Retro? or just never moved forward?

Ok, this is a random post about dance in general.  Yes the focus is still more on belly dance but it has the overview of just dance and its progressions.

It is amazing to see the level of athletics in dance now, not that dance never was an athletic "sport" or art form, but the heights that are reached and are pushing the human boundaries go way beyond anything we imagined even as little as 20 years ago.

When I sit a watch shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" - I am astounded at the abilities and the drive that dancers have now.  Now this is no way diminishes the likes of Baryshnikov and such.  Those dancers actually were way before their time even, but because of those types of dancers we have dancers now that just seem to defy gravity, and physics as well as the constraints of their own body.  They truly soar and excel.  So, what does the future bring...omg.

I have to say there are times I wish that I had followed my dream more to the letter, but in all honesty...I did - just in a slightly different way, but I am digressing here.

The one thing that I am a bit bothered by in dance when it comes to belly dance is the feeling of getting lost in a time period.  I love the fact that people experiment with costuming and try to bring the looks forward to the present and future, but with it comes a "genre" tag.  (i.e. Gothic, ATS, Tribal Fusion, Baltic/Gypsy Fusion, etc.) But when traditional belly dance appears it looks like it just stalled in the past...somewhere around the 70s.  In all honesty, it looks cheezy to me and that is sad when the dancing is quite good...the cheeziness of the retro costuming (when not meant to be Retro) overshadows the dance.

Now, that might seem an odd statement cause "traditional" means "such and such."  But yet when I see what I interpret as traditional it doesn't look like it crawled out of the 70s, it has a more ethnic feel or geographic stamp to the period or region it comes from around the world.  Traditional (to me) is not hot pink with maribou feathers and tons of glitter and sequins...while yes, some of that is what is considered performance attire even in the Middle East where ever it is an accepted dance form...it still looks like it never grew up into the present time.

I do like, as I stated, those trying to bring belly dance to a fashion forward arena but even in efforts to be edgy it can be over-the-top and honestly distracting.  Or is that the point?  The costume is to shine not the dance ability or lack of ability?

I love costuming, I love to have fun in costuming in whatever means the costume applies but the old word "edit" keeps coming to mind.  Some times less really is more even in belly dance, but I am not meaning the amount of costuming coverage but more the aesthetic of the costume itself. :)

It is a hard thing to try to legitimize an art form, it is even harder when it looks like it is still in the 70s and people try to associate it with the overtly sexual dancing of striptease, especially when it has been brought into striptease as a theme.  So, while belly dance is slowly gaining acceptance via ATS and some of the edgier genres that have emerged, it still has a stigma attached especially when viewed in what seems to be a time warp.

I don't have a solution, nor would I ever profess to have one.  I just know it is difficult at times to see something you enjoy...dance, and a specific dance form that I participate in be caught in this time warp.

Something to consider and think about?  I would hope so, but for now, I do what I enjoy doing.  I support all other dancers in their efforts to express, even if they are in a time warp. ;)

Personal opinion only here and observation.

Focus, focus, focus

Focus is the theme, technique is the challenge, and fun is the desired result.

After having so many things happening lately for the students, with a performance at MedFest, a performance at Tribal Regale, a performance at Pearls of the East, and a their first performance at Cues & Tattoos this year.  It is time for the lessons learned via these performances to be put into perspective.

Now, it is understood what happens in ATS, why is it structured the way it is, and why it is important to be clear in cues.  Fun is a result of the connections of those dancing but these other things now have more meaning and importance in the dance now.

I feel like I have taken these "new to ATS" baby dancers a long way in a short time, but now it is my responsibility to refine them, make them better at what they have come to love.  To represent not only themselves, but to be able to represent what ATS means in its finest forms.  And of course the ultimate to properly represent the lady(s) that started this whole thing.  That is my most important task at hand to be the guide along the way to get where the students are going and do it properly and proudly.

I am totally thrilled at the level of commitment I have come to see from the students that have come, gone, and come back into the class.  Yes, the come and go thing is the reality check that "life" happens. :)

To see not only the time and effort to get to my class commitment but the level of commitment in the class.

So, babbling aside, what does this mean?

Focus was not an issue but concentration in the specifics within a movement is going to be tweaked, torqued, and adjusted.  The techiques will be drilled and refined to their finest. 

Funny all these rather complex thoughts, formulations, configurations, and procedures that have been finding their course in my head and in actions in the class seemed to have disappeared when putting "pen to paper" in sharing what I have in mind.  Complexities traverse the brain but sharing them seemed to have found the simplest form.

I guess any profoundness that I might have shared will have to wait for now...for the brain has halted all exiting thoughts currently.

The only thing I know this whole process is going to not only guide my students but will refine my own abilities even more.  Win/win.