While I had a minor "OMG the show is in a week and I totally suck what the hell was I thinking?!" meltdown last Sunday, I am feeling considerably better as the week and my practicing progresses. It's actually not that unusual for me to have a pre-show panic like this, but that doesn't mean I wasn't totally ready to throw in the veil and give up.
Alas, I am a Scorpio. We are stubborn chicks and tend to not give up.
Anyway, I mentioned in my last post that Audra was looking for everyone to dance in their own style rather than expecting everyone would be pure "Tribal." I've actually been thinking about that a lot lately and have had a few revelations.
Think of any truly noteworthy bellydancer and you can point to something about them that is unique. I'm not referring to how they handle technique, though that is certainly a part of it, but there is often an inner light, an energy, that is all their own, not so much what they do as how they do it. When I took a pro dancer course with Mayada a couple of years ago, she wanted us all to find something that was our "thing;" something we apply to every performance that we would become known for (I wanted to be the chick with the wicked shimmy!). Yet as I continue on my own journey of discovery I think there is even more to it than that. I don't actually think you can even really put a label on it, but it is distinct.
For example, I commented on a fellow bellydancer's video, saying that it was wonderful and I could clearly see the influence of a specific instructor I knew she worked with a great deal. She wrote me back and asked me to clarify, as she was working to develop her own style, not be a copy of someone else. I was worried I had insulted her where I was merely in my naivety saying she reminded me of someone I admired, but then the light bulb went off and I experienced the "a-ha!" of what she meant.
I love Violet Scrap, but what if every other Tribal dancer out there danced exactly like her, using music that is typical of her choices and wearing costumes that looked the same? Rachel Brice is also a goddess, but part of what makes her so is she is Rachel Brice. I love to watch the Serpentina North Ensemble and Shades of Araby perform, but that's because - while they are both ATS troupes - they are unique in their own ways and that's exciting.
How boring would bellydance shows be if every dancer looked like a carbon copy of the dancer before them? Every troupe the same patterns, costumes, music?
This is, I think, the difference between studying with someone to gain technical experience and studying with someone to be exactly like them (yes, Audra, I finally think I understand what you've been trying to hammer into my noggin all year!). I mean, I know we've all seen a performer do something exceptionally cool and said "OMG I so want to learn how to do that!", but I don't think we really mean that we want to BE that person (okay, true, there are days when I really wish I was Scarlett Johansson but you know what I mean...). I think we mean we want to learn some of their moves to incorporate (because that's ultimately the reason to then go study with that person) into our own personal bag of tricks.
I know when I work on a choreography that I picked up a particular hip combo from Mayada, a fun twist move from Zahira or an arm path from Audra, but that's where it becomes my style. I'm selecting the bits of technique I really like and can do well and mixing them into my own dance cocktail. I can't label it, I don't know what to call and I don't know that it really needs a name. It's just, well, Nashita's Dance.
Hope to see you Saturday night at The Dark Side! Doors open at 7:30pm and the show is at 8pm. The line up is awesome and it promises to be a magical event!
