I’ve revamped my warmup and drill flow to something I hope will be simple and effective.  Of course, that will be a continual work in progress as well as both myself and my students change.

I’ve also picked several very different pieces of music to work with.  Depending on mood, we’ve got Arabian Pop, slow tribal and a more traditionally Egyptian orchestral piece.  Hopefully, something for everyone!

So….

Now that you’ve read Celeste’s piece, where do you stand?  To be frank, I don’t know that it matters to anyone but you (or your troupe mates) what you’ve decided.  But I do think it matters that you thought about it.

To throw another question or two at you…

“What is the role of dance in your life?” Is it something you play with?  Something that you pull out when you need a bit of lightness and joy?  Is it something you work at?  Something you commit time and energy to ?  Something you drill and practice and sweat over?  Does it bring you joy or are you finding dance time an exercise in frustration?

There is no right or wrong here.  We all see/feel/want different things from dance and come to it from different directions.  Knowing yourself and your dance helps you to choose where you go with it, where you let it take you.

I’m still thinking my way through her questions – and mine, for that matter.

It’s a new year.  Dancing will be a part of it.  Now, it’s up to me to decide what part.

With that pressure partially relieved, I’m now deciding what I’ll be wearing.  Due to the venue, the burgundy and navy blue with silver costumes would be far too hot to wear at that time of day.  Which leaves me to wear my silver “tribaret” bedlah with a pink skirt or the aqua bedlah with a green/aqua/teal skirt.  Since I’m dancing both Friday and Saturday, there’s no reason not to wear one each day.  After all, variety IS one of the spices of life, isn’t it?

At this point, I’m thinking that the first 30ish seconds will be entrance.  There’s a heartbeat pulse underneath the music that would be good for sharp pelvic lifts layered with alternating single snake arms and arm sweeps.  After that, a few reverse rib circles with crossing arms to the 42 second mark.

Then we get down to business!  Arabian walk with overhead arm sway to 53 seconds, followed by traveling hip circles with shimmy layered with Aladdin arms.  Rinse and repeat the hip circles to the opposite direction to the music change at 1:10.

Next, I’m thinking undulating camel with grapevine right and left – good spot for body tracing arms, there maybe.  I’ll repeat the hip circle/camel sequence once more.

Now, we’re at 1:48 – only 2:45 minutes left to go!

The music changes to a more aggressive tempo here.  I think a 3/4 shimmy walking would fit the bill.  This will take me to 1:57.  Three step turn right followed by single snake arm (Isis arm), three step turn right followed by double snake with upper body undulation.  Repeat to the left (2:13).

Again the music changes – this time a hip twist walk forward (first right hip X 8, then left) moving into walking hip push backward.  Arms here are whatever I manage to work in at the time!

For those of you following along at home, we’re at 2:35 now.  The music goes back into the 3 step turn sequence.  This time, I’ll forgo the snake arms and just throw in a rib circle or two, I think.  That brings us to 2:52.  Time to catch my breath as the music goes into a really dramatic change to a slow, sensual section.

Here’s where some undulations come in.  Side to side, up to down, down to up – you get the picture.  Arms fluid, possibly coming over my head in full on alternating arm sweeps, moving out to snake arms.  There’s also space here for single figure 8 hips – most likely dangling.  At this point, we’re at 3:30 before the heavy drumbeat comes back in to signal that it’s time to think about what kind of ending is required.

We’re back to the rhythm I originally did the walking hip circles to.  There’s a hesitation melody here that would let me do a strong front hip drop followed by two quick back hip drops.  A change of weight and I’m moving backwards.  After this, 1-2-3 arabesque forward to 3:58.

Now a scissor step with hip shimmy – to the left of the stage, the center of the stage, the right of the stage and back to the center.  I’ll probably add offering arms to this.

We’re at 4:12 now.  Only 20ish seconds to go!

I’ll go back to the traveling hip circles here – a full cycle right, then left.  The music leads into the perfect spot for a huge hip circle with torso drop and Tadah! – the final pose.

Now, I just have to dance it.

