Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Ideas Are Flowing!

So at practice today the three of us discussed where we wanted to go as JenCee. Did we want to just keep our small group for a few festivals throughout the year? Or continue on as a group and recruit more people for some extra performances we can do on the side? Hmm......let's think on this.....

After having a 30 minute discussion, T.C., Jen, and myself have decided that we would like to get involved in doing performances not only for a few festivals here and there, but do renaissance fairs as well. As members of the Ananka Dance Co., we are already performing at the Hanford renaissance fair, but as JenCee....we are thinking about performing at the Tulare/Visalia renaissance fair, Kearney renaissance fair, Queen Bess and the Pirates fair and possibly a few others. So we may start as early as April of 2011 with the Tulare/Visalia renaissance fair being our first. We wouldn't mind doing the one that use to be at Fresno City College, but that one is going on about the same time we are doing the Rogue Show with Ananka in the month of March. So we figured it would be nice to have a little time to recover and then get going with the Tulare/Visalia fair the next month.

Ideas are being drawn up on different dance styles we would like to come up with. We are thinking of doing a variety of dances such as Egyptian, Persian, Arabic, Tunisian, Moroccan, Tribal (not the modern fusion you see today) and possibly a fusion of the traditional dances to keep in the proper period. At this time, the only members we have are T.C., Jen and myself with Jen's husband, Shawn, on drum. We will be looking for more people who would like to partake in this group a little later on once we figure out what fairs we would like to do and how many. But we may recruit at least 2 more dancers and a few drummers as we start going in the direction we would like to go.

This doesn't mean that we are leaving Ananka. We enjoy performing with our instructor Ely, but we would like to start doing more performances than what is being offered right now. In a year's time, the only performances we worry about are the Rogue Show, Cat House Fundraiser Event, Vintage Days, Hanford renaissance fair and the Fresno Fair. Those are really spread out and some of us would like to continue performing, even if it means going into period appropriate dance for the renaissance fairs =)

So my job in this adventure will be to compile a list of fairs that we would have fun performing at throughout the year when Ananka is not performing. That means doing some research and contacting people to get a list of who we will need to talk to. I should also mention that this will need to be done before November when Ananka starts working on the Rogue Show for 2011.

If we do get involved with the renaissance fairs, this will require JenCee to put together a show that will have to be 30-45 minutes long. That is a long time when you have just 3 members. So we will have to see what we come up with, but I think this would will be a fun experience.

So for anyone in the local area who is a drummer and/or belly dancer, stay tuned. Because within the next few months we may start looking for people who are interested in getting out there to perform at the fairs we choose. We plan to keep the group small. The smaller the group, the easier it will be to choreograph and get creative with what people are doing. We will also be looking for those people who want to work as a group! We can't afford to have people who wish to be in it for themselves or to have the attitude that they should have more floor time than others. This will be a group effort with no drama. I say this because one person's solo is one person's breather before going back on as a solo, duet, trio or an all group performance. We will want to keep this as positive as possible with people getting as much equal time on stage as possible that will work with the group.

So at this time, I am proud to say that JenCee will be rising to new experiences at the start of the new year!

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