Americans who dance good Egyptian style - Page 3

Aisha Azar · 12-01-2007, 12:09 AM

Dear Lucy,
You are a consummate dancer and capture the Egyptian style with all of its nuances and spirit. ( And I am not known to give high praise lightly!!)
Regards,
A'isha

Brea · 12-01-2007, 03:44 AM

Hi again Lucy-

That sounds very similar to how I prepare for dancing. I do have a video, but it was filmed sideways for some reason (someone I didn't know filmed me and then sent me a copy). There are others of me around but as a gypsy in general I haven't collected everything in one place (sometimes I think I haven't collected all of myself in one place!) Anyway, I hope this will not offend, but I have looked and looked for dancers who dance the way I do and have failed. Your dancing is the first kind I have seen that looks like mine. It is incredibly satisfying to finally see someone dancing the way I was taught to dance...for a long time I had only the 'robotic' types to look at and most of them told me they had never seen that kind of dancing before. I think you dance beautifully and I hope the comparison isn't offensive, but as I said I haven't seen anyone do that before. Maybe it is that we share the opinion that the dance should be spontaneous and expressive, I don't know. Anyway, it makes me very happy. I suppose you won't know if you should be offended or not until you've seen a video of my dancing though.

Ecuabellydancer- I absolutely disagree that this dance should be planned and robotic. That free feeling is how it is supposed to be! I think a lot of Western teachers that disassociate this dance from its sexuality are missing the boat and making the dance look rather bizarre...how can you do those moves and attempt to keep that part out of it?

-Brea Morgiane

lucydances · 12-01-2007, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A'isha Azar

Dear Lucy,
You are a consummate dancer and capture the Egyptian style with all of its nuances and spirit. ( And I am not known to give high praise lightly!!)
Regards,
A'isha

A'isha, thank you for the praise. It means a lot to me coming from you.

LeylaLanty · 12-01-2007, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A'isha Azar

Dear Lucy,
You are a consummate dancer and capture the Egyptian style with all of its nuances and spirit. ( And I am not known to give high praise lightly!!)
Regards,
A'isha

I couldn't have said it better myself, including the part about not being know to give high praise lightly! Lovely dancing, Lucy!

LeylaLanty · 12-01-2007, 07:42 PM

Exactly!! This is exactly what I do for an oriental piece (as opposed to folk stuff like cane dance to Saidi folk songs where I always check out the meaning of the lyrics anyway

), especially Om K. You've described the process beautifully. Everyone should read this!

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucydances

Do you have video of your dancing? Really, it's the best way to assess your dancing.

Anyway, I generally don't choreograph, but when I work on an Om Kolthoum piece, I always start with a framework. For me, Om K deserves some real thought and consideration, not only because she was such a great artist, but because her songs have enormously rich layers of meaning that deserve to really be investigated artistically. So this is what I do --

- Listen to many versions of the song, including the full original version performed by Om K (widely available online)

- Get a translation - if possible, get multiple translations.

- Listen to a version of the song with vocals over and over, translation in hand (I end up memorizing the lyrics this way)

- Do some run throughs. Usually there are large parts which I immediately know how to interpret, but I'll shape them to make sure that the stage dynamics are good (for example, I'm extremely right-hipped, so I have to choreograph left-hipped stuff in so that I don't just forget to do it and end up looking lopsided).

- There are almost always parts that are tough. I'll work with some friends to get their feedback and ideas on what to do in those sections, and go back and re-examine the lyrics as well.

- Go out on stage, forget the choreography, and just pour my soul into it.

This level of preparation is for really special stuff, though - Om K or pieces that I'm doing in big stage shows. Most of my other music I will listen to a thousand times before I use it, but then not actually do a rehearsal - I shape things by performing to them. I like things to be spontaneous and fun when I'm just in pure entertainer mode, and the best part is I usually end up doing something completely unexpected and cool that I never would have thought of otherwise.

- Lucy

Chani · 12-02-2007, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucydances

As for Chani's question -- The "no no" signal is actually something I was doing because of the lyrics at that point in the song, but since people were clapping, it ended up looking like I was telling the audience not to clap (not something I would ever do!).

Thanks for explaining, Lucy. I love that you interact so much with the audience. Yes, I agree that being mindful of the lyrics is important. Alas, I only have English under my belt and I'm afraid that the most I understand of the Middle Eastern songs I am listening to is the basic theme. So I try to do my best with how the song feels to me. I sometimes wonder if I am way off - thinking love song when really it's a funny one etc.

Chani

rita1969 · 12-04-2007, 12:31 AM

great video ill copy some of the moves

Ranya · 12-04-2007, 10:56 AM

rita, the thing is (and I think that's what this thread is about) that just copying movements is not what makes a good dancer. rather than copying a movement try to understand when and why a good dancer uses that particular movement

lucydances · 12-04-2007, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chani

Alas, I only have English under my belt and I'm afraid that the most I understand of the Middle Eastern songs I am listening to is the basic theme.
Chani

Hi Chani:

Okay, one last response.

I don't speak Arabic either -- that's why I work hard to find translations of the songs. Thank goodness for the internet - there's so much out there nowadays! Even if you can only get a general translation of a song, it's enormously helpful in interpreting a song well.

- Lucy

CurlyBellyGirl · 12-07-2007, 02:06 AM

I'm just really inspired by the vidoes and find Lucy so very graceful. Yay!

12-01-2007, 12:09 AM	#21 (permalink)
Aisha Azar V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Pacific Northwest USA Posts: 4,176	Dance, etc. Dear Lucy, You are a consummate dancer and capture the Egyptian style with all of its nuances and spirit. ( And I am not known to give high praise lightly!!) Regards, A'isha

12-01-2007, 03:44 AM	#22 (permalink)
Brea V.I.P. Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: USA Posts: 1,283	Hi again Lucy- That sounds very similar to how I prepare for dancing. I do have a video, but it was filmed sideways for some reason (someone I didn't know filmed me and then sent me a copy). There are others of me around but as a gypsy in general I haven't collected everything in one place (sometimes I think I haven't collected all of myself in one place!) Anyway, I hope this will not offend, but I have looked and looked for dancers who dance the way I do and have failed. Your dancing is the first kind I have seen that looks like mine. It is incredibly satisfying to finally see someone dancing the way I was taught to dance...for a long time I had only the 'robotic' types to look at and most of them told me they had never seen that kind of dancing before. I think you dance beautifully and I hope the comparison isn't offensive, but as I said I haven't seen anyone do that before. Maybe it is that we share the opinion that the dance should be spontaneous and expressive, I don't know. Anyway, it makes me very happy. I suppose you won't know if you should be offended or not until you've seen a video of my dancing though. Ecuabellydancer- I absolutely disagree that this dance should be planned and robotic. That free feeling is how it is supposed to be! I think a lot of Western teachers that disassociate this dance from its sexuality are missing the boat and making the dance look rather bizarre...how can you do those moves and attempt to keep that part out of it? -Brea Morgiane __________________ www.breamorgiane.com

12-04-2007, 12:31 AM	#27 (permalink)
rita1969 Banned Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 67	great video ill copy some of the moves great video ill copy some of the moves

12-04-2007, 10:56 AM	#28 (permalink)
Ranya Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Menton "the lemon town", FRANCE Posts: 523	rita, the thing is (and I think that's what this thread is about) that just copying movements is not what makes a good dancer. rather than copying a movement try to understand when and why a good dancer uses that particular movement

12-07-2007, 02:06 AM	#30 (permalink)
CurlyBellyGirl Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bay Area, California Posts: 35	I'm just really inspired by the vidoes and find Lucy so very graceful. Yay!