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Bellydance existential angst.
Tue, August 29, 2006 - 10:35 AMMy burning question just now is why am I here? What am I doing this for?
I got into bellydancing because I wanted to learn to dance, and started to perform as part of a troupe which I really enjoyed. Then I was introduced to Tribal style, which I totally fell in love with and wanted to join a troupe, but there wasn't one, so I had to start my own. As there are only two of us, we realised that the only way we were going to grow was to train up our own students, so I started teaching. The other woman in my troupe/duo is having life problems at the moment and does not seem to be as focussed as she used to be. We have a small gig coming up in two weeks time which I may have to do on my own, which means coming up with 20 minutes of solo material in two weeks! I go to workshops, and occasionally to haflas, which are few and far between in my area, but I don't know if I should be looking for more. How do you guys get your gigs? Especially if you are only semi-professional? I don't just want to lurch from one hafla to the next, paying £10 or more to perform for 5 minutes, then sit through an hour of other peoples' students dancing (Yeah, I know it's cruel, but it's how I'm feeling just now.)
This started out as something I did every Thursday evening to keep fit, then I got a taste of the high life, and I want more, but don't know how to get it!
OK, rant over.
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Tue, August 29, 2006 - 4:11 PM
Hi Honey :)
Quite understand about the love for tribal! I would suggest asking yourself and reminding yourself what exactly it was about the dance that you fell in love with? Was it the dynamics between the dancers? Was it the power and strength of the moves? Was it the costume? Was it all three? If it was the second or third, then there's not much else to try other than you're doing now. If however it was the first or fourth, then I would suggest taking your focus off performing for now. Those dynamics only come when a group of dancers are so rehearsed not in memorising choreographies, but recognising each others moods and SPONTANEOUS interpretation of music that they can be anticipated. That is when the dance becomes exciting and the dynamics are conveyed to an audience successfully (a sure requirement for performance). These things aren't going to happen if people are off-focus. If your ultimate aim is to perform, you probably aren't going to feel fulfilled if you're not performing in the way you aspire to. If however, you are working towards performing in that way, and are achieving pieces of it along the way, you will feel much more motivated. As for getting gigs, I personally find that most come from word of mouth - you know, you perform at one event then people tell their friends and you have three more bookings from that one, then a few more from each of those etc etc. To start the ball rolling you could approach a restaurant or club with a 'taster' deal, and go armed with business cards! Whew! Rant over!!! :) |
