In Remembrance of Viktoriya
January 24, 2011 § 1 Comment
I didn’t really know Viktoriya. I had the pleasure of taking a workshop and participating in a performance with her in 2007. I only spent several hours with her, but it was an incredibly inspiring few hours. It was actually a pivotal moment in my dance direction.
I came into belly dancing with American Tribal Style and began taking some Oriental classes within a couple years. While I had always been interested in Oriental Belly Dance, most of my performance opportunities and main focus had been on the Tribal side of things. I had taken many technique classes in Oriental style and learned a couple of choreographies, but it was never really developed in my repertoire. After being blown away by Viktoriya’s magical stage presence and delightful dancing style, I decided to put more focus into Oriental Belly Dance.
The workshop I took from Viktoriya was on Classical Egyptian Belly Dance. I loved the flowing, feminine movements. She told us in her exotic Russian accent that when she performed free style Classical Egyptian she felt like she was melting. She talked to us about being expressive. She said a permanent smile on a dancer was American Belly Dance; when you do Egyptian dance, you have to also be an actress.
She talked to me specifically about my shimmies. I have shared here in the past that I had a difficult time with continuous hip shimmies. Viktoryia noticed some of the problems I was having and shared some pointers with me. She discussed technique. She pointed out the two things I was doing wrong (basically, I was not allowing enough movement and my right leg was dominating so I was not alternating my hips evenly). She told me how she shimmied constantly when she was learning. She shimmied during every day activities such as doing dishes or brushing her teeth. I worked a lot with her suggestions, and it took time, but my shimmies are a million times better now because of that discussion.
Rest in peace, Viktoriya. You will be missed by the dance community, but will certainly live on in the memories of those you inspired.
Merry Christmas to Me!
December 21, 2010 § Leave a comment
I just ordered these DVDs with a Christmas gift card and I’m so excited about it, I can’t stop watching the trailers! USPS, please deliver faster!
I already have Michelle Joyce’s “Pops, Locks, and Shimmies” and “The Heartbeat of Bellydance” with Jenna, both for drum solo technique, and love them! So I figured these would be great choices.
You have to be incredibly picky with DVD selection these days. The first time I ordered belly dance DVDs, I ordered them based on whether or not I liked the performer featured in the video, and did not do enough research about content. I was very disappointed. I don’t really use any of those DVDs from that first batch. I think it can be hard to find quality DVDs geared toward a more advanced level of dancing. There is a ton of fluffy DVDs out there geared toward beginners and/or DVDs that don’t have great content, but are banking on a well-known dancer’s name to sell. Now when I buy instructional DVDs, I look at subject matter and decide if it’s something I really want to work on, read reviews, and watch previews. No preview, no sale. So far, I have been very satisfied with my DVDs from both Cheeky Girls Productions and World Dance New York.
The Joy of Teaching
December 1, 2010 § Leave a comment
I feel like my dance class is really flourishing. I have enough regular students now, they can practice full formations in class, and I can watch, observe and offer help. When we perform, I’m not the only one leading. In fact, I can lead less and less, and let my students gain the experience and grow stronger.
As a teacher, there are moments that are so fulfilling: The “aha” moments in my students. The first time they really get a move. Watching one of my students lead for the first time. The first time one of them wants to lead in a performance. The first time someone unexpectedly takes the lead (no really, you have no idea how exciting that is!).
I am glad I have been able to participate in this movement. I am grateful that I have gotten to continue being involved in ATS even as I have moved a couple times. I am extremely happy that I have been given the opportunity to teach this powerful and beautiful dance style to others, and through teaching, have fallen in love with American Tribal Style all over again. Yallah, Habibis!
Belly Dance Culture Shock
November 21, 2010 § Leave a comment
One of the roughest times for me in my belly dance journey was leaving my first teacher. I danced with her for about 3 1/2 years. Her dancing style, her teaching style, and my time in her student troupe was my entire gateway to belly dance. I stopped dancing at her studio because I moved with my family to Portland, OR. My sister (who was in the troupe with me) and I looked up dance studios as soon as we got to Portland. We attended open houses, we tried various classes, and what I found was Belly Dance Culture Shock.
