For those of us with type-A, overachiever personalities, New Years resolutions end up being a way to even yet better ourselves again. A refocusing.
But what about the kind of bellydance resolutions that state "I will practice zils three times a week for at least 15 minutes, I will take exactly two more workshops this year than I normally do, I will add 10 minutes of floorwork practice into my practice time"....most of our resolutions are about wanting to be better, to practice more. Wanting tighter movements, crisper zills, mad skillz.
Hey, there is nothing wrong with this. We need goals, we need focal points for our desires. But with something as in-the-present as dance, I will say that it is also important to leave room for spontaneity.
I have stuck to my three times a week practice schedule. Three times a week you can find me strapping on the Power Belly weight belt, slipping on my zils, pulling out my dance vocabulary, playing a looped beledi and placing an empty tray on my head. I look like something out of a star wars movie, but I figure ( and it has proven to be true) going through my drills balancing, zilling and with the added weight, when I do dance without these encumberments, I am like lightning. I really feel good about my practice time, and it has definitely helped my skills. BUT there are days when I groan inwardly at the thought of all that stuff, days when I want to just let go and do what is natural. There are days when I just want to buck the system, and throw out the rules.
The days I give into that whim ( which admittedly, feels like I am doing something BAD) I end up discovering a new move, or looking at things from a new angle, or mastering a move that I had wanted to get for some time, or sometimes I just dance-play. Those days truly feed my soul. Those are the days that remind me that dance is mine. That dance is my own pleasure. Those are the days I feel like a dancer.
So, as you make out your super dooper focused,must- be -the -best new years belly-resolution list leave room for play. Leave room for the cosmic chance, the wild card. Drill your ass off, tighten those muscles, and perfect your skills, but be human, too.
( and speaking of the wild card, the post on how to open a beer bottle with your forearm is forthcoming.)
I hope 2011 is a wonderful, peaceful, and happy year for all of you! Thank you so much for reading!
Love,
Tara
3 comments:
This reasoning is a large part of why Bruce Lee created Jeet Kune Do. He believed that the established forms/schools are good for learning the essential basics, but ultimately found them stifling when one attempts to express oneself via martial arts. He believed that all artists should be formless and shapeless, like water, able to adhere to their environments when necessary yet retaining fluidity and adaptability. This is where artistic growth occurs, as well as the aforementioned "happy accidents" of individual discovery.
Bloody good point.
Sometimes it's good to drill yourself even when you'd rather eat your own spleen than do that bloody Yoga warmup again, but other times it's much better to stick on a hip scarf and dance around the kitchen for half an hour.
Great post Kali, even as I religiously write out my Belly Resolutions, the times when i "play dance" are when i have the most fun, hands down!
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