Some of the entertainment on offer at the 1001 Arabian Nights shindig were a little lackluster. The belly dancer, though genetically gifted/surgically enhanced, was easily distracted by the roving photographers and spent a good portion of her stage time motionless and posing for snaps. The band was often lost in the overactive fog machines and accompanied by decidedly atonal car horns. Despite these issues there was near constant wild cheering from the Dar crowd. And since it was a cash bar, I have to assume the cheering was genuine.
The highlight of the evening was the whirling dervish whose performance involved spinning in circles for 20 minutes wearing essential a hoop skirt with a crotch pocket for pulling out various fabrics to twirl above his head. After the twirling he would ball up the cloth and cradle it to his face like a newborn before flinging it offstage through a beaded curtain to an assistant who was usually not looking. Then to the crowd's intense delight he flipped a switch (presumably also crotch-located) and lit up some Christmas lights embedded in the skirt. Everyone started snapping pictures like mad, so I folloed suit. I image there are a lot of blurry UFO pictures being deleted from memory cards across Dar tonight. Or not.
