{"id":4120,"date":"2012-05-24T21:55:37","date_gmt":"2012-05-25T04:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=4120"},"modified":"2012-07-28T17:47:22","modified_gmt":"2012-07-29T00:47:22","slug":"crystal-spain-1st-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2012\/05\/24\/crystal-spain-1st-year\/","title":{"rendered":"My New Life in The Old World:"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Year in Spain<\/h2>\n

\"Crytal<\/p>\n

by Crystal Silmi<\/a>
\nposted May, 2012
\nin Spanish- Espanol<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

It is 2012, and it has been just over a year since I set sail for a new life in the old world. \u00a0I left the comfort and ease of life in Santa Cruz, California, with an amazing group of women dancers to see what life (and love) had to offer on the \u201cother side\u201d of the ocean.<\/p>\n

No part of me can say that it has been an easy ride! Setting forth alone in a new country, speaking a new language with no one to vouch for you is a daring adventure, not to mention a lonely one.<\/p>\n

My first attempts (made from the USA) to forge a contact with Spanish dancers were short of successful! In a lucky, misguided Internet search, I was led to discover the school of Alessandra D\u2019Ambra<\/span>, a lovely Italian dancer who is living in Spain. Alessandra was the first to open her doors to me.<\/p>\n

The dancers in Spain seemed a bit wary of me at first: You are from San Francisco; why haven\u2019t we heard of you? Are you Tribal or Cabaret? \u201cWell, um–not really either, and yet both,\u201d I wanted to answer. <\/p>\n

(In Spain, \u201cTribal\u201d is pronounced \u201ctree-ball\u201d so of course, I had no idea what anyone was talking about.) <\/p>\n

This obsession with style classification in Bellydance is a worldwide phenomenon, and to be bluntly honest, it makes me squirm. I don\u2019t want to be \u201ctree-ball\u201d or anything else. I am a dancer. I teach dance, technique and style, and all artists are free to choose what best suits them and their mood. No?<\/p>\n

One of the greatest things I appreciate about my having studied with Suhaila Salmipour<\/span> is that she was always encouraging students to discover their own voice in dance. Likewise, I try to encourage those who dance with me to do the same and not to be a knock-off of another dancer\u2019s look or style of movement. <\/p>\n

We dance to express ourselves; that is what art is \u2013 an expression of feeling. At least, for me it is\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Poster\"Little by little, doors started to open for me in Europe. I traveled to teach workshops in Germany and Italy and perform at the awesome Split Tribal Fest in Croatia.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

I stuck my neck out and did those types of performances that I had always refused to do in the US in which you actually have to pay to dance. <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean \u201cpay\u201d in the sense that I show up and pay someone, but to get on a train, book a hotel room, or even board an airplane to show my face on a stage somewhere to present myself and my work. I am not sure if it is my ego or my general practicality that prevented me from such quests in the US, but if you want to move to a foreign country and be a dancer, there is no other way.<\/p>\n

My dear friend Ariellah<\/span>, with whom I had the great honor of collaborating in Deshret Dance Company<\/span> just before I moved to Spain last year, has been invaluable in trying to help connect me here. She spoke with Morgana<\/a><\/span> who produces Gothla Espa\u00f1a<\/span> and encouraged her to invite me to teach and perform at Gothla in 2011. Morgana is very popular here in Spain, and her events always attract dancers from all over the country and beyond. This event presented the opportunity to have some of my dancers from RaksArabi <\/span>(my troupe in California) join me in Spain. \u00a0Ah! It felt like old times again. In one weekend, we performed and taught at 2 workshops in Madrid and drove to Valencia, then back to dance at Valencia Tribal Fest. <\/p>\n

This was the lifestyle to which I was accustomed–and the lifestyle that I missed.<\/p>\n

Life is starting to get on a roll for me now in Spain: I had successful workshops in Sevilla and soon I\u2019ll be heading to Malaga, Barcelona, back to Croatia, and then to Montreal in the fall.<\/p>\n

I am grateful to all the dancers near and far who have \u201ctaken me in\u201d and have helped me carve out a niche in the European dance community. To return to California to teach and perform at Tribal Fest,<\/span> as well as to reconnect with my local dance community, was an amazing experience this time around. It is grounding for me to be immersed with the dancers with whom I have spent many years (many of whom embody the vision of my work and my passion). <\/p>\n

For any other dancers who may be thinking of committing an act of travel as an expatriate, you should be aware that the road is paved unevenly, so have a good supply of faith as well as patience in your first aid kit. This should get you through the rainy days and steep slopes!\t<\/p>\n

\"Crystal<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"use<\/p>\n

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