Devi Mamak talks to
festival director Debra Napier Of Urban Quabila
Wow! This year has really started with a bang. I can’t
believe as I am putting together this article that it is
already March!
I have just come back from Whittianga in N.Z. My hosts
Tracey & Margy looked after us [hubby came this time] as
they always do. I came back a few kilos heavier & sun burnt!
Too much good food, vodka and glorious beach. We did also
manage to get in some dancing however.
Both Tracey Miller & Margy Morris are ex students of Susan
Brown and when Susan left to get married in the U.S.A they
were left without a teacher. What amazes me about these two
women is that not only did they keep it going as best as
they could without a teacher but they somehow even manage to
get together every now and then to practice and even perform
together. This is not an easy feat as Margy lives in the
south Island and Tracey lives in the North island! Now that
is dedication to the art!
One of the highlights for me was the Saturday night
performances at a local Indian restaurant. Teachers Margy,
Tracey & Bronnie presented their troupes with some of them
performing for the very first time. I love seeing that
nervous excitement that comes with a first performance and
the relief and real sense of accomplishment when it was all
over. I thought they all did a wonderful job.
This month I am also off to QLD for the Raqs Festival.
Melissa Christina from Melbourne and myself will be the
special guests. I am really looking forward to that one and
will let you know all about it in the next article.
We also have Paulette Rees Denis coming once again to our
shores for weekend workshops in Wollongong, N.S.W. Paulette
will also be conducting her “Soul Collective” teacher
training both in Sydney & Innisfail QLD. If you are
interested in these please contact:
Jacky: tribaljewels@exemail.com.au
for Wollongong
Deb:
urbanquabila@yahoo.com.au for Sydney
Nina:
nina@gypsyrain.com.au for Innisfail
Jacky form Tribal Jewels will also be hosting the next
Student Soiree to coincide with Paulettes visit. This will
be very exciting for the students and also for Paulette to
be able to see what some of us are up to now and to see all
the newer students performing. And of course we will all get
to see Paulette perform which will be a real treat.
On a different note, and finally to the topic of this
article, as many of you may already know I hosted the First
Australian Tribal & Trance Festival in 2006. It was a huge
success as many attended from all over the country, N.Z and
we even managed to bring out Carolena & Megha as our special
guests for the weekend.
Even thought it was a huge success I made the decision not
to host another one as the work load was huge and I realized
that I wanted to concentrate my energies on more artistic
ventures. Luckily for all us Tribal enthusiasts Debra Napier
of Urban Quabila has agreed to take on this mammoth task.
I’m sure she will do a fabulous job. Here is what she had to
say about her ideas for Tribal & Trance Festival 2008.
1] WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO TAKE ON THE FESTIVAL?
The first festival was one of the highlights of that year
for me. The supportive community spirit present and strong
focuses on technique are two things that initially drew me
to the dance form. The first festival provided the chance
to network with many dancers from varied artistic
backgrounds and the standard of performance at the Red
Carpet was inspirational. When I heard that you Devi had
decided to pass on running the festival again, I knew I had
to give it a go. I’m really excited about it.
2] OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE YOUR OWN VISIONS FOR THE FESTIVAL. HOW
WILL THEY DIFFER FROM THE FIRST TRIBAL & TRANCE FESTIVAL?
The first festival provided an excellent template to work
with so we’ll be using the same format; workshops, Red
Carpet Night and Performance/Market Day [which we will be
calling “The all day Soiree”. In addition, previous
attendees requested a meet and greet night so we could all
get to know each other which Tribal Blossoms of Brisbane
have offered to host. I would once again like to add a
Tribal Jam to close the fest on the Sunday evening. Really,
improvisation is what unites us and imagine what a blast it
will be improvising with so many people! It is also
something that I would like to host once a year.
3] WHEN & WHERE WILL THE FESTIVAL TAKE PLACE?
The festival will start on Friday evening 5th
September and finish on Sunday evening 7th
September. At this point in time we are still in
negotiations as to the venue.
4] WHAT WORKSHOPS WILL BE ON OFFER?
I’m aiming for a broad range of traditional to modern
workshops. Some examples include Tribal Flamenco fusion
with you, sword combinations and modern formats including
Melusina from Underbelly’s Red Belly Black, Gypsy Noir of
Canberra, fire fusion and 4 workshops run by our special
guests.
5] ANY SPECIAL GUESTS?
I’m delighted to say that Heather Stants and Sara Plaisted
of San Diego’s Urban Tribal Dance Company will be featured
at our fest. They promote an urban influenced dance style
and minimised costuming emphasizing body movements over
ornamentation. I remember seeing them on a dvd titled
Tribal Evolution and their choreography and isolations
were totally mesmerising. I have watched the same piece at
least 20 times and I’m still blown away each time.
6] ANY SPECIAL EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND? The primary
special event will be the Red Carpet Night. Sara and
Heather will of course be performing as well as Ghawazi
Caravan, Urban Qabila, Gypsy Noir, Tribal Jewels and many
others.
7] I HEAR YOU ARE HAVING A FUNDRAISER FOR THE FESTIVAL? CAN
YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THIS? We are looking to hold a
fundraising concert in May this year. Many of those
performing at the Red Carpet Night will be performing as a
taster for what the festival will have in store.
Information will be posted to Urban Qabila’s website
people.tribe.net/UrbanQabila as information is
available.
8] WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHEIVE WITH THIS FESTIVAL.
I want the festival to be a positive educational environment
and a solid & supportive community experience. In addition
I’m hoping we’ll all come away inspired artistically and
exhilarated from sharing a really enjoyable weekend
together.
Sounds like its going to be a lot of fun. To coincide with
the festival we also have the return of Carolena & Megha for
the General Skills certificate. This will take place the
week before the festival: 29th, 30th &
21st of August. So if you are wanting to come
along to both events but can’t afford the extra airfare why
not come along to both super events.
If you want more info on the festival please contact Deb:
urbanquabila@yahoo.com.au
If you want more inf on the general Skills with Carolena &
megha you can contact me:
devimamak@ghawazicaravan.com
