The Benefits of Keeping a Dance Journal

First a confession! I've only recently started doing this for myself but having already reaped the benefits I am of course wishing I'd started many moons ago...

We all keep various notes, logs, photos etc of our dance journey, but have you ever tried actually keeping a dedicated 'Dance Journal'? A personal diary space just for your dance practice. We are recommending keeping one to our dancers taking part in our 4 month - 'Short Term Residency Programme' at Arabesque Nights and here's some ideas why it could be a great tool for your own personal dance journey.

1) Go Shopping!
It's the best bit - start off by allowing yourself some retail therapy. Find a lovely notebook or journal that you can see yourself writing in and has a good feel to it. You want to get a book that appeals to you and that you will find joy in writing in. You could go for lined or blank paper, one already with dates like a normal diary or write your own in (this gives you flexibility when you write). It could be colourful, patterned or plain and A5 or A4 size. Go for a lovely front cover that inspires you or makes you feel good. If you are a stationery geek (like me) and are already getting excited a quick word of warning -  BEWARE of really fancy covers. You don't want to get a book that is 'too beautiful' for you to write in!

2) Make some time for you
Set aside some time during the day to update your dance journal. If you don't work on your dance everyday you don't have to write in it everyday! Make it about taking some time for you rather than a chore. You might like to update it after you have finished practicing, after a regular class or a workshop, after a recent performance or just at the end of each day. 


3) What to write?
Whatever you like! This is personal to you and your dance. Here's some ideas though if you're stuck for words:

• Aspirations and Plans - Have an idea for a themed performance? Want to compete in a competition? Have an idea for a costume you'd like to make? - Put it in and flesh out your ideas
• Technique Corrections from Class - If your teacher is saying the same thing each week you'll soon see a pattern of what you need to work on 
• Those Eureka Moments! - You finally get/understand/feel how something should be, jot it down and celebrate
• Internal struggles - If you're losing your focus or something is bothering you - investigate it, what's the cause or feeling behind it and can you do anything about it?
• Daily Achievements - Some days it's the little things that count for progress, from repairing a hook on your bra to downloading a new music track or doing a 15 minute shimmy practice - if you did it, write it down and give yourself a pat on the back.
• Inspiration - Jot down inspirational quotes or reminders to self to keep you motivated

 4) Remember it's a process and 'Enjoy!'

Remember that dance is a lifetime process and dancers are often aspiring to a level of perfection that they can never achieve... but that's what keeps it interesting.

If you don't already keep a dance journal I hope this article inspires you to give it a go. Who knows what you might discover!

Natalie x

Natalie Irvine (JWAAD Dip) is an oriental dancer, teacher and event organiser based in London. She is one of the organisers and compère at Arabesque Night Bellydance Show in West London. She first started bellydancing with Krystina in 2008 as well as being a member of The Egyptianize Dance Company. Natalie then ran her own FAB Bellydance Classes in Hampton Hill for several years.  She is also a keen Samia Gamal enthusiast and spends her spare time adding to her extensive collection of original photographs. You can see Natalie at Arabesque Nights on the first Thursday of every month at The Gunnersbury.
www.natalieirvine.com
www.arabesquenights.com

Fixing Technique - an alternative approach

 Fixing Technique - An Alternative Approach 

by Natalie Irvine

Spurred on by a dancer's facebook status today I wanted to write a short paragraph or two on a different way of fixing persistent technique problems - covering bad posture, movement quality issues and more!

There are many blogs and groups on the technique vs. emotion debate in bellydance. I don't comment as I'm happy being a hermit outside of hosting Arabesque Nights each month and not one for debating, but I do like to have a read now and then.

What sometimes gets overlooked in these debates is that the body (technique) is always connected with the emotion (the internal dialogue). When we are sad - we cry, when we are happy we smile.

 If you stood in front of a mirror and practiced smiling everyday for 20 mins I'm sure you would develop a cracking smile. You know technically how to create this smile, how it should look, how the rest of the face should be in-line to show it off to it's best advantage. Next time you went on stage you can unleash your technique of 'a cracking smile' onto the audience.

