Tonight in class I had the opportunity to turn back time, and revel in the joy and enthusiasm of being a freshman in college. One of my students brought two friends along...and after I learned they didn't have a ride home (they were going to wait for a cab), I offered them a lift back to campus. Of course, I had to force one of them to sit up front so I didn't feel like their mom, and they were very quiet and well behaved on the way home...but nonetheless I felt that glimmer of giddiness and joy that we all had when we first left home and headed out into the world.
We talked about how hard some of their classes were (okay they talked, I listened) and I became excited to find out they had been taking Italian. Seriously, I dream of going to Italy just to be romanced by hot Italian men who chase me around shouting 'bella, bella'. And amongst, the chasing I get to eat loads of fabulous pasta, drink hedonistic amounts of wine and then shop for shoes.
When I told them how I dream of those shoes but probably couldn't afford all the ones I wanted, the three girls suggested I could belly dance on a street corner to earn extra money. Literally, shimmy for my shoes. One of them even suggested I could use a extra bra as a place for tips. So, now I'm even more distracted as I think of how my 'cups could runneth over' and in exchange score me some hot Italian heels. It's such a lovely thought, wrong in so many ways, but still just as lovely :-)
Showing posts with label Shoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shoes. Show all posts
March 31, 2009
February 12, 2008
Creativity continued...
Okay, so this blogging thing is actually starting to groove for me a little more. Last night I managed to send out two (yeah) posts within a short period of time. In just a little over six weeks I have now surpassed my total posts for 2007. I admit, it wasn’t a tough record to beat but you have to find the challenge, the kudos and the excitement where you can. So, imagine my surprise to find out that someone had read my recent posts, and felt obliged to comment back and add their whole take on the creative process (thanks Debra). So, here are just a few things that now come to mind after reading her notes…
It is one thing to be creative and give into that process. However for me, it takes on a different meaning and purpose when you are trying to be creative in a set time, for a set format where it’s not a matter of if your work will be displayed publicly but rather when. There is also a responsibility related to those who must end up dancing and performing your work (for example forcing people to hop when they don’t like to…). And now, with nine of us in the troupe I’m having difficulty finding a balance between just getting a basic, sound choreography complete that everyone can remember and skillfully dance and my desire to add the unpredictable, the more organic, less patterned staging that I dearly love in the dance. So, that’s my dilemma in a nut shell.
But, I’ll figure it out; my short term solution is to wait one week before teaching anything. Now that the song is decided (for me at least), I can let it filter in and out of my brain for a few days…I’m humming it at work and sneaking little practices moves in the bathroom at work, and I’ll be dancing it in my car numerous times.
After a few days, I’m sure it will all percolate into something good, solid and exciting…and since I have all the faith in the world creatively with my fellow dancers, we will make it work, regardless.
My other final note…when I mentioned the great deal on shoes, I wasn’t talking cheap Payless styles…these were lovely fashions, and yes I’m on my second pair (you can't just buy them and not wear them immediately) today and yes…my feet have been hurting, but it’s such a good hurt ;-)
It is one thing to be creative and give into that process. However for me, it takes on a different meaning and purpose when you are trying to be creative in a set time, for a set format where it’s not a matter of if your work will be displayed publicly but rather when. There is also a responsibility related to those who must end up dancing and performing your work (for example forcing people to hop when they don’t like to…). And now, with nine of us in the troupe I’m having difficulty finding a balance between just getting a basic, sound choreography complete that everyone can remember and skillfully dance and my desire to add the unpredictable, the more organic, less patterned staging that I dearly love in the dance. So, that’s my dilemma in a nut shell.
But, I’ll figure it out; my short term solution is to wait one week before teaching anything. Now that the song is decided (for me at least), I can let it filter in and out of my brain for a few days…I’m humming it at work and sneaking little practices moves in the bathroom at work, and I’ll be dancing it in my car numerous times.
After a few days, I’m sure it will all percolate into something good, solid and exciting…and since I have all the faith in the world creatively with my fellow dancers, we will make it work, regardless.
My other final note…when I mentioned the great deal on shoes, I wasn’t talking cheap Payless styles…these were lovely fashions, and yes I’m on my second pair (you can't just buy them and not wear them immediately) today and yes…my feet have been hurting, but it’s such a good hurt ;-)
Bare feet may be best.
