OK, this has passed from a someday fantasy to reality....yikes!!!

Suhad

Suhad

New member
I made business cards (with LOTS of help from dear hubby) several months ago, put a few up in local businesses but not expecting to ever actually GET a call.

I have just booked my first official gig, a surprise birthday bellygram for the visiting brother of one of our local hairdressers.

So, I picked music I already know, have rough routines to, and it's just under 15 minutes...I'd rather leave 'em wanting more than glad I'm done! Although I am anxious that if I screw up they'll be glad I'm done anyway...:rolleyes:

Thankfully, it's two weeks away so I have time to practice myself into exhaustion.

any helpful suggestions?
 
Maria_Aya

Maria_Aya

New member
Hey congrats !!!
Dont worry you are gonna be great !!!!
Surprise bellydance parties are always a success (if they are kept as surprise lol).

What do you plan on doing?

Do you use probs?

Have you picked the style of the songs?

Maybe something like this? simple and easy and no risk.

Enter with veil for the first song, go around the room to introduce your self to your audience, check where is the birthday person, stay focused around the people that are there.
Second song maybe something that you feel you are good at.
Third song, get people up to dance and have fun, insist on dancing with the birthday person, go near him (the photocamera's will get on fire lol).
Enjoy, enjoy enjoy, bellygrams is about having fun

Maria Aya;)
 
Safran

Safran

New member
Congratulations on the bellygram! And don't wear yourself out when practising - it is supposed to be fun, remember!? ;)

I am sure you'll do just fine!
 
Suhad

Suhad

New member
Ah, your idea sounds better than mine, I think I'm trying to cram a set into a bellygram or something.

Here's what I had planned (and it probably would have been helpful if I had posted this to start with)

1. Habibi Ya Eini (cut to 2 1/2 minutes) by Nourhanne, I was going to enter playing zills

2. Jemilleh (also cut to 2 1/2 min) for a short veil song

3. O Sirtis: I love this song, and our troupe has a great routine to this

4. Short drum solo (1 1/2 min) if my husband decides he's not up to playing, just assisting

5. Exit music that's about a minute. The whole thing is 13 min 40 sec.

So, should I ditch the veil song entirely and just do veil to Habibi Ya Eini?

I could do Habibi Ya Eini (make it longer tho), O Sirtis, and drums, get people up to dance with Jeff drumming maybe? Or just another pop sort of song. It's an American audience so I'm not sure of their experience with ME music.

Also, I bought a silly sultan hat, when is a good time to put it on the birthday boy?? I liked the idea, but now I'm stumped about when to do it!
 
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Ms Minx

Ms Minx

New member
A Belly~Gram. What a wonderful idea! Waaay to new here to start to try and comment and analyse a dance routine. It sounds great to me. Above all have fun with it. Congratulations!
 
Fatima

Fatima

New member
Suhad said:
Also, I bought a silly sultan hat, when is a good time to put it on the birthday boy?? I liked the idea, but now I'm stumped about when to do it!
Click to expand...


You can put it on during your second number. I'm sure they'll love it. :dance:

The exit song can be a longer popsy song. You can start by dancing alone for a couple of seconds, then dance with the birthday boy and little by little make everybody dance. Good luck!!!
 
Yasmine Bint Al Nubia

Yasmine Bint Al Nubia

Moderator
Hi Suhad, sounds like you have a great line-up. The attention span of most Amerian audiences are about 5 minutes long but each of your selections offer diferent views of your dance. Personally, I think the Habibi ya Einy song is to fast for a veil, besides give yourself time to regroup with a slower number(and keep interest). Do you know any debkes? Those are a lot of fun. My experience with bellygrams are that are great fun for me and the audience, even if you flub turn it into a humorous situation and keep moving. I'm so proud of you, have fun and good luck!!!
Yasmine
 
Suhad

Suhad

New member
Thanks to all of you for your input and support!

Yeah, I'll just ditch the drum solo and exit piece, and put a pop number in there instead. I've been wanting to use the Alf Leila We Leila techno version for something, and it at least lets me get actual ME classic type music into it!
 
