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My next series of classes will be "Improvisation - Testing the waters" because it such a beast of a topic for even seasoned dancers, yet one that is so important. I have selected 3-4 very different songs to be used during the 6 week, intermediate-level series. My class structure is: warmup, review of movements (specific to the music I have chosen), music introduction (listen to and discuss the predetermined song), small group discussion and collaboration (what movements are fitting to the music)/selecting moves to "fall back" on, and finally, 8-10 minutes of solid improvisation - without an audience to start, then with an audience as we get to the second half of the series.
I know my own process, however I wanted to find out from other dancers how you improvise bellydance. What is your mental and physical process-- before, during and after? What do you do to prepare yourself beforehand?
Lastly, from an instructor's point of view, is there anything else I could add to my curriculum to help my students practice and feel more comfortable with the improvisational aspect of bellydancing?
Thanks in advance!
I know my own process, however I wanted to find out from other dancers how you improvise bellydance. What is your mental and physical process-- before, during and after? What do you do to prepare yourself beforehand?
Lastly, from an instructor's point of view, is there anything else I could add to my curriculum to help my students practice and feel more comfortable with the improvisational aspect of bellydancing?
Thanks in advance!
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Los Angeles
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Thu, October 1, 2009 - 8:54 PMOne of the most handy things that I was ever taught about improv was an exercise a local teacher taught us. She made us pick a broad, general movement, let's just say horozontal hip figure eights. Then she made us improv to an entire song, using ONLY that one movement. We had to test our abilities to diversify that movement as many ways as possible. You could do them traveling, larger on one side, while lowering levels, while rising levels, up tempo, down tempo...anyway you wanted, as long as it was that same core movement. She explained, when improving, and you get stuck, don't try to rack your brains coming up with new sequences, just diversify your fall back moves until your brain reclicks in improv mode :) -
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Tue, October 13, 2009 - 12:53 PMKira-
I went to a Jim Boz workshop a couple of years ago and that is one thing he suggested.
Also-knowing M.E. drum rhythms is good...when I improv I will use my hips on the dums and filler between the dums I use my upper body.
AND-dancer know thy music! lol! Know it inside and out. An example of this was this past Sat. I danced at a hafla but before dancing I pulled something in my middle back...so when I began my dance I had to IMPROV a vast portion of it due to not being able to use my upper body like I usually do.
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Thu, October 1, 2009 - 9:24 PMI always listen to my music A LOT! If your music is recorded, KNOW YOUR MUSIC. Other than that, practice your moves and combos until they are second nature. Really, your whole repetoire is your "fall back" then!
But for beginners, what is your favorite move and how many ways can you do it?
What is the most difficult move for you, and how many ways can you do it?
Do your move counter to the tempo of the music.
Do it only to the accents.
Do it to the melody.
Do it to the drum.
Dance with only upper body.
Dance with only lower body.
Repeat a sequence of head, chest, then hip movements (like head circle, chest circle, hip cirlce, and back up again)
Split into groups and have each group come up with 4 movements to go with a particular phrase of the music.
etc., etc. -
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Thu, October 1, 2009 - 9:30 PMGreat feedback! I hadn't thought of picking one movement and seeing how many ways it can be done, then mimicked in other regions of the body... That will be such a good exercise to do in class. And what a nice, comprehensive list of variations, too. Thank you for the tips! -
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 8:25 AMto practice transitioning between movements smoothly:
pick 3 movements to rotate through
transitions with a partner- one partner starts a move, once the next person is doing it too, the second person has to change that move, reverse, repeat (this is especially helpful for students who are nervous about working on their own)
to practice quality of movement and the 'don't just dance, stand there!' concept:
practice dancing with only one part of the body, & take it to extremes- what can you do with one leg? how can you dance with only your head, etc. (doesn't have to be 'moves', just movement)
listening to the music a bazillion times is great, but actually talking about the structure of the music can really help students know what they are listening for and can help predict what comes next. Examples:
*a lot of ME music (if you go back far enough) was based on call & response, & you still hear this pattern even in pop songs- accordian calls, drums answer, proceed conversation. lead singer calls, back up vocalists or violins answer, etc.
