Bellydance Hopes: 2009
January 11th, 2009
In my vast experience with New Year’s resolutions it all lasts for 24 hours. Or, for the truly determined about a week. So I’m not making bellydance resolutions. I’m hoping. There, now no one can sue me!
Not necessarily in that order, I’m hoping:
1. That I will take an active program like Bellydance Rhythms or Shape Up to a greater intensity. Do more rounds of these long routines. Add something like a few repetitions of Jillina’s drum solo at the end, or a session of hoola hooping. If one is not getting much other active exercise, this becomes imperative. It’s also no secret that I’d like to put some kind of a dent in that stomach of mine. I also don’t mind looking refugee-thin. But that would be dreaming, not hoping.
2. That I will take my dance conditioning a step further by adding some yoga exercises. For instance, I didn’t do badly with that pose in which you sit up on your knees, reach back back back with one hand and then with the other to hold your feet. I’ve no idea what it’s called. It’s one of the poses you’d do for backbends. I’ve tended to leave all those for “some day”, but I think the day’s come.
3. That I will spend a whole lot more time improvising freely and uninhibitedly to the wonderful music I’ve collected. This should now be a long chunk, not just a little 5 minute session. Better still, it should build up from a 5-minute session to a big chunk. If this goes well, sometime towards the end of the year, I should choreograph a favorite piece of music based on these explorations.
4. That I will dance a lot more with my hands and arms. I’ve already been told they look lovely, gooey, etc. And to add to that, I strongly believe that they make a very big difference to the way dancing looks. So, no more excuses. It’s time to take that to a whole new level!
5. That I will do at least the basics of veil and zills. I have ignored these and any other props completely. Well, I don’t believe I know enough about dancing without them. But these hardly count as props, so, I have to do some of this.
6. That I will work throughout the year with Sadie’s two drill videos. A little at a time, patiently, but definitely.
So there we go! As far as videos go, I think I’ve reached some saturation point. I don’t want to be distracted. But I do hope there’ll lots more choreographies of the type I like. I wouldn’t mind a zillion others like Blanca’s. I also very much want a medium-paced catchy pretty party-performable choreography to a well-known song. Frankly, with the whole Ranya series coming from WDNY, I’m not sure there’ll be time to do much else! If I do like it, that is.
I still wish someone would do a video on hands and arms and a zillion poses. While there are a few arms videos out there, none have been really satisfactory. What we need is a whole of lovely arm paths demonstrated and then broken down in short drills. Like a hundred of them? All mixed in with beautiful poses. I’d love about ten taqsim segments with someone doing more arm work than anything else and then explaining that a little with slight breakdown.
All I know is, I don’t want more of the same. Time to move on!
January 11th, 2009 at 20:08
AMEN.
That’s it! I need to work on arms and EVEN MORE hands and fingers. My finger/wrist circle, wripples, waves are among the most “immobile” parts of my body.
Someone needs to do a GREAT arms/hands/finger movements video, as you say Mala: someone basically standing, not doing much other movement but really arm/hand movements in combinations and drills. And that for at least one and a half hours content please. And no nonsense
Is that asked too much? I bet the one person doing it, and doing it well, will shoot to stardom. If they re stars already – they re gonna cement that status.
New Years Eve wishes/hopes:
I was about to write that to you in person Mala
Now I ll join you in doing so here.
I ve never made new year projects/plans.. thought it would be frustrating breaking them within a day or two.
Here’s mine:
Out of the probably 40 mostly beginner to early intermediate videos I collected in the first half of the past year, I have worked on two only. And not that often/persistently.
I hereby promise myself I will:
- spend less time reading about great dvds (or not so great ones), spend less time on tribe discussions with professional dancers (who ve come their way already), spend less time only watch other people dance, spend less time admiring a zillion different styles of hip scarves online (and never buy a single other one again), INSTEAD
- dance more myself. 3 times a week. Minimum. Add a few drills to my regular exercise routine on days I do not dance.
And find the point where I try some of the other videos I own and do not slavishly stick to my two favourite beginner ones only (Amira 101, Jenna Basics). They re great, but once I work harder some variety can only help.
Now I ll be off in a minute (stop reading and writing on bellydance only, remember) and do one of my beginner videos. Have been too lazy these past weeks, not danced at all in 4 weeks despite the intention of doing so every single day.
I ll be better and take your inspiration guys, especially yours, Mala.
January 12th, 2009 at 2:21
I’m hoping to take as many dance classes as humanly possible – for this term I’m planning on taking two tribal fusion classes, a kathak class if my pregnant teacher is capable (She wants to, but gets tired), and a ballet class. I want to work on Elsa’s Zils – I sang and did a little dancing with the zils for some friends Friday night. Of the dvds I already own, I’d really like to work with Jenna’s Next Level and Neon’s Bellydance Rhythms, and get the hang of Asharah’s dvd – the workout has become boring, but I just can’t do the hipwork drills, let alone the robotic movement. I’m looking forward to Autumn’s dvd, as well as Anasma and Fayzah’s tribal fusion dvds because they are amazing dancers.
By the way, I have a Myspace (myspace.com/sajiakabir) where I upload my original songs. I just now uploaded a song I wrote last October; there are also three songs that were written a couple of years ago.
January 13th, 2009 at 17:02
As many classes as humanly possible… gosh. Good luck with that! You totally should take advantage of good teachers being around you. Ask me – there ain’t none here.
Sajia, I did hear your songs earlier. Interesting and strange-mysterious. Have you done any Indian classical training?
January 13th, 2009 at 19:37
I took some classes in Hindustani classical voice (Mewati gharana – the Pandit Jashraj School of Music in Vancouver). But because of my vocal difficulties I didn’t advance as far as I should have. My classes in Western classical voice, which I have taken for a year, have been very helpful, so if I have time to take raag sangeet again I hope this time I will improve greatly.
January 13th, 2009 at 23:22
Vocal difficulties?
I learned hindustani classical vocal for a whole ten years. But long ago. Can’t sing half a note any more. Rampur Gharana.