Creativity Takes Time

This is something I constantly feel I need to remind myself. I get frustrated when "good ideas" don't come forth quickly, or when a project or endeavor takes longer to complete to my satisfaction. My inner dialogue tries to tell me it is because I am not good at this, or lack the requisite skill or creative well to draw from. So it's nice to be reminded that really good creative work takes time, and putting pressure on myself to perform faster undermines my ability to play and experiment as I create.

Mm Mm Monday - Ze Frank

If you have not yet met Ze Frank, then let me introduce you and say "You are most welcome." He is equally skilled at delivering sidesplitting comedy as heart-wrenching truths. He is amazing.

If you have met him, I am sure you will enjoy this clip of him sharing wisdom that will bring a tear to your eye.

And if you have met him, and see this particular video already, I am sure the reminder is timely or needed or valuable someday...

Reversal of a Policy - Men in Class

So I recently made an announcement regarding the change in my "no men" policy for my bellydance classes. The announcement was thus:

"I am finally opening my regular classes officially to all genders next session. If you want to know the story of why I made my classes women only in my early years of teaching until now, I am more than willing to tell you why. But even given very good reason, it has never sat entirely well with me to exclude men from my classes. 

I decided the day that our beloved John Compton passed that it was time to let the past be the past and move forward with my heart. I have had many male dancers who have inspired me during my dance life, and it has become impossible to imagine that I could continue to keep eager, willing, and potentially wicked-talented men--perhaps a future John Compton!--from coming to my classes and share in the joy that is bellydance.

To any men who may have been hurt or offended by my policy in the past, I apologize for ever making you feel unwelcome or under-valued in the  dance world. As I said, I am willing to explain why it is that the policy came to be--it wasn't always my policy, but one that grew out of specific experiences in my early years teaching and was a choice that was right for me at the time. But as of now, that policy is overturned.

I welcome your thoughts or questions should you have any. As always, my door is open. 

When the Roots run Deep, the tree grows mighty."

I did get some initial queries as to why my policy was put in place in the first place, and I am happy to share my experience for those who are curious.

I initially did not limit my classes to women only. I was very pleased and even proud that I was opening my doors to all genders--something which at the time most studios I knew of did not do, and was nearly unheard of in tribal/ATS studios, a style which was considered the domain of "female empowerment".  So I was a bit of an odd-one-out with my open door policy (another outlier was my mentor Paulette Rees-Denis of Gypsy Caravan, from whom I took my largest dose of inspiration in my formative dance years). Within my first couple of years teaching, however,  I had two incidents with male students who made me ultimately decide to limit my classes to women only.

Dancing Makes Us More Alive

A fantastic article about dance and its role in our history and social interactions.  There are some real gems this author touched on, and some fabulous quotes from New England dance teachers within.
http://harvardmagazine.com/2011/11/dancing-makes-us-more-alive

“Unlike rowing a boat or chopping wood,” Marsalis noted, in “dancing you became more of yourself as you became one with others. You almost never got tired because your spirit soared the more you danced—because this was play.”

and


"Great dancing is not about satisfying the ego—it is “an offering” of your gifts, Johnson says. “If you are really dialed into the dance then you cannot think about yourself; the energy and focus [present in that creative moment] are too big. We think of that kind of thing as ‘New Agey,’ but if you are open and accessible” to merging the movement with the music and other dancers, then a new state of being surfaces. “I think it is being in touch with the soul,” Johnson explains. “These days we are so empirical; we want to know the how and why instead of having some mystery that defies words. In dance, you know the feeling when you feel it, and therein lies the connection” among body, mind, and spirit. "

Do What You Love...

LifeHacker is a great blog with much wisdom tucked within. I loved this one and thought you might, too.

http://lifehacker.com/5890679/forget-self+improvement

"You can spend your life fretting about how healthy, interesting, or successful you are. In fact, a whole industry depends upon this, and is eager to help you make plans to change.

On the other hand, you might consider simply finding what you love, and letting the rest take care of itself."

What a concept, right?

Steampunk Bellydance - an article and some thoughts

 On a discussion over in the comments section on this article on Gilded Serpent, there is some debate about whether Steampunk Bellydance is a legitimate genre of dance or not--the article asserts it is not, and some commenters argue the contrary.

One very articulate poster, going only by the name "T.", is clearly a Steampunk practitioner/enthusiast/community member, and had some very articulate thoughts to share on her frustrations with the overuse of Steampunk in everyday parlance.  A portion of her post read:



"It’s never a good feeling, having your meticulous, time-honored craft dismissed or eclipsed by a trend you have no immediate connection to. It’s difficult not to feel uneasy, watching your art form be oversimplified, lumped in, or lazily dismissed by an all-too-easy and reductive definition. It’s not fun, being shoved in a box that you have no desire to be in, even if that box is comfortable, or even inspiring, for plenty of others who’ve willingly placed themselves inside of it."

