Yshka

Hi everyone,

I will be performing with live music for the first time in two weeks and I'm nervous nervous nervous . It will be at a restaurant with a Turkish band. I have performed before, just never with a 'real' live band.

I don't know whether this has been asked before but anyway, are there any important things I should know about performing with a band? Anything I should be aware of or pay attention to?

Can anyone offer any advice for this kind of thing? It would be most welcome

Thanks all!!

P.S. I have read the 'boring music" thread a bit and I see that interaction with the musicians is very important, but how does this happen? How will I know how to 'interact'? (jeez, did I mention I'm nervous? )

da Sage

Hi Yska,

That's very exciting! I'm sure you'll do a great job. Don't forget to have a good time, too.

I've never performed with a live band, but I think you should chat with them before the show, if you can. Maybe they can play some of their song choices, and give you an idea of how the finales sound? It is also a good idea to find out who is the band leader...who cues the music changes and the ending. That's who you direct any emergency mid-dance non-verbal cues to.

Kharmine

Is there some place you can go to hear the band? Do they have a CD or a tape recording?

Musicians of Middle Eastern, Turkish, Greek and Armenian heritage tend not to play the same song exactly the same way twice. (Actually this is true with folk musicians of many other countries.) So it would be a good idea to find out if they will, so you know what to expect and vice versa.

chryssanthi sahar

Dear Yshka.

If the band is Turkish, you will not have much choice of music anyway I've worked with many Turkish bands in Germany and I can tell you that all of them played "Aziza" (in a very unorthodox version) and then some Turkish music, either folklore stuff (including 9/8) or modern Turkish stuff. Of course I don't know how good this band , which will play for you, is. But don't worry. Let yourself go, don't think about choreography and such stuff, because it is almost impossible to dance choreography when performing with a Turkish live band. Just dance like you feel and if you can play zills, do it. Turkish people love to hear zills. If you cannot, it is not that bad, just dance and pull also the audience to dance with you in between (especially if the audience is Turkish). For Turkish people belly dance is just fun and entertainment. They cannot judge if a dancer is a good artist or not, they judge if she is a good entertainer or not
Good luck and happy dancing

__________________
Oriental dancer and instructor of Greek origin, living in Germany
www.chryssanthi.com

steffib

Know the most common Turkish repertoire, so that you can ask for songs. And, even if the names don't work smoothly because your ethnic musicians may know what is commonly called Fire Dance as Ates Dansi, Hicazkar Oyun Havasi (Dance song in Maqam Hicazkar) or "that song in D Hijazkar", you'll be prepared to dance to the music.

Fire Lily

I've never danced to a live band before either. Or at least not been paid for it. But I think in theory, the band will give you cues telling you how big or small the movements need to be. I'm beginning to wish i'd payed more attention in algebra at school, cause my teacher keeps saying something along the lines of E = size in movement, or something like that. Possibly something to do with Keti Sharief, i'm not too sure.
Anyway my point is. The bigger the sound, the bigger the move and vice versa.
A ney could symbolize a shimmy or a shoulder shimmy, a tummy flutter (If you can do them) The biger the orchestra the more you can move around the stage.
I've been sitting in my room the last few weeks, relearning all my music, and actually really listening to the cues. That in turn should help with choriography and free-styleing.

Anyway. That's what i've been taught.
Good luck with the performance.

Namaste

Fire Lily

steffib

Hm, I wouldn't expect a ney in a Turkish band - more common instruments seem to include clarinet (yeay!), oud, saz and maybe a cumbus or a kanoun (plus percussion, of course).

chryssanthi sahar

Dear Fire Lily.

Sorry, but it is not that easy... Of course it depends what style you are dancing, but if you are supposed to dance Arabian style, then there are rules for what movements fit to what instrument. In the case of nay, shoulder and other shimmies are NO NO (except if the nay starts producing a trembling sound). The nay has a wavy sound, so you should do wavy movements on it. This means, body wave, different eight figures, hip circles and hip rotations etc. I've learned these things from my Arabian musicians with who I've been working for more than 18 years now.
As about the case of Yshka: I agree with steffib, that most probably there is not going to be any nay, since the band is Turkish. Turks usually play clarinet instead of nay.

__________________
Oriental dancer and instructor of Greek origin, living in Germany
www.chryssanthi.com

Fire Lily

No, that's cool. Always apriciate feedback. Especially when you've been taught something then later find out it's wrong. So thanks for clearing that up!
That's where having a good teacher comes in handy.

Fire Lily

Yshka

Hi everyone,

Da Sage and Kharmine, I might go to hear the band sometime before the show, I think I will if I get the opportunity. I also will have time to speak to the band so they might be able to know some songs I know too (I at least know Fire Dance, Aziza and a reasonable amount of Huseyin Turkmenler songs).

Chryssanthi, lol! I know some Turkish music at least and I was wondering whether they will be playing Aziza too lol. I wasn't even thinking of choreographing anything, I'm starting to get the hang of this improv thing so I guess (I hope, I'm not really that experienced with Turkish music though) I should be fine.
I was also thinking of playing zills since I can and one thing I do know about Turks is that they love it.

Steffib, thanks for the tip. I'm starting to familiarize further with Turkish music and lay off the Egyptian stuff for at least two weeks . I want to be prepared really.

Thanks Fire Lily, I know my way around the different instruments' sounds quite well (I usually dance Lebanese/AmCab/Egyptian style). I have been listening to a lot of 9/8 music lately too, and I'm starting to clearly understand which move might go where. I'll think about that.

The stage will not be that big, I've heard there won't be much room to dance anyway so I'll see what that's like if I get to go there before the actual show.

Thanks everyone, anymore advice is very welcome too if anyone thinks of something!
Still nervous, but now I'm kind of forming an idea of what to expect, it calms me at least a tiny bit

Very true. My teacher also knows this band and the restaurant, and she rocks at dancing with live music. She will help me a great deal too with preparing for this show. I can honestly say I'm really happy to have her! (and all of you girls too!!)