I came across an old interview with Rachel Brice I had not read before, conducted by Salome of OrientalDancer.net. While it doesn’t have a date on it, it speaks a bit about the Bellydance Superstars tour as if it were still a fairly new tour, which makes this article as much as 8 years old (she began touring in 2003), though the video accompanying the article is 2009, it may have been added later… But I digress. Regardless of the age of the interview–which is largely the typical ‘who did you study with?’, ‘what is it like to tour?’, etc.–it has a couple of nice pearls tucked away in a short, otherwise typical RB interview. I thought I would share my faves:
On performing so much you can’t grow:
“I think, however, my main struggle is that of growing as a dancer when there’s no time to create. We’re always performing, so that leaves very little time to go watch other dance forms, find new music, sneak into the underground for costuming ideas, practice yoga with new teachers, or make new dances. Since newness is one of the things I require to feel passionate about my dancing, I am afraid that I’m lacking direction sometimes. In fact, just the other night I had a dream that I was given amazing powers, and a guide to show me how to use them, but the guide was killed. I think this is indicative of my mental state.”
On fusion straying from the purpose of tribal:
“I love the individuality of Fusion, but I think sometimes it strays from the original intent of Tribal Style. Overtly seductive movement with flirtatious expression seems to be creeping back in here and there, and the lack of that is one of the things that drew me to Tribal in the first place. With the thirst for new developments, I hope we always keep striving to go deeper rather than hotter.”
Oh, Rachel! I love that. Deeper rather than hotter. For sure!
You can read the full article here: http://www.orientaldancer.net/star-interviews/belly-dancer-rachel.php
(PS The photo is from a photo shoot conceived by Kristine Adams from FCBD, where Rachel dressed as Carolena and vice versa. Isn’t it awesome! There are some other great poses from this same shoot, it’s really fab!)
Cues & Tattoos This Weekend!
The festival season is upon us, and for Deep Roots Dance that starts with the festival of all festivals for improv tribal dancers: Cues & Tattoos! We are so blessed to have this festival right here in Seattle, chock full of workshops, shows, and shopping. Nomaditude and Students of Deep Roots Dance will be performing this Saturday at 2pm. Full details on the show and much more at http://www.troupehipnotica.com/cues/
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