Ariella

Ariella

New member
Hey,
Just a fun teensy tip. Once you are done/finishing with the veil piece, wrap the veil around the guest of honor. Bellygram audiences seem to love this!
 
Suhad

Suhad

New member
Thanks again to all of you for your support, advice and encouragement!

In case you were wondering, my instructor does *not* do these sorts of performances, so I don't really have a local resource to ask. Helena has been very supportive and has given me advice regarding rates/length and such for venues such as restaurants and actual private party performances, but the idea of a bellygram I think just makes her wrinkle her brow a little.

For me, I think this is a good, low stress way to get some performance experience other than student nights under my belt and get my name into the local community as a dancer; sometimes I believe the only way to get knowledge is to get experience in order to find what works for me personally. Plus, this is a great way for me to infuse my personality, which basically is a goofball, into my dance.

Helena often speaks of making our veil (and our dance) reflect our personality and I always tell her I don't think veil and goofy go well together....:D At least doing bellygrams they do!
 
Salome

Salome

Administrator
Hi Suhad,

Habibi ya aini is a good opener for a belly gram. Jemilleh is a beautiful song, one of my favorites and 2.5 minutes is a good length. Keep in mind that veil work can be a trickly prop for a bellygram because often the performance space is not accomodating for veil work. Bring a circular with you, if you have one, and the space is tight. Or be ready to work with your veil more on the body and as a frame. And as Rebecca said, after your veil song is over, draping the veil on the guest of honor always gets a big hoot. In lieu of a veil song you could do a slow chifti - this music can keep the mood light and fun while still allowing you to slow down the tempo and moves. I would do either your additional song OR a short drum solo. In any case after that you need to have a song for audience participation. This song I would choose to be much longer than your other pieces plus an exit song. If the group is having a great time you can use all of that song and still have exit music. Or if the crowd isn't so enthusiastic about participating you can just exit on this third piece of music.

I would either put the sultans hat on the guest of honor at this time or right away at the beginning of the gram. Depending on how well behaved he is - perhaps take the veil off of him/her and tye it around his/her hips. Then do the whole spiel where you teach him some moves and he dances, to the loud laughter, of his/her friends and family. Shoulder shimmies, hip circles, hip lifts... Sometimes you'll get a guest of honor that will not get up to dance, find someone else in the audience who is willing.

The thing about bellygrams is that the focus is about entertaining and facilitating a fun time and interacting with the guests and guest of honor. Go into it with that focus and attitude and you'll do fine.
 
Suhad

Suhad

New member
Hi all, and thank you again for all the advice!

I did my bellygram last night...birthday boy was surprised all right!! I changed my routine to sword because the hostess said she wanted me to do it in her back yard near their fire pit. I had visions of my veil catching fire so I did sword instead--when I took it up, one of the guys sitting next to the birthday boy actually ran away! (and Gia, I think 60 times without dropping it is the new bare minimum :))

It went really well, I had lots of fun, we stayed a little while afterward and got to do some education on ME culture and the history of the dance, especially for those in the crowd who were wondering if I also did stripping :rolleyes: so it was a good night.

Dress rehearsals are a goooood thing. I found out that my 3/4 wig does NOT work with sword because when I bounce it from my head onto my stomach the weight pulls the wig over my eyes; I found out that I have to tuck my skirt into my belt on the sides or I step on it when I do certain moves; bellycovers and swords don't mix...all those little things.

And you all were right about the entertainment factor. I have done performances playing guitar and singing with my husband so that made it a little easier to get up there. That and Jeff singing the ESPN Sports Center theme song for me before we went -- I began laughing picturing John Madden highlighting the bellydance bloopers of the day!
 
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da Sage

da Sage

New member
Suhad said:
Dress rehearsals are a goooood thing. I found out that my 3/4 wig does NOT work with sword because when I bounce it from my head onto my stomach the weight pulls the wig over my eyes; I found out that I have to tuck my skirt into my belt on the sides or I step on it when I do certain moves; bellycovers and swords don't mix...all those little things.
Click to expand...

Congratulations! Now I want you to bellygram for me, so that I can see your wicked sword move. I promise I won't run away.;)
 
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