Making it a bit darker

[Elfie]

Okay. So, we know that I dance only for fitness. My husband, however, loves to watch me dance (and I must say that I love the benefits hehe). He's mentioned that my expression is a bit darker compared to most dancers. I've little to no interest in Gothic style dancing. According to my husband, I "smolder" in a non-sexual way and I look "dangerous. Pleasing, but dangerous" (my husband's words). I took it as a compliment at first, but now I'm beginning to wonder exactly where this fits in BD and if I should work to change it.

Now, as I've mentioned in another thread or three, I am a writer and I write horror. I am not a smiling bouncy person, not usually perky or cheerful. I have a darker personality; not goth or scary, but indeed a bit dark. And an eerie fascination with the macabre. I figure this is translating into my dance and manifesting itself as dangerous and that smoldering thing my husband mentioned.

Is there a place in BD for a bit of darkness? Does that defeat the purpose at all (this was suggested to me by a non-dancer. "Doesn't that evilness [her pet-name for my attitude LOL] come across as cheese, or just completely make a mockery of what you're doing? I thought belly dancers were supposed to be beautiful and graceful and make people smile.")?

I apologize for my rather long winded posts. I tend to over explain things - I almost always end up typing loads more than I intend to. Eventually, my plethora of questions will run out, I promise they will. Thank you in advance for answering.

 

[Shanazel]

I thought belly dancers were supposed to be beautiful and graceful and make people smile.

Belly dancers are supposed to interpret the music and not all music is about smiling.

I used to get asked why I looked angry when I danced. I wasn't angry, my face is just not naturally bright and cheery in repose. I had to make an effort to lighten up my expression to fit certain music and it eventually became as second nature to me as the other movements of dance. I remember Zummarad (who I miss on the forum) once wrote that she had to remember to smile or she looked like an ax murderer.

 

[Greek Bonfire]

:lol: Your husband could be biased too because he's got a thing for you! In time, when you dance for others you know, ask them, or even ask your instructor what they think.

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

Well depending on the music you don't want to be grinning like an idiot...If your personality and person isn't bright and bouncy and the dreaded perky...why would you want to dance it. A sword dance would look silly without a dangerous look - just my two cents Creaks

 

[Elfie]

Shanazel: You know, now that you mention it, the music I tend to pick has a heavy, darker feel to it as well. I'm going to try something lighter and more "happyful" and see if that makes a difference. If not, I'll have to practice on it. Excellent!

Greek Bonfire: Well, he has a little bit of bias. Just about thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much.

Creaks: This is too true. A grinning lady dancing with a sword would be creepy. Jus' sayin'. That's a whole 'nuther type of danger right there.

 

[meddevi]

You sound to me like more a real Goth than the stereotypically/mainstream imagined Goth.

When I first started dancing, I didn't have any particular ideas of what I want to accomplish - I danced to what inspired me and costumed myself according to my aesthetic - it was other people who pointed out what I was doing seemed darker than usual and described it as Gothic meets bellydancing....and the terms came together, and now 10+ years later....well, I still do what inspires me And that's a lot of different ideas....

 

[Elfie]

You sound to me like more a real Goth than the stereotypically/mainstream imagined Goth.

Morticia Addams, stand aside. Elfie's comin' in.

When I first started dancing, I didn't have any particular ideas of what I want to accomplish - I danced to what inspired me and costumed myself according to my aesthetic - it was other people who pointed out what I was doing seemed darker than usual and described it as Gothic meets bellydancing....and the terms came together, and now 10+ years later....well, I still do what inspires me And that's a lot of different ideas....

I think it's wonderful, though. I understand that the dance has many different layers to it (not movement layers, but as in meaning) and that each dancer brings something new along with her. Being true to who we are is just as beautiful as this dance that we love (I do love it already, yes I do. Tis addicting, this bellydance stuff), to my mind.

 

[Shanazel]

Hi, Tempest. Nice to see you back here.

