TribalCon Raqs!

Damn it feels good to see people up on it
'Cause I remember when at first they wasn't

---Biz Markie, The Vapors

It's always a pleasure to see an shit-kickin' idea brought to life. That I got to come to TribalCon, after 3 years of trying, and see what Zi'ah, Awalim, and the amazing crew of staff + teachers pulled off, honestly made me a little close to weepy a couple of times. Not only the raw talent, but the evident goodness of the people, teachers, and crew...there's actually some emotion by me on this, and I'm not 'shamed to say it.
There's more I will say on the matter -- I plan to write a review, as emotionally close as I am to the situation. But I will say this here, as it touches on a lot of what APOSTATE is about. There was, in this thing called "tribal", such a variety of forms that have branched off of, and incorporated the core ideals, of raqs sharqi. And to my eye, those ideas are not about movements, per se -- not in a form that changed so drastically in the early 20th Century. It's about the core of Dr. Shay's COREOPHOBIA, the solo improvisational dance style, and what you can do with it in a group, as non-intuitive as that may sound.
Tribalcon celebrates the variety. what these people are doing with it is Art, amazing artistic expressions that are built on the ideas of bringing out what's within you. The music alone runs a gamut from dancing with live musicians in a ethnically solid style to rockin' out to DJ Shadow's Instrumental Trance Hip-Hop with Classical influences. To call it all of one piece -- and I'm someone who decries the very term "tribal" and especially "tribal fusion" -- is to miss the point, and the opportunity, of what's going on here.

And UNMATA is my New Favorite Band. As cool as their YouTube stuff is, I'm flat-out blown away by the niceness and wisdom of Amy, their director, and Rashel in person. And their work is part and parcel with the concepts I expresses in On da street kickin' asphalt in yo face.