Piše: Irena Sertić

Mogli bismo ovako početi:

“Moderna vremena donijela su promjene u svim plesnim stilovima, pa tako i u svijetu orijentalnih plesova. Kako je i sam orijentalni ples tijekom vremena razvio puno svojih stilova, u kontaktu s drugim plesovima došlo je do spajanja dvaju ili više vrsta plesova u tzv. fuzije. Poneke fuzije imaju još uvijek dosta orijentalnog štiha, dok su se neke poprilično odmakle od izvornosti orijentalnog plesa.
Kako je fuzija spoj dvije različitosti nastaje plesni stil koji nudi bezgranično mogućnosti za kreativnost kao i korištenje svih glazbenih podloga. Osnova i dalje ostaje orijentalna, a sve ostalo je nadogradnja koracima drugih plesova.
Neke od orijentalnih fuzija: latino orijental, afro orijental, flamenco orijental, bellynesian ( orijentalni/ polinezijski), suvremeni orijental i mnoge druge.”

Ali nećemo tako početi jer:

Mogla bih unedogled tako..o pravilima, rupama u tim istim pravilima, o vrstama, o podvrstama, o nevrstama, o zabludama da su to uopće vrste…ali za to postoje neke druge stranice i neki drugi ljudi pisci i neki snimci koji to zornije prikazuju. Ja bih se ipak osvrnula na druge stvari koje su pratile prvi festival orijentalnih fuzija i zaslužile biti spomenute. Sve. Kako one poticajne tako i one koje su nas htjele zaobići i neprimjetiti, ne iz neke velike želje već iz straha od novoga. Vjekovna problematika.

Krenuli smo stidljivo, puni pitanja i bojazni “možemo li mi to i jesmo li spremni za taj zalogaj”…hoće li se itko prijaviti, hoće li nas itko podržati, hoćemo li skupiti dovoljno novca da se isplatimo, hoće li u konačnici dvorana biti puna, hoće li nas UOPĆE ITKO  i primjetiti da uopće postojimo? 

I tako se pila produžena kava u velikoj šalici do vrha puna i stotine upitnika stajalo iznad glave. I rekoh si “ženo, ako padneš, padni sa stilom, odustati nije glagol kojeg ti koristiš”.

I tada kreće čudo zvano fuzije. 

Prijave, interesi, savjeti, pomoć, novi ljudi, nova iskustva, greške i pogotci…ludilo koje nas je nosilo do tog tjedna našeg velikog ispita. I mnoštvo produženih kava do vrha punih i u velikoj šalici.

Kada su me pitali jesam li zadovoljna kako je festival prošao…kako ne bih bila kada ono što vidim je ono što smo željeli postići i dokazati da se može i da nas još ima da to iznesemo: zajedništvo, suradnja i borba da se održi ljubav prema plesu onakvim kakav treba biti, bez kalkulacija i s puno ljubavi i želje za učenjem kako biti bolji i veći čovjek i plesač.

Poruku koju je je plesna scena, ne samo orijenatalna već i mnogo šira već neko vrijeme počela puštati iz ruku i zaboravljati na zajedništvo koje nas je nekada vezalo i podršku koja izostaje već dugo u onom obliku u kojem bi trebala biti dana.. 

Rekli su mi da je utopija to što radim. Da je nemoguće spojiti nespojivo.

U pravu su. Doista jesu. Najozbiljnije. Utopija je to što radim.

Ali je moja utopija. I opstaće dok bude volje da plešemo i kreiramo te prekrasne orijentalne fuzije.

Priča o dobrim fuzijama i lošim fuzijama pratila je dane iza festivala, odjednom izbivši na površinu i otvorivši se kao Pandorina kutija. Da, one postoje. Slažem se. Ali isto tako, dobro i loše postoji i u svim ostalim plesnim pravcima. Ipak, lakše je pogled svrnuti u susjedno dvorište, naći mu tisuću mana i tako ne primijetiti svoje.

