Before I critique my next video, I’m very excited to mention that I finally got my professional costume! I ordered it online from States and it took almost 2 months to arrive! While waiting, I also made my own costume and I can’t decide which one I like more. The one I ordered is more classy and comes with a pencil like skirt. For real cougar, mature, sassy woman, like no kidding! The one I made myself is very flowy, girlish and innocent-flirty like. They can both be seen in this video.
I feel like I have to portray a different personage depending on my costume. And I have to select a costume based on the music and the mood I’m in. This is great! I am being my own costume designer, choreographer, performer, artistic director, stage manager (I have to find new places to shoot the videos and set them up, pay attention to lighting, oh so much work!) and more. Luckily, I don’t have to videotape myself anymore. And as a huge bonus my lovely man volunteered to take my videos. I wonder if he knows that he’s not only a camera director, but he provides a huge inspiration to me and brings out my stage presence! For him I smile, for him I laugh (probably not very appropriate for a dance video), with him I flirt, for him I want to dance more and better and it comes across in my videos that he shoots. I can’t tell he feels great about this, as I often ask for re-takes which must be annoying but I hope he feels special.
You know what? I feel so good, I don’t even want to critique this video. I want to make an exception, even though it’s only my second video in this blog. I felt love and I felt loved during its shooting and that’s all that matters! It was fun …especially when mosquitoes discovered us in the backyard shooting a video. No wonder I shimmied so much. We had no choice but to carry on to the end of the song and then – RUN!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Belly Dance Challenge. Video #1
So here is my first video this year. (Other years’ videos don’t count, but they will serve for comparison purposes later on). What have I learned from this video? Let’s begin. Being my own astute judge and critic I need to work on the following:
1a) First and foremost – improve the lighting in my room!! No one can see me in this video!
1b) Second of all, I should give myself a pat on the back. I think I dance ok, but I LOVE it and that’s all that counts.
2) Catch more beats! I want to see more hip drops, more accents, more upper body movement right to the beat. Ideally I should not miss a single beat in the music and that’s a hard work! Sadie mastered it, so why can’t I?
3) Flowing around is nice – but not so nice when there’s too much flowing. So, don’t flow so much, for goodness sake! Focus more on individual movements.
4) FINISH each movement you’ve started and then creatively and naturally transition to the next. TAKE TIME. Don’t just jump from one move to the next like a squirrel among trees.
5) Remember everything you’ve learned. Once you start dancing for the camera – everything you’ve been practicing goes out of the window for three minutes. RELAX!
6) Keep practicing stage presence. Choose your character that fits your personality, music, costume and style. In this video, I was a bit gothy and gypsy. Hence, I tried to portray a mysterious yet joyful dancer. Hard to tell if that worked given no one can see my face.
Alright, I will practice these things for my next video.
1a) First and foremost – improve the lighting in my room!! No one can see me in this video!
1b) Second of all, I should give myself a pat on the back. I think I dance ok, but I LOVE it and that’s all that counts.
2) Catch more beats! I want to see more hip drops, more accents, more upper body movement right to the beat. Ideally I should not miss a single beat in the music and that’s a hard work! Sadie mastered it, so why can’t I?
3) Flowing around is nice – but not so nice when there’s too much flowing. So, don’t flow so much, for goodness sake! Focus more on individual movements.
4) FINISH each movement you’ve started and then creatively and naturally transition to the next. TAKE TIME. Don’t just jump from one move to the next like a squirrel among trees.
5) Remember everything you’ve learned. Once you start dancing for the camera – everything you’ve been practicing goes out of the window for three minutes. RELAX!
6) Keep practicing stage presence. Choose your character that fits your personality, music, costume and style. In this video, I was a bit gothy and gypsy. Hence, I tried to portray a mysterious yet joyful dancer. Hard to tell if that worked given no one can see my face.
Alright, I will practice these things for my next video.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Belly Dance Challenge. Introduction
Belly dance – “shameless display of femininity”.
After having had enough of classes, where I felt like I wasn’t learning anything anymore; where everything in this powerful, sensual, feminine, graceful dance just started to resemble one big shimmy; where instead of being inspired, the classes started to do the reverse, I decided to take a break. That was back in September, 2009.
On January 1st, 2010, the New Year has come and with it came new resolutions, new hope, new light, new joy. Waking up all weary and tired on January 1st is never easy. Not only your sleep is disturbed the night before but you realize that another year has passed by and you ask yourself: “What have I accomplished last year?” Hmmmm quite a bit actually. And after some contemplation you ask: “What would I like to achieve this year”?
You see yourself standing on top of the highest Mountain (the peak of which is January 1st), and the rest of the calendar years are just downhill paths leading yourself to the place you want to reach. Which one would you chose in 2010? Where would it bring you?
