I work in spurts. I think it's because I have some many responsibilities and interests competing for my time. It seems easiest for me to focus on one thing for a while, then run over to focus on something else as I notice that area of my life suffering. And so it goes--constantly tossing ball after ball up in the air as they come down.
This month, dancing has taken a bit of a backseat as I focus on career. But, the amazing thing is, once I go back, it's like my brain had been working on old problems in the background the whole time. So, after weeks of drilling shimmies nearly daily, then suddenly not dancing for two weeks, the shimmy has worked itself out. It's finally that big, loose, chunky shimmy that I've been longing to add to my repertoire.
So wonderfully surprising.
And so I will remind myself that taking breaks can be a good thing. It can be a chance to heal, to rest up, and to reset brain and body so that they can surprise you with what they can do if only left alone for a bit.
July 25, 2011
June 30, 2011
On Self-Critiquing and Videos
I recently purchased a tripod so that I can record my home practices. A few days ago, my wonderful husband even helped me find the best place in the living room to set up everything, so I could catch myself and the mirror. Out of excuses, I set it up yesterday and hit "record", then lamented the results to my friends on Facebook.
But, despite the initial shock of always seeing myself on video, I find it overall a very helpful, and thus very positive, experience. Personally, I think I've gotten too lazy and frankly arrogant about dancing. A crashing does of reality was very much needed, if I was to stop deluding myself and starting working! I thought it might be helpful to describe how I go about self-critiquing, in hopes that this may inspire you to push aside impending dread and give it a try.
I like "methods" and this is a method for providing constructive criticism that I learned from an educational show years back (I did not catch the name, or I would provide you the resource). I've found, with some tweaking, it works well for critiquing myself.
Pre-Flight Check: Don't Take it Personally
Which leads me to my first pre-method check: Don't take it personally. Sounds silly, since I am critiquing myself, but emotional distance helps. Once the dance is recorded, it's a past moment and there's nothing I can do to change it. So, there is no point getting upset about it. And, the camera is just catching how I was at that moment. It does not mean that is what I will always look like. With practice--and this is the whole point anyway--I will look better. Besides, I can always delete it and destroy all memories of it when I'm done, or keep it to look back on years later and note how far I've come.
Step One: Describe What You See
This step may seem silly, but honing your eye for detail and your ability to articulate what you see is important. For example, "the dancer is wearing a green costume." For myself, the temptation to begin immediately criticizing my performance as soon as the tape starts playing can be irresistible. So, I force myself to describe the entire performance before I can do anything else. Of course, this requires sitting through the entire piece. Then I make a mental note, "that was a slow piece" or "I looked happy."
Step Two: Give a Specific Compliment
Providing specific compliments lets your audience know that you were paying attention and truly appreciating what you saw. For example, "the green costume looks great with your red hair." For myself, I look for something that I've been striving for and note how I've improved. It doesn't matter if it's something that I've "worked on" and moved on a while ago. It's nice to know that practice has paid off and that it has still stuck.
Step Three: Give Constructive Criticism
The key is "constructive"--something that can be improved. So, for me, comments on how I wish I were four inches taller are off the table. I, personally, like to pick out two things to critique (it helps keep the list down to something manageable and not emotionally self-destructive).
First, I pick one thing to work on right then. For example, yesterday I was working on a slower piece and I was trying to incorporate dramatic pauses. Watching the video, it was instantly apparent that the "pauses" were barely perceptible. So, I made a note to make them longer, then ran the piece several more times, each time reviewing the tape to see how different lengths of pausing affected the piece.
Then, I pick one thing to remember to drill that week. For example, I was pleased (Step Two) to note that my right hand no longer hangs around like a limp fish when I dance. However, it now occasionally flaps about like a fish tossed up on the dock to die. Not pretty. So, that will be my goal for my next few weeks.