I wanted to keep dancing, but I wanted to keep dancing how I had been dancing. I liked my first teacher’s American Tribal Style (quite consistent with the Fat Chance Style). I liked my teacher’s West Coast Cabaret Oriental Style. Everything in Oregon was…different.
The Tribal Styles in Portland were strange, grunge fusion-hybrids. The first cabaret dancers I saw seemed akin to drill teams–peppy smiling princesses. Or they were too Modern. Or too Egyptian. Or too–NOT WHAT I WAS USED TO! There were new techniques, new explanations, new step-combos, new tribal combos, new costuming styles!, new people, new payment systems!
Okay, okay. Maybe I was unprepared. A lovely dancer who came from the same studio in Santa Fe also moved to Portland (and would later become our roommate and troupe mate). She told me she came to the new belly dance scene with the idea that she would just forget everything she knew. (Not literally, but you know, she was ready to embrace the new). I was horrified! I didn’t want to forget anything! I was going to remember it all and dance like that forever! Ofcourse, I did eventually warm up to the new styles and found many that I liked.
It was strange going from a small belly dance scene to a massive one. There are definite benefits with large scenes…more workshops, more classes, more styles, more shows, more performance venues, more costume shops…but a small dance scene is intimate and comfortable and can feel close and supportive because everyone knows everyone else. Now that I’ve experienced both, I don’t have a particular preference. Huntsville has a small dance scene. At the same time, there is a sense of connection and participation within the larger south east belly dance scene, so we get to really embrace the small scene within a bigger scene.
Once I got over my initial culture shock, I was able to really grow as a dancer, and I haven’t experienced the same kind of shock since. It was tough at first, but it has been beneficial in many ways to step outside of my comfort zone and explore. I have been able to play different roles in different groups and try a lot of new things.
I love that there are so many belly dancers in the world! It seems that no matter where you go, there will be belly dancing there. That’s comforting.
Veil Solo
October 18, 2010 § 1 Comment
I did my very first completely improvised veil solo the other day. I performed it at a diversity convention for realtors. It was in a large conference room with tables set up with food and goods from various cultures, free henna hand painting, and diverse door prizes that were donated from shops around town.
A few of us dancers were going to perform. We were doing American Tribal Style, a couple drum solos, a sword piece and a skirt dance. My troupe director asked if I wanted to do a solo, and I said sure! I looked at the set list and thought a veil dance would round out the lineup nicely.
I have had some veil experience. I have performed veil a few times with a choreographed group of dancers. I have taken multiple veil workshops and classes and I have played around with veils a bit. This was my first time performing a veil solo. More importantly, it was my first time performing an improvised veil solo to live music. I watched some youtube videos the night before to get some ideas and get a refresher on veil options. I didn’t know what song I would be dancing to until I showed up to the run-through, so I couldn’t do a lot of practicing.
I knew I wanted to dance with the veil wrapped around the arms some to add variety and keep the veil out of the way for part of the dance. I decided to start the dance that way so I wouldn’t forget to do it. I also planned to use the veil from the end for some long veil work. But that was as much planning as I did. I danced through the song once during our run-through. Before I started, my troupe director said, “you don’t have to do all classic veil.” I said, “I don’t know what I’ll do, I have no idea what my veil style is.”
I think the piece turned out well. I love the song the musician played on the accordion, Imate Li Vino. The version he played is slow, pretty and expressive. It’s one of my favorites, even though I’ve only heard it a few times before, but that really helped. I was “in the zone.”
My entrance felt a little rough. I wasn’t flowing with the music yet, but after the first half a minute or so, I was only really aware of the veil and the music. Total flow. Especially after I completely unraveled the veil and went into full veil work. I twirled and spun and tossed and moved the veil with the rises and falls in the melody. I was just feeling the music and danced until I felt done. I’m not sure what all I did, I just danced.
