US lagging in science and math

Evidently, according to some study, we’re not doing too well. I agree that paying math and science teachers more isn’t the answer. How does that help, if they’re not doing a good job? Obviously, teachers should be paid well. A friend made a video that has good ideas on how to improve education. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he has, but I think it is definitely a starting point to really analyze we’re behind. The video is located here. Make sure have about a half hour to watch it.

 

Now what do I think about contests?

I thought I’d throw my 2 cents out there, since everyone else is commenting on this article. The gist of it is whether contests and certifications have validity.

I’m not a competitive dancer, nor do I plan on being one. I’ve never been interested in competitions in general. That just isn’t who I am. Life is plenty competitive enough for me. I have entered a few competitions (arguably, my scholarship was a competition) and been successful, but on a whole, I’m not interested.

With that said, I don’t have an inherent issue with competitions for dance. Some of my dance friends like that the competitions force them to focus on their dance in a different way and that they may get feedback. I don’t know anyone who competes for the glory.  I imagine there may be some people, but what I’ve learned from my dance friends is that it’s more of a personal competition, like running a marathon. Sure, someone wins, but they are always happy that they participated. I don’t know how much of a “measure” it is for a dancer. If the contest is well-reputed and has good judges consistently, I would be more interested in the dancer as a dancer. However, the proof is in the pudding. I wouldn’t go ga-ga over a dancer who wins a contest, simply because she wins a contest.

As far as certification, I think they’re good for when people want to be certified in someone’s style. If the certification requires rigorous training and will fail people who aren’t up to snuff, I think there is a lot of validity in it. I’m not interested in being certified in someone’s style, but certification for a dance teacher isn’t a bad thing. Having switched teachers multiple times, if I had a particular style that I love, certification would be really useful to locate another teacher in that same style. Again, the proof would be actually witnessing the teacher, but the certification would help eliminate going to teachers who aren’t in a style I like.

At the end of the day, I’m rather ambivalent on the topic of the validity of certifications and contests. I think they have a lot of personal growth to offer to people. I’ve interacted with some people online who love the Suhaila Salimpour techniqe and go all out to become certified in it. From what I understand, it’s very much about personal growth, not expecting that the certification automatically makes them a good dancer. Being a goal-oriented person, I can understand that, even if I don’t have the desire to compete or certify in a style.

 

Support your local dance community

I keep hearing about local Middle Eastern dance communities hurting because of the economy. If you can swing it, try to support them somehow. Go to their shows, take the classes or workshops, buy costuming stuff…

If you want to support the Chicago-area community, the following big events are happening:

• Deb Rubin formerly of Ultra Gypsy (Ultra Gypsy is a very influential tribal fusion group) comes to Elgin (suburb of Chicago) in April for 1.5 days of workshops.
• Aradia is coming to Milwaukee in May; I’d love to give more details but I don’t know of any right now beyond that.
• Hadia is in Forest Park, IL (suburb of Chicago) in May at Pineapple Dance Studio.

I encourage everyone to support the local people’s endeavors, because they may not be able to host great events in the future. I understand that the workshops aren’t the only cost for many people (travel, food, babysitters, etc.), but please consider participating in your community.

 

What makes good fusion?

I’m not an expert, but I have been watching/playing with a lot of fusion stuff. When someone brings up what is good fusion, the most successful fusion pieces I’ve seen

• Blend the moves well together. I’ve occasionally seen people perform fusion dances that do 1 minute of Dance Form A, then 1 min of Dance Form B. I like seeing a more seamless blend. I find layering looks best (an example of this is the Flamenco posture ATS takes), but it could be simply flowing one move into another.
• Know what you’re fusing/Do thoughtful fusion. A lot of bad fusion that looks sloppy I believe comes from a lack of knowing the original 2+ dances. Although I don’t believe you must be an expert, I think some knowledge beyond a video or YouTube is needed. I also think it’s important to be culturally sensitive or intelligent; you wouldn’t want to dance merrily to a song about death. For my own studies, I feel like studying tribal with a teacher has been helpful. There were some aspects of moves that I thought I understood because I had seen them so many times. However, either the people I’ve seen were sloppy or my eyes were not focused enough on catching some subtle but important differences.
• Make it look good! Don’t allow sloppiness to be your fusion.

Beyond that, I don’t have any strong “rules” about fusion. With Middle Eastern dance fusion, I think there should be a big chunk of Middle Eastern flavor in it. Else, you should just call it fusion dance and find appropriate venues. On the infamous Bhuz, people have discussing what constitutes Middle Eastern dance. I think that one of the issues is that people are calling anything “belly dancing”, which although I don’t use the term, I think everyone has an idea that it’s associated with Middle Eastern dance. You should be allowed to experiment, but I do believe you should call what you do appropriately. It would be like going to an ice cream shop and finding there is everything but what you were looking for.

