A Surprise Performance
by Leyla Najma · 5 Comments
I wanted to share an experience I had at a restaurant years ago with you all because I want to let you know that you never know what lady luck will send your way.
One particular night I just happened to be performing at an Italian restaurant in the downtown area of Dallas. I was hired to perform for a large group of Doctors and their wives. Unfortunately I had to be at their beck and call the entire evening which meant performing at a moments notice or giving a lecture on the dance. Oddly enough I performed to a few songs from one of the Gypsy Kings cds since they were one of my favorite bands.
As it was getting very late, I was just about to fall over in my chair until the bartender started to yell telling everyone that the Gypsy Kings were coming to the restaurant to eat dinner. They had just finished their concert and wanted to eat Italian food. So the owner of the restaurant looked at me and asked if I had it in me to do one more show. Not only did I come back to life but I was jumping up and down because I couldn’t believe my luck. Thirty minutes went by that seemed to last an eternity and I had to remember to breathe so I wouldn’t pass out from the anticipation. With a yell the valet drivers let us know they had arrived. They drove up in their limo to the front doors and everybody started to clap. The entourage consisted of over twenty people and they all walked in with the Gypsy Kings laughing and singing as they were directed to their table.
I was introduced to everyone and I found them all to be gentlemen and very down to earth. After about an hour the owner finally signaled for me to get dressed. It was the first time I had butter fingers because it seemed to take me twice as long to get ready. As I came out of the bathroom I will never forget how amazing the feeling was to be performing for the Gypsy Kings. I pinched myself just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The bartender started to play my music and as you may have guessed it was to their music. All of a sudden they started to clap and sing along to their own music and as I walked out onto the middle of the restuarant I felt like I was the one being entertained. It was one big jam session with everyone singing and dancing together!
For me this is by far the best dance experience of my career and one I will always treasure!!
Leyla’s Latest News
by Leyla Najma · 11 Comments
Weight Loss VS A Performing Art:
For the past year I have been noticing a lot of women are writing in because they want to lose weight. I know belly dancing is a fun way to exercise but the serious dancer in me doesn’t see the connection from learning a cultural dance to losing weight. Obviously any type of cardio is a great way to get into shape but there is a bit of a difference here. As a professional dancer I see belly dance as an expression of individual divine creativity. It’s the self expression of the soul that is my connection to belly dance. But I had to sit back and chew on my feelings for awhile and that is why I decided to do the Belly Stretch-Thrust and Roll exercise class. Another reason is that now that I am in pre-menopause I have found that I have to exercise more to keep the weight off. So this week I am creating a fast paced regimen for everyone that should be a lot of fun!
Jibber Jam
I am in the process of working on a drum solo choreography for dancers and students called Jibber Jam. The drum solo music was a Christmas gift from Daniel 4 years ago composed by Issa Malluf. I am trying to make it something that is easy enough for dancers to follow who aren’t comfortable creating their own choreographies yet. I know that everyone loves drum solos so I thought I would make it first on my “to do” list of new videos. I must say as a spontaneous choreographer this is quite the task for me because as I have been listening to the music my mind wonders and I find I am literally “jamming” to the music.
Book is Almost Done!
I haven’t written much about my book only because it has been a long and thought provoking journey. But I am excited to say that I have only 4 chapters to go and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. But I have to say I haven’t been totally in the dark, I have been flying around with past memories, people and a few giggles. So I’m hoping to get it finished within a couple months and when I do, it will be party time!
Latest Article for Chronicles
I have been writing for Chronicles belly dance magazine for over 3 years now and wrote an article that I’m hoping you all check out in the next issue which will be Oct/Now/Dec. It’s a short article on my view of being a belly dancer and the “Flower of Life” imprint of the Goddess. I think you will all like it and maybe if I get enough interest I might post it here so you all can get a peek at it first before it comes out.
Ciao for now,
Leyla
Practice Tip 1. For the Serious Student
Recently Daniel came to me and asked me if there were any tips I could share with dancers not only for their dancing but also for their practicing and drilling. So I thought about it and decided I would give tips that will help make a difference in the training aspect of dancing. It’s really in our preparation of dance that we start to understand ourselves so we can then go out and dance for the masses with confidence.
The tip that I am going to share with you is broad but it came to me because it is a common problem that we all have when we first start out dancing. How we focus and work within our body starts out the habitual way we train. Most of my students won’t look at the whole enchilada (body) only a specific part of the body depending on what I am showing them. After you get the move down into your body then look at your image in the mirror and see how the rest of your body looks while you are working the combination or movement. When my students can’t see the whole body they have what I call “blinder” focus. It’s almost as if they are afraid to see how it looks in the totality of the body.
Practice for ten to fifteen minutes on a particular combination or traveling step. Then practice for ten to fifteen minutes looking at your whole body while doing the combination which includes, posture, arms, head positioning, legs, feet, lifted chest etc.
The purpose of this is to help you see what the audience is going to see once you are up on stage. It will also get the eyes up away from the floor which is another common problem beginner dancers have. But interestingly enough I found that some of my students didn’t want to see what they were doing and I had one student tell me it made her uncomfortable. I started to think about this and realized that as women sometimes we don’t look at ourselves because all we see is what we lack. Remember that this can affect your confidence and the success you have with your dance.