Creaks, dear, does this mean you won't approve my new Shirley Temple meets Xena the Warrior Princess fusion sword dance with optional tiki torches? Darn. And I already bought my curly blond wig and black metal bra.

 

[walladah]

Darkness exists in everything with light

so it exists in universe, on earth but also within people, and of course in music and dance. And darkness is not necessarily evil - remember the beauty of night!

It also exists in oriental dance, and it does not need to be Gothic bellydance to be like that! Quite the contrary: Gothic bellydance is just one way to explore darkness in bellydance!

So, you may consider some points related to this

1) Darkness in bellydance is irrelevant to how much you smile or not! You might be smiling and still be dark, you might not smile at all and still be full of light! :think:

2) It is well related to the music and to your connection to it. Expecially if the music has lyrics, you might see whether darkness exists in them (this is the easy way to find it). Without lyrics, it is up to you to get the feeling.

3) It is well related to your mood, but also to several human feelings that, especially us women, are educated to suppress: anger, pain of betrayal, revenge, power-seeking, etc. We are educated that whatever happens, we are "ladies" and "nice". Well, niceness and lady-like are well fitted in bellydance. But "fierceness" and "wildness" are well fitted too...

4) It is not always related to props, colours, costumes, etc. You might be dancing with a veil and still be dark or dancing with a sword and just having fun teasing the audience! You might be dancing in white and still this being not-angel-like and dancing in black and not being dark at all.

5) Of course, I do not know what your husband might mean with perceiving your dance as dark. You might explore this with several audiences, or just with home-made dance videos. What you need, though, is to read ancient myths, esp. those concerning dance - and believe me they are many, from the tale about Red Shoes (nicely narrated by Andersen) to many other tales and myths, where f.ex. fairies dance (and their dance is dangerous) or Goddess Ishtar dances and opens the gates of the underworld (actually this is the most ancient myth about bellydancing). Then you will see how dance is perceived and used throughout history and among cultures by paying attention to points like: who dances, why, with what results, with what music, what people/creatures around, what colours/items are important for the dance, etc.

Have fun!:dance:

 

[Amanda (was Aziyade)]

2) It is well related to the music and to your connection to it. Expecially if the music has lyrics, you might see whether darkness exists in them (this is the easy way to find it). Without lyrics, it is up to you to get the feeling.

You know, 90% of music for Oriental dance is about some kind of lost love, or a love who cheated on you, or how he/she left and it's just killing you but you'll survive just to spite him/her

If you want to use actual bellydance music, and not just whatever techno/dubstep/industrial/circus music is currently fashionable -- check out some music in Arab maqams Nahawend and Saba. Nahawend can be very dark and brooding. I've heard versions of Alf Leyla Wa Leyla that gave me shivers (not Um Kalsoum's original version so much, though.)

I wish more dancers would explore the various moods and emotions that can be evoked through the maqams. Now that I'm studying these, I'm seeing how complex this music really is, and how a clever composer can REALLY take you on an emotional roller coaster with even one simple qanoun or nay taqsim. To me that is infinitely more interesting and soul-stirring than the current trend. Hopefully Ranya Renee's new dvds on Taqsim and Maqamat will have dancers returning to their musical roots and exploring Arab dance in an Arab fashion.

 

[walladah]

Thanks, Aziyade, for bringing

maqams into the discussion. I agree that each maqam has several features on the way the music is "moving", that not only gives the mood of it, but it also permits the listener to predict the following pattern (which is very useful for dancers!).

However, I believe that each maqam can have several "moods", depending on the version of maqam (f.e.x hijaz humayun is very dark, while hijaz alone is not in most cases), but also on the structure of the melody, because "passages" [small parts where the maqam changes into one that is not the main maqam of the melody] within melody might give another spice.

As you may imagine, this is the reason i try to study maqams, too. I believe that the rythm and the lyrics, if any, are not enough for a dancer to interprete the music, esp. if the band/musician is also improvising.