But what if you are miserable? Maybe you're fighting off a bit of depression (it happens to the best of us), you're not having a good week at work etc. The energy to crack that award-winning smile on stage when it's needed most is going to take a lot more effort. Suddenly all that practice you've put into the technique of smiling is coming into force....and yet - a faint downward turn at the edges, or you pull off the main movement but the eyebrows are not totally in-line with the rest of the facial features.....you watch the video back and resolve an increase to 25 minutes of practice a day. (This can be applied to any technique!)

Instead of practicing the technique more - maybe it's time to allow yourself some 'off-duty dancer' time. Schedule in some time just for you and do some internal work - take a notebook and pen ask yourself the difficult questions (the ones you avoid) and see if you can do something to 'improve' yourself from the inside out.

The internal work is the toughest technical work in bellydance that you can do.

But it works.

Some examples from personal experience.

1)  - Student A had come to me for issues with postural problems - after a few weeks of reiterating the correct postural alignment for bellydance and seeing no progress we sat down with a cup of tea. We went on to talk about how she could bring bellydance into her everyday life as a source of strength. In short, the conversation developed and the result of which we both discovered that she felt ashamed of her well-endowed breasts at the workplace. The men would speak to them rather than her and as a result she had developed bad posture by slumping the chest and shoulders rolled forward as a method of 'trying to hide' them while at work. This postural problem had transferred into her dance.

So we addressed the internal issue. In truth there was no way she could hide those babies, she could not also force others the change their behaviour - so over the next two weeks her 'bellydance' homework was to simply walk tall when going into the office. When the boobs were addressed instead of her she could either choose to make a comment herself about it or ignore it. She took back her personal power and grew in confidence at work.

Postural problem in bellydance sorted.

2) As a beginner baby dancer myself I had problems with doing a shoulder shimmy - why? I was stressed out at work. As a result my stress was 'carried in my upper back' making it hard to move, I was also holding my hand positions too rigidly. So to improve my dance I focused outside the studio on releasing any stress I felt during the day with deep-breathing and relaxing the body, unclenching fists, dropping the shoulders.

Shoulder shimmy and rigid hands sorted.

3) As an intermediate dancer I wanted to use my hands more and be able to move my arms. Arm/hands are usually tagged onto technique as an after-thought or to make the hipwork look good or improve the line of the body. They sometimes get rushed or they lack energy. I also had a tendency to physically shrink the space I would use with my arms when on stage. I went for some lessons in Bharatanatyam and was inspired by the use of the hands as a movement in themselves. They are the focus. I've not kept up with the bharatanatyam but I have retained the use of the hands as a focus. At the same time I worked internally on not feeling like I had to 'give everything' at once to the audience on stage. I could hold some of myself back instead of leaving my whole heart laid bare or trying too hard to make an impression. I've also got a lot more confident since then.

My handwork grew more focused, my armwork flowed more. I wasn't 'afraid' to expand the body into my space on stage. (It also helped with number 4 below!)

3) 'The Stress Face' - It was a touchy subject as one of my toughest technical challenges. I

was going though therapy on deep-rooted personal stuff. Lots of painful stuff coming to the surface (and getting released, thankfully). On stage however I was having to project joy. My cracking smile - was cracking...into a kind of screwed up grimace with a weird smile slapped on the end. I forged forward - kept performing, practiced smiling in the mirror as I danced (see above).... it didn't go away.

So I took some time off performing - got through the therapy at the time. Now my dancing is more relaxed - I'm smiling more (the stress face occasionally tries to come back admittedly but hardly as often.

 Bellydance is something I'll always work on - From the inside out.

