Practice Tips Series - Debunking some myths

It's winter time and you have a bunch of time on your hand because, well, it's winter. In the fall, you had all kinds of awesome plans for how you'd kick your practice into high gear. But then you find that your motivation and willpower has has gone out the window and you haven't practiced in... who knows how long? Or you've been practicing real good for a while and then the Holidays happened and you got off the proverbial bandwagon and have a hard jumping back on it. Or you never got on it. Whatever may be the case, so you're having issues practicing?

Let me just say that it happens to all of us... or at least most of us. It's just normal. So you're not alone. The key is finding ways to get you practicing.  This is what this series of blogs will be about: giving some tips and tricks to help with your practice.

First off, though, I want first to debunk a few things about practice.

Debunking the willpower myth
I've heard the line "I have no willpower" from a lot of folks for a number of things that they wish they would do. If I learned one thing from losing weight, it's that it's really not about willpower but about habits... and then out of those better habits will come your will to resist temptations. In the case of practicing, temptations abound in the form of a lame TV show that you somehow feel you need to watch, looking at everyone's updates on Facebook or other social media, or whatever has been keeping you from practicing.

Again pulling from my time losing weight, when people wield the "no willpower" card, it seems like they believe that willpower is a magical wand that will suddenly make everything better and easier. So here's the truth: there is no magic wand. There's really only planning and habits. More on that in the next blog entry (coming soon).

Debunking the length of practice time
I've been guilty of that myself but I've sometimes been reluctant to practice if it's for a short period of time. We have these grand ideas of practicing where we'd like to think that we could practice for hours every day... but then the reality hits you and you don't have all these hours of time or have just a limited amount of time and figure out that there's no point in even practicing a little.

Honestly? There is literally no amount of time that is too short. For example, I've seen improvements by just doing a few isolations while cooking my eggs in the morning or doing shoulder rolls at work (which has the added benefit of relaxing my shoulders from all this typing I have to do). Or maybe an idea for a combo will come up and you'll try it in the kitchen... or the bathroom... or wherever. I call those micro-practices. While they aren't the only thing that you should rely on for improving your dance, they still serve useful purposes and even that is helpful.

One other thing to know is that you're better off practicing more frequently for shorter sessions than less frequently but longer sessions. Instead, most people believe that it's better to do, say, one practice session of an hour per week versus, say, 3-4 sessions of 30 minutes. If you do the math, it's clear that one yields more time overall for the week. But even if it was the same amount of time (e.g., 2 x 1 hour versus 4 x 30 minutes), the more frequently you practice, the better it is. I will put a caveat to that in an upcoming blog entry about being realistic about your schedule.  That being said, if you can swing a longer practice session during your week, that can be beneficial since you'll be able to cover more material in your session and build your endurance and all that good stuff.

Open Your Horizon

I've been musing on this for a while now.  There have been some interesting trends that I've noticed.

Back when I first learned to belly dance (1995), the internet wasn't widely used at all and few actually had access at home. Given that I was in Quebec City, Canada, there wasn't a whole lot of information being spread around about belly dance. I was at the mercy of my instructor to know what was going on in the belly dance world (and she wasn't one for sharing information). Back in those days, you'd be lucky if you could find a catalog that carried belly dance VHS and even if you did find it, the price would be exorbitant... add the currency conversion (since I was in Canada)... and duty... and the cost was very prohibitive.

Once more people started getting internet at home, finding information was oh so much easier. During the glory years of tribe.net (remember that?), it was easy to find information on any topic that you were interested. We had so many different tribes (i.e., message boards) on specific topics. It made finding information easy. Events were also promoted there.  I thought for sure that, given how information was so easy to find, it would enable us all to broaden our horizons and learn more about everything belly dance well beyond your neck of the woods.

And, for a while, that was true. Everyone seemed to know the big names in the belly dance world. And whether you were tribal or cabaret, you knew at least the big names for the other style and got to learn about a number of awesome smaller names in your style. Events were well attended by people from neighboring cities and states and sometimes well beyond (especially for festivals).  People weren't afraid to drive 3-4 hours (if not more) to attend some workshops. It seemed that dancers had a thirst for knowledge that FINALLY was being quenched.