My reply, which I share as a founding member of the Seattle Steamrats in addition to my over a decade of teaching and performing bellydance, are as follows follows:

Rachel Brice on Tribal Fusion

Gotta love it:

"There are very few rules in Tribal Fusion, but in my humble opinion the one constant is that the dancer or group is versed in American Tribal Style as taught by Carolena Nericcio. Her stylistic approach to existing vocabulary, her theatrical approach to costuming, and the incredible invention of group improvisation, has allowed infinite variations that all have one thing in common: powerful presentation. The strength that American Tribal Style communicates through its posture, arm placement, and costuming was a revelation for me as a feminist. Without Fat Chance, I can honestly say I wouldn’t be dancing today."

-Rachel Brice
Full article below

Have you lost that "spark" lately?

Local dance legend, Delilah, posted this thought-provoking question to a local discussion group not too long ago, which I thought I would share with you, along with my lengthy answer. I am curious if you are experiencing similar "issues" in your dance world, and if so, what your thoughts on it is.

"Thoughts:

I have been getting a lot of calls e mails, comments in conversation about the spark being lost in belly dance these days. Here is a quote from one dancer I got 2 days ago.

"I have been a bit out of touch with belly dance. Belly dance had served its initial purpose, and yet I was beginning to lose interest in it entirely. I guess I feel that what I see today in its representation is a lack of substance - it's not spiritually fulfilling for me. I have nearly lost the desire to even watch others perform. "

I get constant calls from all over the country about dancers being let down by the Belly Dance Super Stars. These comments come from new dancers, long time hobbyists, professional performers and instructors, and our moms. With a name like that I guess come expectations. Not that they aren't beautiful and graceful But these women describe a flat presentation of something that means so much to women's lives. It's being reduced to a Las Vegas female objectification and what color will she wear next.

The women I've been talking to are saying , they want more! I am frankly very inspired that women are aware enough to articulate this (when commercial machinery is so powerful against the consumer). Personally the belly dance Super Stars do not embarrass me in any way. The show is PC and well rehearsed. However if I was the director with that budget I would do it much differently.

I ask you all. What would YOU do differently?
How can we bring back the qualities that deeply inspire us?

Delilah"

My response after the jump...

Making Money Off of Dance = Less Love?

Sometimes I feel a little upset when people imply that because I dance as my vocation, that somehow I don't do it for the love of it. My personal take on it is that I love it SO MUCH that I rearranged my entire life, gave up a sizable income I used to make in more lucrative jobs, and passionately commit my energies to being a more knowledgeable dancer, a better teacher, and a professional and polished performer. That isn't to say that those who don't follow my same path don't love it as much as I do--the stars aligned such that I could devote my life to it as I do--but conversely it doesn't mean I only do this for the money or for what it "gets" me.


So I think it is unfair for either side to accuse the other of lack of love driving their decisions in what is or is not appropriate to be termed bellydance. But I strongly believe that lack of experience, a lack of empathy, and/or a dose of ignorance can combine to create a dancer who is unable to appreciate why people fight so hard to define bellydance, tribal bellydance, etc; and why these same dancers eschew the idea of boundaries and responsibilities which the name "bellydancer" encompasses.

Internet debates and attitude...

I think the difference between me and a lot of the people I meet in internet discussion group debates is that I almost never enter a discussion deciding that I have all the answers I need. I go in thinking that even if everyone else disagrees with me, and even if I am not convinced to change my position in any way, I have an opportunity to learn by talking through my thoughts and hearing theirs. I am grateful to all those who would stand up and, thoughtfully and tactfully, speak an opposing opinion to mine. In the case of people who engage in fair debate, it takes courage, conviction, and a deep seated passion for the topic to jump into the "fray".

Spoon's take on the evolution of Bellydance

Tribe isn't as dead as many people think, and over on Shira's tribe, there has been a lot of eager discussion about bellydance fusion and its legitimacy as bellydance. Some purists posit that it is an insult to the cultures from which bellydance comes from to change it or fuse it in any way. I have long held the belief that the nature of human culture is that things grow, change, and evolve over time just by being brought into a new environment. Nothing stays the same, and in the world today it is even more true--we are becoming a global culture where things will mix and mingle and change whether we want them to or not.

Now I *DO* agree that some fusions have moved so far away from bellydance, it doesn't fit the genre any more. And I agree that a lot of these more recent "infractions" are being perpetuated under the mistaken moniker of tribal. But that is another topic altogether. This particular post by Spoon addresses the idea of "change as insult" quite well and I wanted to share.

Nightmare before Christmas as metaphor

Once upon a time there was a character named Jack Skellington.

