Thread: Unmata Instructional DVD?

Well, in tribal circles, the market is really blurred these days. Alternative, underground, goth, punk, bdsm, Burner types gravitate toward the aesthetics of tribal bellydance, and a shock n' awe type performance like this was is right up their alley. So it is somewhat a matter of just tapping into an existing crossover market.

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

If it has nothing to do with belly dance, then who is the intended market?

That would be a great question for the producers. ..g.: I'm just sharing what I saw on the youtube clip. I think the exact quote was, "It's pony play. It's not tribal fusion belly dance at all. I'm not always a tribal fusion belly dancer... I'm not saying it's tribal fusion belly dance." You can judge for yourself here:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ9SCHnCfc0]YouTube - Amy Sigil and UNMATA'S Human Rodeo Promotion[/ame]

I didn't attend the event--I live on the other side of the country and wouldn't have been interested anyway. And, for the same reason, I didn't see any of the pre-event advertising other than Suhaila's blog entry about it, so I can't really say who they intended the market to be. But from what little I have seen through Suhaila's blog and that video, it seems like a number of like-minded dancers were involved, but perhaps it was marketed to a larger alternative market. That's just an educated guess though!

Originally Posted by TribalDancer

Well, in tribal circles, the market is really blurred these days. Alternative, underground, goth, punk, bdsm, Burner types gravitate toward the aesthetics of tribal bellydance, and a shock n' awe type performance like this was is right up their alley. So it is somewhat a matter of just tapping into an existing crossover market.

Ah, I see - hahaha, I feel so sheltered. There must be a larger market for this kind of thing than I realize.

I happened to be in CA at the time and actually attended the Rodeo (not all day, so I can't speak for what happened during the day, but I was there later in the afternoon through the evening). It was more of a "theatrical" event, really, one that recreated an Old Western town. So was it "Belly Dance"? Not really. But, as described by Suhaila, "Amy is a performance artist who pulls from a belly dance vocabulary."

The "Performances" were fusion and/or theatrical in nature, plain and simple - there was nothing traditionally belly dance about it, period. There was a sheriff, a deputy, saloon girls, a town priest/church, gunslingers, bartenders, poker players and games, etc. There was even an area upstairs in the saloon where you could get tattooed if you so wished.

There were two main shows. The afternoon show was Rodeo style - outside in the corral, with fusion UNMATA dancers, a bullwhip show (among some others), and Suhaila as the Rodeo Queen doing a little drum solo whilst perched atop a big white horsey (among others that slip my mind at the moment).

The evening show was a Saloon show which highlighted some fusion and burly performances/dancers, a couple of musicians, and the Indigo as "headliners" for the evening.

So if you attended the event expecting a belly dance show, you would have been disappointed. If you attended with an open mind, or with the previous knowledge of what to expect, it was a very interesting event.

Thanks for that firsthand info, Erika!

The event sounds pretty interesting really, as far as the Old West town recreation and all. But I'm really a bit squicked out by the whole dressing people up as ponies, keeping them in stables and prancing them around with bit and bridle thing. Something about that doesn't sit right with me, although if others are into it, I'm certainly not saying people *shouldn't* do it--just that I'm a bit uncomfortable with it.

Yeah, the had several of the "ponies" in the stalls just prior to the Rodeo extravaganza and were taking people on tours through the barnyard to meet the ponies and their handlers.

I just found a couple of photo galleries on flickr that have some pretty good photos of the event, too. These will give a much better perspective of what the event was like. And I just remembered while looking through them that they had this great couple doing traditional spanish/mexican dancing. They were lovely!

Unmata Rodeo (TEASERS) - a set on Flickr

[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/coryallegory/3860933152/"]Unmata Rodeo - Feeding the Ponies on Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]

I couldn't get the 2nd of the above links to post right, but if you click on the title "Unmata Rodeo- Feeding the POnies on Flickr" it'll take you there

Heeeee, I did voltige 35+ years ago - I was quite a bit ahead of my times!!!! ;-)

So did I, stiffib (only it was 20 years ago)! Michelle Joyce and I vaulted for the same club in Saratoga way back when. Imagine my surprise when we met again 15 years later at a belly dance competition. We had lost touch all those years, but uncanny how we ended up in yet another unusual hobby together!

Originally Posted by GenevieveOfAtlanta

YouTube - Amy Sigil and UNMATA'S Human Rodeo Promotion

Wow that's some real strange stuff. But I'm sure it's fun for those involved. I feel the same way about Ren Faire and Comicon, nerdy fun for all (just not me.)

