On July 6, an audience of close to 100 people gathered at the Ashcroft Community Hall for the end-of-season dance display performed by the seven members of the Desert Moon and Desert Dawn belly dance groups.
Event emcee Wendy Wiebe noted that Denise Tapia, who leads the groups, has devoted a lot of time to teaching and advancing this art form in our area; and the outstanding performance was a tribute to her skills and those of the dancers (Tapia, Ann Condin, and Lisa Tegart in Desert Moon, and Julia Franes, Gaurangi Tapia, Vraja Tapia, and Sequoya Wiebe in Desert Dawn).
The first dance was a display of sword dancing, which prompted a huge round of applause after an amazing (and hair-raising) display. Gaurangi and Vraja Tapia performed a duet; then, in the only non-original piece in the performance (in addition to dancing, the participants choose the music and choreograph all the pieces), came a second sword dance. “You’re going to perform with that on your head?’ Wiebe says she asked her daughter Sequoya, the first time she brought the sword home.
Sequoya then performed her first solo dance, with Wiebe noting the amazing progress she had made in just two years, and adding that costumes, music, makeup, and motion all contribute to the art form.
Belly dance can add to, and borrow from, many different cultures, as numbers choreographed to music by Lady Gaga and done in a burlesque fashion showed.
The second half of the show started off with North American tribal dances, which Wiebe explained were improvised, which is simultaneously easier and more difficult than choreographed numbers.
In these dances there is a leader who gives body cues to indicate the various moves to those following: “The movements have to be very clear.”
Sequoya, Gaurangi, and Vraja have all been with the company for five years, while Julia has been with them since 2015. At the performance, Julia performed her first independently-choreographed routine, which used a dance method called tutting that calls for a minute attention to rhythm. This was followed by Sequoya’s first piece of choreography, which she has been working on with Guarangi since 2014.
Two fan veil dances followed, along with a duet choreographed and arranged by Julia and Sequoya. The final dance, involving all the dancers, was a fan/veil dance that the entire group had choreographed, and it provoked an instant standing ovation from the audience.
Tapia said that she was very pleased with the turnout for the performance. The troupes are always looking for new members of all ages, and practices are held throughout the school year at Desert Sands Community School in Ashcroft. Anyone interested should contact Tapia via Facebook, or at (250) 457-0925.
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