It's All In the Details

Sometimes it's the small things that can make your dance go from good to great, so this month I want to share a couple tips for small changes that will make your dance instantly more polished and professional looking.

These three techniques are ones that we work on constantly in the company I dance with, Lunaria Dance Theatre. They are all items that I was a bit lax about before joining the company, but our Artistic Director, Mellilah, has really emphasized them and they have slowly and surely been getting drilled into my body and become my defacto dance habits. As you practice and perform, keep these tips in mind and you will definitely see positive change in your dance. Although warning, small doesn't mean easy. And in fact, it's often the small details that can easily get lost and overlooked, especially when performance nerves and excitement take over. Just like any other aspect of dance, there's only one way to achieve it: practice, practice, practice!

1. Engage your back muscles. Focus on engaging your lats, or more formally your latissimus dorsi, the muscles in your mid-back, just below your shoulders, as well as your traps, or trapezius, the muscles running vertically from along the spine in the upper back. By really engaging through these muscles you'll stand taller, open up the chest, and broaden the shoulders, instantly improving your posture and giving you a more strong, proud, and confident carriage. One of the most important aspects of performing is confidence: a performer must be confident so that the audience can feel at ease and will want to come along on the artistic journey. Confidence starts with posture. You want to be larger than life on stage; expansive and broad, not contracted and small. You want to clearly portray the message that the stage is yours and you belong there. Additionally, engaging the back muscles will greatly help with any arm movements you make, as the work will come from the center of the body and the energy will start in the center of the body and extend out through the fingertips, making for more elegant, controlled, and beautiful arm movements.
2. Pull in the abdominals. Relaxing my abs was unfortunately a bad habit that I developed early on in dance. It's been a challenge trying to undo this bad habit. So don't be me and drill bad habits into your body! By engaging in the abdominals, especially the lower abs below the belly button,  you will look again look stronger and overall appear more polished and experienced. In addition, you'll look slimmer and your whole overall posture and carriage will be improved. Maintaining a strong core is the best and most effective foundation from which to create your isolations and traveling steps. Also, engaging the abdominals will help protect the lower back, especially in moves like the Maya and figure 8's with the hips.
3. Always perform. No matter what you're doing on stage, you're performing. If you're standing, you're standing like a dancer. If you're walking, you're walking like a dancer. Nothing should ever be pedestrian or how you would walk or stand in normal life. Your posture is always lifted and energy is extending out the fingertips. If you are standing, you're finding a beautiful S-shape pose, showgirl stance, asymmetrical pose with foot popped, or other pose that matches with your musical selection. If you are walking, you are pointing the toes, prancing, swinging the hips, runway model walking, strutting, or whatever walk conveys the the artistic nature of your piece. But you are never walking like you would just walk down the sidewalk. (Unless perhaps you just happen to be super fabulous in your everyday life. Hey, you do you!). From the moment you step onto the stage until you get off, you are working it head to toe.

Master these tips, in addition to your belly dance technique and musicality, and you will own any stage you step onto. 

Photo Credit: https://www.videoblocks.com

Two Steps to Find More Practice Time

We all know in reality that practice is easier said than done.  There are emails to answer, deadlines to complete, Facebook status updates to post, meals to prepare, children to wrangle, errands to run, and clothes to iron.  We live in the age of being busy.  Ask someone how they are, and they’ll likely tell you busy.  In our modern lifestyles, we all have so many demands on our time and never-ending to-do lists, that carving out time for a regular practice schedule gets pushed to the bottom, waiting for that someday, when we're all caught up to peacefully ease into a practice session.  Well, sorry to say, that day will never come.

However, by using two simple steps, I think you'll find that you can find the time to practice.  It doesn't need to be a complicated process of rearranging your entire life or trying to reshape your personality.  Two steps.  That's it.

 

Step #1: Block Out the Time 

The only way to have time to practice is to make time.  A magical day free of responsibilities and demands will never come.  You have to buy out the time.  So right now, before you read on, pull out your calendar, iPhone, planner pad, or whatever system it is you track your schedule on and look at your upcoming week.  Where in your week can you find time to practice?  You don’t need large blocks of time to do it.  Fifteen or thirty minutes here or there can really add up.  Find a minimum of one hour in the next week, either all together or broken into pieces, and pencil it in right now.  Block out that time for yourself before another activity fills it up.  Too many activities already on your calendar?  Then assess which commitments you really either have to or want to fulfill, versus which you said yes to out of pressure or feelings of obligation.  Your time is valuable, so use it to engage in activities that are fulfilling and meaningful to you. Presto!  You have a date with yourself.  Now keep it!