After, I asked my fellow dancers how long I had danced for and they said about 3 minutes which is, in my opinion, a perfect length for a solo. I was lucky that the song is very cyclical so the musician could add however many verses I needed him to. I entered after the song started and left before it finished. I had pictured myself as a figment of the imagination, as if the musician dreamed me. An apparition. A consequence of the melody.
Spirit of the Tribes 10!
October 3, 2010 § Leave a comment
(My belated Spirit of the Tribes post…)
I went to Spirit of the Tribes in Ft Lauderdale, FL for Memorial Day weekend. It’s quite a drive from North Alabama. 14-16 hours. The drive was good, though. I drove with some troupe mates so there was a lot of bonding time. And I saw a couple of amusing things such as this
These are so tacky they’re awesome!
and this
Someone has a thick accent…
It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Florida. It is very hot and humid, but very green and pretty. One thing I forgot though, Florida kind of smells. Not intolerably, but it has a very distinct smell. I think it’s all the swamps.
Anyway, we arrived at Spirit Monday morning after driving the whole previous day and only stopping for about 4 or 5 hours sleep the previous night at a friend’s farm. We arrived just in time for classes to start.
My very first class was with Unmata, who I love! Though I’ve seen them perform many times, this was the first time I actually got to take a workshop with them. It was fun and fast paced. We learned a high speed (of course!) combo that is very different from styles I have done previously. It was a good class, but it is very hard to keep up with Unmata when you’ve only had a few hours sleep! Somehow, I held on and made it through the whole workshop.
Next, I took a Belly Baile combos workshop with my first teacher, Myra Krien. It was really great to be back in her class and I still find it very easy to follow her. Her teaching style and body movements are still so familiar. Belly Baile is not what she taught when I took classes from her. This is her own unique fusion dance style that is a beautiful and artful combination of the various dance forms she has learned over many years. The combos have texture and are very beautiful. She sells a DVD on her website with the combos. I definitely recommend it.
The second day, I took a workshop from Devyani about favorite ATS combos. Their classes are always good. Megha is a very precise teacher. This is the third or fourth workshop I have taken from them. I got some cue subtleties cleared up. The difficult thing for me in ATS workshops at big events like these is there are always a lot of people who are not very familiar with ATS, and it’s a little hard for them to get the combos and ideas. Not that I would discourage beginners from taking the workshops. It’s just hard to work through the exercises when someone in the group doesn’t already know the basic concepts of ATS. I still always learn something, though.
After the Devyani workshop, I took a class in pops, locks, and layering with Kaya. I thought Sadie was supposed to be at the event as well, but for some reason it ended up just being Kaya. This was perhaps my favorite workshop of the event. It was challenging and a great workout. I have never gotten such a focused oblique workout. That night and the next day, my obliques were very sore. Just the obliques, not all my abs. Not any other part of my body. Just the sides of my torso. So, the drills really isolated the obliques. Kaya told me twice during the workshop that I was doing a good job. It was one of the highlights of my trip!
The last day of the event, I took a workshop on Romani Gypsy style with Artemis Mourat. This was my second workshop with her. I love the Romani Style. It is actually not really intended to be performed, but is just the dance of the people. It’s less flashy than some other styles. Artemis said on a scale of intensity, if Oriental belly dance is a 10, Romani Gypsy style is a 6. She said she thinks people should be careful when saying they are doing a “Gypsy” belly dance piece if they’ve never actually learned anything about real Gypsy dance. She said, just because you have a big skirt doesn’t make it authentic. You could call it your Gypsy-inspired piece, but learn about the real style before you call it a Gypsy dance. I love Artemis and her workshops, but I still feel oh so white when I try to dance like her.
Finally, my last class was with Dalia Carella, who is just delightful. The class was an El Mundo fusion dance class. It was a very fun style with a lot of Latin influence. Lots of sassy skirt work. The dancing was flirty and spicy. It brought me visions of life in the tropics and made me wish I lived in a culture that danced more. It was a perfect end to my Spirit workshop experience.
