Production of shows.

[kayshier]

I've been wondering about this for sometime now, having looked at photographs of full length shows that are advertised as oriental dance shows.

for those who produce full length shows, does it ever get tired in terms of coming up with productions and dance sets that may not bore the clientel..

do you mix it up as it were, in terms of themes? is it strictly middle eastern? or are other types of dances introduced?
even within the construct of a middle eastern dance theme, has anybody explored the possiblity of using non traditional costumes?

i ask this becuase i was looking at some photographs of a show that Saida did recently in argentina, and even from pictures of full length productions she has done in the past, sometimes there are themes that do not necessarily have anything to do with the Middle east, yet the dancing is middle eastern. (wish i could put up the pics to give you an idea though)

i'm just wondering in the production of a show, how do you as producers put all these things together, does it become mundane, how do you keep your audiences interested in wanting to come see your shows again and again. or is the clientel a small but dedicated one?

 

[Mya]

From what i've seen on this board, it appears that abroad, with exposure to a far wider range of MED, it's alot easier to have variety in the dance without it seeming like the same dance OVER AND OVER AND OVER...AND OVER.

There seems to be use of tableaux, folk variations like beledi or saidi, fakeloric variations like Melaya Leff (i think - forgive me if i mislabeled it), Regional dances like Debke and Khaleegi.

In such cases i don't think that options are short and there's any real need to go outside of the culture to create or hold interest.

Personally i wouldn't be either interested or impressed if i went to a show that was supposed to have been middle eastern dance and somebody came out in non-traditional costuming; i wouldn't get the point. really.

I don't see any harm in having guest performers who aren't doing the same style, so long as they're clearly labelled as guest performers who aren't really a part of the MED production.

 

[Kharis]

I've produced several shows with a colleague, and we find that a little variety is good and has provoked a positive response. We stick to the ethnic theme, we have for instance no ballet or tap or jazz or stuff like that. But we have introduced Polynesian and Bhangra and a little theatrical stuff that ties in with ME dance but is not strictly bellydance. But we've labelled it as such, so the audience knows. A show is about being entertained. And like any good banquet, needs a little inter-course sorbet to clear the palate.

 

[lizaj]

Our show was a series of tableau of aspects of belly dance with different groups and individuals taking responsibilty for each "story" . It was a change from a performance platform. We had "extras" and narration and a "projected" backdrop representing a location. The audience seemed to enjoy it.
I agree with Kharis a platform of individual dancers and classes needs variety but like her I draw the line at mixing with straight forward ballet and jazz dance. Our last charity fundraising had orientale, tribal fusion in various guises, folk and burley-fusion. I can watch wall to wall Egyptian but if you have the GP and/or friends and family they need a break!

 

[Samira_dncr]

It's also useful to mix it up in terms of solos and group pieces. We try to make our shows at the Vegas Intensive full of variety and diversity in terms of styles, groups vs. solos, ages/shapes/ethnicities of the dancers. It's not hard to keep a show interesting and yet still centered around belly dancing. I pretty much agree with Kharis on this one. I don't claim that our shows are pure middle-eastern as we do allow fusion, but we do try to keep it fairly focused on belly dance. And, well...we are in Vegas...so we have an Elvis Impersonator for kicks and giggles (but he's from Lebanon and plays the dumbek, do does that count as middle eastern? Bwhahahahaha).