Fresh take on a TEDTalk - impulses

Two months ago, I posted a TEDTalk which featured Benjamin Zander talking about getting modern audiences to love classical music.  I didn't tie it into anything dancey, I just really was moved by the video and wanted to share.

Today I was trolling Blogrolls for some new dancey blogs to read, and I came across "The Tribal Way", written by a gal named Chella. She watched the same video a month later, and had a brilliant observation to make connecting Zander's discussion of "impulses" to learning and refining tribal bellydance.

"Zander notes how the learning of a skill progresses. The novice puts an impulse, an emphasis or concentration if you will, on every key. They have to think about each note as a separate entity. As their skill increases, they don't have to think so much about each note - their fingers know where to go and the emphasis is on fewer notes. Finally they become so proficient that they place even emphasis on an entire phrase of notes - one impulse for an entire stretch of music. This is where the magic happens! The notes are smooth, beautifully running into one another with no hesitation.

This idea of impulses can be applied to dance as well. A beginner concentrates on each facet of each move, and you can see it in their bodies - the concentration as they move between each motion. There's nothing wrong of course, this is just the start and I'm sure we all looked a little jerky and robotic in the very beginning. However, when you look at a professional dancer - Carolena Nericcio, Rachel Brice, etc - you will see no impulse, no jerky hesitant movements. Their motions run gracefully together in a stream of dance.

You can see this easily when you watch videos of Fat Chance Belly Dance, and other extremely skilled troupes as well. Why do they seem so graceful? So in sync and smooth?  Other troupes may do the exact same movements, but you cannot deny the certain 'je ne sais quoi' that FCBD possesses. Well, now you do know what - they have so few impulses. Their skill has grown so great that they are playing their instrument with only one impulse."

The rest of her excellent post is HERE. Enjoy!

Ollin Arageed by Hamza El Din

A song we often dance to in slow in class, Ollin Arageed by Hamza El Din, has a beautiful history behind it.

"Hamza El Din - Ollin Arageed
A Nubian percussion performance, played for a person only once in a lifetime--at the celebration of a first wedding--the rythm composed of three different beats on the tar, accompanied by a melodie handclapping, feet beating on the ground, and, traditionally, singing and the noise of women's jewelry in their soft movements to those rythms (sic)."

Hear the whole song on YouTube HERE
Buy the song yourself HERE
Thanks to the beautiful Amel Tafsout for passing along this link!



Side note, this was a popular song played by The Grateful Dead. You can hear a snippet of the live version played at Gizah HERE

Inspirational Troupe - Persephone Dance Co.

Sometimes we feel our wind is taken from our sails when we don't have a hearty group of dancers to stage.  Less bodies on stage translates into less staging options, less sound, less color, and sometimes less energy.  If you want to see a troupe that really knows how to rock a stage with only a few dancers--three in this performance at Tribal Fest last year--then look no further than Persephone Dance Company out of San Jose, CA!  In this performance, they showcase both the "dynamic simplicity" of ATS movement and the variety of interpretation and staging that a trio can use on stage to great effect.
(Shay's cautionary note: The Turkish drops in the first part of this performance, while stunning, are *extremely dangerous* and take a lot of strength, flexibility, and preparation to learn. If you wish to learn this move, please do so under the supervision of a trusted instructor.)

Tired of Speaking Sweetly - The Poetry of Hafiz

One year for our anniversary, my sweet husband bought me a book of poetry by Hafiz, entitled The Gift.  He promised to read to me from it regularly; and he did throughout that year, and sometimes I would read to him in return. This is one I read to him those years ago, and its power is still with me today. I wanted to share it with you!

------------------------------------------
Love wants to reach out and manhandle us,
Break all our teacup talk of God.

If you had the courage and
Could give the Beloved His choice, some nights,
He would just drag you around the room
By your hair,
Ripping from your grip all those toys in the world
That bring you no joy.

What's in a name? The meaning behind Deep Roots Dance.

If you're reading this, it's because you have arrived at the NEW Deep Roots Dance website.  I really hope you enjoy the new online home for our dance and community!  If you're curious about the name change, I thought I would share my thought process, to both answer your questions and to maybe spark some food-for-thought for other dancers and businesswomen who are embarking on a new business or new direction for their existing business.


Why the name change?

I have always been a lover of names--for me names hold power and promise.  The idea of having deep roots resonates keenly for me, recognizing that whatever we are doing today in our dance (and life!) is the result of foundations that have been laid down in our past.  These roots are formed both by our own efforts--the work we do in the classroom, developing a strong foundation on which to build--and by the creative efforts of other dancers, artists, and cultures who came before.  It is of utmost importance to me that I honor those roots in my work; nurture that which grows from them; and encourage my students, fellow dancers and teachers to do the same.

The name also speaks to the family tree of bellydance.  Especially among tribal bellydancers, we can trace our lineage, our family tree, back through our teachers and their teachers all the way back to Carolena, Masha, Jamila... I love how each teacher left their mark on the generation to follow, and each became another branch of the tree.  And we continue to grow and branch out, while today's teachers continue to nurture new shoots.