Hello Tribes!
My friend Ninarrah and I trekked to Somerset, NJ from Meriden, CT to oooh and ahhh over the plethora of dancers at this years Rakkasah Spring Caravan. We shared a vending space with a friend hoping to sell, sell sell. Arrival went smoothly despite the weird color in the sky on Friday, shall it rain? We arrived early enough to check into our suite at the Staybridge Suites (excellent 2 bedroom suites and a kitchen) and get to the Ukrainian Center in plenty of time to dress up our table with lots of Tribal Belly Dance tidbits and hang our HipZies on the rack.
What I like about the event is how the event runs so smoothly. To take on the job of just getting the dancers organized and in the right spot is incredible and they really have it down with the timing. One right after the other.... and oh... there is Djinn & Pangia...already set up and performing without a seconds wait. Amazing!
Kudos to the security guys, job well done! The stage director and the back stage folks really deserve a zaghareet for keeping the show running smoothly. I've been in shows all my life and I can't express enough how difficult productions are. Excluding a few minor dancer "CD" glitches the sound crew did a spectacular job as well.
In the vending department the weekend starts long before we go, really at the end of the last big festival, if you make any of your product to sell you are constantly working on predictions..what color will be hot this coming year? Well, it was so obvious this year, creams and all the shades alike including the gold family were the hot, hot, hot colors this year. Who knew? Looks like, as with the hair styles the East Coast is still several years behind in the color department. I remember Rachael Brice performing 3 years ago with the same color scheme, well it finally caught up here. Don't get me wrong Black is still the new Black! Lots of that.
Well, you make, design, create as much product as you can and get it packed into your car and get yourself there. For me, I was slightly disappointed with my table, the set up had changed slightly and my table had a significant sag in the middle, needless to say I dealt with it and kept a smile on my face. I am one of those people who can deal at the moment and make things work, but I may have something to say about it in a review or Blog, after I mull it over and process it.. Big deal, we couldn't change the table out after the fact..but next time I will be checking the table for broken parts. How about a break in the cost for vendors if we bring our own tables and racks? Sales were down this time...maybe because of the economy, or they allow too many vendors with the same product to vend, or low and behold you have a creative product and the following year someone steals your design and makes a knock off and now there are 15 vendors with a low grade, cheap version of your product that you spent time and money on creating. Do I sound troubled? I am. The people who attended that I know, will know exactly what I am talking about!!! Shame on you in the corner!
Rakkasah is a week long event, hosting incredible teachers from all over the world, sweating you through fabulous workshops and hosting after parties. Letting you have your 15 minutes of fame, 7 if you are doing a solo. Performance after performance of Tribal dancers and troupes, Fusion, the Hip Hop fusion on Friday night was especially one of my favorites, a couple of Egyptian dancers, and great bands.
I highly recommend Rakkasah for it's workshops, performances and after parties. As for the vending issues, I have all the confidence that things will change for the better.
~Maroznia
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