There was a great vending area of course. I didn’t buy anything. The one costume piece I was looking for was a skirt to wear with my bedlah for Oriental belly dance. A fusion festival is apparently not the place to find a bunch of those.
There was a show every night. It was a showcase of various levels of skill and styles from all over. Some of my favorite performances were by Anasma, Beat Box Guitar, Danyavaad, Nanda Najla, and Shakra Dance Company. The shows were full and entertaining. They were also expensive. $35 per show. If I hadn’t been working at my dance teacher’s vending booth in exchange for tickets to the shows, I wouldn’t have gone to every one. I would rather spend more money on workshops, which were actually cheaper than the shows.
Lumani post-performance
My troupe performed Sunday night. We closed the show. The performance went well. The Sunday night audience was smaller than Friday and Saturday, but it was a good crowd. I didn’t like that there was no outside photography or video. So if you want pictures or video of your performance, you have to buy them from the professionals. I will not buy any, myself. I just disagree with the idea. I understand why you can’t just video tape the whole show, and requesting no flash photography, but no snapshots? Sure, if a professional photographer takes an absolutely beautiful picture and it’s a must have, I’d pay for it. But I disagree with being forced to buy them. Besides, I’m a performer. I have plenty of pictures of me performing, many of which have been for free or for trade.
On another note, when I read the description of the event and the hotel on the website, I was under the impression the hotel was within walking distance of the event hall. It was not. So, if you plan on attending Spirit, plan to carpool or rent a car.
The most fun I had at the event was hanging out with my troupe. There was a lot of bonding and a trip to the beach. It was great fun. And I was so happy to get to take a dip in an oil-free part of the ocean. I love beach frolicking!
Hoop Dancing, Belly Dancing and Public Perception
September 26, 2010 § 1 Comment
I have been getting a little more into hoop dancing lately. I have taken a workshop and now own a hula hoop. It is so much fun!
I was talking with a fellow belly dancer who is now also hooping about hooping vs. belly dancing the other day. We have both been belly dancing about the same amount of time (her ten years, me nine). We were discussing how one of the great things about hooping is that you don’t have to worry about having to explain it to people, having to educate people, or having people get the wrong idea.
With belly dance, you have to be careful about how it’s presented and in what venue. There are so many incorrect or negative preconceived notions about what belly dancing is about and what the intentions of the dancers are. It is often stereotyped as a dance of morally loose women or a dance of seduction and sexuality akin to stripping. Belly dancers often struggle with the way the general public perceives them and the art form. Sadly, many belly dancers don’t share the fact that they belly dance with people in other parts of their lives because they fear the reaction.
With hula hooping, everyone knows what it is. No one will see a hula hooper and react with “what the heck are they doing? They are amazingly keeping this big, circular thing rotating around their body! How crazy!” Everyone knows what a hula hoop is, what it’s used for and there aren’t general negative ideas about it. It would be gladly accepted at any venue. Someone could even do a provocative dance with a hoop, and it won’t make anyone think all hoop dancers are loose, because the hula hoop image is already established in our culture.
It presents a very nice sense of freedom that is not always there with belly dance. I can feel more relaxed about it. And never worry about what someone might think.
My Reaction to Carolena’s “ATS Old School, ATS New Style”
September 26, 2010 § 3 Comments
I feel like I should comment on Carolena Nericcio’s recent announcement on her blog about the way we can now define ATS. It has caused quite the stir in the ATS community. In a nutshell, she announced that she no longer wants to police the dance and that new additions to the dance would be accepted. The basic moves in ATS (as seen on Volumes 1-4 of the Fat Chance Belly Dance DVD series) will be considered the base for ATS and everything on the newer DVDs and whatever people add in their own troupes will be considered new ATS.
