I think this was quite harsh judgement. I´ve been dancing for over 15 years and I am a slow learner and I still cannot always hear (or OMG count) the rhythms or recognize different instruments from music and I still believe I have my place in dance and love learning and challenging myself and also others and for some strange reason many people even like my dancing and teaching...Anybody can try it, of course, but it's apparent that some people have no sense of rhythm whatsoever, can't tell the difference between rhythm and melody or can't even distinguish between different instruments - these are fundamental failings that mean they'll never be able to dance properly!
They have all the necessary body parts but without the ability to connect ears, brain and body you have no chance.
It doesn't look very good in a student troupe if someone's always one step (or even more) behind everybody else...I think this was quite harsh judgement. I´ve been dancing for over 15 years and I am a slow learner and I still cannot always hear (or OMG count) the rhythms or recognize different instruments from music and I still believe I have my place in dance and love learning and challenging myself and also others and for some strange reason many people even like my dancing and teaching...
Besides myself (who don't have any ambition to become pro) I know and have seen professional dancers (even some dancing in Egypt) who are more or less rhythm-challenged and as long as they recognize it themselves and learn to utilize some other areas of dancing where they are stronger they still can be fabulous dancers... besides different people hear and interpret music differently: there is not just one "correct" way :think:
... Some people, with time, learn to find the rythm. Their problem seems to be that they are busy concentrating on moving and not really hearing the music.
Hi Aisha, I'm gld you touched on the isuue of neurological impact on dnce and other forms of movements. Years ago, I worked as A Restorative Nurse, in charge of developing programs to help my elderly patients maintain functional mobility. (I'm a CRRN) Anyway, I'm aware of how important it is for the brain to coordinate movement with the muscles. Many of my stroke victims wanted to walk again, but the neurological impairment was so severe, it was impossible. The efferent neurons send impulse to the muscle groups and the afferent neurons send impulsee/sensations to the brain.Efferent nerve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In theory, even the most 'rhythmically' impaired student can develop proficiency if they have enough repetition to build and strenthened the neural pathways.Dear Group,
Some people are truly rythm challenged and no matter what, they do not seem to be able to dance to the musical rythm. They may even hear it but somehow their physical response is either too fast or to slow in correlation to what they are hearing. This may be a neurological thing in that the message does not get from the brain to the body fast enough, or it may be something else. I am not an expert in the cause of the problem, but I have tried to give it some thought and a little research.
I agree with Suheir that this is a real problem for those who are trying to dance. In belly dance, it is all about the cultural, physical and emotional response to the music, after all. If a student is one of those people who can never understand the music, then she/he will probably never be a dancer. This does not mean that people with this problem should not take classes if they want to do so. Teachers will have to be careful not to become frustrated in their efforts to teach truly rythm challenged students, and realize that everyone is not in class for the same reasons.
Regards,
A'isha
True, but performing in student troupe is not "the most important thing" for all (or even most of) the dance students. In all dancing in troupe whether it is on student level or even professional is about coordination between different dancers and then naturally you must follow both the music and the other dancers... in fact it is more important to follow what the others are doing than to follow the music in case choreographer has not followed the music (which happens extremely often)It doesn't look very good in a student troupe if someone's always one step (or even more) behind everybody else...
But what does it mean to be able to understand the music?I believe that everyone can learn to listen to the music and to respond to that either by copying others or by interpreting it their own way. I prefer the later way as even it sometimes is not necessarily technically "correct" it can still be very beautiful: some dancers can follow the rhythm, some others the melody, some can feel and interpret patterns of orchestra and solo instruments... and the best dancers can follow and interpret them all but even some part was missing the dance still can have that cultural, physical and emotional response to the music. It may not always be perfect but as bellydance by its nature *is* interpretative dance then who are we to tell that they are wrongIn belly dance, it is all about the cultural, physical and emotional response to the music, after all. If a student is one of those people who can never understand the music, then she/he will probably never be a dancer. This does not mean that people with this problem should not take classes if they want to do so. Teachers will have to be careful not to become frustrated in their efforts to teach truly rythm challenged students, and realize that everyone is not in class for the same reasons.
I feel that my movement abilites are intact, but anyone learning a choreography from me now has to have a little patience with my directional issues. Sometimes I think they are improving, but not always.
I have a lot of synmpathy for people who find dance challenging, believe me.
Regards,
A'isha