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badseed1980Last night was the first dance class of the new semester. I have, for all intents and purposes, gone without belly dancing since late April. I was worried that I was the only one who'd be in that situation, but then I remembered L, who was traveling all summer and hadn't been able to go to any classes or workshops or even performances, and N, who's only now really starting to recover from a pretty bad skiing accident. We also had a new student in class. She's clearly not completely new to belly dance, but doesn't seem to be even as experienced as I am. Given all that, I wasn't the only rusty one. :)
Last semester, I'd started to feel a real...ennui? Ennui seems a good word for it...about belly dance. I didn't feel like anything I did was any good, and that there wasn't much point in trying to improve, because I was already so far behind everyone else, and I had no real talent anyway (in terms of technique. My general stage presence doesn't suck.) But this class wasn't bad. I got a couple bits of actual praise from AJ on the use of a particular step in a drum solo, and on my floorwork during a chifti. (Can I tell you how much I love doing full-body undulations on my knees? Sounds dirty, I know, but it's a lovely move and I really feel my core and leg strength when I do them.) When we started the full routine at the end of class, "Nibtidi" was the intro song. I remember cursing over my inability to dance decently to that song last semester, but this semester, something kicked in, and I was like, "Oh yeah, this is how this goes. This is what I do." It just flowed, and I felt good about it. In spite of hearing all those "Belly Dance Top 40" songs about 150 times each last semester, some of them just never really sunk in for me. Maybe I just needed to let them settle over the summer, because "Nibtidi" seemed like an old friend. Didn't remember the name until AJ wrote it on the board, but oh yeah, I knew that tune. And it wasn't just my mind that remembered it: my body did as well.
Of course, layering shimmies on top of slow hip circles is still a bitch for me. At least, it is when we're focusing on that move in the lesson. But in the course of a routine, it somehow becomes easier for me to do. Is it because I'm more relaxed then? Probably. I think I have a block about that move when I'm focused just on it.
My "homework" this week is to start coming up with a new BD Top 40, including some non-Arabic songs, and to listen to and map out a drum solo. Not so hard. It's easy for me to spot all the patterns and breaks and riffs when I'm not trying to dance to it, but harder when I am.
By the way, all the women in my dance class are nifty people, and I'm glad I know them. I hadn't realized how much I missed having classes with them.
Last semester, I'd started to feel a real...ennui? Ennui seems a good word for it...about belly dance. I didn't feel like anything I did was any good, and that there wasn't much point in trying to improve, because I was already so far behind everyone else, and I had no real talent anyway (in terms of technique. My general stage presence doesn't suck.) But this class wasn't bad. I got a couple bits of actual praise from AJ on the use of a particular step in a drum solo, and on my floorwork during a chifti. (Can I tell you how much I love doing full-body undulations on my knees? Sounds dirty, I know, but it's a lovely move and I really feel my core and leg strength when I do them.) When we started the full routine at the end of class, "Nibtidi" was the intro song. I remember cursing over my inability to dance decently to that song last semester, but this semester, something kicked in, and I was like, "Oh yeah, this is how this goes. This is what I do." It just flowed, and I felt good about it. In spite of hearing all those "Belly Dance Top 40" songs about 150 times each last semester, some of them just never really sunk in for me. Maybe I just needed to let them settle over the summer, because "Nibtidi" seemed like an old friend. Didn't remember the name until AJ wrote it on the board, but oh yeah, I knew that tune. And it wasn't just my mind that remembered it: my body did as well.
Of course, layering shimmies on top of slow hip circles is still a bitch for me. At least, it is when we're focusing on that move in the lesson. But in the course of a routine, it somehow becomes easier for me to do. Is it because I'm more relaxed then? Probably. I think I have a block about that move when I'm focused just on it.
My "homework" this week is to start coming up with a new BD Top 40, including some non-Arabic songs, and to listen to and map out a drum solo. Not so hard. It's easy for me to spot all the patterns and breaks and riffs when I'm not trying to dance to it, but harder when I am.
By the way, all the women in my dance class are nifty people, and I'm glad I know them. I hadn't realized how much I missed having classes with them.
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I know a bit about music
Date: 2009-09-15 04:51 pm (UTC)Re: I know a bit about music
Date: 2009-09-15 04:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-16 11:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-16 12:41 pm (UTC)