pays for 1
Gilded
Serpent presents... What did those who attended that Las Vegas event last August – the one that strove to become the biggest belly dance convention ever -- think about their experience? Their answers may surprise you. Gilded Serpent conducted in-depth interviews with people who attended the event in many different capacities: four vendors, three contest entrants, four workshop participants, five instructors-performers and one Friday night award recipient. We also spoke with one vendor who decided not to attend the event. These categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, some of the instructors and performers were also vendors and some of the contest entrants were also workshop participants -- and most attended the shows. Reader should note there are two caveats. Most of those interviewed were extremely sensitive about being quoted, with most requiring that Gilded Serpent send them exact quotes for prior approval and editing if their names were to be used. For that reason, we have decided not to use most of their names in this account (there are exceptions) but we did include some of the more telling comments and common observations that were made.
The other issue is that 17 out of hundreds of participants is not a statistically significant number. If we were to say “eight out of 17 people said ‘X,’” it wouldn’t mean anything at all. So all this article intends to do is call out trends of common thought among those 17 people – which may reflect general trends of thought among all the participants. IBDC was composed of the March 2007 press party and the series of events in early August 2007 (the workshops, competitions, evening shows, open stage shows and vending). This article will offer an overview of what our respondents thought of each of those aspects of IBDC. The Press Party In addition to the typical questions about the celebrities’ career paths or what they thought the future of Middle Eastern dance in the U.S. was, everyone interviewed was asked the rather leading question, “If you were to have an event like this, where would you have it?” The obvious answer being “Las Vegas – of course!” Others noted the “hollow” feeling that the half-empty ballroom had, in spite of the lively gala show by Aradia and Layla and the Lotus Dancers. The hall had been set with tables for 200 with full plates of meza at every place setting but only 100 or 125 people attended. The Visa Vortex In preparation for the convention, organizers of IBDC had filed foreign artist applications early on through their attorney and after submitting further paperwork, were now waiting on tenterhooks for the final approvals to arrive. Time was of the essence, with only a few days before the scheduled, much anticipated shows. During this time Shareen was on the phone with the DHS, tracking the progress of the visas and trying to impress upon the agents the urgency to expedite them for the benefit of the many dancers who had traveled from around the world to be at the convention. Finally, the visas for Amani and her band were all approved, but the next challenge was how to inform the American Consulate in Beirut. The papers were faxed to Lebanon to save time, but the consulate would only accept a hard copy of the INS-DHS approvals. Amani, with her packed bags waiting at the airport in Beirut, had been eagerly anticipating her trip to Las Vegas. She was on the phone with the organizers, concerned that she would need to board the plane immediately in order to arrive in time. After frustrating delays, Amani acknowledged the impossible time factors, and graciously emailed a letter of apology to the attendees. It was, after all, out of her hands. The Workshops Others, who had a more flexible schedule and could stay for workshops with the likes of Tito, Aida Nour, Lubna and Mohammed Khazafy, said they were “excellent” and “I’d rate them all 10’s.” Another said “Four great Egyptians on the roster!” Another took all of Aida Nour’s workshops and raved about them. Other U.S.-based teachers were asked to substitute who had not been hired as workshop instructors earlier on and the reception was very positive. “Shareen [el Safy] is like going to Egypt,” one person said.
The Vending One large U.S. vendor believed the prices were “rapacious” and decided not to go to IBDC. She was not alone. Others mentioned the fact that some of the larger vendors, who were easily bringing in 1,000 pounds of merchandise ended up being charged upwards of $1,000 – a “sock in the stomach,” one says. One of them may have negotiated a better price with the organizers. Smaller vendors who managed to surreptitiously wheel in a few suitcases may have ‘flown under the radar.” Gold Star Productions had apparently planned for 200 vendors (the hall could certainly accommodate them) but ended up with about 47, a great disappointment to those workshop participants who were shopping for very specific items they could not find. Some of the vendors that were present were selling unusual items for a belly dance convention; decorated drain stoppers, watches, hookahs, glittery insoles for shoes and a fundraising booth for the American Cancer Society were mentioned.