Coming Down for a Landing
After I'm done dancing for the day, I upload my videos and watch one or two again (preferably the ones I thought were the best--I like to end on a high note). I'll make general mental notes, again positive first, and then notes to work on. And, I try to remain positive about what I still need to work on. I remind myself that, by addressing the problem, I will be able to solve it. Whereas, if I'd never watched myself and realized there was even a problem, I would only be postponing the inevitable clash with reality.
Hope this helps.
But, despite the initial shock of always seeing myself on video, I find it overall a very helpful, and thus very positive, experience. Personally, I think I've gotten too lazy and frankly arrogant about dancing. A crashing does of reality was very much needed, if I was to stop deluding myself and starting working! I thought it might be helpful to describe how I go about self-critiquing, in hopes that this may inspire you to push aside impending dread and give it a try.
I like "methods" and this is a method for providing constructive criticism that I learned from an educational show years back (I did not catch the name, or I would provide you the resource). I've found, with some tweaking, it works well for critiquing myself.
Pre-Flight Check: Don't Take it Personally
Which leads me to my first pre-method check: Don't take it personally. Sounds silly, since I am critiquing myself, but emotional distance helps. Once the dance is recorded, it's a past moment and there's nothing I can do to change it. So, there is no point getting upset about it. And, the camera is just catching how I was at that moment. It does not mean that is what I will always look like. With practice--and this is the whole point anyway--I will look better. Besides, I can always delete it and destroy all memories of it when I'm done, or keep it to look back on years later and note how far I've come.
Step One: Describe What You See
This step may seem silly, but honing your eye for detail and your ability to articulate what you see is important. For example, "the dancer is wearing a green costume." For myself, the temptation to begin immediately criticizing my performance as soon as the tape starts playing can be irresistible. So, I force myself to describe the entire performance before I can do anything else. Of course, this requires sitting through the entire piece. Then I make a mental note, "that was a slow piece" or "I looked happy."
Step Two: Give a Specific Compliment
Providing specific compliments lets your audience know that you were paying attention and truly appreciating what you saw. For example, "the green costume looks great with your red hair." For myself, I look for something that I've been striving for and note how I've improved. It doesn't matter if it's something that I've "worked on" and moved on a while ago. It's nice to know that practice has paid off and that it has still stuck.
Step Three: Give Constructive Criticism
The key is "constructive"--something that can be improved. So, for me, comments on how I wish I were four inches taller are off the table. I, personally, like to pick out two things to critique (it helps keep the list down to something manageable and not emotionally self-destructive).
First, I pick one thing to work on right then. For example, yesterday I was working on a slower piece and I was trying to incorporate dramatic pauses. Watching the video, it was instantly apparent that the "pauses" were barely perceptible. So, I made a note to make them longer, then ran the piece several more times, each time reviewing the tape to see how different lengths of pausing affected the piece.
Then, I pick one thing to remember to drill that week. For example, I was pleased (Step Two) to note that my right hand no longer hangs around like a limp fish when I dance. However, it now occasionally flaps about like a fish tossed up on the dock to die. Not pretty. So, that will be my goal for my next few weeks.
Coming Down for a Landing
After I'm done dancing for the day, I upload my videos and watch one or two again (preferably the ones I thought were the best--I like to end on a high note). I'll make general mental notes, again positive first, and then notes to work on. And, I try to remain positive about what I still need to work on. I remind myself that, by addressing the problem, I will be able to solve it. Whereas, if I'd never watched myself and realized there was even a problem, I would only be postponing the inevitable clash with reality.
Hope this helps.
June 19, 2011
Copyright and Choreography
Researching it for a posting of my own, and found this article. Brief, but has some good info: http://www.lawlawlandblog.com/2010/09/so_you_think_you_can_steal_my.html#more .
Review: My Favorite Instructional DVDs
I was chatting with some dancing friends the other night about dance DVDs, and I thought I should follow-up with a post on it.