It seems like some ATS dancers were upset about the announcement. They feel like the dance form will become diluted and it will become harder to dance with ATS dancers from other areas. I also got the sense that some dancers who have been through Fat Chance’s certification program felt that their certification will mean less now. There were also some people who took offense to Carolena’s use of the term “old school.”
First let me address the latter. I feel like this is a silly thing to focus on, and not really the point, but it seems many people did, so I want to comment. I know Carolena has already said she didn’t mean “old school” as a term of disrespect. I have to say that I don’t get a negative feeling from the term. Old School is the roots. It’s where the Masters come from. Old school doesn’t mean something’s out, it’s more like it’s so far out, it’s back in again. Okay, just had to get that out of the way.
Now, let me say that I am excited about the announcement. This is how it was when I began learning ATS nine years ago (at least as far as I was aware). My teacher did a great job of staying true to the style, while adding clarity to cues and transitions where our troupe needed them to be a tighter, more together group. We also created a few of our own combos within the ATS language of movements so we could do fancier things with our dance. Some changes didn’t happen on purpose. Some parts of movements became slightly emphasized or de-emphasized as part of the natural reaction to trying to be uniform with each other. Change happens in art.
At that time, you did see many variations on the ATS idea at Tribal Festivals. There was also a lot of move sharing at the festivals back then. This was before the festivals were completely dominated by the newer fusion styles. ATS was in a major place of growth. So as far as whether or not the dance form will become diluted, well, I imagine not any more than it already has.
I agree that some troupes who call themselves ATS are so far from the style and language of Fat Chance that it really is something different. Improvisational does not mean it’s ATS. ATS is based on a very stylized set of moves and a particular format. It has a particular timing and way of transitioning between moves. The arms, the posture, the formations, and the timing make ATS very distinct. If you vary from this by a wide margin, it is no longer ATS (in my humble opinion). However, I think if you are consistent with the style, add a cue that is consistent with the format and add something fancy such as a turn, I still categorize that as ATS. As long as you don’t lose the things that are fundamental to ATS. This way, the language can be added to and be allowed to grow, without compromising the style. Some people will do this more artfully than others, but that is true with anything.
There are also some troupes who have a beautiful dance style, who call themselves ATS, but are completely different from Fat Chance. Most prominently in my mind is Gypsy Caravan. I hear they are no longer together, but they have a whole series of DVDs that is a completely different language of movements, but they have used the name American Tribal Style for so long, it would be hard to tell them to change it now. Gypsy Caravan was awesome to watch perform, but it was entirely different. Paulette Rees-Denis, the director of Gypsy Caravan, was an original member of Fat Chance, and when she branched off she really did just take the concept and change the moves entirely. I refer to their style as “Gypsy Caravan style” or “Gypsy Caravan technique.”
Let me also say that I am not certified with Fat Chance. I would love to be, but it will be quite some time before I could even picture myself in a financial position to do so. But I still have a lot of experience with ATS. My teacher had a lot of integrity in the dance and was pretty consistent with the DVDs. We used to bring in Carolena for a series of workshops every year, and what we were doing was not that different from what she was doing. I would also like to say that it doesn’t change anything for those who are certified. They are still certified with Fat Chance. It still says a lot. They still have credentials where many do not.
I did feel a little bad when reading Carolena’s blog post. I felt bad that she seemed to feel like the dance community did not listen to her when she asked that you do it like her or call it something else. It was never my intention to disobey the dance creator’s wishes. As soon as I learned of them, I would scrutinize and worry and try to make sure everything I was teaching my students was consistent with Fat Chance, because I had an excellent teacher, but did not learn it all directly from Carolena. And there were some things that I felt were consistent with the style, a fancier combo, or an arm variation option, or a clarified cue to make my dancers more together, that I didn’t want to completely give up, so I made it very clear in my class when something was not 100% exactly like Fat Chance (or “traditional ATS”), so my students would know. Also, I will never stop dancing on both the right and the left, for the health and balance of my body and my students’ bodies. I feel very strongly about it. I know that some ATS dancers would probably say that this alone means I was not doing ATS, but ITS–Improvised Tribal Style.