Okay, after trying on several pairs of shoes I remembered that I do my best thinking barefoot (and actually bra-less but that's another story). I must have been distracted by my recent shoe purchase over the weekend where I bagged not one, or two...but three new pair of heels for a low, low price of $20. (Yeah, let that settle in ladies). It was meant to be, they were my size, they were on sale, and I had a coupon...I think women don't really find their shoes...the shoes find them. **See, and I'm distracted once again, argh!**
The whole point of this second post (in such a short time if you didn't notice) was to talk about finding inspiration to not only dance, but choreograph a dance for others. And, although I can do it under pressure if needed, I prefer for the music to speak to me. Some of my favorite choreographies started out with one musical phrase, less than 8 counts of music...something that I couldn't let go of and wanted to expand it to an entire piece. Really, it's like picking out your outfit based on your shoes first (god, I'm channeling Sex in the City now) or picking a vacation destination because of something you bought...but in the case of dance, it can work, and work well.
I really believe you cannot dance to something you don't feel inspired by, and just picking a number because it is a certain time frame, or it meets the style criteria you're seeking is just a recipe for disaster. It sets up the dancer to get bored quickly, become disengaged and just go through the motions. We may not want to admit it, but we've all been there at one time or another, and it just plain sucks, for us and even the audience. They may politely tell you the dancing was lovely, or that you looked pretty...but even when we can't put our finger on what we didn't like about a dance, we walk away a little hungry...and wanting more of something we may not be able to name.
I also think there is a formula to good choreography. You need music that has changes, ups, downs, fast and slow to keep people interested. You need to change the dynamic of the dancers and sometimes move with the rhythm and occasionally against it. I also love the idea of juxtaposing crisp sharp, traditional movements with some elements of randomness, chaos and ambiguity. That's the hardest part of all since it requires all the dancers in the troupe to let you of their need to control each and every movement and surrended to the notion that the choreography will never be exactly the same each time.
So, I feel this enormous pressure to come up with great choregraphies that everyone will love and passionately perform, and have all of my required elements from above. I want the drama, the excitement and the sense that you can't predict what we'll do next. I want the audience to sit on the edge of their seats and think, "Wow, I didn't know belly dance was like this!". Hence the waffling between music and ideas. But, once I settled out of my shoes, and let my feet uncurl (we are talking heels here) on the bare floor...I'm feeling more inspired and motivated.
The piece of music that I came back to is oddly enough one that I started thinking about last year. I literally heard it one time and could envision an entire number off of a few notes, and without sounding too goofy...it literally moved me. Really, I'm not joking here. I felt a wave of emotion and feeling sweep through body, my breathing deepened and relaxed and I practically melted into a puddle. The song is called Yearning, and boy oh boy...I yearned! I've danced to it twice in solo performances and although I think I did a good job, I didn't have it dialed in...and I walked away feeling as if I let the music down. Which is why I've been hesitant to pick this piece for a choreography...it makes me wonder if I'm just better at putting together numbers for everyone else versus dancing them myself. So, stay tuned and I'll try to keep you posted on how this number goes for us!
The whole point of this second post (in such a short time if you didn't notice) was to talk about finding inspiration to not only dance, but choreograph a dance for others. And, although I can do it under pressure if needed, I prefer for the music to speak to me. Some of my favorite choreographies started out with one musical phrase, less than 8 counts of music...something that I couldn't let go of and wanted to expand it to an entire piece. Really, it's like picking out your outfit based on your shoes first (god, I'm channeling Sex in the City now) or picking a vacation destination because of something you bought...but in the case of dance, it can work, and work well.
I really believe you cannot dance to something you don't feel inspired by, and just picking a number because it is a certain time frame, or it meets the style criteria you're seeking is just a recipe for disaster. It sets up the dancer to get bored quickly, become disengaged and just go through the motions. We may not want to admit it, but we've all been there at one time or another, and it just plain sucks, for us and even the audience. They may politely tell you the dancing was lovely, or that you looked pretty...but even when we can't put our finger on what we didn't like about a dance, we walk away a little hungry...and wanting more of something we may not be able to name.
I also think there is a formula to good choreography. You need music that has changes, ups, downs, fast and slow to keep people interested. You need to change the dynamic of the dancers and sometimes move with the rhythm and occasionally against it. I also love the idea of juxtaposing crisp sharp, traditional movements with some elements of randomness, chaos and ambiguity. That's the hardest part of all since it requires all the dancers in the troupe to let you of their need to control each and every movement and surrended to the notion that the choreography will never be exactly the same each time.