Favorite Drilling DVD
Modern Tribal Belly Dance by Asharah (World Dance New York). I love this DVD for drilling. I actually own two copies. There is a 45 minute "warm up", 55 minutes of isolation drills, 30 minutes of modern tribal movement ("pops and locks"), and a short choreography. As a bonus, there are two performances by Asharah. The isolation drills and popping section are sub-chaptered by movement, so you can easily jump around if you want to focus on a certain area. The drills closely mirror my dance teacher's drills, which I assume is because both Gina and Asharah have trained with Suhaila Salimpour. As such, this makes a perfect DVD for our summer class break. The movements start slowly, then build speed, so beginner dancers can stay at a level comfortable for them, and advanced dancers can begin at full-speed for a challenge. Asharah is my favorite tribal dancer, and her teaching on this DVD is perfect--enough description to really understand the movements, but not so much chatting that I go running for the Mute button. The DVD is also well-produced and reasonably-priced.
Tribal Fusion - Yoga Isolations and Drills for Bellydance by Rachel Brice. The DVD consists of three workouts--15, 30, or 45 minutes. They begin with Sun Salutations and Locus Pose for warm-up, and then drill some core belly dance moves (locks on the up and the down, pelvic squares, umis, body waves, etc). The workouts basically consist of the same movements, simply a few more of them as the workouts get longer. As such, there is not a great deal of content on this DVD. However, the content is does contain are core movements that every dancer should be drilling regularly, in convenient time segments. If you already are disciplined about your home practice, this DVD may be too basic for you.
But, if you are looking to start a home practice regime, this is a great place to start.
Information
Bellydance Egyptian Style--Baladi and Taqasim: Improvisation Skills & Drills with Ranya Renee. I absolutely love these DVDs. The format is similar for both: Ranya provides an indepth explanation for the baladi and the taqasim, including the instruments, the rhythms, and the musical structure. Then, she explains a host of movements that can complement each section of the baladi and each instrument featured in a taqasim. She also provides tips on posture, breathing techniques, musicality, and building an improvisational practice. Then, she dances through several loops of a song. You can chose an entire baladi or taqasim or loops of different sections, and you can try to follow along or do your own thing. As a bonus, there are performances by Ranya. These are perfect for me. I can sit and listen to lecture after lecture on Arabic music, then watch dance after dance. I can get up and follow her or turn away from the TV and do my own thing when inspiration strikes.
Practice
Hard Candy with Neon, Sarah Skinner, and Elisheva (World Dance New York). Once you get past the silly name, this is a great idea for a belly dance practice. I've also done Sensual Bellydance and Love Potion, which have a similar format (and are available through my local library and Netflix, respectively). The DVDs have movement explanations and practices for beginners, which I haven't really watched. The "workout" is 40 minutes of straight belly dance moves and is build on progression: the dancers do a move for a few repetitions, then another move, then string those moves into a short combination, build another combination, then string those together into a longer combination. As a result, this is a fun and effective way to instantly get up and dancing and learn some new moves without tedious stops for explanations. You just dance. You can watch it with or without voice cues. Granted, if you don't need all the beginner-features, there's only 40 minutes of content. However, these DVDs are already reasonably priced through World Dance New York directly, and you can often find copies for under $10 through Amazon. So, for the price of a belly dance class, you can get one that you can watch over and over at home.
Props
Learn Finger Cymbals with Ansuya. This DVD taught me how to play zills while dancing. Ansuya covers four rhythms: basic gallop, baladi, bolero, and chiftitelli. She explains the rhythms as dom, teks, and kas, and also as right and left hand (with the right hand taking the doms and teks and the left the kas, like you were drumming). She then turns away from the camera so you can follow her hands, and goes through each rhythm, slowly building speed. Each rhythm is then taught with a dance movement, then all the movements and rhythms are strung together into a short practice flow. (Adding a plug here that my copy is now for sale. Email me).
Bellydance with Veil with Sarah Skinner (World Dance New York). I have a longer review of this DVD in a previous post.