“Ice Queen” it is. It’s an orchestral, sweeping, dramatic piece. There are a fair amount of tempo changes, and some really interesting changes in feeling and dynamic. It’s a few years old, so it’s not a piece that will be new to everyone, but it has faded out of the popular lexicon. That’s a good thing. The music will have familiarity, but almost a nostalgic sense instead of a “Oh, no. Not ANOTHER dancer doing “Ice Queen”.

Because it’s strictly instrumental I also bypass the concern that I might not be dancing in a fashion appropriate to lyrics. Dancing “happy-clappy” to “my wife left me for my brother” really wouldn’t be appropriate. (Or maybe it would, depending upon the wife, I suppose!)

Regardless, it’s a good choice, I think. It runs about 4:30 minutes, which is long enough to get some good choreo going but not so long that you run out of ideas.

And that’s where the next challenge is. I have 10 days to choreograph and get the piece in shape for presentation. For the next few days, it’s all I’ll be listening to. As bits fall into place, I’ll note them in a choreography journal. I’ll also count measures out and try to fit in some of the combinations that have been floating around in my head. Once I have choreography for about half of it, I’ll dance it and see where momentum takes me.

It’s an addiction – and, like all addictions does absolutely nothing to fix the root cause.

I’m like this with both music and costumes. I’ve managed to fall into the unreasonable belief that the perfect piece of music and the perfect costume will make me the perfect dancer.

I know better. The only thing that will make me a better dancer is practice and experience. The 2000 pieces of music on my hard drive and the mounds of fabric waiting to become costumes will not help me to dance. (They do have a benefit and certainly do impact the final result, but that’s a discussion for another time.)

So, today I choose. From what I have. No new music.

It’s the first step.

So, on today’s agenda….

Stick earbuds in and listen to songs of 3:45 to 4:00 minutes until something resonates.  I’d like something none of the other dancers will be using.  Other than that, I have no clue.

Should it be flirty?  Fun?  Dramatic?  Who will be watching?  What will the audience expectation be?  What will the other dancers offer? Do I want a prop?  If so, will it be veil or stick?  Am I looking for a piece I can zill to?  Do I have a story to tell?  What can I offer that will engage the audience and reward them for taking the time to show up?

Lots of questions.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to fill in some answers this afternoon.

The nice thing about searching for the right music is that I can bead and costume while I’m doing it.

Back from vacation on PEI.  It was a purposeful vacation – there to celebrate my parents 50th anniversary and reconnect with siblings I hadn’t seen in almost a decade.

We sat by the fire pit and talked for hours each evening,

spent time together on a pristine beach,

and had an extended family potluck and “party”.

Where I grew up, “party” means “bring your instrument and your step dancing shoes”.  Acadian and Irish music demands audience participation and no toe goes untapped.  Skill, of course, is important, but it’s really the enthusiasm and love of music that shines.

I don’t play one of the “traditional” instruments, and I’ve never had any skill at step dancing.  I used to sing with “the band”, but I’ve been away from that for many, many years and my vocal chords are more than rusty.  I did have something to offer, though.

You see, I zill.  To anything.  If the music calls for a syncopated percussive sound, I’m your girl – and my fingers can just fly.

I had the chance to zill with my musical cousins to Irish jigs and reels.  It’s not as strange as it sounds, really.  The solid 4/4 rhythm and quick tempo allowed me to “chime” right in.  It’s been almost 30 years since I’ve played as part of an ensemble (saxophone in jazz and pit bands) and it was nothing like I remember it at all, at all.

The musicians played piano, guitar, fiddle and accordion, but the only percussion came from the dancers.  Since it was a family party, and the musicians and dancers were my first and second cousins, I didn’t think anyone would be overly upset if I added to the mix.

I had my zills in my purse, I “zilled up” in less than half a song, and sat myself on the corner of the stage.  This let me be out of direct line of site, but still send the sound out to the audience.  It was an wonderful experience for me, and a unique one for the other musicians.  My cousins had never seen or heard zilling before, which made for some very inquiring looks in my direction.  Like true pros, they just made room in the music for me and kept on playing.

The important thing about joining into the music when there are dancers, is to make sure the dancers aren’t thrown off.  There’s a symbiotic relationship there that has a delicate balance.  Dancers listen for the music, musicians respond to to the dancers.  When it’s done just right, everyone becomes more than they were before they got on stage – and the audience feels that and feeds right back into it.

We did it right.  And the music carried us.