When I first started dancing I did not understand what was wrong with plain old bellydance,and why a lot of more seasoned dancers felt the need to try other styles, dances from other countries, and variations on the dance. Now it get it. It is hard,when you have been dancing for a while, to stay inspired.
I can always tell when I don't feel inspired. The first thing to go is practice time. Usually, I don't feel like practicing, or practice feels like a drag. When this happens I have two choices, A. Push on through,and practice anyway, hoping that some inspiration will catch, or B. give myself a ," bellydancing break" of a few days then try again.
The thing is, bellydance is art. It is not reproduction, repetition, or wrote. ( if you are doing it right).... We are the canvas, the movements are the paint, and the music the brush. How we put it all together is a unique piece of art. Yes, we have to practice technique, and it won't always feel like a picnic, but if there is no juice, then we are just doing a hollow imitation of the same thing.
I also think when you reach a certain stage you are responsible for motivating and inspiring yourself .....here are some ways I do just that.
Inspiration Tools:
1. Watch performances all of the time. Go to Haflas, buy or rent performance DVD's, try to look through the eyes of a non-performer.Try to see as the audience member sees. It is easy to get caught up in "look at her hands, or damn that is a strong shimmy" instead of seeing the performance as a whole, the art of it. I try to think of each dance as a gift to me , and I just try to see what that gift is.
2. Take from different teachers. When you have learned all there is to learn from someone,or you can anticipate her next move, then switch teachers for a while.
3. Keep it fresh. Is your go-to move still the hagala with a 3/4 shimmy? Still doing mayas with a level change? Do something different! What if Picasso painted the same thing every time?....how boring would that be.
Art has to evolve.
4. If all else fails, take a break. The world won't stop if you take a weeks break from dancing, reading about dancing, or thinking about dancing. ( hard but not impossible). You will be surprised how refreshed you can feel after taking a short break.
5 comments:
All great ideas, thanks!!and that is so funny about hagala with 3/4 shimmy I definitly need to get over that one, i have used it way too long!
Hmmm, have any suggestions for a particular video clip or dancer that you find inspiring? I have trouble with inspiration AND technique seeing as I have no instructor or reliable real-life dance partners. (Sigh.) I feel like I can only do so much dancing by myself with an instructional video.
Oh, if only Lansing, Michigan had a belly dance studio! ...that did not center upon jiggling for dollar bills stuffed into costumes, stripper-style, at the local Middle Eastern takeout place. :/
Hey genie,
I googled lansing and found a ton of bellydancers. http://www.habibidancers.org/ these guys looked good, and that was only the beginning. DVD's are great,but there is no beating classes!
I think different people are inspired by different dancers. Someone I might find inspiring you might find dull, or vice versa.Unfortunately you can't preview DVD's before buying...:(
I love Delilah. She is based out of Seattle and is one of the pioneers of the dance. www.visionarydance.com
also check out the sidebar, Shoshanna is the veil queen and she is amazing, for flair and style try Princess Farhana, Katia is amazing, I love Sadie ( even though the dissapointed me recently), Bahaia rocks, so does Ranya Renee, Neon, and Hadia, Michelle Joyce can really put out some good, inexpensive informative DVD's. Hope that helps....love your blog!
The Habibi dancers are the only ones I can find that give regular classes within a reasonable distance of where I live... and they are the ones who raise funds by dancing in very skimpy attire at the takeout place and collect the tips by having customers stuff cash in their bras and hip scarves... (Their website doesn't give that impression at all, does it??) Maybe I've judged too harshly, but that whole thing skeazes me out. I went to one of their performances, and it was super uncomfortable. Besides, one of my good friends took a class of theirs and felt weird about it too.
I'll check out videos of some of your recommendations that I haven't heard of already (I like some of those ladies, too!) and keep my eyes and ears open for any alternate classes or workshops in town.
Geez. That SUCKS! A lot of dancers accept tips in their bras and belts but I am not one of them. I really hope you can find a good teacher eventually.
BTW, Michelle Joyce's Secrets of the Stage series is amazing. The second one addresses the tipping thing. and thanks because you have inspired my next blog post!!!
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