Eshta

Ooh, with your permission A'isha, can I please copy your rose idea? I have what I suspect will turn out to be a rather camp 40th birthday party in a few weeks, and the birthday boy sounds like an absolute sweety, I bet he would melt for a birthday rose!!

Pwetty pweeeze!

__________________
Saqarah - London's monthly Belly Dance Hafla!

Aisha Azar

Dear Eshta,
Please feel free to use the rose idea! I am honored that you liked it. I feel that if we all share these little tidbits, we can help each other be the best we can be and that's what its all about! Loved Lydia's veil idea, too. She is such a doll! In the States it could get VERY expensive because fabric is not cheap here.
Hugs to you,
A'isha

Yshka

I LOVE interacting with my audiences. For me it depends on the performance and the music, people, setting etc what to do. With Shaabi it is great fun to go with the lyrics when interacting with the audience.

I could get people up to dance, make the birthdayboy/girl copy a move, it just REALLY depends (I once encountered an elderly man whose shoulder shimmies were awesome!!). With kids watching, I usually turn or do something big, end the move low, give them a single glance/smile and blow a kiss their way, it NEVER fails to get them to smile!!!

Also getting kids to dance along is quite fun. Doesn't always work the way I want it to though. I had a little boy 'chase' me around the stage a while ago at a party where I was dancing for elderly people. He walked on to the stage and kept following me around everywhere. I made a nice game of dancing away from him and reversing the chase sometimes.

Dear A'isha, I second Eshta on your rose thing, it's adorable!!! I'm hoping you'll let me use it as well sometimes please?

Oh and on topic, I agree with what has been said before. If you're still wondering wether you'll lose their interest, you might want to consider working on your dance and presentation and not worry about audience participation this time. They'll probably love your dancing! Put on your biggest smile, go along with the flow of the music, the lyrics, you'll do fine! If everybody has a good time you might even get them up to dance as well. Best of luck!

belly_dancer

sounds like you are dancing for family & friends... so it SHOULD be low stress... if you want to get the audience up to dance with you, I suggest a "plant" in the audience... somebody you can approach 1st who will PROMISE to hop right up with you... USUALLY how goes the 1st, goes the rest... so if the 1st person refuses... THEN you could be the girl nobody wants to dance with... BUT if the 1st person says yes... then the rest are way easier!!!
btw... I use Tarkan's "kiss/kiss" song ALOT as my last song... getting the party rocking... this works well if you have a DJ who can then just ooze right into the party's "dance" music......

Kashmir

I thought A`isha was about to give a warning on this one. Here's a translation of some of the lyrics:

Eyes painted black
coquettish with glaring red lips
she stands up to me defying me
and grins at me insolently

Not too bad, but ...

You are a nutcracker
pulling a snake from its hole
my big disgrace
when I get hold of you ... (kiss, kiss)

Don't get me wrong, its an upbeat song that I use from time to time at parties - as long as no-one speaks Turkish

Kashmir

As far as interaction goes - I agree this piece is so short there really isn't any time for interaction (if this is the only piece you are doing) - other than making eye contact, smiling etc.

You can hold the audience by just getting them to wait for the next accent on the Kiss Kiss - we usually do a different one each time getting a little less straightlaced with each one - leaving blowing a kiss right to the end.

A variation on the rose idea which I've used with a different piece is to end by throwing roses to the audience.

Shanazel

Yshka

Hey Shanazel,

any tips on where to hide the nutcracker while you're dancing??

belly_dancer

is this anything like a ball breaker???

Shanazel

Goodness gracious, you don't HIDE it my dear- it is a prop just like a veil or a sword. Spin it around your head or balance it on your nose- the possibilities are endless. Didn't you know that in the original Nutcracker Suite, the coffee (Arabian) dance was meant to be done with the nutcracker, but the prima ballerina who was dancing the part of Clara at the time protested, so now only Clara dances with the nutcracker? Tsk. Really, my dear, you must keep up on these important historical instances in dance.