an evening of dance

Last night I went to a dinner/fund raiser for NTMEDA, the North Texas Middle Eastern Dance Association. It was forever long, but worth every minute. Dinner was delicious, and there were 4 sets of dancers, including my fabulous teacher, Jessica Dawn of Kismet. Tribal Evolution and Tribal Feat were another couple of my favorite acts, but the cream of the crop was Neena. If you haven't seen Neena, you have missed one of the most incredible dancers I have ever seen.

First, some background. Many of the dancers I have watched have prepared a routine or are tribal so they are improv-ing on the fly (mostly). There is a song or two picked out and a certain formula that is followed, no matter the dancer. Intro, dance, finish and flouncing off stage with varying degrees of flounce. Neena is more of a restaurant/lounge dancer. Her music doesn't tell a story or have any specific swells and changes. She comes out and dances a bit, playing with the audience. Last night she chose one older gentleman to focus her act on, with another one for the last half. She got these two men to interact with her in her act. It was funny and really emphasized her confidence and comfortableness on stage. She played with them, offering them to grab a veil or help her tuck parts in her costume, then playfully moving away when they tried to do what she silently asked them to do. She never spoke, save with her zills and miming. I could describe all the fun but it really would not do justice to the incredible lady and her performance. However....

For the last bit she brought one of the men on stage with her and had him place a quarter on her belly. She rolled it up and down. Then he put four more on there, in a row, and she rolled them all up, then rolled them back down one at a time. It was incredible. Then she took two shot glasses and had us fill one with red wine. Both glasses on her belly, she poured the wine from one into the other one without spilling a drop. I swear the woman has the most articulated abs I have ever seen. I got a couple of pictures of her when she was balancing a sword on her chin and spinning. I also got pictures of some of the other dancers, including Jessica and both tribal troupes. I'll post those soon. For now, I am off to find some quarters to play with.