Recent workshop photo’s!!
July Multi-Level….
August L3 prep….
August L3….
UNMATA Rodeo!
Yipee Kay Yaaaaayyyyyyy!!Yes I did it!!! I rode that horse and I was the best damn Rodeo Queen you can imagine. It was my first time in a long time on a horse. Gezzzz, I think the last time I was on one I was 24. I have ridden Camels but that doesn’t count, now does it??? lsabella’s advice was “it’s just like an undulation down to up mom.. you can handle it”. 
When Amy contacted me regarding being the “Rodeo Queen” I thought it was a joke. She comes up with so many wacky ideas that I don’t know what is real sometimes and what is fantasy. (But the point is that it is the same really.) So when she started describing the Rodeo concept, I fell in love with it. The passion and love she had for this day and community of dancers and characters was going to be such a treat. I don’t think I truly GOT the concept until I drove up the road and saw the actual town where the event would be held.
“I want an old country western little town that we can start off early with flap jacks and go into the night, gambling in a salon”. Sounds fun, I thought, but what does that have to do with me?? As her eyes twinkled she said “but Suhaila Salimpour has to be the Rodeo Queen”! I didn’t even know what that was!! But Amy had a vision and that was that. I was supposed to begin my riding lessons in April to be ready by the performance in Aug. She was going to pick the perfect horse and I would learn to ride. I had to think about it for a second since the first thing that came to my mind was how was I going to tell my mother? I still haven’t told her actually. When she finds out I will quickly blame my DNA and the fact that she was once with the circus and rode 5 elephants.
Of course I never got my riding lessons – between my and Amy’s touring schedule, that just wasn’t gonna happen. I showed up the same day of the event and rode my ass off. My horse, Pixsie, was great. She put up with me and my “routine” very well. Sarah was my handler and she made sure that Pixsie was well behaved and didn’t take advantage of my inexperience. She demonstrated my moves and I did them feeling safe because she made me feel safe. She had to hear how I just COULD NOT hurt myself or fall off because I am a single mother and my daughter needs me (as well my my mother). I also had to explain that my mother was Sicilian and would not be happy if I fell off. I was working every angle.
So the day began with a wonderful cast and crew of women and men from the Unmata world. It reminded me of Bal Anat actually. The tribe and community was just as important as the event, if not more. What someone saw on the outside was only half of the friendships that cultivated the creation of this event. Amy was at peace knowing that her vision was coming true. It was the perfect day filled with the feeling of the old time west – especially in San Francisco. When dancers started to show up it was very interesting to see that not many had to alter their original dance gear.
Someone asked me “but what does this have to do with belly dance??” and I was very quick to explain that Amy is a performance artist that pulls from a belly dance vocabulary. Is it “Belly Dance”???… maybe not. But I can grasp the greater vision and have fun. At this point in my career I would much rather see their pony dance than another cane dance. Unless of course, it was a bad ass cane dance. Then it would have the same sentiment I guess and now we are back at the Fusion drawing board. Lions and Tigers and Bears…. oh my!
And for all of you who are wondering, yes… I did stand on Pixsie at the end and vibrated. Of course! What else would you expect from the Rodeo Queen?