Choreography
Bellydance Egyptian Style--Modern Oriental with Ranya Renee and Masters of Egyptian Choreography: Volume I with Randa Kamel. I used to not enjoy learning other dancer's choreographies, but these have completely changed my mind. It's a great way to pick up a variety of combinations and movements in a compact, easy-to-practice format. I reviewed Masters of Egyptian Choreography in my last post, so I will focus on Modern Oriental. This is a long choreography to "Layalina" by Yousry Sharif. It is divided into two sections (beginner and intermediate/advanced) with each section broken into smaller sections for instruction. As she explains in the introduction, modern Egyptian dance often involves traveling movements, so this choreography highlights a wide-range of footwork and traveling patterns. As a dancer who used to fear footwork, I love this focus. The beginner choreography is just a couple of minutes to the song's finale. The movements are basic and explained in detail, though it is hardly a simplistic or boring finale. Then, there is a choreography to the entire song for intermediate/advanced dancers. Again, each movement is explained in detail, with tips and tricks given along the way (it took me a while to work through this whole choreography). There is time to practice each section twice to music before moving on to the next section. When Ranya comes to the finale section, she covers it more quickly and includes extra embellishments to it. There are also practice loops of some of the more complex foot-work sections, which are very helpful.
American Tribal Style
Tribal Basics by Carolena Nericcio. If you want to learn American Tribal Style or understand the basic posture and movements underlying Tribal Fusion, these are must-haves. For learning the movements, see Volumes 1, 6, and 7 (I have not see Volume 8: Floorwork yet). For learning layers to add to these movements, try Volumes 2 and 4 (though the zill work in Volume 2 is very basic, so, if you are an experienced ziller, you can skip this). And, if you want to perform straight-up ATS, particularly in a troupe, see Volumes 5 and 6.
Favorite Drilling DVD
Modern Tribal Belly Dance by Asharah (World Dance New York). I love this DVD for drilling. I actually own two copies. There is a 45 minute "warm up", 55 minutes of isolation drills, 30 minutes of modern tribal movement ("pops and locks"), and a short choreography. As a bonus, there are two performances by Asharah. The isolation drills and popping section are sub-chaptered by movement, so you can easily jump around if you want to focus on a certain area. The drills closely mirror my dance teacher's drills, which I assume is because both Gina and Asharah have trained with Suhaila Salimpour. As such, this makes a perfect DVD for our summer class break. The movements start slowly, then build speed, so beginner dancers can stay at a level comfortable for them, and advanced dancers can begin at full-speed for a challenge. Asharah is my favorite tribal dancer, and her teaching on this DVD is perfect--enough description to really understand the movements, but not so much chatting that I go running for the Mute button. The DVD is also well-produced and reasonably-priced.
Tribal Fusion - Yoga Isolations and Drills for Bellydance by Rachel Brice. The DVD consists of three workouts--15, 30, or 45 minutes. They begin with Sun Salutations and Locus Pose for warm-up, and then drill some core belly dance moves (locks on the up and the down, pelvic squares, umis, body waves, etc). The workouts basically consist of the same movements, simply a few more of them as the workouts get longer. As such, there is not a great deal of content on this DVD. However, the content is does contain are core movements that every dancer should be drilling regularly, in convenient time segments. If you already are disciplined about your home practice, this DVD may be too basic for you.
But, if you are looking to start a home practice regime, this is a great place to start.
Information
Bellydance Egyptian Style--Baladi and Taqasim: Improvisation Skills & Drills with Ranya Renee. I absolutely love these DVDs. The format is similar for both: Ranya provides an indepth explanation for the baladi and the taqasim, including the instruments, the rhythms, and the musical structure. Then, she explains a host of movements that can complement each section of the baladi and each instrument featured in a taqasim. She also provides tips on posture, breathing techniques, musicality, and building an improvisational practice. Then, she dances through several loops of a song. You can chose an entire baladi or taqasim or loops of different sections, and you can try to follow along or do your own thing. As a bonus, there are performances by Ranya. These are perfect for me. I can sit and listen to lecture after lecture on Arabic music, then watch dance after dance. I can get up and follow her or turn away from the TV and do my own thing when inspiration strikes.