So, I feel this enormous pressure to come up with great choregraphies that everyone will love and passionately perform, and have all of my required elements from above. I want the drama, the excitement and the sense that you can't predict what we'll do next. I want the audience to sit on the edge of their seats and think, "Wow, I didn't know belly dance was like this!". Hence the waffling between music and ideas. But, once I settled out of my shoes, and let my feet uncurl (we are talking heels here) on the bare floor...I'm feeling more inspired and motivated.
The piece of music that I came back to is oddly enough one that I started thinking about last year. I literally heard it one time and could envision an entire number off of a few notes, and without sounding too goofy...it literally moved me. Really, I'm not joking here. I felt a wave of emotion and feeling sweep through body, my breathing deepened and relaxed and I practically melted into a puddle. The song is called Yearning, and boy oh boy...I yearned! I've danced to it twice in solo performances and although I think I did a good job, I didn't have it dialed in...and I walked away feeling as if I let the music down. Which is why I've been hesitant to pick this piece for a choreography...it makes me wonder if I'm just better at putting together numbers for everyone else versus dancing them myself. So, stay tuned and I'll try to keep you posted on how this number goes for us!
February 11, 2008
Are shoes the secret to inspiration?
The business of belly dancing can be tough, it takes work, effort and a constant desire to seek new inspiration...whew!!!! Trust me, it's easy to fall into a rut, and then throw something together and go dance. After all, this is a dance born from improvisation, feeling, and truly living in the moment, right?
Well, improvisation is great, but it doesn't work with groups or students. So here I am, stuck in a non-creative, anti-inspirational mood trying to be creative and inspirational and feeling quite forced in the process. It's a lot of pressure and all it is doing is pushing me to procrastinate. I had it all planned out, I would stay home from my martial arts class tonight and work on the next choreography for Mirage. I was really happy with the last one (Entrance of the Stars) and excited that we will actually have 6 weeks to work on our next number. That means lots of time to perfect, memorize, and gel as a group, right? It all sounds great unless you're the one sitting here...trying on shoes and getting nothing else done for the evening. Nada, zippo, nil...nothing.
So why the shoes? Well, it was better than facing the fact that I haven't even gotten my trash out yet tonight...and it was a small way of rewarding myself for at least making a final decision on a song. Yep, I've been through about six of them tonight...and I've gone from Indian fusion to sword fusion to traditional cane to cane (with a fusion twist) to sword and cane (combined)....and at last settled back to a sword number with a little veil thrown in. All that waffling has worn me out and now I'm just trying to decide what to wear tomorrow, and that's starting with my shoes (which by the way are pinching...so these guys may not make the cut).
I figure if I can at least nail down a piece of my wardrobe, that will be enough decision making for the evening so I can go to bed semi-content, at least until morning when I will probably pick a different pair of shoes irregardless of all this modeling tonight. If my shoes would provide me with inspiration for dancing, I'd be set...but they aren't, so here I sit...and off to the closet to try on the next pair. If I'm lucky I'll do it while listening to my semi-final choice of music. Oddly enough it is called Yearning...which is what I'm feeling while waiting for my dance muse.
Well, improvisation is great, but it doesn't work with groups or students. So here I am, stuck in a non-creative, anti-inspirational mood trying to be creative and inspirational and feeling quite forced in the process. It's a lot of pressure and all it is doing is pushing me to procrastinate. I had it all planned out, I would stay home from my martial arts class tonight and work on the next choreography for Mirage. I was really happy with the last one (Entrance of the Stars) and excited that we will actually have 6 weeks to work on our next number. That means lots of time to perfect, memorize, and gel as a group, right? It all sounds great unless you're the one sitting here...trying on shoes and getting nothing else done for the evening. Nada, zippo, nil...nothing.
So why the shoes? Well, it was better than facing the fact that I haven't even gotten my trash out yet tonight...and it was a small way of rewarding myself for at least making a final decision on a song. Yep, I've been through about six of them tonight...and I've gone from Indian fusion to sword fusion to traditional cane to cane (with a fusion twist) to sword and cane (combined)....and at last settled back to a sword number with a little veil thrown in. All that waffling has worn me out and now I'm just trying to decide what to wear tomorrow, and that's starting with my shoes (which by the way are pinching...so these guys may not make the cut).
I figure if I can at least nail down a piece of my wardrobe, that will be enough decision making for the evening so I can go to bed semi-content, at least until morning when I will probably pick a different pair of shoes irregardless of all this modeling tonight. If my shoes would provide me with inspiration for dancing, I'd be set...but they aren't, so here I sit...and off to the closet to try on the next pair. If I'm lucky I'll do it while listening to my semi-final choice of music. Oddly enough it is called Yearning...which is what I'm feeling while waiting for my dance muse.
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