Tag Archives: Bellydance

Final Fantasy Distant Worlds in Boston!

13 Mar

So this past weekend was full of fun adventure! Kanzashi, Final Fantasy, Die Jewlery- Oh my!

It started last week when my friend Tyler posted on “the facebook” about missing out on concert in Boston. Low and behold, “Final Fantasy Distant Worlds” was coming for the first time to Boston! I logged on to the website and found out they were advertising “obstructed view” seats only. (wahhhhh waaaaaaah). That means we would miss seeing the orchestra/ choir, AND the big screen! (They show artwork, cut scenes, and recorded play to match the timing of the music- brilliant!) I knew that sometime the week before a show, Donation Members or handicap access seats will open up. Luckily some did; Orchestra Seats too!

It was SUPER nice in theBostonSymphony Hall- they had an actual Pipe Organ! This meant of course they HAD to play “Dancing Mad” from FF VI (4 on the SNES). I saw the show inBaltimoreduring Otakon/ Artie’s Week long Turkish intensive- but the song selection was way different.

They even had a “sing-a-long” to “One Winged Angel“.

I let Sam-Sam and Ty-Ty sit in front of me, together, since I got to see the show once inBaltimore. Interestingly enough I sat beside a gentleman who’s wife was in the “Forca”, the choir accompanying “The Video Game Orchestra”. He gave me some tidbits of info behind the group (such as they record music for video games often!), but I won’t spill any more beans.

Now I want to re-play some Final Fantasy games- even though I haven’t played XIII (and XIII-2) ! GASP! I was told they both are decent games, and super pretty.

A show idea for Antipode, that we’ve thought about it Final Fantasy characters. More of a Mog, Chocobo, Tonberry King, or Cactuar type show instead of a specific character or class (thinking about it still). Sam suggested one of us do Chocolina from FF XIII.

Photo of: Moogle, Tonberry, Moogle, Cactuar, and 3 chocobos.

Chocolina from Final Fantasy XIII

He’s serious in starting to do costume masquerades/contests, which would lead into commissions. I think I need to do more sit-ups- not to lose weight- but to make sure my core is strong enough to hold that costume up! haha!

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Ayla

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Firefly BellyDance: Music Choice

4 Mar

Like this artwork? It was done by Megan Lara 

If you want to buy the set, you can here 

The music from the show “Firefly” is rich with layers, in multiple ways…

For one the roots! There are Celtic, Country, East Asian, & Indian undertones in the music. Not to mention the music sounds fully orchestrated.

Secondly “mash-up”; Interestingly enough most songs around close to 2-2 ½ mins long, yet they change tone completely sometimes 2 or three times! It’s incredible! Little bite sized rifts.

Thirdly the music it’s self can be tensive, yet it still flows. Sometimes it portrays a Bitter sweet catch-22. Sometimes songs spark a feeling, I can only describe as the “Beauty of Sadness”- not “Beauty from Sadness” per say. It speaks of finding happiness in those harsh times- such as when a love one dies and you are looking through old memory books or chatting with old friends. You bring up & remember all the good times, but you know it’s impossible to re-live them. That moment when you hold back those tears and you feel your stomach drop- that’s how the music feels- When you look at it, it really is beautiful that you would love and care for someone/something so much, it brings you such pain…

And to think, I haven’t really gone into the music from “Serenity” (the movie)!

Now how am I going to convey that message? Well… that’s another story. Interestingly enough, “River” is in the title of most of the music. I feel like I should re-watch the show to see how much music is played when River is on screen vs. all the other characters.

Then again, I do see a sadness (and crazy) held within all the women from firefly; Joss always seems to write VERY strong, independent, multi layered women in his shows/movies. I could easily channel some sadness and doubt from Kaylee with… well any scene where she tries to impress the doc (won’t spoil it for you!). I ALWAYS try to make sure I get into character, when I dance… whether it is one already established (Mario, Link, Lucca/Marle/Ayla, Sonic, Tifa, Red XIII, Prinny, Chi, Snape, Akasha, DOMO!, etc) or in general (Sassy or Melancholy Belly Dancer). Ok, I was joking about that Domo one- sort of. I envision he’s usually happy!

Oh, and interestingly enough “Jade” just commented on my last post on having some music ideas for me! Huzzah! I’m always excited for Arabic/ East Asian fused music (as I have very little). ^_^

I wonder if I pitch my idea to Dragon*con I could dance it at their yearly shindig! I love video, but a live performance would be cool… Hum, I wonder how many belly dancers go to dragon*con… I’m sure plenty! :: plotting ::

Thanks for your time!
Cheers,
Ayla

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FireFly Bellydance

26 Feb

Recently Tempest listed a Turquoise-Floral-Turkish-Vest, in a “Serenity” pattern. As soon as I saw it & heard the coincidence name, I immediately thought about Kaylee from Firefly/Serenity. After purchasing hte vest (Shiny!), it cause again the spark to do a Firefly/Serenity inspired BellyDance. Originally I discussed with a friend to do Inara, but I just had to go with this “Shiny” insparation. (Maybe Inara will make a guest appearance with Zoe and River!)

Kaylee’s “uniform” usually consist of coveralls & bright colored floral/Asian inspired shirt. In the pilot (see picture) Kaylee wears her signature turquoise/ Chinese floral jacket, flip flops, and  parasol.

In the TV show, Kaylee sometimes times ties her coveralls around her waist- making a hip belt. I actually already own a cosplay costume of Kaylee- parasol, coveralls, and all- yet the ones I own don’t have sleeves. This means there is not really a way to tie the top half around my waist- and I’m missing something for my hip accents.

Next idea- I searched Bhuz.com’s swap meet (where dancers sell their new/used costumes) for any inspiration. No dice- but I did see some choli’s that were kind of close to Kaylee’s patterns from sharifwear. I went to sharifwear.com and had some luck; found a pink/purple oriental floral choli, and army green tribal fusion pants (both on sale!).

The next (or last) step for the costume is adding Kaylee’s signature patches & Kanji writing either to the pants OR make a hip bell. The exact bear patch is sold on ebay, as well as I can standard turquoise flowers, and large red hearts- but do I want to make a belt and order a few extra? If I put the patches in their normal areas- only the bear one could be correct- it’s also huge and might make the pants lie on my leg awkward. :/

I also need to find what songs would I dance to? Of course the opening theme, but that’s only 52 seconds. There are a few other songs that I have in mind, but they will be a surprise 😉 I’m taking suggestions!

Thanks for for your time.

Cheers,

Ayla

*note I don’t own Firefly, Serenity, or the picture… but I do suggested that you watch the Joss Whedon Series! It’s for sale on DVD and now Blu-ray!

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