In the Summer of 2008, there were so so so many glitches with tribe.net that it made it practically unusable. It definitely was very frustrating to try to use the darn site... I remember full well. A bunch of people decided to recreate some tribe-like feel on Facebook. Well, Facebook, ain't tribe... but back then, actually, groups were more like message boards so, for a bit, it worked out okay. That being said, finding information in general and definitely finding information for event was a little tricky as we were all trying to figure out how to use Facebook.

Well, you know what else happened in 2008? That's right: the economy took a real bad turn. So besides having a hard time finding the information about events easily, people didn't have as much disposable income for traveling far and wide to all events and would pick and choose which ones they were attending. So events (and classes) weren't as well attended in general.

But, for a while, it seemed like people were at least keeping a minimum of interest, enough to still know what was going on in the belly dance world in general (i.e., beyond their local community). So while people couldn't travel as much, the fountain of knowledge was still there and people were still drinking from it.

What happened since then? Well, things have been hiccuping. For all that we're told that the economy is getting better, either people are being more frugal and keep their disposable income in their savings account or the economy isn't that much better... or it could be that the belly dance revival that happened in the late 90s-2000s is over with. Only time will tell.

One thing that has me concerned, though, is that I've noticed that people won't even travel a few hours for a weekend of workshops with a renown instructor. Instead, they'll just attend their local events and not expand their horizons. While I'm all for promoting and participating in your local belly dance community, I feel that, without seeking out new knowledge, growth will be harder to reach.

But I get it, the cost of events, even just a few hours from your home, may be prohibitive. Okay, fine. What has me even more concerned, though, is that I notice that so many new belly dancers have no idea who renown belly dancers are but they will only know their local dancers. Again, while I'm all for knowing and interacting with your local community, it's important to also get to know contemporary and historical names in the belly dance world.  And, again, with the internet, you have no excuse for not finding that information! It's available at your fingertips! Look at videos on youtube, search on google, look up groups on Facebook, when in doubt, ask an instructor for pointers (and if they don't know, they should find out). The fountain of knowledge is still there... please drink from it!

I invite everyone to branch out and open your horizon to gain more knowledge about this art form that you love so dearly.

Play date vs. Baby Frankenstein

I’ve heard some ghastly music mixes in performances over the years. One time, the performance was like 3 minutes long and there were like 6 different pieces used. Seriously, folks, it’s really annoying to hear the music suddenly switch from piece A to piece B without any editing in-between. ESPECIALLY if the pieces don’t have any relationship to one another.  Beyond the annoyance for the ears, it detracts from your performance! My brain has to switch from A to B quickly and, while it’s adjusting, I’m totally missing the dancing that you’re doing! So, once again, I’d like to make a plea for better music editing.

This is really my opinion and you don’t have to agree with me but I have huge issues with using only small portions of a piece in my performances.  I tend to use the whole piece.  I’ve seldom done some music mixes because of that.  To me, up to a certain point, if you are using only bits and pieces of a music piece, you’re kind of deconstructing someone else’s art for your own needs. And I have some issues with that.  Now, I do love industrial music and we all know that they do sampling quite a bit… and that’s fine. But may I point out that they do it with artistry and the insertion of those elements is so well done that it’s seamless.  Also, both with industrial music and electronica, it can get repetitive so I understand cutting such music; if you do, I’d like to hear a representative portion of the piece, though.

I know enough musicians to know that their music is their children… just like my dances are my children.  So I view performances as actually a play date between my child and the musician(s)’s child.  And, yes, it’s possible to have a play date with more than 2 children, of course! You can invite other musician’s “children” to play but, just like in real life, it shouldn’t be complete and utter chaos.  In real life, if play dates were too chaotic, the parents would put an end to it or go with smaller numbers. Similar analogy with your mixes.

Also, try not to make a baby Frankenstein. Sometimes, I’ll hear mixes where the songs have so little to do with each other that it totally felt like someone patchworked a baby Frankenstein together (you know, like an arm comes from this child and a leg from this other child, and a torso from this other child, etc.). Just like you should be striving for your music, your costuming, your movements, your hair and makeup to work harmoniously together and have common elements, you want the pieces that you’re using to work together and create a seamless story.

