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Bask
in the gluttony of the Desert Sin Dance Company
How
did the Desert Sin Dance Company come about?
Desert
Sin was created in 1999 by a family of
dancers destined for rock stardom. We were a group of women from
different dance backgrounds who found each other while studying Middle
Eastern Dance. We all fell in love with its exotic feel and emotional
freedom, and were immediately inspired to work together to create a new,
cutting-edge form of dance theatre that could employ our diverse talents
and our wildest, most challenging ideas. Before Desert Sin really
started appearing everywhere, there was very little attention paid to
the Middle Eastern world of performance.
Some
of your acts are performed topless. This is not typical Middle-Eastern
belly dancing, is it?
You're
right. It's totally not what you would see in the
Middle East
because the culture would never allow for it.
However, we are not a traditional Middle Eastern dance company
nor do we try to sell ourselves as such. Whenever we perform topless,
it's for a purpose. Whether it is an empowering statement or just an
artistic aesthetic, we are very aware of what we are doing and would not
do so without serious consideration. Often we try to represent ourselves
as mythological characters and not just as naked girls on stage. We're
embracing the beauty and the visual stimulation of the ancient deities
and dance. Desert Sin has performed in front of public crowds of
thousands of people while being topless and everyone loves it because
it's something innovative, unique and empowering.
How
many members are in the dance company and what type of training is
involved to be a member?
Desert
Sin consists of five principal members, and up to 20 additional amazing
cast members, depending on the event. Being
a Desert Sinner takes more
than just dance technique. Our performers need to understand how to use
their bodies and their faces to tell a story, to make the audience feel
the emotional and human side of the character or scenario they are
portraying. We work to
bring out these talents in each other, always to move a step further—but
everyone has come into the company with her own gifts to play with.
Who
founded Desert Sin and what is their background?
Djahari
Clark, a dancer with 18 years of theatre under her bejewelled belt,
founded Desert Sin in 1999. She
co-directs the company with Sa’ Elayssa, a third-generation Middle
Eastern dancer and choreographer with training in a variety of dance
styles. Sa’ Elayssa
credits her Russian Gypsy heritage and Djahari credits her childhood in
Morocco
for early inspiration.
What
about the cutting-edge show Musée des Femmes?
Musée
des Femmes, meaning “
Museum
of
Women
,” is a lavish, over-the-top spectacle
retelling the tales of some of the boldest, most intriguing women in
history and fiction. The carnival-esque show lends an emotional and
human twist on fantastic characters such as the Hindu Goddess Kali, Joan
of Arc, The Snow Queen, and Mata Hari, and includes a bevy of
body-painted dancers, taking us on a virtual dusk-til-dawn tour of the
ancient eastern world. We contacted Jeremy Vargus to produce our show.
Jeremy really took the show to the next level and made it a commercial
success. He’s an amazing and very detail-oriented performer/producer
and has an incredible eye for beauty and for what really sells to the
general public.
Tell
me about the eclectic dance styles performed by the Desert Sin Dance
Company?
Our
shows combine elements of Middle Eastern dance, ballet, modern, hip-hop,
neo-exotica, extensive theatrics, multi-media special effects,
originally composed folk and dance music and extravagant costuming and
body paints. We present a
tight, highly polished entertainment package. When we’re creating a
show, if it doesn’t rock our world—it’s out!
Who
was behind the magical effects behind Musée des Femmes that absolutely
stole the show?
That
would be Jeremy Vargus. Not only did he produce the show but he also
created all the special and magical effects as well as the lighting. He
is the mastermind behind the “spectacle.” Jeremy booked and produced
the Blue Kali segment of our show into a huge, glitzy production in
Chicago
called “A Night At The Taj Mahal” last
August.
Jeremy
Vargus’ background consists of over 20 years of professional
performing experience. Although he’s only in his mid twenties, Vargus
has starred in television, film and live stage shows ranging from luxury
cruise liners to major touring productions as a
magician-singer-dancer-actor and off-stage he works as a show producer
and Illusioneer. Most recently Jeremy signed us [The Desert Sin Dance
Company] exclusively to his production company RPI Entertainment. He now
produces, manages and handles all publicity
for The Desert Sin Dance Company.
More
info on Jeremy Vargus’ work can be seen at: http://www.jeremyvargus.com/
and his production company: http://www.rpientertainment.com/
What’s
next for the Desert Sin Dance Company?
“World
domination!” (laughing out loudly) says Djahari Clark.
Seriously, the most important thing for all of us is that we
continue to create, to make art, to make beautiful things that really
touch people. To watch our
visions come to life is an amazing experience and to see audiences love
it as much as we do— to be received with standing ovations and
sold-out houses – is even more inspiring.
After the millions of hours of work on Musée, we are now more
excited than ever to proceed with plans of touring and putting on more
fantastic productions!
Please
visit http://www.desertsin.com/
for more information and tour dates.
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