Jedino što sam tada rekla bilo je: da ne vrijedimo, da nismo nešto postigli, da nas publika ne voli i ne želi na sceni, bili bismo zaboravljeni na margini gdje smo postojali. I ne bi se prašina digla. I ne bi rušili predrasude o nama. Znali smo to. Osjećali da se ustvari suprotstavljamo strahovima kako nema mjesta za sve. Ima. Mjesta ima tko ga zna i želi naći.

Ne bojmo se predrasuda jer one su tu da budu srušene.

No ostavimo tu priču za neki drugi put.

Dozvolite mi da završim ponosna na sve fuziste koji su bili dio prvog festivala, one koji će ponovno biti i koji će to tek postati.

A ti, Pandorina kutijo, ostani otvorena da iziđe ona zadnja stvar iz tebe: NADA.

Dotada, vraćam se produženoj kavi u velikoj šalici i do vrha punoj. Baš kako volim.

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We could start like this:

“Modern times have brought about changes in all dance styles, including in the world of oriental dances. As the Oriental dance itself developed many of its styles over time, in contact with other dances there were merging of two or more types of dances in so-called fusion. Some of the fusions still have a lot of oriental flair, while some have moved quite a bit from the originality of oriental dance.
As a fusion of two differences, a dance style is created that offers endless possibilities for creativity as well as the use of all musical backgrounds. The base still remains oriental, and everything else is an upgrade from the steps of other dances.
Some of the oriental fusions: Latin Oriental, Afro Oriental, Flamenco Oriental, Bellynesian (Oriental / Polynesian), Contemporary Oriental and many more. ”

But we won’t start that way because:

I could end up like that .. about the rules, the holes in those same rules, about the species, about the subspecies, about the infirm, about the misconceptions that they are at all types … but for that, there are some other sites and some other people writers and some recordings that they show it more vividly. I would still look back on other things that followed the first Oriental Fusion Festival and deserve to be mentioned. Everything. Both the stimulating ones and the ones who wanted to bypass and not notice us, not out of some great desire but out of fear of the new. An age-old problem.

We started off shy, full of questions and worried “can we and are we ready for that morsel” … will anyone sign up, will anyone support us, will we raise enough money to pay off, will the hall ultimately be full, will anyone EVER notice us even existing?

And so extended coffee was brewed in a large mug to the top full and hundreds of questionnaires stood overhead. And I said “woman, if you fall, fall with style, give up is not the verb you use.”

And that’s when a miracle called fusion begins.

Applications, interests, tips, help, new people, new experiences, mistakes and hits … the madness that has carried us to that week of our big exam. And plenty of extended coffees to the top full and in a large cup.

When I was asked if I was satisfied with how the festival went … so that I would not be when what I see is what we wanted to achieve and prove that it can and still has to be brought forward: togetherness, cooperation and the struggle to keep it going love for the dance as it should be, without calculations and with a lot of love and desire to learn how to be a better and bigger man and dancer.

The message that the dance scene, not only oriental but much wider, has for some time started to let go of and forget about the togetherness that once bound us and the support that has been around for a long time in the form it should be given.

I was told that utopia is what I do. That it is impossible to combine the incompatible and the opposing.

They’re right. Indeed they are. Most serious. Utopia is what I do.

But it’s my utopia. And it will survive as long as we are willing to dance and create these beautiful oriental fusions.

The story of good and bad fusions followed the days behind the festival, suddenly bursting to the surface and opening up like a Pandora’s box. Yes, they do exist. I agree. But they also good and bad exist in all other dance directions. Still, it is easier to look down on neighbours  yard or find a thousand flaws and not notice our own.

The only thing I said then was: if we were not worth it, not achieved something,  if people did not love us and wanedt us on stage, we would have been forgotten on the margin where we existed. And no dust would rise. And they wouldn’t ruin our prejudices. We knew that. We felt that we were actually countering fears that there was no place for everyone. There is. There is a place who knows and wants to find it.

We are not afraid of prejudice because they are there to be overthrown.

But I’ll leave that story for another time.

Let me end up being proud of all the fusionists who were part of the first festival, those who will come again and those who are about to become new ones.

And you, Pandora’s box, stay open to get that last thing out of you: HOPE.

Until then, I go back to extended coffee in a large cup and to the top full. Just how I love it.