 

Worried that you won't stay accountable to yourself?  Then sign up for a class AND pay for it in advance.  When we invest financially in ourselves we are much more likely to follow through with our intentions. 

 

Step #2: Just Begin
Of course inevitably, when that day and time rolls around, there will probably be an assortment of new stresses that have come up that you originally did not anticipate.  You might be tired from the neighbor’s dog keeping you up the night before, or your husband’s snoring.  You might feel like you really should do the dishes first or give the kids a bath.  You might just feel burnt out and that an hour zoning out in front of the TV would be so much easier.  Whatever excuse or obligation it is, acknowledge it, and then let it go.  The hardest hurdle to cross is just starting.  It’s that initial step from inaction to action, from routine to change, that always likes to present itself with so much resistance.  Just begin.  Don’t think about it, debate it, or rationalize it.  Like Nike says, just do it.  If you had one whole hour written down and that seems like an unbearably long time, tell yourself you’ll do a minimum of five or ten minutes.  Once you start, you’re almost guaranteed to continue on longer.  This time is sacred to you.  Honor it by showing up.

Photo Credit: Unknown

I Took My First Class, Now What?

I took my first belly dance class, now what?

In addition to the obvious - that you should sign up for your next class! - here are a few recommendations that I would make to new students looking to continue their exploration of Middle Eastern dance.

Invest in a quality pair of zills.  Zills in Turkish, zagat in Arabic, or finger cymbals in English, a well-rounded belly dancer should learn to play these.  I played on my crappy beginner zills for far too long, and when I finally purchased a nice pair, it was like night and day.  Playing a quality musical instrument with proper tone and balance will help ease the learning curve. I highly recommend Saroyan zills. They do sell student zills which are a bit smaller and lighter, but I say just go ahead and get the normal-sized pro ones now.

Go see a live show. Live shows are great for inspiration and education.  Seeing how the pros do it will not only motivate you to practice harder, but it's a great learning tool for seeing first-hand the different segments of a show, as well as how the dancer interprets the music and interacts with the musicians. One of my favorite places to take in a show is at the monthly House of Tarab House Concert, held in the home of legendary dancer, Delilah, in Fremont. It's an intimate setting, where you are up close and personal with the band and dancers. Every time I've been, the performances have been phenomenal.  Next show is on April 18th and you can find the Facebook invite and details here.  There is also live music and dance starting at 8pm on both Friday and Saturday nights at Harissa Mediterranean Cuisine in Ravenna. On Friday nights, the music is played by George Sadak and friends, and on Saturdays it's the MB Orchestra. I highly recommend either night.

Study up on YouTube.  Can't make it to a live show right now? Then take some time to do the next best thing and watch dancing on YouTube. With so much material posted onto YouTube these days, it can be a very valuable learning tool for comparing and contrasting different styles of the dance, as well as the added treat of being able to see videos of Egyptian stars of former decades.  Not sure where to start? I keep a Pinterest board of some of my favorite YouTube clips.

Pick up a practice DVD. Even if you are signed up for a class, I still recommend this. Most students only have the time and money to take one class per week. But if you really want to make progress, you'll need to practice on your own as well. When you are first starting out, it can be difficult to know what to practice on your own. This is where a DVD can be really helpful. I wrote a blog post about some of my favorite DVDs awhile back in case you'd like to see my recommendations.

Buy a silk veil.  In addition to zills, veil is the other staple prop of belly dance. I whole-heartedly support silk as the way to go. I have seen veils of other materials, including tricot, chiffon, or satin/sateen sold, often coming as part of a set with a matching skirt. But none of these fabrics have the beautiful, lighweight mesmerizing float of a silk veil. Two of my favorite retailers for silk veils are Fairy Cove and Amiras Belly.

