Let’s Duet
As a newbie duet member I decided I would go check out one of the most well marketed most popular local dance troupes perform in my area this week. It was the first time I really studied the technical movements of other dancers instead of watching just for the pure entertainment value of it.A Choreography State of Mind
The other day I was talking to my students Julie and Amy and I told them that this one combination came to me in the shower of all places. But another student Judy inspired the combination but why the heck did it evolve in the shower? Another group of dynamic turns came to me in a dream but I woke up before I figured out how I did them. I remember saying to myself in the dream that I had to remember the turns and I woke up actually talking to myself.
That was a little creepy having a conversation with myself and than answering myself! The other morning lying in bed I worked out a 6 week course curriculum and figured out how to make each class lead into the next. Is creativity possessing me through choreography? If so it is the kind of possession that never leaves you alone and can turn you into an eccentric old dancer who toots her own horn even if nobody is listening.
A wonderful quote says:
“Everything in the universe has rhythm. Everything dances.”-Maya Angelou
So maybe what is happening is that when we open the mind to inspiration it’s like opening the flood gates to creativity that rushes in with the power of the ages. I suppose that it would be easier if creativity came at the same time everyday but than wouldn’t that be a stagnant way of creating? So creativity comes visiting in my dreams, in the shower, in the car, when I’m dancing with students or without . And since creativity is directly from the Universe than this explains why there is a constant stream of ideas and moves coming my way.
How many of you feel this kind of divine unrest? It’s almost as if everything you look at has the beginnings of a movement. The tree branches blowing in the wind can be either slow and sinuous or fast and powerful movements. It’s all in the eyes of the dancer and how the tree is talking to her. Students do this to me all the time. The best combinations I have ever come up with have been the inspiration of dance students who inspire me with their talent!
“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
So a choreography state of mind is what keeps the dancer alive and in her element. I didn’t understand this years ago because I didn’t see movement anywhere I went. I think when a dancer finally embraces her own individuality she can finally see what was hidden from her. It’s almost like being in a magical land that at first appears barren and devoid of life than all of a sudden things appear before you that you never saw before. Maybe the possession creativity has on us just keeps us seeing the magic in life and than we see her rhythm and than we dance to her melody.
“We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the dancers, we create the dreams.” -Anonymous
So for now my students crack up laughing at my madness and I keep on tooting my own horn but the best part of all is my students hear me and they don’t mind listening!
Sphere: Related ContentSignature Moves with Personality
Years ago when I first saw belly dancing the dancers who stood out the most were the ones who understood where “their” dance moves came from. Nothing was forced and they glided, gracefully across the stage and than all of a sudden out of nowhere a sharp combination or soft accent would appear and take your breath away.
As a novice I could see that this would be necessary to understand and incorporate into my dance. Now, I didn’t understand at that time how to go about doing it so I spent many years researching this so I could pass it along to my students.
What is a signature move you may ask? It is your personality and style that brings life into a group of combinations. It is you in a move and your dancing is done with your life experiences expressed through each gesture of the hand, arm, walk or turn. You are up on that stage 100%, therefore there is no carbon copy of another dancer only you. So as a dancer performs she has a select few moves that are combined and put together her way that reflect her view of the world. This view is only hers and as a consequence a signature move is born.
This year started out with a bang in signature moves. Currently I am working with a fantastic singer Kymberlyann Lopez who has just finished her new cd that will be released this year. We are working on belly dance moves that she will be incorporating into her dance along with her hiphop, breakdancing and jazz moves. She is the new generation of singers coming out knowing that dance combined with singing can be a powerful tool to get your message across to your fan base and what better way than to teach them your own style of dance. I’m not talking about choreographed moves done to music, I’m talking about instinctive moves that accent words and get the message across in ways that the fans understand.
It is a silent code of movements that belong to the fans and bond them to the singer. Kymberlyann will be touring this year and her belly dance signature moves will make a difference and pave the way for future singers who dance to create their own distinctive moves.
Judy Maloof is another professional dancer who is taking private belly dance classes with me and we are incorporating sensual and classical moves into her ball room and salsa dancing. Judy is a risk taker and she understands that bringing in moves that speak volumes is the key to making a broader
statement to her admirers. She is one dancer that can hold her own with the best of them.
Think of ways to be yourself when you dance while you are learning to dance. I know this sounds a little crazy but if you don’t start putting in your personality and style in now than when it really counts you won’t be able to hold your own with the best of them. The best are so because they and their dance are one.
I know what some of you may be thinking; ok so how do I figure out what is my signature move?
When I work with dancers the first thing that I do is I watch how they talk and how they use their hands. Secondly I believe the body always tells its own story and if I watch enough movement from a dancer than I can catch a glimpse here and there of the bodies natural way of moving. Than I look at how a dancer holds her rhythm and how she counts to the music.
Even if a dancer doesn’t count evenly with numbers she will have a unique way of moving. So I look at this in the beginning and I can eventually see how a dancer prefers to move to music. To be a natural dancer means that you understand your preference in movements and how to time them to the music. Every dancer times her movements slightly different and this is a key element in understanding how to help a dancer create her signature moves.
