So when a friend suggested an afternoon watching a theatrical bellydancing performance at the Byrd, I agreed. My prior experiences had been in restaurants and bars, so I was curious what a full-blown show would entail.
What we weren't prepared for were the scores of people waiting in line to buy tickets. Who would have guessed how popular hip-shaking would be on a cold Sunday afternoon? While waiting, I ran into a woman I know who actually asked me if I did bellydancing or if I was there for anthropological reasons.
Billed as "Raqs Luminaire: Dance of Lights," it was a series of dances by various performers interpreting things like freedom, expansion, longing and love (natch). I was surprised at how much of it was done to contemporary music rather than traditional middle eastern music (not that I was familiar with what it was, but it was obviously newish).
Also a tad surprising were some of the props: what looked like fire on a rope, light sabres, and masks. I shouldn't have been because the event had been billed as bellydancing fusion, which apparently opens the door to just about everything. A violinist played between dances, adding a live music element to the recorded music that was being danced to.
It was very cool seeing live entertainment on the Byrd Theater stage, decked out in ambient lighting and a mystical-looking backdrop.
Not that it inspired me to take up bellydancing or anything like that (perish the thought), unlike my friend who starts classes this week, but it was definitely a lyrical reminder that it isn't the size of the body, it's how you choose to move it.
That's the part I'm still trying to decide.