I hope this blog post helps dancers by enabling them to think about another approach to any persistent technique problems they may be facing. Thanks for taking the time to read.
Natalie x

Natalie Irvine (JWAAD Dip) is an organiser and compère at Arabesque Night Bellydance Show in West London. She first started bellydancing with Krystina in 2008 as well as a member of The Egyptianize Dance Company. Natalie then ran her own FAB Bellydance Classes in Hampton Hill for several years. She continues to bellydance, often performing at The Arab Quarterly organised by Melanie Norman. She is also a keen Samia Gamal enthusiast and spends her spare time adding to her extensive collection of original photographs. You can see Natalie at Arabesque Nights on the first Thursday of every month at The Gunnersbury.
www.arabesquenights.com

AN's 12 Top Tips for Dancer Bios!

 

An Intro to Intros by Natalie Borg

We recently celebrated 4 years at Arabesque Nights - Bellydance Cabaret Show in West London and the occasion got me thinking about what I've learnt so far over the years of organising the show and if anything would be useful to fellow dancers. 

One of the easy items that springs to mind is the dancer bio, that we always ask our performers to send through before the show. We tend have on average at least 8-10 different acts per show. So over four years - give or take repeat performers I must have read maybe up to 300 dancer bios...(at this stage I'm thinking I should start to get out more.)

As dancers we are often focused on 'our dance' - choreo, music, costume, make-up and all the prep that goes with that. So sometimes the finer details can be overlooked. The dancer bio not only gives the event organiser something to help promote  a) their event and b) you(!) but also its often used by the presenter/compère on the night to say a few words before you come on stage.

We often focus on 'our entrance' as the start -  but your performance starts the moment your introduction is being read on stage.

• It acts as a verbal introduction to YOU and your PERFORMANCE
• It sets the ENERGY and EXPECTATIONS of the AUDIENCE 

Given the above isn't it time you spent a bit of time thinking about your dancer bio? So pour yourself a mug of hot chocolate, grab a pen and open a fresh page in your favourite notebook for...

...AN's 12 Top Tips for Dancer Bios

1) Too Little! or Make sure you write one   

Your watching the other performers nervously from backstage and everyone's getting a great mention on stage and performing well - next up it's you but all the presenter says is "Our next performer is (INSERT YOUR NAME HERE)." The music starts, you come on stage - half of the audience are still deep in conversation and suddenly your working twice as hard to get their attention. 

Why? The other dancers took the time to write a few interesting things about themselves or their performance which a) gave the presenter something interesting to say about them and b) grabbed the audiences attention before they came on stage making them sit up and watch eagerly for that stage entrance they've been working on.

After this blog the common excuse "I can't think of anything to say about myself" - will not longer cut it ladies!

2) Too Much! The dreaded Workshop List/Dancer CV

Arrggghhhhhh! The dreaded 2 sides of A4 dancer bio - with every workshops you've ever attended, every teacher you've ever learnt with and every performance you've ever been in. Plus every 'other' dance style you've had a go at including a tap dance class when you were 4 years old (ok that was me - but it's not in my dancer bio!)

3) Just Right - 150 Words Max!

About 150 words max is just about right - if you can't fit what you want to say in that, your probably saying too much. Try starting with just bullet points  - (it's easier to read under stage lighting than scanning paragraphs verbatim) and go from there.

On the night the presenter might not say everything in your dance bio - it all depends on if your performing again in the show (say half now and half later) or on overall show timing. (If the show is long and the audience are getting tired the shorter the intros the better - but if the musicians are getting in tune or your having a costume mishap backstage we've got to increase our presenting time. So if we've got several interesting things to say about you, you sure to have a great introduction.)

4) "Cmon Chuck  -What's yer name and where d'ya come from?"

Start with the basics - your stage name/own name and where you are from or where you are based/teach or perform.

e.g. Brenda Baladi is a teacher/performer/student (delete as applicable) based in Edinburgh, Scotland (or from Istanbul, Turkey)

5) Name Three of Your Influences

Following on from number 2 this can be a difficult one - so I'm setting you the difficult task of keeping your influences to just three! Out of all the teachers you've studied with and all the workshops you've been on who are the top 3 dancers/teachers that have influenced your dance or had the biggest impact on your dance career so far?

e.g. She first started learning dance with Josephine Wise and also regularly attends workshops with Khazafy and is/was heavily influenced/inspired by Randa Kamel.