Somewhere at the bottom you see the same houses, same neighbourhood, same people and maybe some new … and you realize – this year might just be the same as last. I will work as usual (but maybe get a promotion), I will hang out with my friends as usual, I will enjoy my hobbies as usual, I will have 3 weeks of vacation as usual (hmm I should discover new places! And for a moment you get excited) …. Well last year was pretty good, there’s nothing wrong with re-living it again, only wiser, since you’ve learned so much last year.
And then, you decide NO! I need to add more flavour, more colors, to this year, take more risks, push my limits, face my fears, try something I have never thought I would try … and I would LIVE every moment, LIVE in the present, LOVE immensely, BREATH deeper, LAUGH louder, SMILE to strangers, WAKE UP with the urge to begin new day … bla-bla-bla-bla-bla …. And I would DANCE!
For the first time this year, after waking up on January 1st, (ok 1st time in three months) I put on some Oriental Music and what happened next was awakening. My left hip dropped…. unveiled inner silence, as if absorbing what had just happened …. then right hip dropped, my chest lifted and did a little shimmy, my whole body stretched into an undulation, another hip drop – more intense and precise this time, a smile, and off I go into a full dance, improvising, listening to my soul guiding my body to the beats. I felt free and happy. (If anybody is reading this and thinking “what the heck?”, I’m just using Belly Dance terminology. No worries, no injuries were sustained and my hips are in place!).
It’s April now and so far so good. The year has been awesome to date. And dancing – just keeps getting better. To bring it to another level, I decided to create this auspicious blog. Yes, all this talking above just to help myself become a better dancer. And maybe more! I will make videos of myself dancing, analyze my style, my movements, my improvisational choreo, my costumes (some self made) and how I feel in my costumes and much more. My goal is to be a better dancer with each video, learning, growing and improving each time. And if I make these videos regularly, that can only mean one thing. Just imagine! If you can improve one thing with each video – how much better can you be in 10 videos! And in 20? Thus, I shall master the dance! Ambitious. I know. But it’s 2010. I need to bring in more juice this year.
After having had enough of classes, where I felt like I wasn’t learning anything anymore; where everything in this powerful, sensual, feminine, graceful dance just started to resemble one big shimmy; where instead of being inspired, the classes started to do the reverse, I decided to take a break. That was back in September, 2009.
On January 1st, 2010, the New Year has come and with it came new resolutions, new hope, new light, new joy. Waking up all weary and tired on January 1st is never easy. Not only your sleep is disturbed the night before but you realize that another year has passed by and you ask yourself: “What have I accomplished last year?” Hmmmm quite a bit actually. And after some contemplation you ask: “What would I like to achieve this year”?
You see yourself standing on top of the highest Mountain (the peak of which is January 1st), and the rest of the calendar years are just downhill paths leading yourself to the place you want to reach. Which one would you chose in 2010? Where would it bring you?
Somewhere at the bottom you see the same houses, same neighbourhood, same people and maybe some new … and you realize – this year might just be the same as last. I will work as usual (but maybe get a promotion), I will hang out with my friends as usual, I will enjoy my hobbies as usual, I will have 3 weeks of vacation as usual (hmm I should discover new places! And for a moment you get excited) …. Well last year was pretty good, there’s nothing wrong with re-living it again, only wiser, since you’ve learned so much last year.
And then, you decide NO! I need to add more flavour, more colors, to this year, take more risks, push my limits, face my fears, try something I have never thought I would try … and I would LIVE every moment, LIVE in the present, LOVE immensely, BREATH deeper, LAUGH louder, SMILE to strangers, WAKE UP with the urge to begin new day … bla-bla-bla-bla-bla …. And I would DANCE!
For the first time this year, after waking up on January 1st, (ok 1st time in three months) I put on some Oriental Music and what happened next was awakening. My left hip dropped…. unveiled inner silence, as if absorbing what had just happened …. then right hip dropped, my chest lifted and did a little shimmy, my whole body stretched into an undulation, another hip drop – more intense and precise this time, a smile, and off I go into a full dance, improvising, listening to my soul guiding my body to the beats. I felt free and happy. (If anybody is reading this and thinking “what the heck?”, I’m just using Belly Dance terminology. No worries, no injuries were sustained and my hips are in place!).
It’s April now and so far so good. The year has been awesome to date. And dancing – just keeps getting better. To bring it to another level, I decided to create this auspicious blog. Yes, all this talking above just to help myself become a better dancer. And maybe more! I will make videos of myself dancing, analyze my style, my movements, my improvisational choreo, my costumes (some self made) and how I feel in my costumes and much more. My goal is to be a better dancer with each video, learning, growing and improving each time. And if I make these videos regularly, that can only mean one thing. Just imagine! If you can improve one thing with each video – how much better can you be in 10 videos! And in 20? Thus, I shall master the dance! Ambitious. I know. But it’s 2010. I need to bring in more juice this year.
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