2001: Concert Controversy

by Ruth

The 2001: A Dance Odyssey concert touched on the new millenium, the cosmos and everything, and met with mixed reactions and some controversy.

Some said there was too much "non-belly" dance, while others welcomed the change of pace. But after the 4-hour, 3-act marathon, many just pleaded for a shorter running time ...

Some of the non-belly dance pieces were performed by belly dancers, for example, Jrisi's graduation piece, Artemis' ancient Greek, and Harem Scarem, who opened the show with Leia Upon Leia Upon Leia (one for all us belly-dancing-sci-fi fans, featuring R2D2 in a "pull-on" role).

Other numbers were definitely not belly dance, such as the Silver Tree Go-Go Girls. But hey, they were great fun, and for our benefit they threw a bit of Dick Dale's Misirlou into their Shirley Bassey.

And we saw some great belly dancing too, including solo performances from Elenie and Nayima and a return to high glamour with Terezka's school's Women are from Venus piece.

Above from left (click to enlarge): Backstage at the concert - Elenie in spacewoman costume with the Silvertree GoGo Girls, Artemis, feathers and beads for Terezka's Women from Venus, and onstage - the Men from Mars .. ahem.

This was the festival that introduced Tanyeli to Australian dancers and audiences. She taught a workshop in her signature Turkish Gypsy style, and gave us a stunning performance, with her band, at the 2001 Nights dinner dance.

Other performers on the night included Festival favourites Amera (Sydney) and Shamira (Adelaide), and Dounia (Sydney), wearing a fabulous sea-themed creation. It was also the Sydney-scene debut for Shiva who made it clear to everyone that he had really arrived!

Above from left (click to enlarge): 2001 Nights dinner dance - Dounia, Shamira, Amera, Shiva, Tanyeli and her band.

2001 was the last year that we used the Addison Rd Hall as a venue for the dinner dance. While the Main Hall is a great venue for workshops, for the dinner it was logistically and physically very difficult.

Tables and seating for 400 had to be hired and erected on Saturday afternoon after the morning workshops, and dismantled again immediately after the dinner - from midnight onwards - because bazaar stallholders needed an empty Hall early the next morning. This was always a mammoth job.

The change to a function venue in subsequent years meant that dinner ticket prices rose, but so did the level of cuisine, service and comfort! And the organisers became far less cranky and sleep-deprived, which we think counts as a major plus.

Above from left (click to enlarge): Gintaras' stick workshop participants, performing at the Bazaar - BellaDonna and troupe, a contemporary work by Jrisi.

Leonie enlisted husband Alpen to assist in her quest to educate belly dancers about Turkish culture. Alpen responded to the call and took eager festival-goers on a very popular tour of Sydney's Little Istanbul, Alpen's Anatolian Amble in Auburn. Many of you have requested a repeat performance from Alpen, but he is a busy man and we haven't managed to pin him down yet.

Sick of trying to fold and stuff thousands of A4-sized programs into envelopes, we switched to a slim-line Festival program in 2001 featuring Tanyeli on the cover.