I don’t know if these tendencies to want to mix music that have nothing to do with each other is a by-product of wanting to perform them all and feeling like there aren’t enough opportunities.  I totally understand that there’s a lot of good music out there. But I think that it’s important for a performance to have focus and, if you use music pieces that have nothing to do with each other in your mixes, it will give a sort of schizophrenic effect of not knowing where you wanted to go. If you’ve ever watched Project Runway or Top Chef, you’ve most certainly heard the judges say something like “there are some good ideas in there but this lacked focus.”  It’s like that.

Believe me, based on the few times that I’ve had to mix or cut music, it takes a long time to get a seamless effect (and, yes, even with doing just a cut). There are tons of softwares out there, some free, to help you out (I use Audacity). But it still takes time.  So take the time. And, no, it’s not something that you can pull off at the last second unless you are very experienced with these editing softwares. If you don’t have time to do a good job (I understand being pressed for time), try to find a DJ who can help you with that. There are a lot of DJs out there and a good one should be able to mix your pieces very seamlessly.

So when you’re picking out the different pieces that you want to mix together, think of the story and mood that you are weaving together.  Consider that you’ll most likely need to adjust the mood with each piece… even if they’re all about, say, sadness. No two pieces are exactly alike. How are you going to transition the pieces from one to the other musically? And how will that affect your dancing? 

What progression are you going for? Worst mixes are going up-down-up-down… e.g., happy, anger, love, more anger, hope, hate, etc.  So strive instead for some sort of progression… something that would make sense in the real world. People are rarely this chaotic in their emotions (PMS excluded, of course). And, throughout, keep in the back of your mind this question: What is the overarching theme of the whole piece? That should help you figure out how to order things.

It's never as bad as you think...

Last January, when we did the Museum Quality intensive, I knew that I was going to present a piece where I would receive feedback. It was strangely more nerve racking than regular performing is nowadays. It eventually dawned on me that the issue was that, for once, I would hear out loud what folks were thinking while I was performing. And then I realized that it meant that I had moved beyond worrying what folks think about my performance. Believe me, it took me years to get there.

This is probably one of THE worst fear when one performs (at least for a while): what will people think?

Well, I've done a number of workshops now where there is a critique portion to your dancing and I've actually sought critiques from mentors and, let me tell you: it's never nearly as bad you think.

What is playing in your head, really, is your own self-critique (which is always way off, by the way) and your fears playing in your head. It sounds like a cliché to say this but you are your own worst critique.

Honestly, first of all, no one will ever tell you anyway what they think. Or if they do, they will restrict it to just talking about the good.

But you're still wondering, right? What else are they thinking?

Again, in my experience of receiving feedback, I've rarely received something that is out of left field... except actually for compliments. When it comes to the areas for improvement, the truth is that I often actually already knew what some of those were but either it hadn't bubbled up to the conscious level yet or I hadn't found a way to work on those items yet. It's very rare indeed that something will come out that you weren't aware of but it does happen.

So, again, it's not like you didn't self-critique already on those points.

The bottom line is that, indeed, you should do your own dance and don't give a *beep* about what other folks think. You'll think worse anyway. And, really, the only person that you should aim to please with your performance is you... but that is a topic deserving its own entry. ;)

Pin your hair

This is now a pet peeve of mine when I see performances: when someone's hair is in their face while performing.

The mysterious vibe
I think that some people think that it makes them look mysterious, maybe even mischievous  And it can do that to a certain extent. But the problem with the hair over your face is that I don't see your whole face. So when you're making facial expressions, I miss half of what is going on.  Believe me, you can have that mysterious vibe without hiding half your face: it's all in your facial expression. ;)

Presenting the wrong side of the face
What I see happening often is presenting the wrong side of your face to the audience. So your hair is heavier and covering your left side of the face? Well, then, if you will be showing your left side to the audience either sideways or at a diagonal, I will lose even more if not all of your face. So you're essentially hiding behind a wall of hair. Believe me, I know how scary it is to perform but please don't hide your face.  This will be even more pronounced if the dancer is doing improv, as it will be natural way of sheltering yourself.

So if you know which side your hair is thicker and tends to fall over your face the most, you should know to generally present the other side to the audience the most. It takes some practice but it gets easier with time.