*traditional music is often broken into solo parts, kind of like jazz music- body of music, kanoun taxim, body of music, ney taxim, body of music, finale
*rule of 4- it is common to repeat a phrase of music 4 times before switching to another phrase
to me actually *talking* about the music is a very important part of learning to dance. Music is so integral to the dance form, yet it is the one part we rarely teach our students- they are supposed to just plow through and hopefully 'get it' one day (and then we wonder why they only want to dance to predictable pop songs!)
*discuss what rhythms are common in different parts of a song
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Sun, October 4, 2009 - 4:49 PMI like to call that playing "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes"(you know, the children's game)
from top to bottom make horizontal circles- then try vertical circles flat to the front- figure eights- etc.
That is fun and illustrates the versatility of each body part while letting students exercise their creativity & imagination
...since some body parts execute certain movements more "attractively" than others, you often get a good a laugh out of it too and that is always fun.
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 3:57 PMI think this approach to improv makes it very very difficult. I teach my students to improvise from their very first lesson.
The key is in teaching them how to listen to the music. Once you know how to listen to the music, improvisation will follow on easily. I'm dead serious. Within five weeks my students are confidently apllying their new moves to music and playing around with it creatively in a way that respects both the music and the culture it comes from - this is five weeks from never having bellydanced before to being able to improvise confidently. I think that if you teach improvisation from the beginning that it becomes second nature. -
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Sun, October 4, 2009 - 11:23 AMI agree. I have my students do various improve lessons at the end of each class. It's just part of the class from the get go. So it's less stressful and the ability to improv well sneeks up on them as they learn how to dance. -
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Tue, October 13, 2009 - 12:49 AMOften we are dancing through the crowd ~ So I tell my dancer's if you get catch in the 2 step (repeating the same movement) do parts of choreography that you all ready know ~
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 11:20 PMI just finished teaching a zill and improv workshop...my concentration was on teaching them music and giving ideas/guidelines on ways to plan ahead (at that moment). I teach improv from a muscian perspective - I work with live bands regularly. Understanding how muscians structure music helps a lot....the ability to understand sounds and hints that there is a change is very important.
I do use canned music or cds a lot -- and agree that listening and know the music is key if you have the music. But to me true improv technique is the ability to get up and dance to something that you have not heard also. Knowing how to work with a drummer is very important and can go a long way. Also, how to lead or let a muscian know what you are hoping will happen next too.....it is a team format (well it should be but at times you may not get that so there is another improv skill too).
My series was 8 hours of rhythm and music work then a class on using those skills....then performance technique for the very last session. It went very well....I have taught this before but not in an intensive format. The girls feedback was that it really helped to hear and understand the cues in the music. I have seen a lot of teachers put music on and say dance but I do feel you have to give a format and plan to those that are just more comfortable with 'knowing what will happen next'. I think that is where many fear improv....the unknown whether that is 'what will i do next' or 'what will the music do next'. So to me ... understanding music and how music is often structured is key for improv.
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Sun, October 4, 2009 - 4:41 PMYou know what I always find so interesting... how people in your class probably *knew* how to dance to any music that came on before entering class- say if they went to a nightclub, they would be fine- but after learning certain movements which one would assume would enhance their dance, they freeze up and suddenly aren't sure how to dance "on their own" anymore.
Naturally when you are trying to dance in an authentic fashion to specifically ethnic music, there is a lot you need to know about your music and country/cultural traditions, etc. You will be a better dancer for it but I also believe that everyone was born fully capable & equipped with an innate knowledge that enables them to dance.
I like what one instructor did to try and remind her students that the dance is within them, improvisation is simply putting the music in visual form:
She had them listen to different instruments in the music and describe what they sounded like...