Backstage at Belly Dancer USA

Last month I competed in the Belly Dancer USA competition in Canyonville, Oregon.  I’ll just get any surprise portion of the post over with and state right now, that no, I did not place.   I can’t say that it wasn’t a bit disappointing, because let’s be real, who doesn’t want to go home with a title and a trophy?  Not to mention it was a fairly big investment of time and money, if you add up the registration fee, private lessons, new Bella costume, gas, meals, and hotel.  However, I don’t feel it was all a waste.  I’m glad I did it and here’s why.

The Preparation

I started putting together my routine months ago.  The process of gathering ideas, selecting my music, choreographing and fine tuning  was almost a five month process for me.  Not only did I work on it extensively by myself, I also invested in some private lessons with Nadira, who was amazing in her depth of knowledge, advice, and encouragement. Advice: Get thee to her studio.

I also purchased my first ever custom-made Bella.  It was a steep price tag.  I’ll just go ahead and make full disclosure, it was almost a $1,000.  I pretty much had to close my eyes, hit send, and try not to think about it as I was transferring my money.  The costume turned out gorgeous, however, more on that end later.

I also did three practice performances, two of my exact competition choreography, and one local improv competition.  For the two performances doing my exact competition piece, I had mishaps happen right before I went on for both of them.  For one, my CD refused to play, and for the other there was change in the lineup that I was unaware of and I was announced as I still sitting in my seat in my street clothes.  Both situations were stressful and nerve-wracking, but they were good practice at dealing with the unexpected.  I was still able to execute my performances and felt good about them afterward. 

The competition was a different story.  It was an improv performance with a live local band.  Songs were drawn by the competitors at the beginning of the show and then were incorporated into a three-part set.  After each dancer performed her set, feedback was to given by three judges and then the audience voted on the winner.  As I was performing my set, I certainly didn’t feel like I was having an amazing performance, but it didn’t feel terrible either.  However, when it came time for my live judges’ feedback, they felt completely different.  I believe the nicest thing they said to me was that I looked pretty.  I received negative feedback on almost every aspect of the dance – poor musicality, lack of audience connection, limited dance vocabulary, poor arm positioning, etc.  You name, I'm pretty sure they said it.  Overall, pretty painful.  Needless to say, I didn’t win.  The day after the competition, I moped around my house all day.  Well, probably more than moped, I slipped into a downright funk, complete with mid-afternoon drinking.  I declared to my fiancé that not only was I certainly not going to compete in Belly Dancer USA, I was done with belly dancing altogether.

I guess it’s true that time heals all wounds.  I slowly came around again.  There is a video of that local competition performance out on the web.  However, to this day, I have yet to watch it. 

About three-weeks out from the competition, I regrouped my motivation and started practicing my piece every single day.  By the time the weekend of the competition rolled around, not only did I have my piece down forward and backward, I think my fiancé quite possibly did as well.  Or he at least had my three songs forever seared into his memory!

The Competition

Canyonville, Oregon is a six hour drive from Seattle, and a drive that I made by myself.  I drove half-way down to Beaverton and stayed with family the night before.   The morning of the competition, I completed the rest of the three hour drive, which given my nerves, spanned into a yawning eternity of highway.  In preparation for my honeymoon in France later this year, I had French language CDs in my car, which I listened to to help pass the time. Bonjour.  S’il vous pait. Je ne comprend pas.  One hour down.  To pass the other two hours, I alternated between having a conversation with my good luck stuffed teddy bear given to me by my fiancé, who I proceed to perch on the steering wheel, and singing at the top of my lungs to an old Alanis Mortisette CD.  So yes, to anyone driving past me, I was probably looking a little unhinged.  Oh belly dance, you see the kind of ridiculous and neurotic behavior you drive me to?

Finally arriving at the casino, I check into my hotel and start to get ready.  After an order of room service and checking into the competition, I'm feeling much more relaxed than I felt in the car.  I draw spot number four out of 17.  I acknowledge to myself that it’s not the best spot for scoring, but I'm also kind of relieved that I don’t have to spend hours waiting around for my turn. (For those who don’t think positioning matters, or judges who say they don’t score differently early on in a competition, I’ll just throw this out there:  All three dancers who placed were in the final five to go on.)

The competition started almost an hour later.  Sitting backstage, I listen to Awolnation and Rob Zombie on my iPhone as I stretch.  When I get nervous I fiddle.  Growing up as a swimmer, I would adjust my swim cap and goggles over and over as I waited for my heat.  Now as I dancer, I fiddle with my costume.  I reapply my lipstick.  Check that all my bra straps are secure.  Adjust my skirt to be exactly centered.  Pull my arm bands up to circulation inhibiting height.  And repeat.