Practice
Hard Candy with Neon, Sarah Skinner, and Elisheva (World Dance New York). Once you get past the silly name, this is a great idea for a belly dance practice. I've also done Sensual Bellydance and Love Potion, which have a similar format (and are available through my local library and Netflix, respectively). The DVDs have movement explanations and practices for beginners, which I haven't really watched. The "workout" is 40 minutes of straight belly dance moves and is build on progression: the dancers do a move for a few repetitions, then another move, then string those moves into a short combination, build another combination, then string those together into a longer combination. As a result, this is a fun and effective way to instantly get up and dancing and learn some new moves without tedious stops for explanations. You just dance. You can watch it with or without voice cues. Granted, if you don't need all the beginner-features, there's only 40 minutes of content. However, these DVDs are already reasonably priced through World Dance New York directly, and you can often find copies for under $10 through Amazon. So, for the price of a belly dance class, you can get one that you can watch over and over at home.
Props
Learn Finger Cymbals with Ansuya. This DVD taught me how to play zills while dancing. Ansuya covers four rhythms: basic gallop, baladi, bolero, and chiftitelli. She explains the rhythms as dom, teks, and kas, and also as right and left hand (with the right hand taking the doms and teks and the left the kas, like you were drumming). She then turns away from the camera so you can follow her hands, and goes through each rhythm, slowly building speed. Each rhythm is then taught with a dance movement, then all the movements and rhythms are strung together into a short practice flow. (Adding a plug here that my copy is now for sale. Email me).
Bellydance with Veil with Sarah Skinner (World Dance New York). I have a longer review of this DVD in a previous post.
Choreography
Bellydance Egyptian Style--Modern Oriental with Ranya Renee and Masters of Egyptian Choreography: Volume I with Randa Kamel. I used to not enjoy learning other dancer's choreographies, but these have completely changed my mind. It's a great way to pick up a variety of combinations and movements in a compact, easy-to-practice format. I reviewed Masters of Egyptian Choreography in my last post, so I will focus on Modern Oriental. This is a long choreography to "Layalina" by Yousry Sharif. It is divided into two sections (beginner and intermediate/advanced) with each section broken into smaller sections for instruction. As she explains in the introduction, modern Egyptian dance often involves traveling movements, so this choreography highlights a wide-range of footwork and traveling patterns. As a dancer who used to fear footwork, I love this focus. The beginner choreography is just a couple of minutes to the song's finale. The movements are basic and explained in detail, though it is hardly a simplistic or boring finale. Then, there is a choreography to the entire song for intermediate/advanced dancers. Again, each movement is explained in detail, with tips and tricks given along the way (it took me a while to work through this whole choreography). There is time to practice each section twice to music before moving on to the next section. When Ranya comes to the finale section, she covers it more quickly and includes extra embellishments to it. There are also practice loops of some of the more complex foot-work sections, which are very helpful.
American Tribal Style
Tribal Basics by Carolena Nericcio. If you want to learn American Tribal Style or understand the basic posture and movements underlying Tribal Fusion, these are must-haves. For learning the movements, see Volumes 1, 6, and 7 (I have not see Volume 8: Floorwork yet). For learning layers to add to these movements, try Volumes 2 and 4 (though the zill work in Volume 2 is very basic, so, if you are an experienced ziller, you can skip this). And, if you want to perform straight-up ATS, particularly in a troupe, see Volumes 5 and 6.
June 10, 2011
Review: Masters of Egyptian Choreography I
Masters of Egyptian Choreography, Volume One, Randa Kamel. Available through http://natashasenkovich.com/dvds.php and through Amazon.