6) Bring out the big guns

Have you got a competition title? published a book? organise an event? Wow great! Let us know about it - don't hide it. Your not showing off just stating the facts.

e.g. - Winner of Miss Bellydance UK...
 - Author of 'The Truth About Bellydance'.....
 - Organiser of Annual Bellydance Festival...

7) Students or amateurs - no big guns yet?

If you are still in the totally awesome position of being at the earlier stages of your bellydance career you still have interesting things to put in your dance bio just expand upon - see notes 8, 9 and 11.

8) One detail of your Future Aspirations or Performances/Workshops

Don't list everything about your past when your future can be just as interesting!  Give one detail about what you have planned for the future. This keeps the audience informed about what you've got coming up in your dance career and also helps promote other teachers/events as well.

e.g.  - Next perfoming at (ENTER NEXT EVENT)
 - Looking forward to taking part in (DETAILS OF WORKSHOP)
- Is soon to be teaching at (DETAILS OF FESTIVAL)
- Is participating in (COURSE DETAILS)
- Hopes to (PERFORM FIRST SOLO/STYLE, HOLIDAY TO EGYPT ETC.)

9) Include some details about your performance...

You've spent time researching your music and understanding the lyrics, or lovingly hand-sewing your costume over 5 days. Or this dance is special to you because you'd like to dedicate to someone in the audience. Or the music was used in a film in the 1940's which has an interesting story. Remember to share some details about the dance your about to do with the audience as it will capture there interest and help their understanding/interpretation of your performance.

e.g. - Using music from the 1950's film in a scene where....
- The lyrics 'Hobak Nar' translate as Loving you is like hell/fire - the word Nar in arabic can be used interchangably to mean both...
 - This is a saidi dance from Upper Egypt 
 - This is a performance inspired by an original choreography by Raqia Hassan...

10) ....But keep some things secret

If the highlight of your performance is that you suddenly make some fan veils appear from no where don't put it in the bio - keep some things a surprise for the audience!

11) Make it Personal

This can tie in with number 5 - if you can add a personal detail about your dance add it in. The audience find it really interesting and it makes you more interesting before you even step foot on stage - they now already have a little personal connection with you rather than you just being the next dancer. Remember 'personal' doesn't mean 'unprofessional' it's ok to let the audience in.
 
e.g. - The dancers mum spent hours hand sewing the beautiful detailing on the costume
 - After a nightmare journey of 4 hours our dancer has still arrived to perform for you tonight
 - The dancer would like to dedicate this performance to her sister who is in the audience

12) Gone over 150 words? - Don't include all of the above!

These are to be used as a guideline for ideas for your bios - you don't have to include everything and remember to keep it personal to your dance career and experience. Be authentic - it's better to make the most of what you have done rather than try and be someone your not. 

 

Final Thoughts

I hope this has given you some fresh ideas of what you can put in your dance bio next time you need one for a performance. It's great to have a standard one saved on your computer or in an email to yourself in your inbox so if you don't have time before your next performance you already have one prepped that you can quickly send to the events organiser.  

But if you do have time - take a minute to update it - keep it fresh and relevant to that performance. It could make all the difference to those first few seconds when you go on stage.

Natalie Borg (JWAAD Dip) is an organiser and compère at Arabesque Night Bellydance Show in West London. She first started bellydancing with Krystina in 2008 as well as being part of the award-winning Egyptianize Dance Company. Natalie then ran her own FAB Bellydance Classes in Hampton Hill for several years. She continues to study bellydance counting Yasmina of Cairo and the late Heather Burby as two of her main influences. She is also a keen Samia Gamal enthusiast and spends her spare time adding to her extensive collection of original photographs. You can see Natalie at Arabesque Nights on the first Thursday of every month at The Gunnersbury.
www.bellydancestudent.co.uk
www.arabesquenights.com