But they are right BD does draw certain types in respective styles. Doing Egyptian style myself, I notice that most Egyptian Style Dancers are culurally aware divas who love sparkly things and love to be seen...l;, So although I like some aspects of Tribal and Fusion, I wouldn't want to get too involved because it's not girly or glamorous enough for my taste.

Originally Posted by SummerSahar

So did I, stiffib (only it was 20 years ago)! Michelle Joyce and I vaulted for the same club in Saratoga way back when. Imagine my surprise when we met again 15 years later at a belly dance competition. We had lost touch all those years, but uncanny how we ended up in yet another unusual hobby together!

..l;, I could have been a tribal rodeo person - I have 10 years of training! That's me on the left. Belly dance has much better costumes.

Originally Posted by michellejoyce

..l;, I could have been a tribal rodeo person - I have 10 years of training! That's me on the left. Belly dance has much better costumes.

Wow - we've got so many talented Bhuzzers around here!!! Nice!

[/QUOTE]

Haha! I see Emma lunging in the background! That was probably my team warming up our kur behind you, Michelle! Oh man. I'm totally going to go through my vaulting photos to scan them into my computer.

Originally Posted by SummerSahar

Haha! I see Emma lounging in the background! That was probably my team warming up our kur behind you, Michelle!

Haha - there we are in the thick of competition. We were most likely all nervous and wanted to puke and thought it was the biggest deal in the world and had been rehearsing for months and had several sleepless nights. Remind you of anything? ,r:;

sorry, threadjack over

Originally Posted by jasani

I love UNMATA but I would have really, really liked to have seen more of the instruction in this video. I don't really give a damn that Amy hasn't waxed any part of her body ;)

DVDasi - Amy Sigil / UNMATA Instructional DVD

YouTube - Amy & UNMATA Instructional DVD Promo.

I recently bought the DVD from Suhaila's digital store (along with other beginners items). I am not sure if the person who wrote this above had actually seen the DVD, its true that they certainly presented it almost like a reality show clip for their commercial.
BUT, as far as the instruction goes, I think it is more than sufficient, the instructional portion alone is over an hour and a half long (longer than many of the other DVD's I have purchased) In addition the DVD, has a bunch of bonus features, there are 2 versions of a performance called "Funeral", and on top of that a half hour truth or dare with Suhaila, and a quick interview with Amy.

I personally liked how they actually added that human touch, in my opinion, this DVD didn't just capture the dance and their instruction, but it also gave a closer look into the artist. one of the problems i had with many of the other DVD's is that they seem very impersonal and sometimes you can definitely tell the teacher is talking differently than she normally would, I feel that with this Video, what you see is what you get.

This DVD has enough content that is just about personal views and shot and edited in such a way that even my husband watched it with me.

Originally Posted by bellybellygood

Amy leads drills and she adds very cute touches to the drills so they become very short combos. She drills things slow, fast, and then back to slow....The last part of it is putting the combos together for a dance, but it doesn't feel like a separate choreography. It's more of a bridge piece between drills and choreography.

Originally Posted by Samira37

BUT, as far as the instruction goes, I think it is more than sufficient, the instructional portion alone is over an hour and a half long (longer than many of the other DVD's I have purchased) In addition the DVD, has a bunch of bonus features, there are 2 versions of a performance called "Funeral", and on top of that a half hour truth or dare with Suhaila, and a quick interview with Amy.

I'd heard about the DVD and I've seen Unmata on youtube, but I did wonder what exactly would be on the dvd. That certainly answers my questions, I'll have to add it to my wish list now.

Bumping this thread way up...I had heard of Unmata before, of course, although not being a Tribal Fusionista they weren't on my list of must-sees/learn froms.

But Amy taught at Ya Halla Yall this year so Unmata showed up to perform on Friday night. OMG! It was to rock/hip-hop music I didn't recognise and there was krumping, b-girling, hip-hop and other things thrown into the mix and it was FABULOUS. My friend turned to me and said: " I think you found your soul sisters. Maybe they will adopt you!" LOL

Anyhoo, I was curious to hear more comments on the DVD content. I am thinking of buying it. Geisha Moth has it on her website.

That's me in the rodeo video getting a cucumber chopped out of my hand with a bull whip!

I have to admit it was a pretty fun event, with a wide variety of performances. But the pony play was every bit as creepy as it looks.