 

Different Body types

On Bhuz, there has been some discussion about students who seem to not embrace the compliments about their bodies that a thinner teacher gives. While no one is certain why should comments are not enjoyed, we have gotten back to a body image discussion and what the dance looks like on various bodies.

I’m a strong believer that anyone can look good doing this. Old, young, thin, fat, male, female. Certain bodies will create different lines and some moves will simply look better. For instance, at the Mardi Love workshop, she had this emphasis on the shoulder. I think it looks cuter on her body, which is fuller, than on my very thin and bony shoulder. That isn’t to say I should leave Middle Eastern dance behind, of course, but I recognize that certain moves, at least for my aesthetic, just don’t work or look different. One of my favorite things about my lessons with Danielle is that she is very much for me dancing in a way that looks best on me and concentrating on that. I can’t dance like her or Rachel Brice or Mardi Love or anyone else. I’m simply not built like them, nor would I want to dance exactly like them. Not only is it important to acknowledge that your body is an individual thing, but also I think we should acknowledge that our taste never 100% aligns with someone else’s.

I think it’s great everyone looks a little different doing the same move. How boring would it be to watch the same dancer essentially?

 

Workshop/Class Etiquette

With dance classes and workshops, I’ve noticed a few things that keep occurring (as well as with normal school stuff). They aren’t gigantic problems, but they are little issues that bother me a bit. Today’s post is simply about behaviors I think are good for classes or workshops.

• Wear non-noisy gear. Particularly in workshops, where there are dozens of people, noisy gear is distracting and makes hearing the instructor difficult. Even if you don’t mean to move in a coin hipscarf, some people accidentally do. Even if only one person dons it, it’s noisy.
• Sit down when demos happen. Being a shorty, I find it’s often difficult to see things in workshops when the instructor demonstrates a move or combo. When people in the front rows kneel, I can see what’s going on. It doesn’t matter if you’re small or large, you should position yourself so others can see.
• Actually switch rows. I’ve noticed that there is a trend for some participants to want to stay in the front with the mirror. While I know the mirror is helpful, not truly switching rows (if there are 5 rows, moving from the front row to the second to the front row isn’t really a switch) is rude and unfair to your fellow participants. Besides, practicing without a mirror is good, because you won’t have one on stage.
• Not talking when the instructor is talking. Enough said on that one.
• Awareness of others. This sort of goes back to the second point of sitting if you’re in the front during a demonstration. Just be aware that you aren’t the only person there and notice that you can’t move in huge ways.
• Ask before filming part of the workshop. Some instructors do not like their workshops filmed, while others do not mind. And if you must film, keep for person use only and don’t upload it onto the internet.

I understand people get caught in the excitement of things, but I really do believe in exercising good manners to make things enjoyable for everyone.

 

Middle Eastern dancer=belly dancer !=stripper/topless dancer

Somehow, my blog got tagged in some catalog with “Topless dancer.” No, I’m not a topless dancer or a stripper or a burlesque dancer.

I struggle to write about this, because I think it often becomes condescending towards the above. I recognize that they’re all different and support a woman’s (or man’s) right to work in those industries. Off the top of my head, a Middle Eastern/belly dancer differs from a topless dancer in that

• S/he doesn’t remove her top. If you’re hiring a Middle Eastern dancer hoping for that, you really should hire someone else
• S/he performs a cultural dance. Sure, there’s a lot of Hollywood in the current costumes, but the movements, the music, etc. are a part of Middle Eastern dance.
• S/he provides family entertainment. I’d be hardpressed to find a person who thinks it’s cool to hire a topless dancer for a child’s party. With Middle Eastern dance, a few friends have “Princess Jasmine” birthday party packages where they dress up like the character from Aladdin and do a birthday party thing for little kids.
• The age range. Middle Eastern dancers range from children to much older women. I don’t see the same in topless dancers

I hope this clears up some misperceptions.

 

Being a professional or professionalism?

During my illness, I was reading on Bhuz about what it means to be a professional. As with anything, there seems to be a lot of different ideas.

To me, being a professional means holding some kind of career and getting paid for it. That’s it. I don’t think being a professional speaks anything about your work ethic, talents, etc.  Plenty of people claim to be professionals in many fields, yet they are not very good at their jobs. People can be amateurs and be amazingly talented. Money doesn’t mean anymore than you got paid.

However, I think professionalism is more what I want overall. I mention often that I hope to be some kind of professional Middle Eastern dancer, but for the time being, I am happy being a student. Professionalism is something I can do right now. It’s just basically embodying the kind of behaviors that you think people in your given field should have. Things like being on time, being thoughtful in responses, training, etc.

A lot of the professionalism issues I’ve been thinking about I realized are related to how I want to TA. I showed up today for a student who had to make up a lab. I try  to be (and hopefully, am!) respectful, actually teach, learn from my mistakes, continue my education, etc. I hope I continue to keep with professionalism, regardless of where life has be heading.

