True to my style, I dove into The Tribal Massive TM 2017,
but not in the way that I originally intended, with hours
of back-to-back classes and the best seats at 2 world-class
performances and dancing on stage for another show –
lights and music and dance until my whole body and soul
ached in joyful satisfaction...
In the weeks before MASSIVE, I dove in, in a different
way. No sooner had I emailed Tori that I could perform,
I re-injured my somewhat freshly surgically repaired knee
– a different dive story. Dance and especially performance
prep was out of the question for at least several weeks. But
I was determined to be there and immerse myself as much
as possible; I committed to volunteer the soles off my tennis
shoes and the Velcro off that knee brace.
Sharon Kihara
I showed up early and danced a wee little bit. But I
volunteered a whole lot. It was awesome. Dare I say, it was
even tribal and massive. This was the backside of dance.
The shadow. The underpinnings. The metaphorical safety-
pin that holds the whole outfit together. The scuba diver’s
view of the world of belly dance. Something that, along with
songs that MUST be choreographed and costumes that beg
to come out of imagination and be brought to life, should be
on every tribal dancer’s bucket list.
Technically, I volunteered at The Mega Massive TM ,
consisting of daily a-la-carte classes, delicious vending,
festival performances, and all that Vegas has to offer, held
at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. I worked
the admin table and ran backstage for all three shows –
Kami Liddle