On Wednesday, August 4th, some of the Rising Sirens had the honor of performing alongside the company director Kaeshi Chai during Natacha Atlas’ concert at SOB. This is the first high profile gig for the troupe after BAM, and it was a very special moment for the troupe both on a personal and a professional level.
On top of being an extremely talented and renowned artist, the Belgian/British singer is the voice of the first piece we learned as a troupe (“I put a spell on you”, a.k.a. “the candle piece”) and this made her appearance in NYC very meaningful to all of us. It was also the reason why Kaeshi decided to ask some Siren dancers to join her performance, bearing in mind that it would be cool for some of us to participate in the experience, even if it was not everyone. Laurel, Jessica, Ritu and Ayano joined her to share their talent on SOB´s stage, and they made the rest of us Sirens really proud! For this post, I decided to interview Ritu so that she could share in her own words the emotions and challenges of this particular performance.
María: What did it mean for you to be part of such a high profile gig?
Ritu: At first I was shocked and honored! Immediately afterwards I started feeling a little nervous about being prepared for the show, and also had a bit of imaginary stage fright. Since I missed a key rehearsal, I made plans with the other girls right away to review the choreography one on one, and met with them every night from Sunday through Tuesday night.
M: What did it mean for the troupe in terms of learning to support each other and understanding the dynamics of a professional dance company?
R: First of all, the girls who were performing had to be willing to put in a lot of extra rehearsal time. Secondly, since I was aware that some sirens were a little disappointed not to be part of the show, I felt it was important to maintain a good feeling among us. Many girls talked it out, which was extremely helpful. Ultimately, as Kaeshi said, because of space restrictions and short notice and synchronization, it just made sense that she had to pick. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for her either but she did. After all, and even as much as she likes to see us all happy and growing as dancers, she is the director and is responsible of ensuring that the troupe’s mission is fulfilled.
Because we have good communication within the troupe and we genuinely like each other, this initial disappointment faded quickly and many of the sirens openly showed their support on Facebook, through email and by coming to join us from the audience! In the end, we definitely performed with positive energy (which is so important). Ayano says that she was kind of panicking until she saw Michelle and Atina in the audience: this immediately restored her confidence and her sense of being among friends. Just like any other time at Je’Bon! If I had not been selected, I definitely would have also been there showing my support and enjoying the amazing show… Natacha is ridiculously good!
M: Indeed! Let´s hear about the show!
R: Since I missed BAM, the venue was the fanciest place I’ve ever performed in, which was awesome! At first we were afraid of finding glass on the floor since it is a bar/club, but because of its cleanliness we decided to go barefoot. I’m so thankful that there was more than enough space. The ambiance was also very charming; the place allows the audience to enjoy the music in an intimate setting. Also, the club dimmed their lights, so the candles looked amazing! The other thing we enjoyed about the venue was the great fully mirrored changing area. Natacha’s band changed there too. They were extremely warm and friendly with us and this, added to Natacha´s personal charisma and the love of her fans, made the place glow with energy.
M: Did you get to hang with Natacha? What was special about the performance itself?
R: Yes! We were nervous because she’s a huge star, but even though we didn’t have convo’s with her (only Kaeshi did) she was super nice, posed for pictures with and wished us luck.
One of the highlights of the performance was dancing with real candles for the first time! It added a special mystic to the dance, but it was also scary! I styled my hair to be big and curly that night so we were afraid of setting it on fire, haha. We prepared for the show by burning them down to a small size and breaking the wick so the flame was short. We also had the chance to rehearse with them once. The scariest part was the weaving in and out move because I was afraid of setting everyone’s hair on fire!
M: Yes, that would have been an even more unforgettable performance! What about the costume?
R: We went with the pharaonic costume, but it was a last minute decision. We changed into black sleek pants afterwards for audience participation dancing.
M: How did you feel dancing with Kaeshi, and what have you learned from this performance?
R: Kaeshi was wonderful and encouraging, as always! We did our breathing exercise before getting on stage and invited the musicians to join, which was a lot of fun. All in all, it was really interesting to dance as a troupe before a live band show, and having to go through sound check, deal with equipment and wires everywhere, etc. I’m grateful for this opportunity!
Written by: Estefania Vaz Ferreira
Ritu
Jessica
evazferreira
Laurel
