Belly dance quest

[galadhir]

So my Thursday class has ended for the summer holiday break, and due to the teacher's various commitments, it will not be starting again until November(!)

She told us that she wants to start again with a little showcase, in which each of us presents our own dance to an audience, in the hopes of attracting a few more people to join the class.

We are to choose our own music and choreograph our own dance from start to finish, and practice it enough so we can dance in front of an audience in the run up to Christmas.

This is probably not such a big deal for the rest of the class, who have been dancing for years and years. But I only started, from a basis of never having done it ever before, in September 2023, and given the huge gaps between terms I think I can only have done about 30 sessions.

Still, you've got to learn at some point, and what better way to learn than doing it, so time for me to write baby's first choreography, I guess.

I'm actually really excited at the thought, though who knows if I can keep that motivation up all the way to November.

I know that I want to do a sword dance. Which is another ridiculous choice given that I've only ever taken one single sword dance class. But hey - worst comes to the worst, I can just stick the sword on my head and do a basic belly dance while balancing it. The sword part doesn't have to be fancy.

So far, I've chosen my music, which has to be a good start!

Watch on YouTube

Now I just have to think of some combinations to fit it, and work on my balance.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

November feels like forever away!

Sometimes I think diving into the deep end with a project is the way to go! Choreographing anything sounds wildly daunting to me, but all the sword dance stuff I've ever seen has been super cool!

[galadhir]

It really does! But I'm beginning to get the impression that it's going to take all the time I've got. I only hope I can sustain the enthusiasm for long enough to get it done.

I'm finding that breaking it down into small parts makes it feel manageable. But that requires listening hard to the song hundreds of times and paying attention to the time signatures. I'm only aiming for a choreography where something different happens in each bit - whether it all goes together in an artistic whole is more than I can hope for :)

[mistressofmuses]

I hope you can sustain the enthusiasm, too! And if it's going to be that much of an undertaking (which doesn't surprise me; I can't imagine how I'd even start!) then I am glad you have so long to get it done!

Manageable parts is definitely a good thing.