I admit that I balked at paying $35 for a DVD for a while. It's not just that I'm cheap, but also that I tend to be hard on my DVD's, so having to pay for a second copy down the road also needs to be figured in. But, after watching the preview again and again, I purchased this DVD several months back when my teacher, Gina, gave us a dance practice challenge for the month. If I was going to commit to thirty minutes of practice a day, I might as well find something new to do, so I ordered the DVD. And, wow, was it ever worth it!
I just finished working through the choreography this morning. And that's simply marking it out. I have yet to tackle smoothing out all the transitions and work on all the nuanced head and hand placements, let alone doing it in front of a mirror to see what I even look like. And then there's the drum solo sections that I've similarly just scratched the surface on... I think I could work through this DVD for at least another month.
The Details:
The DVD has two dance instructional sections.
1) Technique
First, there is an "Exercises" section (21 minutes long), in which Randa breaks down six moves/combinations. The second "Tabla Technique" (six minutes) section consists of her demonstrating some of her favorite drum solo moves. She does not provide any break down of these moves. Some are fairly simple and she performs them several times. Others are more complex. Finally, there is a "Tabla Rhythms Demonstrated" section (one minute) which consists of her drummer playing several rhythms (Karachi, Maksoum, Jerk, Samba, Rhumba, Masmoudi).
2) Choreography
Second, there is the choreography section (48 minutes long). The choreography, with is 4:30 minutes long, is performed to "El Toba" (the particular version used is available on CD through http://natashasenkovich.com/dvds.php). There is a performance of the full choreography by Randa in costume and facing the camera. There is also an option to watch the full choreography facing the mirror. The choreography instruction is performed facing a mirror and accompanied by her drummer.
The choreography itself is broken down into eight sections. When I first saw that, I was fearful that the sections would be long and difficult to remember. However, the structure of the choreography is, in itself, basic. Section Two repeats after every section, and each section contains repeats of its own elements. And so, you are only learning one to three moves in a section, then stringing them together. Discovering how a seemingly complex choreography breaks down into such logical sections of repetition was, in itself, enlightening. The combinations are also fairly versatile, and I have already incorporated a few into my dance.
Each section is broken down in detail, right down to how Randa is holding her hands and tossing her hair. She explains how each move being powered, for example, explaining when a hip movement is really coming solely from the force of her foot striking the floor or when a move should involve solely the abdominal muscles. Again, having Randa explain in such detail what she considers the origination of each move is invaluable.
The moves themselves seem fairly straight-forwards, and so, when I first began to work through this DVD, I would have considered it an "intermediate" choreography. However, with the level of detail to focus on and the challenge of transitioning between each section, I have now revised that to "Advanced." Though the transitions between sections are explained, they are not broken down, and several I am still working on. For example, Section Two repeats at least twice between each of the other seven sections, so I have performed this section countless times over the past few months. And yet, I still have difficultly getting my body and hands through the last turn and into position to be ready for the repeat. As I love a good challenge, I consider this a bonus.
There is a note at the beginning of the DVD, apologizing for the poor film quality. Though it is, in places, not as good as it could be, it is more than satisfactory.
Extras
There are several extras on this DVD. There is an interview with Randa (12 minutes) and two live shows: the Cairo Marriott (30 minutes) and the Nile Maxim ( 24 minutes). Both shows are "home movie" quality, and the beginning of the Nile Maxim show is filmed from behind several tables, before the camera is later moved into a better position (and the sight of the banks of the Nile floating by in the background made me a little dizzy). I suspect that other, non-dancing, sections of the show were edited out. The shows are great, and I love having almost an hour of Randa's dancing in my home DVD collection.
Overall, I highly recommend this DVD, particular to a dancer seeking to add some Egyptian flavor to her dance or looking to enjoy a good challenge.
