What can I say? If it could happen, it did
happen to me!
Just about every dancer out there has a blooper
story to tell. Bloopers are almost like a right
of passage and there are a lot of us out there
that are seasoned!
Bloopers can happen for many reasons; like you
forgot to check your costume and make sure your
snaps and hooks are sewn on tightly. I mean,
when you dance every weekend and perform 2 to 4
shows in a night your costumes will start to
suffer.
I had ten costumes that I checked and made sure
they were ready to dance in. Then, I just
started to let the “costume check” slide a
little. By appearance my costumes looked good
but hidden from the general public were a few
pins here and there. And that, my friends, is
where the bloopers come to life.
I remember I was dancing for a recreational camp
for kids and there had to be at least 200 kids
ranging in ages from kindergarten up to
teenagers all watching me perform. Before I knew
it as I was doing my favorite turn, my back
straps broke and there for a few seconds were my
breasts bared for everyone to see. The younger
kids didn’t quite get what had happened but the
older ones did. Fortunately I had my niece with
me who pinned my back straps together and I went
back out to continue my performance. To my
dismay the group leaders were already leading
the kids out of the room and only a few stayed
to see me finish. I don’t think I helped our
community out much at that performance. To my
knowledge they haven’t invited any belly dancers
back. Moral of the story: Check your snaps and
hooks!
Weight fluctuation is
another blooper waiting to happen. I learned the
hard way that my daughter’s socks are not a good
substitution for bra pads. I had lost weight and
fixed one costume but not the other. I figured
that socks would give me the boost I needed
while being hidden from view. So I decided to
wear the costume that I didn’t fix first because
what did I have to fear, I had my daughters
socks. But socks, as I found out, have a mind of
their own.
I was dancing for a huge group of diplomats from
Iran and our FBI at a local restaurant that I
perform at. Everybody was yelling my name and
clapping as I came out ready to dance the night
away. And that was exactly what I was doing
until I noticed a few grins and giggles from the
audience. One man pointed to my bra and from my
vantage point, my breasts and bra looked fine.
But when I did a chest circle there to my horror
was my daughter’s sock hanging down my right
side. So I did what any professional would do, I
pulled it out and threw it. Everybody laughed
and applauded and I continued to dance with one
big breast and one small breast. After the
evening was over and everybody had left I went
looking for my daughter’s sock. I couldn’t find
it anywhere and even had the wait staff (who
were still in hysterics) help me look for it.
But it was nowhere to be found. Weeks past and I
forgot about the missing sock until the owner of
the restaurant told me that my sock was given to
the head diplomat as a gift and reminder of his
stay here. So whoever took it had it framed and
presented it to him. Also to go along with the
sock were 5 video cameras that captured the
infamous sock rolling down my right side. So
moral of this story: bra pads!
Long skirts can be a bloopers' best friend. I
like my skirts long because I am short and if my
skirts are just a little above my ankles they
make me look even shorter. So the bottoms of my
skirts get dirty and I have to wash them a lot.
I had one particularly long skirt that I just
loved. It was separate from my belt and I loved
this because than I could mix and match to my
hearts content. Well, one evening I wore my
favorite skirt for a big dinner party at a
nightclub I use to dance at. The family who had
the dinner party filled most of the club. They
had especially asked for me and I was very
honored to dance for them. So the night began
very innocently with me dancing around tables
and on chairs. They even put me up on the tables
a few times. It’s amazing what your skirt can
get caught on. There I was dancing and just
finishing up my drum solo when I decided I
wanted to end on stage. So I jumped down off the
table and began to stroll over to the stage only
to realize that my skirt didn’t want to come
with me. As my audience tried to get me unstuck
my skirt somehow got pulled down and was close
to my knees. (Thank God I had on matching
underwear). Finally my skirt was pulled free and
I gracefully pulled my skirt up and was able to
finish the last minute of my show. The family
loved the little drama and said that they would
remember that night for a long time. The moral
of this story: Stay on the stage and don’t dance
on tables!
Props can either be friend
or foe. Sometimes I really believe my veil, cane
or sword is on the side of the bloopers. You
know how it is, you practice in the studio or
home and everything goes great but as soon as
you get out and perform something bizarre
happens to your prop. I have often wondered if
my props were possessed. It’s amazing how your
veil will get caught on your costume or how your
cane flies out of your hand. My sword was better
behaved but would occasionally act up
One evening in Fort Worth
I was dancing in a very crowded restaurant and I
was dancing with my cane. Everybody was enjoying
themselves and the owner of the restaurant was
sitting at a table not far from our little
stage. I was twirling the heck out of my cane
when to my surprise the cane flew out of my hand
and landed on the restaurant owners lap. The
whole restaurant applauded and yelled for more.
So I slowly went up to the restaurant owner and
asked for my cane and he gave it back to me with
an amused look on his face. Fortunately for me
my cane music was almost over and I didn’t have
to try for another amazing encore with my cane.
So the moral of this story: If you mess up with
your prop, make it look good!
The last of the bloopers are the hidden kind.
You know, the kind that don’t show themselves
until you are on stage dancing and then you
realize that the stage is uneven or worse you
just stepped on something that feels very slimy.
And let’s not forget the shrinking stage.
Let’s face it, when we get hired to dance at a
party or event, we can’t always check the stage
out beforehand. I remember when I was hired for
a party and I asked how big was the space where
I was dancing and they replied that it was a
good-sized space, at least half of a room. So I
choreographed a dance accordingly to what I was
told. Well, my stage was 4ft by 3ft. and by a
raging fire in a fireplace with little kids
sitting all around me. My choreography changed
immediately and I was amazed that I didn’t pass
out from the heat.
The uneven stage
is the one blooper that hides itself
very well. I have been on stages that
looked even but when I danced on them
turned me into a lopsided sideshow. I
remember at this one restaurant that
whenever I would spin that I would
slowly but surely spin into a table on
the right side of the stage each time. I
would stop at that table just before I’d
loose it. I finally asked the other
dancers if they did the same thing and
they all replied yes. Thank God! Who
wants to be lopsided alone? The slimy
story gives me shivers up my spine so I
think I’ll pass on it. Besides I think
you can visualize the scenario without
me giving you the details.
So these are just a few of
my blooper stories. The one thing I realized
throughout my 22 years in dance is that even
though we all strive for perfection in our
dance, the bloopers keep us grounded. Sometimes
I think back and have to laugh at the dumb and
embarrassing things that have happened to me. If
you can laugh at yourself then you have just
given yourself a wonderful gift. Laughter keeps
us humble and it keeps us healthy. So keep on
laughing and keep on dancing!
Many Blessings
Dance From Within and Create a Style of Your Own
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