Improv with Ariellah, originally uploaded by exoskeletoncabaret.

Still working to get through my backlog of photography from the last few months of adventuring. When I was visiting the Bay Area in May, I spent a deliciously lengthy amount of time in the company of splendid bellydancers. Molly’s dark tribal fusion troupe, Deshret, performed at the Pagan Pride Festival in Berkeley one Saturday. Despite some scheduling chaos and an abundance of odd humanoids decked out in pointy-hat-and-velvet- robe ensembles under direct sunlight, the gig was clearly a success. With the great Ariellah in the lead, how could it have been anything less?

As usual, the best moments of these sorts of get-togethers are the deviously delightful unauthorized ones. The specific moment to which I refer was another impromptu busking session with the great Paul Mercer of The Ghosts Project and Nathaniel Johnstone of Abney Park. See this set for photos from the original one at C13 last year. Deshret’s talented dancers and the harmonies of the gentlemen in question managed to drag a very large group of drooling onlookers away from the official entertainment.

Of course, I took pictures. The Flickr set is here. Please enjoy!

Along with several friends, I helped Molly put together the costumes and rigging for the performance at California College of the Arts. The outfits are made from long ribbons of white rubber, and connect a pair of bellydancers (the breathtaking Ariellah and Predslava) at various body points through carabiners and 150+ metal eyehooks sunk into the gallery walls. Each of the hooks had to be plotted and inserted into the walls by hand, and every aspect of both costumes had to be carefully cemented and checked, and then the garments untangled and hung. Needless to say, the team put in an ungodly amount of physical work getting the performance ready. Thankfully I didn’t have to conceptualize anything–Molly did all the hard labor there!

Even after spending four days in the gallery, working long hours on the filthy concrete floor, the space felt oddly magical when the dancers entered to perform. The audience, once babbling and sipping free wine outside, hushed in awe and clustered around the perimeter of the gallery. No one spoke above a respectful whisper during the 95 minutes Predslava and Ariellah moved together.

One performer’s movements encouraged or prevented the other’s, dictated by the tautness of every rubber strap. Each dancer wore a Bluetooth headset connected to my laptop, so they could work with a playlist of music, but the audience only heard the slap of rubber and eerie echoes from the slightly disturbing student film being played on a loop next door.

Molly’s friend took video of the performance from the back corner of the gallery. I will post a clip when it’s placed online, though as professional as it was, I doubt it will adequately capture the awesomeness of this event. As I mentioned before, I am exceedingly proud of Molly and her work with Interlaced, and am looking forward to her next project, though I’ve made her promise to take a break before trying to do this again.

In case you missed the link, check the Flickr gallery here.
Visit her Livejournal for more information about the work of Molly Mitchell and some pre-show shots.