I am very grateful for Carolena’s recent decision. I can stop doubting myself. I can stop scrutinizing. I can stop worrying about whether or not I am teaching ATS, or ATS based on Fat Chance ATS, or ITS, or ITS with some ATS, or ATS with a little ITS. I think Carolena has done a wonderful job of clarifying the standards and boundaries for the category of ATS. We know what our fundamental moves, cues and transitions are. They are everything the dance is built on. They are the foundation and we should stay consistent with the style and format, but are now free to create.
Thank you Carolena, for setting us free and allowing us to grow. I will do my best to represent the dance form with integrity and beauty.
***Update: It has been brought to my attention that Gypsy Caravan does not identify themselves as American Tribal Style, but simply as “Tribal.” Black Sheep Belly Dance is another well-known troupe who has a unique language, but used similar ideas as ATS. As I understand it, they used to call themselves American Tribal Style, but dropped the “American” part and settled on just “Tribal Style” as per Carolena’s request. I actually can’t think of any other extremely well-known troupes who use a completely different language of movements who refer to themselves as ATS.***
ATS: If It’s Not Right, Is It Wrong?
May 27, 2010 § Leave a comment
American Tribal Style Belly Dance is a right side dominant dance form by design. The dancers are always turned slightly so their right side is more visible to the audience. Some moves, such as the Basic Egyptian, are very symmetrical so the two sides of the body are worked evenly. Other moves are not symmetrical such as the choo-choo, a hip bump that is always done with a weighted left leg and unweighted right leg and the right oblique working more than the left. Another is the Arabic Undulation, always done with the right foot in front. I am not sure that this is the healthiest thing for the body. I don’t know of any other dance form that works one side of the body more than the other. You wouldn’t go to the gym and lift weights with only your right arm, so why would we dance in a way that works out the right side more than the left?
I was lucky to begin my dancing with Myra Krien who is also an Oriental Style trained belly dancer and had thought it was not healthy to dance this way. She had designed a way to switch sides so we could also do ATS left side dominant. I still use this technique in my dancing today. Most students are right-handed so the right side is more comfortable for them, but it is important to get an even workout.
When I began ATS, my class would do what was easiest and dance on the right more. Later that year, I was injured while playing soccer in my high school P.E. class. I saw multiple doctors to help me through different stages of my healing. I saw an orthopedic doctor who said one of the problems was that my pelvis popped out of place and he sent me to physical therapy. Another doctor I saw was a cranial sacral specialist. He told me that the muscles in my sacrum were not equal in strength and it was causing my hips and pelvis to twist to one side. I told him about the style of belly dance I was studying and told him we end up dancing more on one side than the other. He told me I should work on building up the muscles on the other side, even if it was just during practice at home. After I told Myra about this, she was much more strict about making us practice both sides equally. Now that I am teaching ATS, I teach both the right and left side as it was taught to me and make my students practice evenly in class.
I believe the ATS community should adopt a more evenly strengthening approach to the dance. I have heard that Carolena Nerricio, who developed the dance form, is an avid gym visitor, so perhaps she builds her muscles evenly enough in other forms of exercise that it does not have adverse effects on her body like it did mine. A lot of people use dance as one of their main forms of exercise and do not have the time or motivation to get in as much gym time, so I think it is important that we workout evenly in dance class.
Adding left-sided ATS is actually quite easy and does not have to interrupt the improvisational choreography. What my teacher had come up with were a couple of moves based on the existing vocabulary that could cue a switch to the left. The transitions are really quite seamless. When dancing on the left, we use the same vocabulary and formations as on the right, only mirrored. This can be done when dancing to fast or slow music.
Here is a video of me and my students dancing at Panoply this year. The first song is performed by my ATS Basics students, with me leading them on the right (the traditional ATS way). The second, slower song is performed by two of my ATS Beyond Basics students on the right. I join them for the final, faster song and lead them into dancing on the left. (The switch happens at 4:37.)
JadeDancer.com 