Jack was very very good at Halloween. Everyone looked to him for leadership because he was so good at it.

As time went on, Jack became bored of Halloween. He kinda felt like everything that could be done had been done, and he really wanted to try something new to spice things up.

He stumbled upon a town which celebrated something called Christmas. "What's this?!" he exclaimed joyfully. It was something really different, and it looked fun and interesting. On the spot he decided to give that a try.

He took Christmas back to his friends, none of whom knew anything about Christmas. Jack himself really didn't know much except what he thought it should maybe look like a bit (from his brief visit to the town), and some general ideas about the traditions. Armed with this spare information, they set to work on their version of Christmas.

Organic Process: The Art of Seeing

All the way back in May, I was pondering the collision of modern media and the organic process of artistic creation. In that post I wrote:

"A sculpture or a painting--even a piece of music or a video--is not expected to change, and is appreciated for its unchanging beauty. It is it's solidity that is part of its appeal, in a way. We see the same piece over time, and instead of expecting it to change or adapt to us, our perspective adapts and changes. We see it (hear it, experience it) from different angles, in different lights, in a different environment, our attitudes change, our perceptions change; and we find that our appreciation deepens and becomes richer and more multi-faceted as we take the time to consider the piece from all these perspectives. The work to appreciate that art day-to-day is in our hands as the viewer."

Teaching vs. Simon Says

One of my newer students, the lovely Kelly, gave me some wonderful food-for-thought today via her blog. From her very first class, I could see Kelly was a thoughtful student--she asked excellent questions, and gave good feedback verbally and physically when spoken to. So it didn't surprise me when she later told me she was herself a teacher; she teaches yoga. While I have heard nightmare stories from other teacher's experiences, I have found that some of my best students are teachers. They know what it takes to teach, and what is expected in a student. They are respectful and attentive, and my favorites: punctual and ask perceptive questions!

I have been reading some of her older entries this morning, particularly her older entries talking about her time as an officer in the Air Force. I came across her post about the first time she taught yoga, and I thought you might enjoy her insightful reflections on what it means to be a teacher. Enjoy!

A group improv lover's dilemma: debate?

An online friend, dear Leslie-Jean (Miss Boo, to those on tribe) remarked the other day on her Facebook status that she was exhausted by debates and discussions about ATS/tribal. And frankly, it is genuinely tiresome, and not for the faint of heart to leap into these topics of discussion in any medium. My latest was a discussion on one board about Tribal Fusion, and some misunderstanding that Rachel Brice does ATS. *le sigh*

When I pointed out that she doesn't in fact perform ATS, and has more cabaret background than anything else, and in fact calls herself dark cabaret now, I was directed to a video of RB and another dancer doing a very simple lead-follow at some party, using a few moves which one would identify as ATS. When I pointed out that it was not RB performing ATS, but an example of casually playing around with a fellow dancer improvisationally, the arguments came back that RB had taken private lessons with Carolena, and that those were "definitely ATS moves". This is one of those times I realized I really had to sit back and let it go. Because while that person was right--Rachel has done some studying with Carolena (after she had already been dancing the style she is known for because, as she said, she wanted to be able to back up the "tribal" in the "tribal fusion" label she had been stuck with), and those moves are used in ATS vocabulary, it wasn't an example of Rachel "performing ATS". And if I tried to go into any depth explaining why, I might just frustrate and anger the person who made the misinformed assertion in the first place. And in the end, I would come out being attacked for my attempt to educate, be stuck with some of the usual "you're just trying to shut other people out" bull, when all I was trying to do was help disseminate some facts about what is and is not ATS/group improvisational bellydance. But here is what I would have written:

On being an artist: Your Artist Workout

From http://clicks.robertgenn.com/personal-trainer.php

Advice to artists from a personal trainer, taking skills from workout training and applying them to being an artist:

• Find a sanctuary where you can comfortably work.
• Dedicate at least two hours a day to your art.
• Have more than enough equipment and supplies.
• Set short- and long-term goals and keep track of progress.
• Think of your work as exercise, not championship play.
• Explore series development and exhaust personal themes.
• Work alone with the benefit of books and perhaps tapes.
• Replace passive consumption with creative production.
• Use your own intuition and master your technology.
• Feel the joy of personal, self-generated sweat.
• Fall in love with your own working processes.
• Be forever on the lookout for the advent of style.
• Try to be your own person and claim your rights.
• Don't bother setting yourself up for rejection.
• Don't swing too wildly and damage the well-being of others.
• Don't jump into the ring until you're feeling fit.

Leave your worries behind...

A quote about yoga practice, but really about any classroom...

"When you're burdened with a million errands and anxieties, what your well-being requires is an exercise regime that, first and foremost, leaves no room for mental wandering."