Finally it’s my turn. My name is announced.  My music begins.  I take a deep breath and exhale a big, huge sigh out.  I say my new mantra, “validation is for parking”, in my head.  Think smile and relax.  And then I’m on stage.

I feel nervous, but also more excited and confident than I thought I might.  I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my legs.  My entrance piece is an upbeat Turkish piece by Tarkan, which is good for getting the extra energy out.  The other two times I’d done my practice performance, I’d completely forgotten this portion of my choreography.  This time, I barely miss a beat.  Before I know it, I’m into my taqsim.  I tell myself to slow my breath and ground down into the song.  However, I feel I still have a bit too much adrenaline going to really embody the slow music as it deserves.  At one point in my song, there is a pause in the music, which I’d planned to hold elevated on one leg.  However, I don’t hit my balance quite right and have to pull out of it, hoping that the wobble is not completely obvious to the judges and audience.  And before I know it, I'm onto the home stretch: drum solo.  I’d practiced this section so much, I could probably execute it in my sleep.  Feeling very comfortable with the technique and choreography, I really get into it and start to enjoy myself.  I even see a couple judges crack some smiles.  In the video, I think you can really see the relaxation happen, as I start out a bit timid in my movements in my first two songs, but really hit my stride by the drum solo. I strike my ending pose and feel that, for the drum solo at least, I nailed it.

My Takeaways

As you already know, I didn’t place.  In reviewing the judges’ scorecards and comments, my scores were mostly 9s and 10s, sprinkled with a few 8s and one 7.5.  One of the main areas I was marked down for was my costume fit.  In hindsight, a pretty silly item to be marked down for.  In the future, my new policy is that all new costumes require videotaping and review for fit, as when I was just standing in front of the mirror, the fit was looking fine.  But as we all know, standing in a costume and dancing in one are two entirely different things.  Learned my lesson on that one. 

But perhaps my most important takeaways have nothing to do with anyone else or their opinions.  By signing up for a competition, I really pushed myself to hone my technique, practice every day, and push out of my comfort zone.  And I learned the power of persistence and belief in yourself, even when others don’t.  When you get knocked down, the only thing to do is get up again. 

I didn’t win the local competition or Belly Dancer USA, but you know what?  It doesn’t really matter, because in the end, validation is for parking.  The true competition is the one you have with yourself.

Want to see the performance you’ve been reading about? Well you are in luck, as I’ve linked the video of the performance in below, so you can judge for yourself.  Don't feel like watching the whole 8 minutes?  Then skipped ahead to the drum solo, which starts right around 5:20.

 

The iPhone App Every Dancer Needs

I recently discovered the most amazing, most useful, iPhone app that it deserves it's own post. The app is called call Dum-Tek and is available in iTunes. Dum-Tek is a Middle Eastern rhythm generator for learning and practicing rhythms.  In the five years of studying Middle Eastern rhythms as part of my belly dance practice, this was been the most valuable tool that I've found for really understanding and cementing those rhythms.  Ultimately, it's a fairly simple app that's very easy to use, but I think the design is really genius because it combines auditory and visual learning.

Let's get into how it works. The app has 37 rhythms and variations, including ciftielli, kalagi, karsilama, malfouf, maqsuum, masmoudi saghir (beledi), samaii, saidii, and more.  You use the app by first selecting the rhythm you would like to listen to.  Most of the rhythms have the bare bones basic version of the rhythm, played only with the defining "dums" and "teks".  For those not familiar with the terms "dum" and "tek", these are essentially a shorthand version of verbally saying the sounds played on a tabla (a drum), with the "dum" being the low-sound and the "tek" being the high sound or pop.  Not having studied the tabla, I'm not sure if there is officially a Middle Eastern drum tablature, but in my mind, it's a way of describing and reading music without having to know how to read actual music, just like guitar tab or Western drum tab (for a full drum kit). Drifting into a bit of music theory.  Back to the app.  You can also choose to listen to the rhythm with what the app calls "filled with bridge", which is usually (but not always) the non-down beat ("and one"), or syncopated portions in the rhythm.  You can also adjust the beats per minute, or how fast the rhythm plays, either up or down.

