Defense, defense!

Tomorrow is my defense. My advisor, the kid who defends Wednesday, and I did a dry run, along with two others.

Remarkably, my dry run was painless. I have to make some corrections tonight, but beyond that- it went well for my first, last, and only dry run. I have to admit I was nervous- I respected everyone’s opinion in the room, and I don’t have that much time to make major corrections. Also, being questioned is not fun at all. I was particularly scared when M, the guy going on Wednesday, was asked a series of difficult questions. My questions weren’t easy, either, and my advisor has one mean poker face (I couldn’t tell until I finished answering if I was on the right track or I was completely wrong). Thank goodness, I was right with my answers.

Around this time tomorrow, I will most likely have an answer of whether I have successfully defended my thesis. Please send happy, good vibes my way.

 

Review: Secrets of the Stage: Vol 3

Although it would’ve made more sense to start with Secrets of the Stage: Vol 1, I found  Secrets of the Stage Volume 3: A Performance Course for Belly Dancers by Michelle Joyce on the Bhuz Swap. The deal was good and it helped a lady out.

The Secrets of the Stage series is produced by Michelle Joyce, a dancer in the Bay-area. She has a very good company, dedicated to making quality DVDs for primarily Middle Eastern Dance. They’re a steal at about $20/DVD. She produced last week’s video, Fabulous 4 Yard Veils.

Secrets of the Stage is different from other DVDs or even classes, because the DVD is dedicated to performance, not dance technique. If you are a student of Middle Eastern dance and want to go professional, classes may not offer all the behind the scenes information it takes to be a professional dancer. Michelle uses real working dancers to help present topics that working dancers should know about. Most of the DVD is like watching a movie with the commentary turn on; there’s video in the background but a voiceover, discussing a topic. The topics for Vol 3 are “Dancing to Live Music,” “Inspiration and Creativity”, “Your Professional Image”, and an extra section on some Arabic that’s useful to know. Rather than discuss the DVD in bulk, I thought I’d go section by section.

• Dancing to Live Music. Like many dancers, I haven’t had the opportunity to work with live musicians. The dancers and the musician in this section gave hints and overall, encouragement, in dancing to live music. They all made very good points about how handle the situation so that everyone (musician, dancer, and audience) is happy. The only thing that would’ve made this section better is if the comments were more about what was going on on screen, rather than simply general comments about working with live music.
• Inspiration and Creativity. I liked this section a lot, since this is one of the many places I get stuck. I thought the tips were excellent, some new, some not new. Again, I would’ve really liked more comments on the actual performances of the dancers, rather than just general tips. I was hoping this would be more “Behind the Dance” type thing, where each dancer would explain her specific motivations and inspirations. I think my favorite part was when someone (I forget who) said that it’s important to create, even if it isn’t perfect. Being the kind of person who wants something perfect, I appreciate reminders that I should create, rather than wait and worry to make something perfect.
• Your Professional Image. This section contained info on makeup and photo shoots. The dancers narrated how she applies her stage makeup. The makeup section I thought I would be more helpful if they were more broad tips, like the difference between stage makeup and more up close work, like restaurants or how lights can affect how your makeup looks. The photo shoot advice was helpful for someone like me, who has never had a photo shoot. Michael Baxter (a photographer) provided information how to get the most out of your photo shoot, from setting the background to creating good poses. My only other comment on this section is I wish there had been more about creating a professional image. I thought the start was strong, but I would have liked to have seen some information on other professional aspects, like websites, business cards, ads, etc. Perhaps another DVD?
• Survival Arabic. Leyla Lanty is too cute! The survival Arabic is just a small taste of Arabic, to help dancers know a few words. I like languages and I like knowing what the lyrics are, so I wish that this section had been longer. Evidently, Leyla Lany teaches a longer survival Arabic workshop for dancers, so if you’re like me, strapped for cash and time, that may be a good supplement to this section. I found the section a little helpful; I know a few Arabic words, from teachers giving me a little crash course in words that frequently appear in lyrics. I didn’t know, however, the word structures or about the lyrics in general. Leyla Lanty seems to know a lot about it.

