Reen.Blom

I am also curious!

charity

i am going to do this challenge now.

i know a lot of people do not like how rania dances. for example she is quite stiff but one thing i really, really LOVE about her is her movement design . her creative combo's...i would execute them differently but i think it is a good start for improv. i think neena and veena also have a lot of great movement ideas that can be applied to improv.

SmilingMarie

I've just found out that my iTunes feature a radio station with all Arabic music (mainly pop but also some more classical stuff) - great for improvising as there is a chance it plays music I don't already have!

charity

thats another issue, music. i have very little. the stuff i do have is me pop.

anymore i just dance to what i have, i have bd'ed to some unusual stuff like sean paul or ciara- the princess. i use other hip-hop/R&B too and for some reason korn seems to be another favorite to dance too. its silly and fun and you put bd moves together in a totally different sense. i'm getting a LOT better at improv. but when you use different music styles, your dance too becomes a fusion of all the other dances you may know.

plus it is a good way to do isolations. its much easier to do reps to tempo than it is to stand in front of a mirror or the dvd and drill the same move over and over. dynamic isolations to a dynamic beat. because really how useful is a static isolation or drill (except in the beginning when learning a move), your body will never be so rigid in dance? the point is to be able to maintain an isolation while transitioning between moves.

Mya

that music mightn't be as unusual as you might think; sean paul is afro-caribbean type music; dancehall as we call it in the caribbean and hip-hop and R&B also have afrocentric beats. This isn't dissimilar from some bellydance music which is Afro-influenced. Actually as much as i dislike dancehall type dancing i have seen ALOT of moves which resemble bellydance moves quite closely.

charity

true. i love to see a dance move that you know in one style expressed in another. there are a LOT of "hip hop"/"street" moves that if you check out swing/rag time style dances or even the jive, they have the same moves repeated in a different context. its very motivating and inspiring because i love all kinds of dance.

Letti

I'm awful in improvization, so I did some research on the subject and found a great article. It helped me a lot to understand my feelings connected to impro. I hope you also find it useful and inspiring:

Part1

Secrets of Improvisation in Belly Dance Part 1 - Belly Dance, Womanhood and everything in between. Shemiranibrahim.com

Part2

Secrets of Improvisation in Belly Dance Part 2 - Belly Dance, Womanhood and everything in between. Shemiranibrahim.com

adiemus

thanks for putting these up!

__________________
He wahine, he taonga- Every woman is a treasure(Maori proverb)

Jane

I love to improv! At home alone is the best place; turn down the lights, turn up the music, turn off the brain and just dance!

When improving, it helps to have a basic "oh sh!+" move you can do for a few counts while you decide what to try next. It should be something simple that will fit a lot of music types: a favorite shimmy, a spin, arm movement, or a traveling step maybe.

When casual dancing in a group, you can dance off each other, sometimes slightly altering the move you saw and letting it grow.

Caroline_afifi

I didnt get a chance to read every post so i might be repeating.

A good starting point is to try it with music you know and love.
When you get 'stuck', think about which move you get 'stuck' on the most.
I know people often say it happens alot on an 8.
Do you drive in the car and imagine yourself dancing?
I plan most choreographies in the car. They dont always work but it gets the ideas flowing and having 'dance' in your head is the most important step in connecting it to the rest of your body.