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“Hi Kajira!
I was wondering about the origins of your troupe, BlackSheep BellyDance. Did it start out as student troupe or did you audition dancers for it? What kind of ‘growing pains’ has the troupe gone through? And how did you decide on that name? ~ Tracey, NC”
Aloha Tracey,
Thank you for asking about my troupe. I’ll answer the first question first. So far, I’ve never auditioned dancers for any of my troupes. BlackSheep (BSBD), United We Dance (UWD)* and The Arabian Spice Co. (TASC)* members all came from my classes, or, in the case of the last incarnation of BSBD, some came from my certified teachers’ classes. This has been necessary for my ATS troupes, as all members must not only excel in my particular format, but all existing members need to be able to get along with one another both on stage and in the classroom. We can only know that from working together over time. Sometimes I’ve taught, worked with and observed dancers for a couple years or more before approaching them to join the troupe. *(UWD and TASC were previous groups that I had directed and created. UWD became BSBD after 9/11.)
As for “growing pains” - yes, have we ever experienced those! How could we not over so many years (since the early-to-mid 90's), me living in a different state, and actually, just being a collection of very strong women? In fact, it hurts to say that the BSBD we knew and loved is no more at the time of this writing. We just called it quits at the end of Sept. 2008. I was very surprised and didn’t see it coming. I guess it’s hard to see from 2,000 miles away. Strangely, it was only when I had become more involved as of late when things came to a head.
I demand complete honesty at all times from my troupe members, as I firmly believe (and have had it proven now) that only by having “full, 100% disclosure” can a group of 5-11 women ever get along. When I was there in person every week, we all did because it was demanded. We would work out every hurt or detail or stressor that ever arose between us, together. We would pass the stuffed black Sheep, or a “talking zill” (instead of a talking stick) along with the tissue box until whatever it was, was no more. Therefore, I and the past members of my groups are still friends.
But when my husband and I moved to Hawai’i 4 years ago now (in Sept. ‘08), I passed on my classes to my senior troupe member at the time, Lori Tawasha. And in just about one year from the time Chuck and I moved to Maui, so did Lori and her partner! This was great for me, as I had former troupe member, Seana Tuohy, who is on my IAMED DVDs with me, already here on Maui and we were dancin’ up a storm, teaching classes and performing. Now I had two women I was extremely close with here in my new home county with me! We were joined by two students in rather short order, within two years, and had BSBD-HI.
Meanwhile, back in CA, someone had to take over not only the classes and gigs but the troupe as well. Things were rapidly changing there, and once both Lori and I were gone, most of the original members left to do their own things for awhile. The only one offering to step up to the plate in CA and take over was Seba, then new to L3 classes and either was a new member or not yet a member of BlackSheep (she may have been a member of the student troupe, BlackLambs). She’d only had about a year or two of study with me when I moved. Either way, she became Teacher, Director and Gig Booker right off the bat, because she was the one who offered.
Having no one to help her on a daily basis, only long distance over the phone, Seba did an incredible job. Inexperience showed rarely and she really grew quickly into her new roles by working very hard and caring a lot. In her early enthusiasm, she added all members of the BlackLambs over a short period into BlackSheep, so that the numbers swelled quickly to 10 members in CA alone. I knew only 6 of them from classes I taught before moving. I never did get to know the others very well at all, unfortunately.
Right about then I started offering my Teacher Training Certification Program in my KD/BSBD Format for ATS BD. Seba became certified as soon as possible along with three other troupe members. This helped them teach the classes and continue the traditions. Right before we dissolved, 9 out of 10 of them had obtained Level One Teacher Certifications, with Seba reaching Level Two.
But the new group didn’t have me forcing them to complete honesty, so seemingly small wounds began to fester and incubate into incurable dis-ease. Seba apparently was into “making things pretty, pink and smell nice” for the girls, and not into down-n-dirty truth-telling. If only I had known! That is opposite of what I require. So, I’m living on Maui and emailing and seeing and dancing with the girls as much as possible, thinking all was rosy! During our break-up, Seba confessed to me that she was never comfortable with my “full, 100% disclosure” rule and had never been able to be that with me. So this concept was never enforced with the new group. By the end of Sept. many long-term problems that had never been resolved, not only between various troupe members, but also between Seba and I (unbeknownst to me at all) were to the point of no return.
