old days were better than now, I usually agree but I wonder
why. But really, I know. Today’s dancers are better-trained,
more athletic, know more steps, are great technicians and
are often more knowledgeable. But it’s not just about the
mind and technique; it’s about the feeling. In order to make
the dance interesting, memorable, great, the dancer must
have, give and evoke feeling. The sentiment, the emotion,
the passion, and being able to emit and translate the feeling
from the music to the audience is all that matters. Steps
and technique are only the vehicle to enable this Magic to
happen. What is important – what is essential – is that the
dancer must merge this feeling and connection with the
music so that it not only is an integral part of the music but
that it also reaches forward into the audience and becomes
a round-trip experience. This is the musical journey that I
often find missing today.
So why were the dancers from the old days better according
to the musicians? It must have been because the musicians
felt the connection with the dancers. Some of this could
be found in the poetry or words of the songs. Most of us
didn’t know the words but we would “get it” anyway. How? I
don’t know exactly, but probably because we listened to the
essence of the words and how the singer was singing and by
listening and becoming a vital part of the music, we found
our bodies understanding the emotions of the maqams
without even understanding what a maqam was. Dancing is
not rocket science. It’s primal. It’s wonderful and it’s better
to know words, music, drum language, cultural background,
etc. but in the end, it’s best to leave the analyzing and brains
at home and just feel. As an entertainer, it’s more than
important to share the feelings with your audience than to
just do perfect dance steps. It’s necessary.
At Portland Mid-East Music Camp I started to convey this
to the classes, but was delightfully surprised. This group of
people was v