Irina Akulenko

[Nouria]

since a week ago I got to enjoy the music of Beatbox Guitar I saw a bit of the tribal vibe. I really like Mira Betz among the Tribal Fusion dancers and was impressed also by the super sexy Susan Frankovich whose moves are sooo fluid like she has no bones, it's amazing. Both of them are very feminine and bear a certain bellydancer-vibe. Kaeshi shows an interesting mix of dance and costume styles and is more on the cute, girlish side. I tried a few Tribal Fusion moves in the workshop which felt rather alien, but intersting enough.

Rooting through youtube for vids with Beatbox Guitar I was blown away by the fusion dance of Irina Akulenko. I sort of reflected a little about fusion and also problems of fusion - but there she goes creating with grace and ease a thing that is not elements thrown together but a harmonious dance as if it was meant to be that way, and it's marvellous to see her move. To me, even though she doesn't do actual flamenco, she totally portrays a spirit which is essential to flamenco and which often just isn't there when I see flamenco-fusion:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Yt0ZHYKxI&feature=related]YouTube - Beatbox Guitar performs "Locked" with Irina Akulenko @ the Tea Lounge Jan.31.09[/ame]

[firefly5]

She has a dvd out, I just got my copy this morning, so I've only watched a little, but what I have seen looks good.
http://worlddancenewyork.com/product...out-with-irina

[Nouria]

I wish her success. She's fabulous - she has great charisma, feeling for music, feminine grace and spark and all. Myself I'm not into trying to become a tribal fusion dancer, but I sure will visit workshops of exciting dancers like her!
Or I just admire them. The fluidity of Susan Frankovich is something marvellous to watch, but to that degree out of reach for me.

[yameyameyame]

I had the chance to see her live a few times (solo at the Ava Flemming show in NYC a few years back, with her troupe at Rakkasah and at Jillina's Belly Dance Evolution show in NYC) and she's never disappointed me.

Tribal fusion isn't really my style, but she is really unique and dances beautifully. She has great chemistry with Beatbox Guitar, so all her videos with them are wonderful. Her dancing is so fluid and she dances with the music and not in spite of it. Also, she can use her arms really, really well. They are in constant motion but not in a bad, hectic way. They add a whole other dimension to the dance, and I am so glad you reminded me of her now, because I need to work on my arms and I could really use her as an inspiration. My arms are also long (maybe even longer) and I'd like to achieve a similar effect with them.

To top it all off, she is gorgeous, her face is beautiful and exotic and her body is bangin'. My only complaint is that she should wear her hair down more often. It's so long and pretty. Look at it in my favorite video of hers:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzyAdPb6Mvg&feature=related]YouTube - Beatbox Guitar @ Tea Lounge: Irina's solo 2[/ame]

[Nouria]

very nice. Actually, she's very much a bellydancer. I like that she throws in Tribal Fusion as she goes, because her movement vocabulary is wide and allows her to fuse. She seems very fluid and spontaneous. About the hair, hm, I love the other look more than the loose hair.