely enjoyed it.
@BurntOrange Thanks Jen/Jen’s roommate/Jen’s boyfriend/Jen’s family member!
@Um: Surely, you and I were at different shows last night.
Not to belittle the effort the bellydancers put into their performance, but I felt like the show was pretty awkward, unprofessional, and hard to watch.
@Yeah It was pretty bad. The bottle thing was impressive, but the choreography was spectacularly uninspired.
@Agreed Lots o’ big girls made it seem more like tummy dancing.
@Anonymous Everyone hates you
@I... …actually kind of like him.
@really? I don’t know how many dance showcases you have attended on campus, but I found the show pretty refreshing. It’s quite rare that students take the time to choreograph an hour’s worth of original numbers. With the exception of Orchesis, Sabor, and the Ballet Collaborative, dance troupes at Columbia (Raw Elementz, Onyx, Orisha, Dhoom, Taal, Raas, Bhangra) don’t have full-length productions with performances exclusively featuring their club members.