On Friday, Nov. 8, dozens of confident, beautiful women and one brave man of the Longwood Company of Belly Dance graced the stage of the Jarman Auditorium. Many spectators were drawn to the performance in the support of friends, but the impeccable posters posted around campus, featuring members of the company in colorful costumes in entrancing poses superimposed with a white, playful font featuring the already compelling title of the show the “Danse Bazaar,” enticed more than a few interested students.
The majority of pieces were in the style of “Tribal Fusion,” which is a modern catchall name for traditional stylized belly dancing infused with inspiration from other styles of dance, allowing for certain flexibility in range of movement, while still remaining true to the origins of the art form.
While the style of dance remained fairly consistent throughout the night, the performance was anything but monotonous. The diversity of music choice selected was refreshing. It became evident to the audience from the very first piece that this would be an experimental occasion with results ranging from inspiring to repetitive and dull.
To hit this point home, the company began the performance with “An Introduction to Dubstep,” which immediately shattered any preconceived notions of what is and is not “belly dancing music.” The women of the company wore full-length skirts and gorgeous sequined bras to draw the focus to their midriffs, which highlighted the beauty of the subtleties of the human body within each individual dancer. Something as specific as the masterful unfolding of ones arms became a spectacle.
Perhaps the only faux pas of the night was the disjointed nature of the transitions between pieces.
Before each piece a faceless speaker would announce the title and dancers, they would dance and then blackout, with no intermission.
The performance, entitled “Danse Bazaar” might understandably be expected to be a bit more of an interactive experience, lending itself to the word “bazaar.”
Luckily, the excitement of the dancers on stage mostly made up for the lack of entertainment between pieces.
When Laura Fajardo walked on stage, for example, transition or no transition, the audience was transported to another realm - the Empire of Tamriel.
The piece, fittingly entitled “Skyrim,” featured music from the popular action-role-playing video game, “Skyrim.”
Fajardo surely did prove herself to be a high queen of the consort, defending her province well by balancing a sword on her head whilst wielding her body in swaying fluidity intermixed with intricate isolations in percussive staccato.
A larger company piece, “Intertwined,” marked the midway point of the bazaar, showcasing the newest members of the company.
19 new members strong, they overwhelmed the stage, all at varying levels of skill of belly dancing.
Some moved with the confidence of skilled veteran belly dancers, others still were still clearly finding their internal rhythm and flow, but all wore smiles of genuine enjoyment of the movement, their own bodies and one others company.
Though a large company, the bond between them was evident and sense of empowerment amongst the women on stage was so prevalent that the positive feelings reverberated into the atmosphere of the theatre.
Hoots and hollers from the audience were met with giddy grins from dancers on stage that moved with increasing confidence as the night moved on.
Arguably one of the strongest performances of the night came from an alumni member, Amena Sims.
Sims moved with a precise ease in the style of Fusion Fan Dance to the Lana Del Ray song, “Young and Beautiful.”
She had an encapsulating beautiful intensity about her as the white feathers she held guided and shielded her across the stage.
Sims reflected the odd melancholy of the repeated mantra of the song “Will You Still Love Me when I’m No Longer Young and Beautiful?” The night ended with a sudden blast of energy as the company giddily stormed the stage, bowing piece by piece, by performing a second or two excerpt of what we just saw.
The performers and their fans stuck around Jarman basking in the lovely night they’d just taken part in creating.
Alumna Ashley Russell makes an appearance for the "Danse Bazaar" with Longwood Company of Belly Dance.
