Extemporaneous Dance to Live Music
There are several telling signs of a dancer who has not
learned how to improvise and/or dance with live music. The
most common “tells” are stiffness in the movements, missing
the qaflas and breaks, or accents in the music, and difficulty
in “translating”: stirring musical passages into movements
that “match” both the mood of the music and personality of
the dancer.
Ma*Shuqa
A professional who looks absolutely stunning in performance
– may “have it all together” and look polished and professional
because they have analyzed and choreographed every beat,
musical passage, and musical accent with appropriate
movement and gestures. With choreographed movements
pre-programmed, it is great that they can concentrate on
staging and projecting a beautiful performance.
These very same polished professional dancers become
average performers when challenged to “hear and perform”
to live music that they haven’t studied or prepared for in
advance. A further indication is the “loss of the performer’s
individuality and polished performance projection.”
In a worst case scenario, a dancer unfamiliar with a musical
selection or music from another culture or genre of Middle
Eastern music can become “lost in the music” because they
have no reference points or are trying to use choreographed
movements they know useful for other pieces of music. It’s
like trying to dance Raqs Sharqi to Hawaiian slack key pieces
– all the technique in the world doesn’t translate directly
to the music and dance requirements, and the structure of
another music and dance genre.
No Orientale Raqs Sharqi dancer should create an
improvised performance in a vacuum and move any which
way they wish. You have to know the history and culture.
You must have an understanding of cultural relevancy - what
the spirit of the dance is about and how it came about and
has evolved. You must know the every aspect of the musical
selection: emotional mood/tarab, rhythm, meaning of the
song, cultural aspects of city or country styling, and the
musicality and rhythms in the music – and how to portray
these elements in performance.
When you have “It” and when you don’t
I recall watching a professional who dances Egyptian
style and teaches a method for learning Oriental dance by
teaching beautiful and exquisite movement in choreography
in her workshops. Yet, she was lost when she attempted
to perform with a band known for their eclectic and
wide range of music and styling. They played Turkish and
Armenian pieces for her – and it was evident she did not
know nor have a dance background in these songs, rhythms,
and styling in her repertoire. Dancers who had taken her
Egyptian choreography workshop at the festival were
dismayed watching her dance as her performance became
almost a basic step hip dance. Without a framework for
listening and developing extemporaneous dance, she could
not improvise to the live music.
I can hear what Judge Bruno Tonneoli of Dancing with the
Stars might say to such a performer: “My dear that was a hot
mess – your dance reality really missed the mark - it didn’t
match the beauty of the music nor the structure and styling
of movement appropriate to the music.” Key words from
this fictitious judging commentary reinforce the idea that
for a dance performance to be beautiful it should contain
appropriate movement that matches the music, rhythms
and musicality and dance genre.
Another example of well-rehearsed Raqs Sharqi performers
October 2015
The Belly Dance Chronicles
65