I’m grateful you gave me this opportunity to write in a public forum about the demise of the most recent troupe to bear the BSBD name, Tracey. But there were BlackSheep before them and I know there are many out there around the world and that there will be again. Which brings me to discuss the name, your last question for me. As you’ve read, UWD became BSBD after 9/11. BSBD was already the name of my production company which I produce Tribal Fest under, as well as my publishing name for the Tribal Bible. So it was a logical step to assume that name, and everyone loved it and felt it represented them well.
It seemed to me a fun, easy-to-remember name that resembled the name of my tribal teacher’s group, FatChanceBellyDance. It’s similar, yet different, like I and my format is. It has 4 syllables, like FCBD, and unlike them, I spell it in two words. Furthermore, I always fancied myself Carolena’s “black sheep” in the sense that it was always me in class buggin’ her with questions such as, “why can’t we come in the other way?” and “how come we can’t do that step with the other hip?” and other equally annoying (but hopefully endearing, eventually) questions.
Now that I’ve had the immense good fortune to travel the world sharing my ATS format, and the privilege to go to the UK twice now, I’ve noticed what a quintessentially UK thing the concept of the Black Sheep is. My racial heritage is from those countries as well, so it’s no surprise that I’ve always loved the whole concept of “The Black Sheep” - not going with the rest of the flock, of being an individual, of forging new pathways. I’ve never been one to blindly wish to follow or copy anyone else. I call those with no imagination of their own “white sheep.”
So for now, BlackSheep BellyDance is back to being the name of my production company, as well as the name I’ll use when dancing with others who study and perform my format. This will be the case with the women chosen for my next three DVDs, which I will record in December 2008. This shoot was planned in advance, well before the breakup of the troupe, and of course I had planned on having members of the old troupe in it until the sh*t hit the fan. Knowing I had to keep going and keep thinking ahead, I had to think long and hard about who I was comfortable dancing with and who I thought could represent my vision and format along with me in my new DVDs. Who immediately came to mind was my old friend and student, troupemate and peer, Lori Tawasha.
Lori and her partner had moved back to the SF Bay Area after only one year on Maui but felt uncomfortable re-joining the new troupe there. So she rounded up the other ex-BSBD women who had left when Seba took over and formed Evil Eye Belly Dance. Lori has kept dancing and teaching, and we’ve never lost touch. We’ve danced together for so many years in UWD and the earlier incarnation of BSBD and in BSBD-HI it will be like coming home. Besides Lori, I hope these following women will also be filming with me: Dhyana, who danced with me here in BSBD-HI, having been a super quick study student. She continued teaching and dancing after I stopped holding weekly classes here on Maui, we’ve stayed in touch and have done occasional gigs together locally. She’s a natural dancer and not at all camera-shy. Three other women, Stefanie Masters from Wisconsin, Therese Wyatt of Springfield, Illinois, and Betty Lee from Taiwan, are Level Two Teachers certified in my format. They’ve both worked very hard and put a lot into their dance and study. They’re both experienced in every way as professional dancers and do other styles and have taught for years. Lastly I hope will be MeganDeath, from the most recent BSBD troupe. She is one who fully understands my vision and need for honesty. All of these women feel like I do about what it means to dance this style and each of them has added parts of themselves to it. Collectively, these women and I will be, at least for the purposes of the DVDs, BlackSheep BellyDance International (BSBD-I).
I wish everyone well and hope they dance with joy.
With aloha,
Kajira Djoumahna
Winner of 2 awards for Favorite Instructor (IAMED & Zaghareet!’s Golden Belly Awards), 2 awards for Favorite Event and Promoter for Tribal Fest (Zaghareet!’s Golden Belly Awards - thanks to all of you readers!) and some honorary awards for DVD content and outstanding achievement. Author of the Tribal Bible, 2 instructional DVDs, producer of Tribal Fest and Maui Intensives, global workshop teacher and director of BlackSheep BellyDance CA & HI. www.BlackSheepBellyDance.com |