This DVD offers quite a bit. If you have no one around to help you with your budding professional career as a dancer, there is a great deal of information that is important and helpful. If you are more like me and have spent ample time on the Internet and learning these things via class and workshops, I don’t think it is as necessary but still has information to offer. I found the DVD very enjoyable to watch and liked hearing different dancers’ takes on their topics.

 

Review: Ethnic Dance Academy Handbook

DaVid of Scandinavia suggested his book to me on Bhuz, when I wanted to come up with a means of cateogrizin my own moves. I like DaVid’s dancing, and he knows a lot of stuff. Besides, an ebook is only $15. Not too pricey. I did consider buying the print version, but at $40+shipping, I decided that the ebook was a better deal for me.

I started out with what’s called the EDA Handbook For Middle Eastern Dance. The EDA is the Ethnic Dance Academy, also known as DaVid’s dance school in San Diego. The book is full of goodies. It takes you through many aspects of Egyptian oriental, discussing history, technique, performance stuff (improv, how to choreograph), and professional career (teaching and/or dancing). It’s breadth is the best aspect of this book. It takes you through everything. Obviously, in 90some pages, the book isn’t an in-depth look at Egyptian Oriental, but the taste it gives is helpful. For newer dancers, I can see this book helping them understand what all is involved. The dance isn’t simply about wearing a costume and looking cute. I love how DaVid goes over the fact it’s important to practice, even the basics.

For dancers who are more well-seasoned, this book goes over nuances that can take you to the proverbial next level. DaVid writes very frankly about what it means to be a professional dancer and instructor. If you lack guidance in these areas, I’m sure the book would be helpful to read. Unless you spend a lot of time on message boards, I’m not sure where you would get this information, besides trial and error.

The only aspects of the book I would say were lacking are the technique explanations and this chart in the back. The technique explanations I found a little confusing. Perhaps it’s because I’m not familiar with DaVid’s teaching or that I don’t learn movement merely through reading. DaVid does provide some diagrams of the moves, but I’m not sure if I’d know what he was talking about if I didn’t know the move to begin with. I wouldn’t use this book to learn technique. I doubt DaVid intends for this book to be a means of learning technique.

The chart in the back was a very smart idea; it shows how everyone is interconnected. However, I found that confusing to read.

Despite those two issues, the wealth of information I got out of this book was worth it. I’m sure a print copy would be nice, but I’m squeezing pennies right now. David writes in an easy-going style. I hope he pens more books. I definitely recommend checking this one out to get an overall view of being a Middle Eastern dancer.

 

This time, it’s serious

I decided wherever I end up during fall 2009, I’m going to make a very big effort to dance more. I want to do something professional soon (in a few years or so) with dance, and I’ve been thinking about what I need to do this summer.

• I need to come up with some solid choreography. That will entail picking music, “mapping” it, and then dancing to it.
• I think I should be able to play zills. I’m getting better just doing walking steps and learning a few new rhythms, but I really want to dance with it. I think it’s important to have a strong grasp of a few typical props. I feel like my veil is pretty decent, my cane is okay, but I know zills is bit lacking with me. This is going to involve learning the rhythms as well.
• I definitely think my technique is stronger, significantly stronger, but I want to really add floorwork to it. I’m not a huge floorwork fan (I lose a lot of height if I’m kneeling), but again, I think floorwork can be dynamic and beautiful when used appropriately
• Style is something that I’m always working on. I don’t want to be a cookie-cutter dancer, ie. I don’t want to be a lesser version of someone famous. I want people to see me and feel like they’re seeing someone original, not “Hey, she moves just like ____!” I’m not saying I want to do crazy fusions or be sloppy, but I definitely think you can take several of the top dancers in any style and they will be distinct.

I was regretful my veil class was canceled this summer, but I think the extra 3 hours will be good for me to start really executing things. Does anyone have any experience or advice in how they took themselves to the proverbial next level?

 

Best use of my private lessons?

