Improvisation - help!

Aniseteph

New member
Well I had a day off work today and have been practising a bit :dance: :clap:

I do like the sticking to a couple of moves approach; it really helps focus on moving to the music and takes away the OMG what am I going to do next pressures. Maybe that's why I'm better at micro-improvising at the bus stop with the MP3 player on - limited repertoire of very small moves to choose from, or I'll get arrested or cause an accident! :lol:

We've done a little improv before (class is about 1-2 years experience) and I really enjoyed it then. We did some taking turns in the circle - perhaps that's the no-mirror thing, and that you are getting support from everyone else, but it went a lot better than the last class where we just found a space.

And I wonder if this ties in with what Maria said about classic songs - we did a little bit to a fairly traditional piece and our teacher gave us a little story to work to, and I LOVED that - for a few moments I got it! So there is hope. Maybe I need to act a bit just to get in tune with my inner bellydancer... :think:
 

belly_dancer

New member
ME TOO!!! What is up with that?? I improv-ed about 3 minutes with Uncle Mafufo and LOVED it!!! But then I sat back down, horrified to do any more.

Why are we so afriad of this? When I'm on the regular dance floor, I'm a dancing fool, but stick me in any situation where there's the remotest hint of live drummers or middle eastern music and I freeze.

SStacy -- it does help if you've had a few margaritas beforehand. That's how I ended up dancing with Armando. Maybe if I'd had a few more, I would have done a whole song...:cool:

OOOOOHHHHH... Uncle M was my FIRST!!!!!(live music!:shok: ... sillies....way back... 1992 I think.... damn... that was FOREVER ago.... )
JUST do it (sorry for the Nike quote!!!!) NOW... before you are my age....
(ps... yep the Margarita approach may help some of you.... just don't over do it!!)

& I STILL WANT YOU ALL TO TAKE MY CHALLENGE.... just 15 min a day "improv" to unknown cd's (preferrably middle eastern.. the "patterns" of the music will get into your body faster, then you will be able to dance to any (ok.. well at least most!!) mid east music.. without knowing why)...
 

janaki

New member
Hi all,

I would like to share with you all what Raqia Hassan(my favourite master teacher/choreographer) told me few years ago, when I asked her about improvisation. This is what she said;

1. Feel the music and the beat

2. Listen first, relax and enjoy the music. Music tell you what to do with your body.

3. Dance after. Listen first and dance later.

4. Of course, you need to have a solid techinque and understading of arabic rhythms and music.

5. Knowing the language helps !!!

One of my other american belly dance master taught me how to count music and notice the repeated patterns in the music. Once you finished listening to the music you will see a well structured repeated patterns in many pieces (classical music is very complex though) music. The sturcture remains the same more or less in many songs especially if they are pop no. Listeing to music is a good excercise!!! It helped me lot with bellydancing. But don't get into a habbit of couting your music though!!!!

These two approaches to improvisation are totally different. For a non arabic person like me, I like to follow both advises.


Cheers
Janaki
 

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
I ACCEPT your challenge!

Actually I did this last night and had a blast. It's just when I think about "performing" improv that I freak.

I can do 15 minutes a day -- let's see what happens in 30 days.

I'm excited!!!

& I STILL WANT YOU ALL TO TAKE MY CHALLENGE.... just 15 min a day "improv" to unknown cd's (preferrably middle eastern.. the "patterns" of the music will get into your body faster, then you will be able to dance to any (ok.. well at least most!!) mid east music.. without knowing why)...
 

belly_dancer

New member
I ACCEPT your challenge!

Actually I did this last night and had a blast. It's just when I think about "performing" improv that I freak.

I can do 15 minutes a day -- let's see what happens in 30 days.

I'm excited!!!

WHEEEEE!!!!! I am excited for you.... (esp. cause I just asked for one week & YOU are giving me a whole month!!!!)
now will the rest of you jump on the "improv" wagon????
remember... "no thinking allowed"!!!!! just :dance:
 

Safran

New member
I'll try to squeeze that into my morning routine this upcoming week.. Should give a good start to the day :) Let's see how it works out...
 

Eshta

New member
Ooh, can I take up the challenge too?! I used to love improvising but lately have been working on very 'choreographed' pieces and found I'm completely out of practice! It's only when I lost it that I realise the art of improvising takes practice :lol: !!

15 minutes a day improv, let's see how it goes!
 

Meziena

New member
Begginners really inspire me with their improvisation! They instinctively know to do similar things when the music repeats itself, they don't chase every single accent, if they don't know what to do next they have a default move, they stick with a few moves they know well and repeat them in different ways... because they don't "overthink" and they have a relistic expectation of themselves. It's all about how they perform it, not what they do.
 

charity

New member
i am going to do this challenge now.

i know a lot of people do not like how rania dances. for example she is quite stiff but one thing i really, really LOVE about her is her movement design :think:. her creative combo's:think:...i would execute them differently but i think it is a good start for improv. i think neena and veena also have a lot of great movement ideas that can be applied to improv.
 

SmilingMarie

New member
I've just found out that my iTunes feature a radio station with all Arabic music (mainly pop but also some more classical stuff) - great for improvising as there is a chance it plays music I don't already have!
 

charity

New member
thats another issue, music. i have very little. the stuff i do have is me pop.

anymore i just dance to what i have, i have bd'ed to some unusual stuff like sean paul or ciara- the princess. i use other hip-hop/R&B too and for some reason korn seems to be another favorite to dance too. its silly and fun and you put bd moves together in a totally different sense. i'm getting a LOT better at improv. but when you use different music styles, your dance too becomes a fusion of all the other dances you may know.

plus it is a good way to do isolations. its much easier to do reps to tempo than it is to stand in front of a mirror or the dvd and drill the same move over and over. dynamic isolations to a dynamic beat. because really how useful is a static isolation or drill (except in the beginning when learning a move), your body will never be so rigid in dance? the point is to be able to maintain an isolation while transitioning between moves.
 

Mya

New member
i have bd'ed to some unusual stuff like sean paul or ciara- the princess. i use other hip-hop/R&B too


that music mightn't be as unusual as you might think; sean paul is afro-caribbean type music; dancehall as we call it in the caribbean and hip-hop and R&B also have afrocentric beats. This isn't dissimilar from some bellydance music which is Afro-influenced. Actually as much as i dislike dancehall type dancing i have seen ALOT of moves which resemble bellydance moves quite closely.
 

charity

New member
true. i love to see a dance move that you know in one style expressed in another. there are a LOT of "hip hop"/"street" moves that if you check out swing/rag time style dances or even the jive, they have the same moves repeated in a different context. its very motivating and inspiring because i love all kinds of dance.
 

Letti

New member

Jane

New member
I love to improv! At home alone is the best place; turn down the lights, turn up the music, turn off the brain and just dance!

When improving, it helps to have a basic "oh sh!+" move you can do for a few counts while you decide what to try next. It should be something simple that will fit a lot of music types: a favorite shimmy, a spin, arm movement, or a traveling step maybe.

When casual dancing in a group, you can dance off each other, sometimes slightly altering the move you saw and letting it grow.
 

Caroline_afifi

New member
I didnt get a chance to read every post so i might be repeating.

A good starting point is to try it with music you know and love.
When you get 'stuck', think about which move you get 'stuck' on the most.
I know people often say it happens alot on an 8.
Do you drive in the car and imagine yourself dancing?
I plan most choreographies in the car. They dont always work but it gets the ideas flowing and having 'dance' in your head is the most important step in connecting it to the rest of your body.
 
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