Unexpected art

Earlier tonight, I attended a hafla at which Jennie was dancing with fellow bellydance students. The organizers billed the event as an "Experimental Dance Theater Show," words that would normally send me fleeing. In this case, however, it amounted to bellydancers mixing other techniques with bellydancing and performing to non-traditional music. So, I wasn't too worried.

I did not, on the other hand, expect to find much to charm me. After all, we're talking experimental dance.

I was wrong.

I enjoyed almost all of the performances, but two stood out and reminded me of the great pleasure even small bits of art can provide.

The first was an interpretive dance to Annie Lennox's "Little Bird." From the write-up and the on-stage setup (a blindfolded, heavyset dancer with her legs bound together with ribbons), I expected the worst kind of interpretive dance. Instead, the dancer's exuberance and her obvious joy in the performance elevated it into a small moment of sincere art. Sincerity is something many critics use only in negative reviews, but I hate that; sincere feelings matter. In any case, this woman's performance won me over.

The second dance that really grabbed me was a tribal fusion number set to Static X's "So Cold." The dancer, an instructor in another city, had a mesmerizing stage presence and amazing body control and movements. I'd attend an hour of just her dancing.

I often fear that left to my own devices I might not leave my house for large stretches at a time, content to work and immerse myself in reading and electronic entertainments. Nine out of ten times that someeone persuades me to attend a live performance, however, I come away glad I did. I should not forget that fact.

It's late, and I have more work to do, so I will save for tomorrow my review of what I now believe to be absolutely the best restaurant in my area.