Let's Talk About Belly Dancing Today!
This is where I'm coming From: My sister Rossah, (whom I've known a very long time now) had sent me an e-mail a while back about her winning the Top Slot for Belly Dancer of the Year "2006" for Zagareet Magazine. (Boy I hope I spelled that one right? It's the Number 1 Magazine in the Nation if you didn't already know this and lived under a rock or something). But I was unable to acknowledge her when she first sent me the news, because of the news of Tavis happened the same day.
Now when I was growing up in my teenage years, having a sister who was a Belly Dance Instructor was a very HOT deal. She got me into being like her Photographer and I got to go everywhere.
Like for example: she once got a gig in Reno and we drove up to the "Horseshoe Casino" and I was under the age of 21. But hey, I had FAKE i.d. that actually worked at the time.
And so here I was in the club shooting pictures and enjoying the fact I could get Free drinks and be in a place where I shouldn't be, when this like 600 pound Gorilla of a Security Guard came over and grabbed my camera and ripped the film out of it!
This happened so fast that I hardly had time to put my drink down, or kick him in the leg and place him in a headlock. (In my mind, I can Always do these things!).
So there I was watching my sister dance up on stage with a camera that had no film and a guy lifting me off the floor saying: "No Pictures can be taken in Casinos!" (Gee, I learned something that day).
Another example of why people must REALLY pay close Attention to people on stage would be the time when my sister had a gig in a Bar, somewhere in Santa Barbara, CA.
Now take for granted that she was still just starting out and didn't really have control of where she got booked. Hey, money was Money in those days and a person needed to eat. Right!?
Well you see I not only rode around as her Photographer, but I actually drove her! (Does this make me a Chauffeur too I wonder?). It seemed to me that I was also intended to be her Bodyguard as well.
Now when we arrived at the address they gave us, I was not so sure of being in the right place. There were after all, only a few cars in the parking lot. It looked like a Bar, heck a Western themed Bar at that! (Does this mean there will be Rednecks to contend with?).
Now we walked into this bar that had a stage about the size of a soapbox, it reminded me of the Blues Brother's movie and the same bar they played to a really rough crowd of Cowboys, the Tune: "Raw Hide!"
There were 2 pool tables, a wooden floor with sawdust on it and a wooden bar with a bartender behind it looking at us like what are we doing in the middle of the wrong place to be. My sister, not one to be undaunted by anything but making the best of what the place had to offer, began to set up for her dance set.
It was to be the dance of all dances to never ever forget. Picture a smoke filled room with about only a half a dozen people in it and 1 pool table being used by 2 guys wearing cowboy hats. Heck, everyone had Cowboy hats on and I think we were under dressed now that I think about it.
Rossah in full Belly Dance Dress, which is not much except some see-through scarves, a coin belt and some jewelry that had little tiny bells and a very Large curved Sword.
Yes, a Sword that she invented to dance with. (I'm only glad we didn't bring her 6 foot Boa Snake, because I could not have driven a car with it wrapped around my neck squeezing the life out of me, . . .but that's another story).
She place her Boom Box on the floor and pressed the tape player button, which began the rhythmic drumbeat of Middle Eastern music and the bar tender shut the juke box off.
Did anyone notice? No, I could see everything clearly and everyone acted like nothing was happening and continued drinking at the bar and playing there game of pool.
A mistake on their part! You see my sister placed and balanced this big sword on her head and was really getting into her dance. She moved the sword down to one fingertip and began to spin around in circles going faster with such determination that she began to sweat.
Time stopped for me in this moment. Things happened in Slow Motion, kinda like watching a fight scene in the Movie, "The Matrix"
From my view point behind my sister, I saw the sword slip and leave the finger my sister had balanced the sword on and it began to fly!
In the slowest of Motion it sailed across the room towards the guys playing pool, towards the people sitting at the bar.
I saw the looks become stares. I saw the faces of grown men become looks of trouble coming their direction. I saw out of the corner of my eye the look of Horror on my sister's face.
I saw the flying tool of Death ever so slowly make it's way through the room and smack dab into a wooden post.
As it hit and sunk into the wooden beam, it swayed back and forth while shining in the light of the room like a spot light and my sister's face recovering like she really planned this on happening this way to begin with!
Let me tell you this, every eye in the place was now on my sister and they watched the rest of her dance without any interruption of drinks or shooting of pool balls.
And when she stopped, they clapped like a whole scared house of cowboys would have, as if they thought someone might toss a sword at them if they didn't and some even cheered "Yeee Haw!"
I could detect a slight shaking of their cowboy boots and sweat rolling down some foreheads as we left as soon as my sister collected her money.
Yes, Belly Dancing is the way of Life and I really wanted to ccongratulatemy sister Rossah for winning the Top Honor this year!