I decided, after having a lesson on connecting with music and working with that a little, that I need to restructure what I want to get out of my private lessons. I’ve identified things I’d to work on, different things I hadn’t thought about before or maybe did but thought I should tackle other things. My private lessons have been very beneficial, despite me identifying new challenges. They have given me a lot to think about, practice, and fully digest. I want to have time to fully get it before revisiting those topics with a teacher, if that makes sense. I don’t think I’ve gotten everything out of them yet, and there’s no point in re-evaluating myself at something when I haven’t fully explored it.

I think I want to get schooled in rhythms. In Middle Eastern dance, there are some rhythms that frequently show up. If you’re improvving, finding the rhythm can give a starting point to the dancer. Even if I weren’t improvving, I imagine that it would be helpful for choreography.

I also want to learn how to fuse dance things together (moves, moods, music, etc.) and look good when doing that. One of the chief complaints about fusion is that it looks sloppy and/or the dancer needed to pull some tricks to look interesting. I want to be able to do fusion that looks cohesive and beautiful.

I’d like to think of some other topics to visit over the course of spring and summer. What would you like to improve on? What do you think is vital for any dancer to work on?

 

How to Choregraph

As my first small workshop this year, I went to Sonya of Arabesque to learn how to choreograph. I went, because I don’t really know how to choreograph and because Sonya is excellent at it.

I thought the workshop was great, even if it involved no dancing. Sonya had us all introduce ourselves. I thought that was a nice change of pace, since I have seen most of the participants but didn’t know much about them. The people ranged from amateur to professional.

This workshop really benefited me in a lot of ways. Sonya went over a combination of understanding music, performance aspects, and how to string moves together for a choreography. I thought it was an excellent blend of everything. Even though I have been playing around with choreography for a bit, I learned a lot about how to map music to understand its structure. I really liked the music discussion in general; Middle Eastern music is different from “American” music. Not only in how it sounds and the instruments it uses, but also the music has special names for the rhythms, count differently, etc. I have a formal education in music (I played violin for 6 years as a kid), but I never had training in music from a dance perspective.

I liked learning about all the possibilities (starting on or off stage, etc.) and the pros and cons. The workshop was fun, because Sonya encouraged and received a bit of interaction with the participants. They swapped many war stories about performing choreography. I thought this aspect was especially good, since they were working professionals and mentioned problems I had never considered, like some soundsystems play st a slightly different speed or are not calibrated to do stereo sound well.

The only bad thing I can say is I wish this were more frequent and in depth with instruction on music and performance. Sonya is  great to listen to and is so knowledgeable, and the other workshop participants made it enjoyable.

 

My Las Vegas trip

Not being a gambler or much of a drinker/party person, Vegas was perhaps not the most fitting place to go. However, I was curious and figure I should see it once. I wanted to see the bright lights and an Elvis impersonator. I also had left the city of Chicago in about 6 months, so I thought I should leave for a bit.

My vacation was actually really good for my dancing. Despite being quite sick the bulk of the trip, I had a 2 hour private lesson with Aradia of Las Vegas. I only heard of her from Bhuz, which is a shame. I think she’s one of those kind of hidden jewels in the dance world. I felt really comfortable with her, even though I just met her. She’s incredibly sweet, friendly, and humble. She seemed to really enjoy herself teaching.

My lesson was on Hagallah, Persian dance, and a brief intro to Turkish Oriental. I love the “folkloric” dances, so this really exciting for me. Aradia is very knowledgeable on what she teaches; I learned as much historically as I did about combos and style of dancing. Until I had emailed her, I had no idea that she could teach these things. My familiarity with her was that she was a cabaret dancer, not someone who was also a folkloric dancer. It just goes to show that it never hurts to ask someone.

I liked the Persian and Turkish Oriental the best. The Persian dancing she taught me had more theatrical elements to it; for instance, she taught me how Persian dancers will act out doing their makeup during slow parts of songs. As much as I love dancing to the music and just feeling the drums or the violin, I prefer somewhat of a story or a mood for dancing. The Turkish Oriental is different from what I’m used to with Egyptian Oriental. Turkish is bigger and more energetic. Having done Egyptian-based technique for so long, I found doing the Turkish really difficult, even though they were moves I was familiar with. Hagallah was fun, but going into it, I didn’t know that it was a coming of age dance. Since Aradia studied this dance under three different people, she has solid knowledge. The hagallah felt much like the Aida Nour workshop dances; very simple but intriguing.