Then the app adds in the visual component.  This is where it gets really cool for me. First, the app tells you the time signature (2/2, 4/4, 9/8, etc.). Just to insert a quick explanation for anyone who hasn't studied music and music theory, in a time signature, the first number is how many beats there are in a measure and the second number is what type of note gets a beat.  So in a 9/8 time signature, there are nine beats in a measure and an eighth note gets a beat. 

Okay, back on track again.

But not only does the app tell you the time signature, it also visually displays one measure with the "dums" and "teks" written in to show which beats they fall on.  Using the visual of the samai rhythm below, you can see that the app tells you it's a 10/8 time signature and then in the grid you can see that the numbers, representing the 10 beats (the down beat) in the measure, are written out from one to 10.  The "e-&-a" show the subdivision of each beat.  And finally the "D's" and "T's" show on which beat, or which subdivided beat the "dum" or "tek" falls on.  And as the last final icing on the cake, as the rhythm plays, the blue highlighter scrolls along so you can see exactly where in the measure you are.

As a classically trained musician, seeing the placement of the "dums" and "teks" in the time signature was incredible.  Most teachers teach rhythms by just speaking the "dums" and "teks", but for me personally, this isn't very meaningful as there was no correlation to meter or the time signature. To really be able to understand the rhythm, I needed to understand the musical structure and notation of the rhythm, which this nifty little app shows.

Cost of this wonderful app you ask?  It's FREE. However, I certainly would have paid for it. As a thank you to the creators, I would encourage everyone to leave them a nice rating and/or review.  And please leave comments below to let me know if you find this app to be as useful as I do!

Practice Makes Perfect

A few weeks ago I attended a workshop lead by the award-winning dancer, Ruby Beh, on how to practice. Whether it be belly dance or any other talent or skill, we all know we need to practice to improve. It's a pretty simple equation, right? However, there can be many roadblocks between knowing that fact and actually executing it. For myself, lately my practice as been pretty slim to none. If I have a stage show coming up, then I'll put in some practice time to prep for my performance. And of course, I do teach weekly. But as far as a regular, weekly, really-challenge-myself practice, that I haven't done in some time. Thus to the workshop I went.

We probably all have different reasons why we aren't practicing or otherwise following through on achieving our goals. It could be lack of time. Not knowing what to practice. Feeling stuck or frustrated. Not having a defined goal, milestone, or end target in sight. Not possessing the right space or tools. Insert your reason here.  The list is indefinite.

So if you are experiencing any of these roadblocks, I want to share with you my top five takeaways from the workshop to help you overcome your inertia:

1. Set your six month, one year, and ultimate goal. Know what it is that your're working for.
2. Determine how much you want to practice each week, and at the beginning of the week, schedule it into your calendar, planner pad, or iPhone. Make and set the comittment.
3. If you're someone who still won't show up even with the time blocked out, make yourself accountable. Sign up for a class (and prepay), rent studio time, or schedule to met a buddy. When you know that you've already put your hard earned cash down on the table, or that you'll be letting others down and not just yourself, you will show up.
4. If you're not sure what to practice, try writing down all the isolations, traveling steps/moves, and zill patterns you know on index cards. Select one card from each pile and create a combination of the three.
5. If you're still completely at a loss of what to do when you practice, you can also pop in an instructional DVD. Three of my favorites are Alimah's Finding Meaning in Movement, Aziza's Ultimate Belly Dance Practice Companion, and Michelle Joyce's Killer Ziller. You can find them all on my Amazon aStore.

And I also had one other insight that came up for me during the workshop. Practice should really involve two forms; thinking and non-thinking. Your practice should include working on moves, combinations, and skills that really challenge you and require you to concentrate and focus. Equally, practice should also include putting on a piece of music, turning off your thoughts, sinking into your body, and just seeing what develops. Set aside judment and expectation, and let the music move through your body into whatever visual form it chooses to manifest as.

 If you have an opportunity to take a workshop with Ruby, I highly recommend. By the time I left this workshop, I felt motivated, inspired, and had outlined what it is I really want to achieve in my dance. Two weeks later, I'm still feeling that inspiration. I have my practice time blocked out in my calendar for this week. I have my goals, including a set timeline, written down. I'm generally ready to shimmy and shake it into the next level.

Feel free to leave comments on your own goals, practice, and success stories.