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