Put together life and dance and eventually down the line you will understand your own unique signature moves. And for those who don’t understand or who are still searching, I’m here and ready to help.
Sphere: Related ContentAn Accumulation of Reasons
Sometimes I will lie in bed and think about past performances and shows that I participated in and I will run through the whole event in my mind. The good, the bad, pretty much everything is thrown in and I start to think about how I could have changed things. Different outcomes would have made for better experiences but sometimes the lessons wouldn’t have been learned. I think we have to let the past be but sometimes it’s good to look at experiences every now and then to remember how much of life we have lived.
In talking with many of the dancers that I have interviewed it occurred to me we are all traveling parallel paths, they just curve, drop and rise differently because various lessons and realities are so different. But one thing is for sure everyone has an accumulation of opinions that creates their point of view and reference. Sometimes we agree and other times we differ in ideologies but disagreements don’t make anyone’s reality less real for them or wrong. What makes our world go round keeping is the endless experiences that each one of us has. It’s all thrown into the pot of self discovery and we all taste a little bit of each others thoughts and views.
The interviews are my way of understanding everyone’s feelings and experiences in our dance field. And I must I have found it very interesting that many dancers-teachers experience the same thing just in different parts of the planet. Why do women dance? It’s an age old question but the answer is never the same and changes with the times.
I had one dancer come into my class who was a ballet dancer and she would catch on to all the moves within minutes of executing them. The other girls would look at her with dismay and I would just smile. She came to class for a very unique reason which was to feel more spiritual because ballet to her was an insolated dance form that didn’t allow for her private expression. She just wanted to feel like herself without apology. Another dancer always wanted to belly dance and her ex-husband would never allow her to. The “allowing” part always got me but she had to figure out how to make up her own mind. Class for her was making decisions for herself
A very beautiful older woman walked through my studio doors looking for a way to capture her youth. She had let her younger years dictate was appropriate for her in her later years. She felt young at heart and decided to go with the feeling she felt inside. Dancing for her was expressing her new outlook on life without apology for being her age.
I always wonder if I would have kept my studio open how many more reasons would have come through to accumulate with all the others. It seems that our dance plays a huge part for women in uncovering truths that were at one time hidden secrets. Everyone’s journey seems to lead them to a type of self discovery that touches the soul. Belly dance does just that and more because even after all these years I feel it transform my life in a way that will stay with me until my last breathe.
Belly Dance Tip of the Day:
Weight and Feet
Remember that feet are important in your dance. They help execute each move plus they help us distribute our weight in various ways that allows for us to dance. The important thing to remember is that if we are off on our weight distribution the feet can’t help us there.
One time I was performing on a very dark stage and danced right onto a warped piece of wood that bowed down 5 or 6 inches. I couldn’t keep myself from slightly falling because my weight and feet were a tangled mess. Walking off stage was a bit embarrassing and I was to go on again for the last half of the show. Interestingly enough I knew where the warped piece of wood was and I was able to adjust for it with no problem. So what I learned is that once our feet know what’s going on they can keep us from falling over and adjust for any problems.
But even to this day I am weary of the bottomless pit stages that can swallow us up whole!
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Shimmy Galore
by Leyla Najma · 9 Comments
Yesterday I filmed the first video of the New Year called “Shimmy Galore.” It has drills along with my own methodology compiled together for understanding how and why I do shimmies. About 3 or 4 times a month I have women writing me and asking about shimmies. It makes sense because when I started out belly dancing I had so many questions regarding how to shimmy that I was like the kid that kept asking, “Are we there yet?”
I remember back in my early days that whenever I saw any dancer who was able to do a shimmy, she was automatically placed in a heroine character called “Wonderwoman.” For many years I worked on my shimmies and not until I understood that the muscle areas had to be felt did they start to make sense to me thus my shimmies started to be more noticeably wiggly and jiggly. It was a break through moment because shimmies are the definitive signature of a belly dancer; the ultimate difference between mortal women and dancers.
I simplified as much as possible and put the shimmies into three categories;
1. ¾ Shimmy
2. In place Shimmy
3. Layering Shimmy
The layering shimmy and ¾ shimmy actually have some traveling steps in them and turns so I decided not to add in traveling shimmies. Besides the drills I put in are enough so that you can work in walking and combos with your shimmies. I felt that the shimmies themselves need to be understood in a way that simplifies them and takes the mystery and confusion away. There are some shimmies that work best for restaurant rather than stage or nightclub. It just depends on a dancer’s perception and experiences with her audience. Too long a shimmy can take away from the proficiency of the shimmy itself. I remember at a restaurant in Ft. Worth a dancer who performed one full song only doing full body shimmies. The restaurant owner actually told me she was boring and he got up from his table and walked away. I had to agree with him and that night I learned that just because a move is hard doesn’t mean it can’t be over done.
So I’m excited and “oh my God”……..do I feel it today!!!
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