It’s obvious that women don’t want to see what they don’t like about themselves. Practice time is about healing and feeling good about yourself. So within the hour or two hours of practice look at your full image in the mirror and relax. All you have to do is relax; that’s easy and once you take you in with no judgement then you will start to see a new you emerge that feels better not just about dance but life in general.
You can’t practice and feel bad about yourself. All you will do is feel bad about practice. So change your mindset and go for your dream or goal. If you are able to stand in front of a mirror and dance, you already have something to be grateful for which is your two legs to stand on.
Remember your four cornerstones; emotions, mind, body and spirit have to be fed equally. So look at practice time as a way of feeding yourself a gigantic spoon full of confidence, acceptance, and forgiveness. Once you let go of what you don’t like, then what you do like will start to emerge and there is nothing more beautiful on stage then a confident, happy, in the moment dancer. So I’m going to end with my favorite saying which says it all; when life gives you lemons make orange juice and make the world wonder how the hell you did it!
The Belly Dance Routine
The hardest part about belly dancing is knowing where to start on a daily regimen for training and practice. There are different areas to focus on and most women don’t know that each area should be worked on equally. I wasn’t taught this methodology of practicing on specific areas separately and to this day I wish I would have. I think that practicing everything together can muddy up movements and the completion of moves. It can also keep a dancer from seeing that she really doesn’t have the moves down. This happed to me because when I look back at my first videos, all I see is a bird getting ready to fly out of the nest!
Another case in point; Remember not to over practice a choreography! I have a student who just recently lost her rhythm because she over practiced. She could not hear the beat of the music because she forgot to listen to the music. I had to ask her not to practice for a week so we could get her back on track. What was surprising to me was the fact that she said she felt off in certain areas but she did not do anything about it. So if there is robotic repetition in practice, the danger can be that the dancer won’t know the difference or if she does, do nothing about it. There definitely seems to be a need to put in a work schedule so that weekly practicing will keep you fresh, graceful and relaxed.
First choose a day that will be hips only and focus on sharp, soft, sharp and soft combined. Work in your opposition hips and make sure to keep both hips equally strong and precise. You can include shimmies with sharp and soft but focus on your execution of the moves and follow through with each movement. On another day do layering with hips, chest and pelvic area. This may seem easy but you really have to work on your timing with the layering to music. Next work on your arms with combinations and movements so that you have that natural flow with them. With the arms you can actually work them in with each practice day but have one day where you really focus in on them. One important aspect of training is working in your traveling steps with different hip combinations and turns. Subsequently within the week work in different angles with backward and forward steps and combinations. Remember audiences need to see you from all angles and your back is just as important as your front. Remember to work in stage presence and us your space. I will do in place movements and alternate with traveling steps. To be more specific work in your hip combinations with your traveling steps. One important day would be to do shimmies of all kinds. In place, traveling and shimmies with sharp and soft moves can really tell the audience how skilled you are and showcase how professional you are. Props are important so keep one day for your sword, cane and veil etc. If you are working on a choreography make sure the props don’t showcase what you are lacking in body movement. Remember you body is your greatest prop! Practice your finger cymbals (which are an important instrument) more then one day a week because this is the only way you will get good with them. Also your props can be included in more then one day a week. For those dancers who are just starting out and have a lot to work on, this schedule will help you out.
One thing that a lot of dancers do in the beginning is they work on their dance drills and combinations but they forget music theory. Look up important Middle Easter musicians, composers and singers of days past and present. Learn about the instruments musicians use and the different beats and melodies that are put into music. This is important for your finger cymbal playing besides any other instrument you might want to learn. Listen to music so you can understand how Middle Eastern music is composed and put together. There are certain beats that we dance to so start listening to as much classical and traditional music as possible besides the modern pop of today.
I can’t tell all of you how important our Belly Dance History is. Do you know about the many legendary dancers there are who kept the dance alive? This includes Middle Eastern dancers along with American belly dancers. Learn what each dancer contributed to the belly dance world and also learn how dance has changed through out our history. Learn about why we have coins on our hip scarves or why we dance with veils. Remember that as belly dancers we represent a multitude of cultures so telling people the history of belly dance is just as import as dancing it. The only way to educate people about our dance form is to educate ourselves.
This may seem like a lot of work and it is at first but the benefits outway any of the hardships. In order for me to look the part, I have to know everything I can about the dance field I represent. Knowledge is power and when we combine dance training and excellence to this power, we not only become role models but leaders for women to follow. The difference here is that every woman eventually becomes a leader. This is why Belly dancing is different!
But I have to say there is another reason for wanting to know as much as possible about this dance. It’s simple; I love being a woman!
“It isn’t what I do, but how I do it. It isn’t what I say, but how I say it and how I look when I do it and say it. “
Mae West
There is a woman in each of us who craves attention and loves to be up on stage. Just remember that future generations of women will be looking at you wishing they were you. In knowing this understand that how we keep this dance form alive is by passing on our knowledge and skill to future generations and they in turn pass it on. So if I’m going to pass on any Belly Dancing tips to future generations the one big one is this:
“When life gives you lemons make orange juice and make them wonder how the hell you did it!”
Anonymous
So go out there and create a dance style that makes the dance world wonder how the hell you did it!