Since there was a charge early in the week to attend the open stage performances, not many people were present on the other side of the wall anyway. One person mentioned an audience of five or six. Vending was not allowed in the hallways outside the shows because of fire laws. Add to this poor attendance at IBDC in general. By Tuesday the vendors were, in someone’s words, “completely freaked out.” After several days, the laws were relaxed. To fill up the cavernous ballroom, the organizers gave the vendors extra booth space, which they liked a great deal. Later, tickets for the shows were given to the vendors to appease them and to fill up the audiences. Gold Star also charged no admission for the open stage later in the week and opened a door in the wall between the vending and the open stage room so that the vending space was more accessible. By Friday night, the vendors were selling their goods in the halls by the shows. No vendor interviewed saw the “build” they thought they would see – in either traffic or sales. Some vendors made money and some did not. They liked the room prices “relatively inexpensive” and found the food affordable also. Gold Star paid for the assistants for several vendors who were also workshop instructors and performers so that they did not have to be in two places at once. When asked if they would attend the event again, the answer was, “Perhaps – if things are done differently.” The Shows Having been offered great discounts and “other perks” as teachers, the instructors rallied around Gold Star mid-week when it became apparent that there were serious visa problems for Dina and Amani. The general consensus among the instructors and performers was “everyone pulled together,” to salvage the weekend performances. It seemed everyone truly wanted the event to succeed – for the befit of the community. Gold Star was concerned enough about performance content to fly Delilah’s musicians back for the weekend shows (they had already returned to Seattle after their Monday night performance.). The organizers also flew a band in from Los Angeles which had mixed reviews. The audience enjoyed their music but some of the performers felt they did not work with dancers very well. The Friday evening performance was not well–attended; perhaps 100 people at the most were there. The Friday awards ceremony was described as “boring” and “it dragged on and on.”
The Saturday show was better-attended but was still so empty that they let anyone, regardless of what they had paid to sit in the most expensive seats up front, which may have upset those who actually paid the top price to sit here. The Contests One contestant mentioned that because of “last minute judge changes,” the contest she entered was not as appealing; the new judges were overheard discussing upcoming contestants and saying how much they personally liked them. The question was whether they managed to judge everyone fairly. Others liked the judges they had been assigned and thought they were extremely competent.
The main issue that many involved in the contests or teaching voiced was that Gold Star has been slow to pay them. The one winner we spoke with as part of this general article has not been paid her prize money as of April 4, 2008. Final Remarks Did the organizers dream too big? Most seemed to think so. If there is a 2008 IBDC, would the people who spoke to Gilded Serpent come back this year? A surprising majority said yes. “In a weird way, I want to check it out again,” said one. Editor's
note: Several questions and issues remain
unresolved. Were visa's the only
reason that the Arab acts did not show? Were not the lack
of airline tickets and deposits also a problem? When were
the visa's applied for? Were these experienced lawyers? Why
did the organizer expect to have 10,000 attendees? Is
the Bellydance market in fact still too small for an event
like this? How big did they think the
Bellydance community is? Who
did they think was going to come? When it was apparent even a
month before that so few people were coming why did they continue
to go forward?
Perhaps Alex and Dolores of Gold Star Productions will
share their side of the story one day...
Have
a comment? Send us a
letter! Ready
for more? 1-7-08 IBDC
Part 2:- A Gilded Serpent tale, Alex in Wonderland,
by Amina Goodyear 7-15-08 Egyptian
Wedding Stories by Leila of Cairo 7-12-08 Jodette:
Undeniably Authentic by Sausan 7-9-08 Journey
into Womanhood by Elizabeth Artemis Mourat 7-8-08 When
Two Doors Close Two Doors Open, New Venues in New York
City, by Sarah Skinner 7-3-08 Belly
Dancing in Estonia by Ines Karu 6-28-08 Tribal
Fest 2008, Saturday May,17 2008, Sebastopol, CA photos
and video by Lynette |
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