I admit that I balked at paying $35 for a DVD for a while. It's not just that I'm cheap, but also that I tend to be hard on my DVD's, so having to pay for a second copy down the road also needs to be figured in. But, after watching the preview again and again, I purchased this DVD several months back when my teacher, Gina, gave us a dance practice challenge for the month. If I was going to commit to thirty minutes of practice a day, I might as well find something new to do, so I ordered the DVD. And, wow, was it ever worth it!
I just finished working through the choreography this morning. And that's simply marking it out. I have yet to tackle smoothing out all the transitions and work on all the nuanced head and hand placements, let alone doing it in front of a mirror to see what I even look like. And then there's the drum solo sections that I've similarly just scratched the surface on... I think I could work through this DVD for at least another month.
The Details:
The DVD has two dance instructional sections.
1) Technique
First, there is an "Exercises" section (21 minutes long), in which Randa breaks down six moves/combinations. The second "Tabla Technique" (six minutes) section consists of her demonstrating some of her favorite drum solo moves. She does not provide any break down of these moves. Some are fairly simple and she performs them several times. Others are more complex. Finally, there is a "Tabla Rhythms Demonstrated" section (one minute) which consists of her drummer playing several rhythms (Karachi, Maksoum, Jerk, Samba, Rhumba, Masmoudi).
2) Choreography
Second, there is the choreography section (48 minutes long). The choreography, with is 4:30 minutes long, is performed to "El Toba" (the particular version used is available on CD through http://natashasenkovich.com/dvds.php). There is a performance of the full choreography by Randa in costume and facing the camera. There is also an option to watch the full choreography facing the mirror. The choreography instruction is performed facing a mirror and accompanied by her drummer.
The choreography itself is broken down into eight sections. When I first saw that, I was fearful that the sections would be long and difficult to remember. However, the structure of the choreography is, in itself, basic. Section Two repeats after every section, and each section contains repeats of its own elements. And so, you are only learning one to three moves in a section, then stringing them together. Discovering how a seemingly complex choreography breaks down into such logical sections of repetition was, in itself, enlightening. The combinations are also fairly versatile, and I have already incorporated a few into my dance.
Each section is broken down in detail, right down to how Randa is holding her hands and tossing her hair. She explains how each move being powered, for example, explaining when a hip movement is really coming solely from the force of her foot striking the floor or when a move should involve solely the abdominal muscles. Again, having Randa explain in such detail what she considers the origination of each move is invaluable.
The moves themselves seem fairly straight-forwards, and so, when I first began to work through this DVD, I would have considered it an "intermediate" choreography. However, with the level of detail to focus on and the challenge of transitioning between each section, I have now revised that to "Advanced." Though the transitions between sections are explained, they are not broken down, and several I am still working on. For example, Section Two repeats at least twice between each of the other seven sections, so I have performed this section countless times over the past few months. And yet, I still have difficultly getting my body and hands through the last turn and into position to be ready for the repeat. As I love a good challenge, I consider this a bonus.
There is a note at the beginning of the DVD, apologizing for the poor film quality. Though it is, in places, not as good as it could be, it is more than satisfactory.
Extras
There are several extras on this DVD. There is an interview with Randa (12 minutes) and two live shows: the Cairo Marriott (30 minutes) and the Nile Maxim ( 24 minutes). Both shows are "home movie" quality, and the beginning of the Nile Maxim show is filmed from behind several tables, before the camera is later moved into a better position (and the sight of the banks of the Nile floating by in the background made me a little dizzy). I suspect that other, non-dancing, sections of the show were edited out. The shows are great, and I love having almost an hour of Randa's dancing in my home DVD collection.
Overall, I highly recommend this DVD, particular to a dancer seeking to add some Egyptian flavor to her dance or looking to enjoy a good challenge.
June 2, 2011
Photos: December 2010
Open Stage Night at the Luxor Cafe
December 2010
(First time performing again after baby)
Photographs by Brooke Anderson
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