The e-mail from her telling me of her winning kinda got muted when my son Tavis was injured in Iraq. So I wanted to make tribute to her today and let her know that if we ever make it back down to Las Vegas where she lives now, we hope to see her do own re-enactment of this sword dance for old times sake!
Now when I was growing up in my teenage years, having a sister who was a Belly Dance Instructor was a very HOT deal. She got me into being like her Photographer and I got to go everywhere.
Like for example: she once got a gig in Reno and we drove up to the "Horseshoe Casino" and I was under the age of 21. But hey, I had FAKE i.d. that actually worked at the time.
And so here I was in the club shooting pictures and enjoying the fact I could get Free drinks and be in a place where I shouldn't be, when this like 600 pound Gorilla of a Security Guard came over and grabbed my camera and ripped the film out of it!
This happened so fast that I hardly had time to put my drink down, or kick him in the leg and place him in a headlock. (In my mind, I can Always do these things!).
So there I was watching my sister dance up on stage with a camera that had no film and a guy lifting me off the floor saying: "No Pictures can be taken in Casinos!" (Gee, I learned something that day).
Another example of why people must REALLY pay close Attention to people on stage would be the time when my sister had a gig in a Bar, somewhere in Santa Barbara, CA.
Now take for granted that she was still just starting out and didn't really have control of where she got booked. Hey, money was Money in those days and a person needed to eat. Right!?
Well you see I not only rode around as her Photographer, but I actually drove her! (Does this make me a Chauffeur too I wonder?). It seemed to me that I was also intended to be her Bodyguard as well.
Now when we arrived at the address they gave us, I was not so sure of being in the right place. There were after all, only a few cars in the parking lot. It looked like a Bar, heck a Western themed Bar at that! (Does this mean there will be Rednecks to contend with?).
Now we walked into this bar that had a stage about the size of a soapbox, it reminded me of the Blues Brother's movie and the same bar they played to a really rough crowd of Cowboys, the Tune: "Raw Hide!"
There were 2 pool tables, a wooden floor with sawdust on it and a wooden bar with a bartender behind it looking at us like what are we doing in the middle of the wrong place to be. My sister, not one to be undaunted by anything but making the best of what the place had to offer, began to set up for her dance set.
It was to be the dance of all dances to never ever forget. Picture a smoke filled room with about only a half a dozen people in it and 1 pool table being used by 2 guys wearing cowboy hats. Heck, everyone had Cowboy hats on and I think we were under dressed now that I think about it.
Rossah in full Belly Dance Dress, which is not much except some see-through scarves, a coin belt and some jewelry that had little tiny bells and a very Large curved Sword.
Yes, a Sword that she invented to dance with. (I'm only glad we didn't bring her 6 foot Boa Snake, because I could not have driven a car with it wrapped around my neck squeezing the life out of me, . . .but that's another story).
She place her Boom Box on the floor and pressed the tape player button, which began the rhythmic drumbeat of Middle Eastern music and the bar tender shut the juke box off.
Did anyone notice? No, I could see everything clearly and everyone acted like nothing was happening and continued drinking at the bar and playing there game of pool.
A mistake on their part! You see my sister placed and balanced this big sword on her head and was really getting into her dance. She moved the sword down to one fingertip and began to spin around in circles going faster with such determination that she began to sweat.
Time stopped for me in this moment. Things happened in Slow Motion, kinda like watching a fight scene in the Movie, "The Matrix"
From my view point behind my sister, I saw the sword slip and leave the finger my sister had balanced the sword on and it began to fly!
In the slowest of Motion it sailed across the room towards the guys playing pool, towards the people sitting at the bar.
I saw the looks become stares. I saw the faces of grown men become looks of trouble coming their direction. I saw out of the corner of my eye the look of Horror on my sister's face.
I saw the flying tool of Death ever so slowly make it's way through the room and smack dab into a wooden post.
As it hit and sunk into the wooden beam, it swayed back and forth while shining in the light of the room like a spot light and my sister's face recovering like she really planned this on happening this way to begin with!
Let me tell you this, every eye in the place was now on my sister and they watched the rest of her dance without any interruption of drinks or shooting of pool balls.
And when she stopped, they clapped like a whole scared house of cowboys would have, as if they thought someone might toss a sword at them if they didn't and some even cheered "Yeee Haw!"
Yes, Belly Dancing is the way of Life and I really wanted to ccongratulatemy sister Rossah for winning the Top Honor this year!
The e-mail from her telling me of her winning kinda got muted when my son Tavis was injured in Iraq. So I wanted to make tribute to her today and let her know that if we ever make it back down to Las Vegas where she lives now, we hope to see her do own re-enactment of this sword dance for old times sake!
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