I saw a Cirque du Soleil show, Mystere, while there. I wasn’t expecting to be inspired by it in terms of my dancing. The attention to detail was breathtaking in the costumes. The performers were always in character, even if they were rather difficult to see (balcony singers off to the side). The physical movement was gorgeous; they weren’t just performing stunts but doing artistic work. I haven’t read much about the show, but there was some kind of story or theme in it. Adding that really blended everything well and made a cohesive show that could amuse a child or an adult. I know I can’t do a show of that magnitude, but I’d like to do a show that’s powerful and can reach so many people on different levels.

Now I’m back to the daily grind, with about 2 weeks left of vacation. Time has really flown.

 

Makeup Workshop

If you know me in real life, you know I own a lot of makeup. I love makeup. I love color.

Today at Arabesque, Sonya ran a workshop on the face. I went to it, because I admittedly know very little about stage makeup. The workshop, as the ones ran at the studio normally are, was small, which was good. What basically happened was Sonya showed us how she applies makeup for a daily look, a nighttime look, a performance look, and a performance on stage look. She narrated the entire time, explaining what she was using, how she was using it, and why.

A lot of it wasn’t new to me. I spend a lot of time on makeup boards and playing around with my own makeup. However, it was very thorough for those who wear little makeup, and I did pick up a few new tips that should make my makeup better. Because the workshop was so small, Sonya was able to answer individual questions as well as tell us individually what can work on our faces.

Sonya finished the workshop off with the importance of facial expression, demoing on herself. I felt like it was very good thing to learn, since facial expression really alters a performance. I did enjoy this workshop and would recommend to those who are very unfamiliar with makeup.

 

Three cheers to another MS students

Watching one of my acquaintances successfully defend his thesis was a great experience. The physics department is small, but the best part of it is a sense of community. We all genuinely were excited for this guy and went to the defense, despite some of us having to drive in relatively far or possibly cutting out of work (I’m lucky; I just TA). It was also worthwhile for me, because this guy is also one of my advisor’s students.

What’s really interesting about a thesis presentation (I’ve been to about 6 undergraduate ones and two M.S. ones) is it’s very much like any kind of performance. You have to be engaging and interesting to really sell it to the folks in the audience. You also have to know the basics and how to present them well, because how else can you bring the audience in? J, the presenter, really did a phenomenal job.

Afterwards, everyone who could went out with J and my advisor to get food and talk. I haven’t interacted as much with my advisor on a personal level, so that was indeed worthwhile. He is quite humorous and personable; I feel I chose well with my advisor. He gave some tips to us for the thesis presentation/defense:

• Use up all the time you can in your presentation, because the committee will be more tired and won’t ask you as many questions in your defense portion
• The committee genuinely is curious (I’m not sure if this is true everywhere) and wants to know about your thesis; they’re not trying to stump you
• Know the basics, because if they’re unfamiliar with the topic, they will most likely ask about that
• Get two people on your committee who will argue with each other so they use up time and you don’t have to say much

I think the middle two points are worthwhile for dance, since my performances afterwards always consist of people wanting to know basic information. I’ve been lucky that I haven’t encountered people who have been misinformed about Middle Eastern dance or if they have, they’re also willing to keep an open mind.

Having a mentor is so worthwhile. I see great potential, as my workload for research increases, that my advisor can be that person. From his advisees, I hear he is tough but encouraging, always available, patient, and pretty much everything a good advisor should be. I feel really privileged to have two dance mentors. Danielle here has been an amazing help. Since she’s been dancing a lot longer than I, she has encountered the same situations I have in dance and can guide me to develop myself better. Carla, my first Bharatanatyam teacher, has been incredibly encouraging. I don’t contact her very often but when I do, she always has been able to help me figure out the next step. I believe, though, that the best thing that both of them do is encourage me to be my own individual dancer and not be someone else. I think that is such a worthwhile thing.