 

Scientist quits to become Middle Eastern Dancer

Via tribe.net, someone posted this article about a dancer in the UK who quit her job as a scientist. I thought it was an interesting story, since it seems rare that one quits the “practical” job for the arts. I don’t see this in my future, since I am passionate about physics, but I did find it to be a nice read.

What made me sad is many of the comments on this article. Firstly, I read comments about “wasting her education” and “stealing someone’s place at the university.” I don’t feel that she wasted her education at all. She tried something for 4 years and then found something else more suited to her interests. How is that a waste? A waste would have been to have gone to college and not tried what she thought her career was. I don’t understand taking someone’s place. Any qualified student, as far as I’m concerned, deserves a place at a school, regardless of what they ultimately end up doing with their education. You only steal someone’s place anywhere is if you’re deceitful or don’t play fairly when trying to get admissions. I see both of the issues as moot points; no one would tell a college-educated stay at home parent that they wasted their education and took someone’s place in a school.

The second thing that bothered me was people’s attitudes towards her weight. On the left is a photo of her from the article. The woman is not thin, so what?  She certainly isn’t that big, but really, if she were, why bother commenting on it?

Having never seen this dancer perform, I can’t say if she’s any good or bad, but she looks like many women I’ve known in dance who have been successful. Thin women are not particularly common in most classes in Middle Eastern dance. Thin women are not teaching many of the classes. One of the nicest things about Middle Eastern dance is that many body types are taking part in it. Everyone from the young and fit to the older and rounder and everything in between.

One of the comments say she probably will not be very successful because of her figure. The arts are always a gamble, though, but she has also attained a certain success. Besides, there plenty of women earning their income via Middle Eastern dance who don’t have rock hard abs. Some dancers (Suhaila Salimpour, Mardi Love, Dina,  Aida Nour…) are not the thinnest, most ripped, yet they are still talented and lovely and are in such demand that they can be flown all over the world to teach a workshop. I’m not saying that that is obtainable for this teacher (it is hard even if you were thin), but if they can meet probably the highest success a Middle Eastern can hope to have, surely this lady can be successful.

She also may be in very good shape. Some people are simply not meant to be svelte and tiny. According to the article, she teaches a lot and practices an hour a day. I’m going to guess she may be in better shape than quite a few people around the globe.

I realize everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I just feel that the comments were often malicious and ill-informed, and I’m afraid that comments like that may prevent women from trying Middle Eastern dance.

 

‘The Ethics of Name-dropping’

I came across this thread on Tribe this morning about when and how you should name teachers under whom you studied or with whom you worked.

I can’t attest to everyone, but I linked up everyone I took at least a season’s worth (3 months) of classes with on my links section because I liked these people and hope that maybe others will check them out. I don’t do it to brag or to look like a better dancer. I simply wish to pay respect to my teacher. I don’t wish to name drop.

The teachers who I claim are influential are ones I studied under for a longer time (about a year normally) and/or I feel I gained a lot out of it. Their styles meshed with me more or perhaps it is because I studied under them for a long time. I feel that those people have had a bigger influence on me and my style of dance.

I don’t consider videos/DVDs or workshops really studying under someone. The former can be useful for some people, but the instructor on the DVD has no say in whether you’re truly getting his/her style or can correct you… It would be like if I told people I studied at MIT, because I use their OpenCourseware (lecture notes and other goodies posted online). I think workshops are a big step above learning from a DVD and one can gain a lot, but I’m not convinced that it’s enough to say you truly studied under someone. You can get a lot of useful things out of it, but I can’t say that you get nuances and an entire effect in a day or a weekend.

For my own benefit and perhaps for use in the future, I have a dance resume with everything on it. I don’t think it’s professional to misrepresent yourself. It’s setup like a combination of an actor’s resume and my ‘normal’ resume. The normal aspect of it clearly states under whom I studied, what kind of study (class, private lesson, workshop), and for how long. I think it’s important, because there’s a huge difference among those three. To make an analogy using my normal resume, I once had an internship at a nuclear physics laboratory. I state that I had an internship, not that I worked there. To me, if I were to state that I worked there, it sounds like I had a 40 hr/week job for a while, not a summer internship with somewhat flexible hours.

I can’t comment on other people’s motivations, because I don’t know what they are. Perhaps they have no motivations regarding this matter and don’t think hard about the wording. Perhaps they realize they are intentionally misrepresenting things. I have no clue. At the end of the day, I do strongly believe that it is important to be as honest as possible when representing yourself. I worked as a contract employee for a book publishing company last year, and every place I went to expected my skills as is. The same with physics jobs. You don’t have write dryly, but certainly don’t exaggerate your skills. It may come back to haunt you.

As for dance, someone on Tribe put it best (paraphrasing): a good video of your dancing speaks more volumes about you than under whom you studied.