Does this instrument sound SMOOTH or PERCUSSIVE
REPETITIOUS or IRREGULAR, VIBRATORY or SHARP, WEIGHTLESS or HEAVY, etc. you get the picture
Then she had them list movements they had learned that fit into those categories- so when they put on the music, each student listened and heard a SMOOTH phrase of music and used something from their SMOOTH choices of moves, and so on.
What I liked most is how she didn't dictate to them: "this" is a SMOOTH move- she let them decide what looked and felt SMOOTH and I think that was key to helping them develop their own voice through their dance and also give them confidence to realize that they *know* what is happening in the music even they couldn't communicate verbally, anyone can hear that music has slowed into a taxim, or is repeating a refrain, if they just relax and listen.
It is like learning to use your zills. Before I knew what a Beledi rhythm was called, I could hear it and snap along to it without a cognitive thought- but when told "this" is a Beledi rhythm & you do it like this- suddenly it became a brain exercise and a little more challenging.
I think purposeful dancing and intention are good and essential in studying an ethnic dance but it is good to keep certain exercises in your instruction that allow for freedom and play- because play really is the heart and soul of what possesses a person to dance: it is a joyful act at the root of it, a communicative act. -
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Mon, October 5, 2009 - 5:36 AMI agree about how most of us can go to a club and just dance. I do feel there is a difference in comfort level. When dancers are coming to a class -- I think they start to think "what is right and wrong". Also...usually in a club they are not thinking about people watching them. So I believe (and what I hear) is that the difference is that people are watching and then the dancers wonders if the watchers have some expectations. Then there is the performance and wanting to make it look organized and interesting.
The series I teach does not dictate a style or movement -- that really has to come from the individual or else it is just a robotic choreography. I actually did not teach any dance movements...it was a bring your own movement and we will work with it kind of deal. What I have heard over the years is 'how do you know what to do' or 'how do you know when the music will change' -- basically just fear that people are watching and they will freeze up. So I approach improv from a music perspective to remove the unknown....and that fear. If a dancer has a few combos to a rhythm...then they always have something to fall back on if they 'get stuck'. Also if they know how muscians structure music and how to cue a muscian then they can see what is coming next and plan on the spot. The combos that dancers left my workshop with were actually developed by them ... not me. The whole idea of improv to me is that self expression so I gave ideas but in the end ... it was just some thoughts on how to make it more interesting. Many of the girls stated they just felt that their improv was boring....so we worked with creating dynamics with the energy. Just learning to listen again and feel it....not think so much but trust your ideas.
I think many students do second guess what they are hearing the music tell them to do....or feeling. At time they just need someone to say...go with it and have fun. One thing I left them with is "if you are having fun then the audience will also" ---- such a simple statement but it brings them back to why they started this in the first place. Dancing should be fun and expressive in my mind and heart......I enjoy technique but if the dancer has lost the personality then the dance is no longer interesting to me. I love to see energy, emotion, drama or just excitement....you cannot help but clap and have fun with them at that point. -
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Mon, October 5, 2009 - 8:49 AMlanguage really is so important, isn't it? I do tell my students constantly & in many different ways that this is a safe place, it's okay to experiment, your interpretation is legitimate (whether "authentic" or not!) etc- I also tell them little "secrets" as in- when a dancer does this, sure it looks good, but chances are she is checking her posture, or this is a common default move, next time you see a dancer do this move for a full 16 counts, chances are she is thinking, just like you are thinking right now... that always gets a laugh & generally lets people relax into the movement more. I also wholeheartedly agree that improv is something to start teaching from the first class, but it takes different forms as dancers progress. -
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Mon, October 5, 2009 - 11:39 AMThe girls laughed because I gave them a lot of my secrets to know when I was thinking or waiting or trying to cue! Some said "i have seen you do that"...and some never noticed. I think it does help with the fear to know that even pros have their crutches and 'safe' moves....
