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The Magic Camel Fashion Show:
Held at Pasand Indian Restaurant on May 2, 2004
by Mara al-Nil

Every once in a while something seems so innovative, like the Magic Camel Fashion Show, that it simply must be written about! 

Perhaps where you live, there is no lack of appropriate venue for Middle Eastern Dance.  Here, in San Francisco's South Bay Area, we have seen and mourned the close of several restaurants that hosted house dancers, student nights, haflas and even dance lessons. 

Our dance form is flourishing, and yet it seems that there is an ever-increasing number of dancers with fewer and fewer places to perform.

We still have some restaurants, MECDA events and the occasional halfa, Art & Wine festival, or house party, but for the first time, we have enjoyed strutting our stuff at a fashion show!  The fashion show was the brainstorm of a consortium of three local independent dance businesses. The Magic Camel is the name of the space the consortium rents in the Ivy Trellis, a local consignment-type store, to sell dance apparel.

The fashion show was an opportunity for The Magic Camel to get in the limelight and advertise their wares, and what a great way to do it!  24 dancers wearing exquisite, mostly handcrafted, costumes performed for an audience of more than 100 people. In addition to the dancers who modeled the costumes, there were five featured dancers. 

Let's start at the beginning, which was several months ago.  Yes, I said several months.  This dance event was extremely well organized.  This show did its part to dispel the impression that Middle Eastern Dance events are always disorganized and chaotic. 

What did The Magic Camel do that was different?

• For starters, they allowed enough time to plan and implement the event.  They put out a call to dancers several months in advance of the event.  They arranged costume fittings about a month prior to the event, so that alterations could be made to the costumes as needed.  Reminders about the fitting times were emailed about 5 days prior. 
• Dancers all wore Magic Camel costumes, which were mutually selected by the individual dancer and the organizers of the event.  The costumes were all suitable for professional performances (no unfinished bra straps, ill-fitted bras, "over-exposure" problems, unfinished hems, etc., that are sometimes seen at some dance events.)  The costumes were carefully selected to give each dancer a polished appearance, and chosen to complement the dancer's body shape and skin/hair color.
• At the time of the fitting, they provided each dancer with a CD of her 2 ½ minute piece of solo music chosen by The Magic Camel, as well as the 2 ½ minute group reprise music. (The wise decision of the organizers to limit the models' dance time to approximately 2 ½ minutes, and the featured dancers to about 10 minutes, allowed for more dancers to perform, without running into the common "dance-a-thon" problem where the program seems interminable while the audience grows ever more restless.)
• Contracts were signed (release of liability, as well as rights to the use of images of the dancer).
• a map of the floor plan with the models' path clearly marked was given to each dancer. 
•   A "dancer checklist" was emailed about 5 days before the show, and included the final line-up with dancers' check-in times, and helpful reminders about "performance-ready" hair and makeup, appropriate undergarments, and wearing loose garments prior to dancing to avoid "waistband tummy". 
• Dancers were requested not to use finger cymbals, as these might distract from the fashion commentary. 
• Directions to the restaurant were included with a link to a map. 

Nothing had been left to chance! 

• Upon arrival at the restaurant the evening of the show, dancers were shown to a larger-than-usual dressing area with 2 full-length mirrors.  A small folding table held sewing repair kits, pins, hooks, elastic, etc., as well as a binder with each dancer's costume description commentary. 
•   Four movable clothing racks held the costumes; each costume was labeled with the dancer's name (with the costume's accessories bagged and attached to the hanger) and placed in order of appearance in the show. 
• Dancers, and costumes, were grouped according to type of costume: Practice/Cabaret, Fusion, Cabaret and Tribal. 
•   Two maps were placed near the dressing room door, with the paths marked for the individual models and for the group reprise. 
• A small television monitor was in the dressing room so that those in the room could see and hear the show's progress
• The guests started arriving when the doors opened at 6 pm; appetizers were ready and the buffet began at 6.15.  The food was ample, and frequently replenished throughout the evening. 
• A triple- fold color program was part of each place setting, listing the dancers, their costume and its price, and credits for the music used in the show. 
• Table decorations, which included colorful little plastic animals, such as monkeys, camels and elephants continued the evening's Middle Eastern theme.

The show started on time against a backdrop of veils and artfully arranged cushions, brass trays and drums.  A tuxedoed disc jockey worked the sound system with the nicely selected collection of upbeat music, while a commentary for each dancer was read or ad-libbed. Each costume was described in detail, and a brief biography was given of each model/dancer.  Tables were arranged so that everyone would be able to see costume details as the dancers did their turns on each of the two Oriental carpets and then proceeded down the area that served as a catwalk.  The entire fashion show was videotaped and each dancer was photographed by and for the producers.  After each modeling, the model/dancer was given a copy of the commentary, as a memento of his performance. The featured dancers performed between the different fashion groups' sets, which provided a pleasant break from the modeling, and the show ended on time.

There was one issue that I didn't like about this event: initially, I reconsidered participating when I was informed (after I had signed the contract) that I needed to purchase a ticket for the event!  

There had been several months during which the dancers could have been notified that each would be expected to purchase a $15 ticket.  For some reason, the first time it was mentioned was after the costume fitting, and after the contract had been signed.  Even though $15. is not a lot of money, I felt blindsided by the demand to pay up. On the positive side, however, the price of the ticket was all-inclusive for those who did not imbibe (there was also a no-host bar), which meant that there were no surprises-no extra charges, no taxes, no last minute hassles figuring out the bill.  It would have been nice to get a copy of the contract, too. Even though I read it at the time I signed it, I don't remember if I promised my first-born to the Temple of Isis!

There were a few other minor glitches.  There were no fans in the dressing room, which was soon uncomfortably warm once all the dancers started showing up.  This was not really the organizers' fault, though.  The restaurant owners had promised, but had forgotten, the fans.  Despite the heat, there was an unusual camaraderie among the dancers, many of whom did not know each other.  Everyone pitched in and lent a hand (or a gold safety pin!) as needed.

Due to the constraints of the physical space (an asymmetrical T-shape), the necessary arrangement of tables, dance space and food made it difficult for dancers to partake of the food after dancing because the buffet had been located across the dance floor away from most of the seating.  It was necessary to wait until the slight break between sets to traverse the area for food.

Though the music was kept at a low volume, at times it was a bit too low for performers to hear it. 

Overall, though, the diners were able to converse with their table partners because of the low volume.  This was far preferable to having the music blasting, as happens at many venues.

Inexplicably, the lights were dimmed prior to the Tribal set, making it difficult to appreciate the details of the costumes.  Though the show finished with a candle dance, for which this lighting was appropriate, it came at the very end of the Tribal set, not the beginning when the level of lighting had been changed.

Despite a few minor flaws, our fashion show format was a great success and a lot of fun.  It demonstrated that being organized and being a Belly dancer are not mutually exclusive.  It is my hope that others will find inspiration for planning the details of their events, and that this level of professionalism will become the norm. 

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