The last 26 years of my dancing have been directionally challenged at times, but the adventures always seemed to make the uncertainty exciting or at least interesting. There seems to be an irony that accompanies belly dancing that makes even the most well-thought-out road trips or dance events a circus sideshow. Not only does the unthinkable happen, but sometimes the unthinkable ends up being the perfect answer or result.
A cup of humility from the swamp
Years ago I took a road trip with a band called the Arabic Band and we traveled from Dallas to a small town in Arkansas to play a label event. The band was in one car and I was in another with the unfortunate task of trying to read a road map and follow directions. Besides the fact that I was a bit lost, every thirty miles or so the second because I would change lanes and pass me because the gang kept arguing and yelling at each other. They obviously didn’t notice me or the fact that they didn’t know where they were going. They got so far ahead of me at one point that they eventually lost me and even with my phone calls they ended up on a dirt road next to a swamp. It was getting dark and I have to say as a woman who tried to tell them, “I told you so,” it felt good that they finally learned their lesson. They could no longer say that I was the lost one.
Hours later, the band arrived at the hotel a little more humble, exhausted without anyone saying a word. Thank goodness they had finally stopped fighting each other! (Just so you know I never knew what they were arguing about.) But I must say that the back roads of Arkansas have a unique way of teaching anyone left behind that they are no longer in Kansas! They didn’t want to talk to me about being lost and even to this day I have to laugh because on the way back from our concert, they stood behind me without a peep!
Twilight Restaurant
The wrong restaurant can really be a problem, especially when the restaurant owner thinks you’re just another dancer. It never occurred to me until I was introduced on stage as Neenah that something was definitely wrong! I was at a point of no return when my music started so I had no choice but to go ahead and do my show and pray. After my show was over, I left the dressing room and sheepishly looked for the “real” Neenah who, to my relief, was nowhere to be seen. Now imagine how the hell you would approach the owner of the restaurant and explain to him that you are not who he thinks you are. How do you explain that you made a wrong turn or in this case arrived at the wrong restaurant? To make matters worse after I told him I felt he really didn’t need to pay me since I wasn’t the one he hired. I had to accept that I wasn’t the one he hired, but I did put on a whole show for him. So he reluctantly paid me and with my added tips I made a good amount of money. When he was ready to leave the restaurant and brave the unknown directions written on my car, the owner talked to me and told me that he liked me and that he would call me for a future job. At his word, he called me up for a few more gigs, but unfortunately, when the girl I had been mistaken for found out who he was, she wasn’t a happy camper.
So here are my thoughts on what I call my twilight zone experience. She was 90lbs, I was 125lbs, she was an A cup, she had an ample chest, or in this case, it made me look like a D cup. Her hair was light brown and shoulder length; mine came up to her waist and was black. I’m a sunless Italian and she was a Hispanic girl with a dark tan… so how the hell did she not know I wasn’t her? uh… ahhh… no answer, join the wacky club.
A night of words and dance
One of the first shows I did years ago in NM was a poetry and dance show with the hypnotic words of George Lammam. I had a great idea in mind and I supported it in an Italian-American club that my parents belong to. I invited dancers from various studios around the city to participate and I think most of the dancers liked the idea of bringing the two art forms together. Others felt that he was in left field and the night of the show, while one of the companies was performing their show, one member simply quit and walked offstage. But that didn’t bother the audience one bit because, to the utter delight of many husbands, boyfriends and significant others, liquor was also available. At the end of the night we had a very enthusiastic audience that was loud, greeting us whenever they could and ending each performance with thunderous applause. To this day, they are the best audience I have ever experienced, but unfortunately not exactly for the right reasons. Many of my friends’ husbands to this day tell them they did the best dance they’ve ever seen them do…that night!
Life’s journey can take many unexpected turns, but when you can take in every experience laughing and smiling, you know it doesn’t matter. “The artist never quite knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take one leap after another in the dark.” Agnes demille
So I do jumps too and somehow I always land on my feet or on that part of me that keeps getting up. After all, if I knew the end result, it wouldn’t be the same and, as Agnes de Mille says, “Living is a way of not being sure, of not knowing what’s next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little.” May we live as dancers and die as dancers who follow their inspired dance without asking why!