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Thu, October 8, 2009 - 9:56 PMJust looking back at this for the first time in a week (been busy) - thank you everyone for such a thorough discussion.
So I tried a multitude of things tonight which was the first class of this series. I provided a pneumonic device for remembering little tricks like "M-VAMPS" for "music - variety, arms, movement, posture (or position), and space. I think they found that helpful.
Then we moved into the music introduction... the first songs I'm introducing are of uptempo nature (the second set will be more moderate, with some sections being very slow and then speeding up again; the third will be all slow songs, like one with a chiftetelli basis, etc.). This was strictly a listening exercise and talking about what movements seem appropriate, "feel" and mood of the music, etc. Then we stood up and in our own spaces, facing away from eachother, I asked them to start moving naturally... and as things came to them I advised them to make a mental or handwritten note about what those movements were (hence creating the fallback movements). We got into small groups then to exchange the ideas that came to us, select a traveling move or moves and then listened to the music again to highlight nuances in the song such as when there was a call-and-respond, or to point the Rule of 4s.
The majority of my students found it overall very helpful and were enthusiastic. One looked downright frustrated, at times frozen. So at the end I asked them to describe their initial experiences, what was challenging, what they found helpful, etc. I made a point of saying that music is key and there will be times when the music doesn't "gel" with them, and/or that it would become easier as they continue to familiarize themselves to and we keep learning and reinforcing various rhythms. I gave them homework which was to find a video of improvisational bellydance on YouTube, make notes of what they like/dislike visually, transitional moves, travel moves, facial expression, etc... and also to choose one of the preselected songs I'd given them to practice improvising to.
I guess my question now is (and I will wrap this up pronto!) - How can I help my students get out of "freeze" mode? I feel like providing too much structure and framework to this particular student didn't work, that it was too prescripted and she froze because she was trying to remember her fallback movements rather than just dancing. Thoughts on how to help deconstruct the self-consciousness and further the progress? -
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Mon, October 12, 2009 - 11:22 AMFirst I'd ask her what she is/was thinking about when she froze. That will help you to see what she really needs, instead of guessing. One idea that came to my mind was to have her pick a body part (when frozen) and just try moving that part around in different ways... maybe at first not bothering with the music (it may be she's not musically driven so that is hard for her) and then let her play around until she feels the body part is moving well with the music. Then move onto another body part, find what works with that one, and then play back and forth between the two. This way she is not overwelmed by all the possibilites of her own body and trying to connect with the music or remembering moves. She can just pick one small thing to concentrate on, work out from there, and then hopefully once she starts moving she can keep going.
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Wed, October 14, 2009 - 10:56 AMI would agree to ask what was happening when she experienced the freeze...was she 'thinking' too much and not listening/feeling it. Honestly - it may just be practice and getting that comfort down. It is not something that will happen fast if it does not come easy. I feel (and have spoken with many dancers)....dancers are often either more comfortable with choreography or improv. So...they often have to do a little more work to gain comfort for the other. If your gals are use to 'being told' what to do....now they are learning to express themselves and it is a very exposed feeling at times I think for some. May be even go to a club that has some music that would be fun to bellydance and take it out of the classroom now....just a thought. Hopefully over time of getting more and more comfortable with improv...they will let go of the thinking side and really enjoy feeling it and listening. -
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Re: Improvisational bellydance- feedback, how to, teaching tips?
Fri, October 16, 2009 - 1:20 AMNot an out-right answer to the question, but one exercise that is fun is to tell them to dance in a 1 foot square, then tell them to dance using the whole stage. If they ever do belly-grams, this WILL come up!!!! The exercise teaches that you need to be able to use your space effectively, regardless of what the space is, and teaches that you don't always want to dance to the music the same way all the time. It also helps eliminate freezing that is caused by a situation being unfamiliar, because she will already be familiar with differing spaces.
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