Eshe is a professional belly dancer originally from Hamilton, Canada now residing in Seoul, South Korea.
1. Could you tell us about the competition to be a cast of Bellydance Evolution?When I entered BDE competition we had 7 days to film our videos. When I entered, I was also preparing to go on a 3 months honeymoon to Turkey, Australia and Canada. I was very busy packing up my entire life. I didn't have a lot of time to learn the choreography or practice. I got on the airplane on my way to Turkey feeling very upset. After being in transit for about 10 hours, I had a stop over in Malaysia so I decided to try and film at my airport hotel there. The room was too small and the hallways were too busy. I put on my makeup and costume and found room in the hotel gym. The staff kept walking by and pushing their faces up to the glass to see what I was up to. I was ready to upload my video but when I got back to my room I saw a sign "we apologize but our internet service is unavailable." I went to the airport gates and tried to find a signal. The airport only allows 2 hours of internet service, but because of the size of the file and speed of the internet it would take almost 3 hours to upload it. I decided to wait until I got to to Turkey. After about 27 hours of traveling, I arrived at my guest house which had advertised internet service. I sat on my bed and booted up my laptop-there was no signal. I tried everywhere. I finally found a 60cm spot on the floor near the bathroom door that had service. When I tried to access YouTube I found it was blocked in Turkey. I bought an internet cloaking application and finally was able to upload my video.
There were a few problems with the 2010 Asian competition and the deadline was pushed back about 3 times. I was so happy when I hit refresh and saw my name. About 4 days later, Jillina sent us the choreography videos. We had about 10 days to learn all of the routines before meeting her in Korea.
I was very, very nervous on the first day. I think I was the only cast member Jillina had never met before. Most of them she had met at a workshop or show. Jillina is very kind and she's a wonderful leader. There was no job that was too big or too small for her. She was of course teaching us dances and correcting technique but she was also helping us to sew our costumes and cleaning the studio with us. We danced about 8 hours everyday. Jillina would post our schedule every day on the studio mirror and we would have to be ready for that. The first day she gave us our costumes and during breaks we would make adjustments. The first 3 days she or another star would go over each dance in detail 1 time with the formation changes. It took about 1 hour for every 2 minutes of choreography. From the 4th day we started running the show. On the 5th day we started dancing in costumes. On the 6th day we were doing full dress rehearsals. The 7th day we had the in-theater dress rehearsal and then the show.
It was very intense learning all the routines. I usually don't wear shoes to practice or dance in but my feet got blisters from all the rehearsals. It's not only a bellydance show. There also are routines from India and Uzbekistan; Georgian dancing is featured prominently in the show too. She also uses a lot of props like asaya, fan veil, veil, candles and feather veils in the show.
It was a bit more relaxed when we got to Bali because everyone except 1 new dancer knew the routines. The only stressful element was the stage was not built until the very last day. During the performance there was a storm and we had to stop it about 30 minutes early which was very disappointing for a lot of us.
2. What is your strength as a cast of Bellydance Evolution?I'm not sure. Jillina told me I was a beautiful dancer, which meant a lot to me. I had to work very hard to learn so much in such a short amount of time. It was such a big challenge but so wonderful.
3. Do you have any advice for dancers who will apply the competition of Bellydance Evolution?If you start working now with Jillina's choreography videos, I think it makes learning her routines easier.
Do it. It was so much fun and I made a lot of good friends when I did it. We still dance together now. It was such a wonderful memory for me. I also learned so much from being around Jillina and the other dancers in the show. Not only technique but the nuts and bolts of running a big production. It was so enlightening.
As practical advice if you are accepted bring extra sewing materials for your costumes-like hooks, buttons, thread and needles.
