I'm trying to work on my Solo for the upcoming showcase. I want to dance to Jemileh, by Pangia. I love that song. It's so beautiful, it puts me into that "magical dance place," where you can feel the music and forget about the audience - you can just dance.
I love impov-ing to that song. With it's predictable rythym, it's easy to make your improv look like a choreo, as long as you know the song. And I'm no stranger to improv - it's what I do. When I dance, 95% of my performance is improv. I really enjoy it - for parties. Not for stage shows.
For some reason, I feel as though standing on a stage means I must have a choreography prepared. I feel absolutely uncomfortable doing improv on stage. Maybe it's because I feel more comfortable improv-ing in an environment where I can interact with my audience, and where it is necessary for me to be able to change things up in response to the actions and emotions of the audience members. Maybe it's because when I'm on stage, I don't get that interaction - on stage, it's like I'm on display - no matter what the audience is doing, I just keep on truckin' with my dance, especially since I can't see the audience from stage half the time anyway, what with the glaring spotlights and all.
But I'm having a hard time with it here - I want to dance to Jemileh, a song I know like the back of my hand and that I am so used to improv-ing to. But, it's going to be on stage, so I want to choreograph something. But I'm finding that extremely difficult because I just want to improv.
Ugh. And so, two weeks before the show, I still have no solo.
Showing posts with label choreography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label choreography. Show all posts
Friday, April 11, 2008
Monday, March 26, 2007
Choreography 101
With the show quickly approaching, many of my students are putting the finishing touches on their solo choreographies. I realize that choreographing a dance is not an easy task, so if you are attempting to put together your first choreography, kudos to you!!
I've choreographed many dances in my life (bellydance and other) and I've watched many students perform their own choreographies for the first time. Here are some observations I've made, that may guide you as you put your dance together:
1) Listen to the music! Too many times, I see a student choreography that does not interpret the music the student is dancing too. You should keep in mind that you are dancing TO the music, not just dancing with music in the background. Don't just string together eight counts of one step, eight counts of another, eight counts of another, and so on, regardless of what the music is doing. If the music is changing rhythm, or tempo, change your steps to match. If there are accents in the song, hit the accents with your body. The whole point of dance (any type of dance) is to interpret music. Let that come through in your own choreographies.
2) Take up the whole stage! (Or dance studio, or living room...). Don't just stand in one place and do your steps. Especially if you are choreographing a solo! One person on a stage, standing in one place, will get lost. Use traveling steps, take up the whole stage, and make your presence felt!
3) Choose a song that works for you! Don't try to force yourself to choreograph to a classical Egyptian song, if you normally go the pop music route. You need to be inspired to choreograph; chosing a song that doesn't speak to you will make the process even more difficult. An uninspired choreography is no fun to watch!
So, now what? You have your song, you are inspired, you are ready to cover ground and interpret to your music. What do you do now? Well, listen to the music. Put the song on and just dance around your house to it. See what the song makes you want to do. Do this a few times, and try to remember some of the steps you feel most natural doing to this song. Then, listen to the first few counts of 8 (or 6, or whatever your song is). Choreograph that section only, really listening to the music and using it to your advantage. Do the rest of the dance the same way - a small section at a time. If you get stuck, go back to step one - just let the music play and start dancing. You will be inspired again, and can draw from that inspiration to add to your choreography.
Good luck!
I've choreographed many dances in my life (bellydance and other) and I've watched many students perform their own choreographies for the first time. Here are some observations I've made, that may guide you as you put your dance together:
1) Listen to the music! Too many times, I see a student choreography that does not interpret the music the student is dancing too. You should keep in mind that you are dancing TO the music, not just dancing with music in the background. Don't just string together eight counts of one step, eight counts of another, eight counts of another, and so on, regardless of what the music is doing. If the music is changing rhythm, or tempo, change your steps to match. If there are accents in the song, hit the accents with your body. The whole point of dance (any type of dance) is to interpret music. Let that come through in your own choreographies.
2) Take up the whole stage! (Or dance studio, or living room...). Don't just stand in one place and do your steps. Especially if you are choreographing a solo! One person on a stage, standing in one place, will get lost. Use traveling steps, take up the whole stage, and make your presence felt!
3) Choose a song that works for you! Don't try to force yourself to choreograph to a classical Egyptian song, if you normally go the pop music route. You need to be inspired to choreograph; chosing a song that doesn't speak to you will make the process even more difficult. An uninspired choreography is no fun to watch!
So, now what? You have your song, you are inspired, you are ready to cover ground and interpret to your music. What do you do now? Well, listen to the music. Put the song on and just dance around your house to it. See what the song makes you want to do. Do this a few times, and try to remember some of the steps you feel most natural doing to this song. Then, listen to the first few counts of 8 (or 6, or whatever your song is). Choreograph that section only, really listening to the music and using it to your advantage. Do the rest of the dance the same way - a small section at a time. If you get stuck, go back to step one - just let the music play and start dancing. You will be inspired again, and can draw from that inspiration to add to your choreography.
Good luck!
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