It's really about the sides
The sides of your hair (i.e., the hair in front of your ears), will be the hair that will have the highest tendency to fall over your face.  So this is really the area of hair that you will need to pay attention to. Assess what the pattern of your falling forward is like and that will give you an idea of how you can correct the forward tendency.

Loosely pinning
For all that you love your loose hair, you can gently/loosely pin it in place so that it still keeps its shape but not move so much. It's all about the bobby pins! You can put on as many as you want or need as, from the stage, no one will be able to see.  You can also use decorative pins, barrettes, fascinators, etc. to distract from the bobby pins and to add some interest in your hair.

Pomade
I discovered pomade thanks to a workshop with Michelle Manx. I've been using it ever since. If you don't know about pomade, here is what it does: it helps smooth down the stray hairs. So when my hair looks all messy, just a little pomade in my hands and gently manipulating my hair with my hands in place helps keep the runaway hairs in place. You can also use a little more to shape the hair in place, provided that you're not looking for volume but a sleek finish.

It's really a frame
Essentially, what this is getting to is framing your face to showcase the emotions that you'll show on your face (and all your beautiful makeup :p). So it's not just about getting the hair out of the way but also coming up with a pretty frame around your face. In time, you'll find what works well for your features. Play with it. Practice doing your hair and different ways to place your hair... remember that it's not just about the back of your hair (which you'll be showing only so often) but also about how it falls around your face and what it does for your features.  Make sure that the frame doesn't go over the beautiful picture that is your face, m'kay?

No less than full love

When it comes down to choosing your music for your next performance, accept no less than full love for the music. What I mean by that is that you need to be rather madly in love with the piece. We'll explore below the advantages of that.

Madly in love

Before we do, though, I want to explain the concept of "madly in love." The manifestations will vary from person to person. I once met someone who said that she never loved a piece of music yet I'd often hear her say when a piece was starting "Oh, I like that piece!" with a sigh. She didn't realize it but that was love for the piece right there. Some people are more exuberant (I most certainly am) so it's easier to notice that attraction to the music. So anything that makes you go "Oh, I like this!" could potentially be a contender for you to dance on.

Narrowing it down

That being said, not every piece of music that you love will be danced to. You'll need to narrow it down. There are some pieces that you will love but they won't be fitting for the style of dancing that you do or with your normal aesthetic. I'm not saying that you can't do a departure from your regular style but rather that you want to choose when you do. Also, there may be some pieces that will fit better for some events/venues/audiences than others so that's another thing to keep in mind when choosing your piece.

Be careful of the academic love

Sometimes, you'll love a piece of music but it's because it gives your brain a spin and not because it's inspiring you artistically. I've had that happen to me once where I loved the piece of music but it was really academic love. And the end result was not up to par to what I wanted to deliver. So strive for something that will inspire you artistically.  You'll know that it's the case when you're starting to have images pop in your head or movements are just coming to mind.

Holiday theme

In line with this, be careful also when selecting a piece of music for a specific time of year. I think that the biggest culprits that I see is around the themed events or Holiday (any) where folks feel an urge to go for the staples of said Holiday. If you really really really love it, sure, go ahead. But this is generally where I see performers not put in their full effort. I dare you to do better. I dare you to find something that is in the spirit of the Holiday (whichever one) or theme and still do art in it.

You'll know it in your gut

It sounds corny to say but it's very true: you'll know it's the right piece to dance to when you feel it in your gut. Your belly (some would say your liver... see this post by Tempest) will react to the song and you'll feel a tug. You'll just know. Trust me.

Do not back down or pass up a song you're afraid of

This took me a long time to realize and I still have to fight with myself over it: there have been a number of pieces over the years (especially early on) that I passed up because I was afraid of them. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do them justice and it saddened me so much that it paralyzed me out of action. Once I started doing pieces that I was absolutely madly in love with, I realized the power that they held... most importantly, those are pieces that made me grow exponentially.  You're afraid because maybe it will be hard to pull off... but you know what? Working on it hard and pulling it off will make you grow and make you into a better dancer and performer... even into a better human being, depending on the work and findings that you've done/had. ;)  The pieces that I was most afraid of turned out to be my biggest successes.

Here's a quote from The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield (it's a great book... super short... I highly recommend to read it! I think that it was originally Ariellah who recommended this book in a workshop):

“Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do.

Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.

Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul. That's why we feel so much Resistance. If it meant nothing to us, there'd be no Resistance.”

Benefits

So the benefits when you absolutely love a piece of music are two-fold:

1. Easier to work with

It's counter-intuitive because it most certainly won't feel that way at first. But if you are really inspired by a piece of music, it will be much easier to come up with creative combos, movements, etc., than it would if you only kind of like a piece.  You'll just need to break through the ice first.

2. Easier to connect with

If you already have a relationship with the piece of music, it will be much easier to keep the connection going. If you've ever had to work with someone else's piece of music that you were just okay with, you know how hard it is to work your way through connecting with the music.

Hold on to the feeling

Now, if you are so in love with the piece, you may have some extra stage fright over delivering the piece. I tell my students to hold on to what the piece makes you feel like. It's your one thing that you can be sure of. Hold on to that and all the work that you've put in and deliver what the piece makes YOU feel. The rest is fluff.  Sincerely, using that love for the piece and harnessing it to project out that feeling will help you deliver your best performance to date. 

[And, yes, it can be dark! ;)]

Newsletter/What is coming up

I figured that it would be simpler to have it on my blog space than typing a long post on Facebook and post everywhere I can think of (and then forget to copy-paste important stuff).  Anyway...  Here we go:

Classes
The next session of classes will start the week of August 27.  The schedule will be the usual, which is as follows:

Mondays
7-8 pm: Improvisational Tribal Style (ITS) Technique

Tuesdays
6-7 pm: Advanced Beginners
7-8 pm: Intermediate Fusion Technique
8-9 pm: Performance Preparation

Wednesdays
6-7 pm: Beginners

Please visit my website for more information and feel free to ask me any questions!
http://celestebellydance.com/instruction.html


Greek Islands Night
Next date when I'll dance at Greek Islands will be Friday, August 24. I will have more dates for the fall but don't know what they will be much ahead of the start of the next month. If you want to keep apprised of these, make sure that you follow me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/celestebd


Workshops by Celeste
I will be teaching several workshops this fall and I'll have more to come. Here is what I know for sure right now.

September 16: Indianapolis IN
Makeup workshop at my dance studio in downtown Indianapolis
http://www.facebook.com/events/441925502512795/

September 29-30: Midwest Tribal Mafia in Chicago, IL
I will be teaching a workshop titled Dark and Sassy Belly Dance. Some fun combos that can fit whichever mood you're in. I happen to do it dark and sassy.
http://www.midwesttribalmafia.com/

October 6-7: Ooky Spooky in Kalamazoo MI
I will be teaching a workshop titled Hold That Pose! Adding Drama Through Stillness.  This is a "Seinfeld" workshop.... a workshop about nothing. (kidding) Actually, you'll learn what you need to do to hold the audience's breath away as you're holding still, which is one of the hardest things to do.
http://www.bohemetribal.com/#!__ooky-spooky-save


Other Events
October 20-21: Kajira workshops in Indianapolis IN
ISAMETD will be hosting Kajira for a weekend of workshops.  You can find all the information here: http://www.isametd.com/kajiraregistration.htm

February 2:  The Grand Victorian Masquerade Ball in Indianapolis IN
I will be teaching steampunk dancing (non-belly dance) and perform (now this will be steampunk belly dance) at this event.
http://www.circlecityaerodrome.org/

Workshop Hosting
We have two things planned (thus far) for 2013 where we will host fabulously awesome instructors. You don't want to miss these opportunities!

January 11-13: Museum Quality Intensive with Tempest
We will be hosting Tempest for a 3-day intensive that will totally change your dance and bring it to the next level. We hosted her a first time in 2011 and the knowledge that I gained has made my dance grow by leaps and bounds and I can't wait to do it all over again!  Please note that space is limited so don't miss out on this!
http://celestebellydance.com/museumquality.html

February 9-10: Workshops with Belladonna
The amazing Belladonna will be in town to impart her awesome knowledge of dance.  We'll learn fun combinations that you can use in ITS or in your fusion style.  The weekend will end with a great workshop on finding strategies to reach your goals in dance while having a busy life.  Space is again limited so you don't want to miss this either!
http://www.blackrosecaravan.com/workshop.html