This is exactly why you students must challenge yourselves in class. When it's easy, your mind wanders right out the door into the past, into the future. When you are working your limit, if your mind wanders, you fall, you lose the pose. Keep your practice interesting enough to stay in your body and on your mat. When your mind has the luxury of drifting in Yoga class, you are not working hard enough. Take the next advanced variation. There is a deeper place waiting for you.

How do you know you're working too hard and need to back off? If you're straining, if you can't quite catch your breath, time to take it down a notch. Find the place in yourself where you are embodied, grounded, connected to deep, slow, rhythmic breath."


--Michelle Myhre

What Is Art? What is an Artist?

From http://www.artnewsblog.com/2007/06/what-is-art-what-is-artist.htm

"I have been thinking about the word "artist" and what it means to be one. Obviously it's a person that creates art, so why do we have to still get into debates over whether a person is an artist or not? Why do some people still believe that only the chosen few should have the title of "artist" stamped to their forehead?

The confusion naturally leads to the word "art" which is probably where all the mix-up starts. If a person has his/her own definition of art narrowed down to include pretty paintings and realistic sculpture, they may not classify a lot of artists as "artists".

It's a bit like my dad's definition of God (which he thinks does not exist).. it's narrow minded. Just because there's no white bearded man in the clouds looking over us with a judging eye doesn't mean there is no God, it just means that God might be something else. God might be the wind or spirit or the breath we breathe or he might even be the bum on the street that we always look down on. Perhaps my dad's God is skepticism or science."

"The struggling artist is such a negative myth to cling to and having a narrow view of what art is can be almost as silly as clinging to fictional interpretations of what an artist is. Last time I checked what art is in the dictionary, it told me that it was a subjective and hard to define word.

So I start with classifying everything I see as art and that way I don't miss anything that could be interesting to me. Of course I put things into different categories of art, but everything I see goes into the art box. There's people as works of art, silly art, nature's art, easel art, word art, ugly art, toilet art, car art, rubbish art, realistic art, crazy art, money art, shit art, and so on. Everything is art, just different types of art.

It's a great way to appreciate the things around us that we pass by everyday too. I can get just as excited over a shape in a bathroom tile as I can over a good painting. A pile of old shoes can interest me as much as a bronze Rodin sculpture.

I would rather include too much in my definition of art than not enough. I sometimes feel like I'm walking around in a giant art museum, which can be a little over-stimulating at times, but at least I never get bored..."

What makes a good choreographer?

Earlier this year, a fellow dancer on the Tribal Bellydance tribe asked about the skills it takes to be a strong choreographer, and asked some really key questions. Here is the majority of her post:

"I'm wondering how those of you who do a lot of choreographing set yourselves up for it. I don't know if there are training programs out there, but the good, great, and wonderful choreographers I've worked with over the years all seem to have a few things in common:

*a steady sense of "the big picture": the ability to know how the audience is going to view, and react, to the whole dance as seen not from onstage or from within the troupe;

*lyrical sense: familiarity with the music that allows the choreographer to convey meaning to the audience through the dancer(s) without beating them over the head with it, so to speak;

*a good understanding of their dancer(s) ability and potential;

*a prodigious movement vocabulary.

Thing is...how do you GET that? Is it an ability that you have to have an affinity for, like drawing or music or math? Is it something you can learn--and if so, how? Does it come more easily with experience?

And what are some other qualities a good choreographer needs?"

For spouses/partners of artists!

Excerpted from the excellent http://www.artadvice.com/advice/article14.php

This is just one section of three wonderful brief paragraphs about what it means to live with, and try to understand, about an artist. Does this sound like you?

"Living with an artist isn't easy, particularly if you are the significant other. So, after living with and working with artists for over 20 years I've put together a few suggestions for you to share with your partners...

The concept of "working" was a hard one for me to understand. Often times I'd go into my husband's studio and see him sitting on the couch with the television on or listening to the radio…staring at his paintings. I'd been at my office all day, talking on the phone or busy with clients. This was not my idea of "work." It wasn't until I really understood the process of making a painting that I realized how much of the work is in just looking…thinking…imagining what it would be like to do this or that. Mental activity that to the lay person looks like relaxation. I could accept the fact that slathering paint around was work…but, sitting and staring, that was hard for me. What I came to learn was that the "looking," is the hardest part. It was kind of like hearing about the way Mozart wrote music. He wouldn't write anything down until he could hear it all in his head first, then he would write it out perfectly in a matter of minutes.

Contrary to the common stereotype of artists as slackers, artists are incredibly industrious and hard working. In most cases, regardless of what they do for a living, they are working on their obsession 24/7. Acknowledging this, can help tremendously in understanding an important aspect of an artists' character…and saving a relationship."