_How to Dance to the Music
By Michelle
Have you ever attended a belly dance show with great anticipation, so anxious to see the headlining
performer, steal some hot new moves from her, gain inspiration from her smooth professionalism? Have
you ever been utterly disappointed by that performance? Perhaps she had a bad night. Perhaps the altitude
was affecting her. Perhaps she was exhausted from teaching all day. Or, PERHAPS SHE SIMPLY
WASN'T DANCING TO THE MUSIC!
Now the disappointing headliner may usually dance with the music and perhaps she really was having a
bad night. Most professional dancers only attain that status by being superb performers and a superb
performer WILL dance to the music. But I have encountered dancers who were too lazy, busy, or confident
to take the time to really listen to their music when preparing their dance. (I plead occasional guilt to the
first two cases.) I have heard advanced/professional dancers MANY times brag that they only picked out
their music that morning and never practiced with it. (Can you imagine? Yikes!)
The most important element of a performance is your ability to hear—and as a result, allow the audience to
see—the music. The painful phenomenon of a dancer who does not hear her music, I refer to as "dancing
OVER the music." What this means is that, while her moves and technique might be beautiful, she could be
dancing to Om Khalthoum or Puddle of Mud, so unconnected is her performance to her music. And I have
seen beginning or inexperienced dancers so completely become their music that the audience was utterly
enthralled, completely unaware that she only knew four moves! It takes extra effort to leam your music and
dance accordingly, but it is well worth it.
Here are the critical elements you should be able to distinguish in your music:
• The introduction (Some songs have long drawn out intros, other songs seem to get moving right away.)
• Slow versus fast sections of the song
• Single instrument taqsims versus fully orchestrated phrases
• Stops in the music (these may be percussive or soft, but if you don’t hit them, your audience will notice!)
• Layers in the music (for example, distinctive drums overlayed with soft violin strains)
• The ending (Is it distinctive and abrupt or drawn out and fading?)
Below, I use the song "Tiky Boom" from Emad Saayed to share my technique for really learning my music.
First, I listen to my music with pen and paper in hand. I write what I hear. In other words, I note the major
changes in the music.
Drum Introduction
Drum Fast tempo
Singing Moderate tempo
"Tiky boom chorus" Stops in chorus
Boom boom Sharp accent
Girls sing
Tiky boom chorus
Boom boom
Etc...
Now not everyone likes to count music, but I really feel it is imperative that you're able to. I am by no
means a musician, but I can determine which phrases are 8 counts, which are 4 counts, and which are the
odd 11 counts.
Part in song Counts
Drum/ Intro 8cts 6X
Singing 8
8
8
Tiky boom chorus 6
"Boom Boom" 2
Girls singing 8
8
Tiky boom chorus 6
2
Etc…
Now that I know what the sections of the song are and how long each section is, I listen to it over and over
and over and over. I don't practice to it at first (well, if I am enamored with it, I will, but just for fun—the
task of listening I do without dancing). Instead, I really make myself hear each section and change and stop.
I listen to it until I can sing it without the CD. (I don't sing very well, but then 1 know that I know the song
and anyway, my daughter doesn't complain too much.) Then and only then do I get down to the business of
DANCING.
To Choreograph or Not to Choreograph...
Having written a previous article on choreography, you may think that I will insist you write down hard and
fast moves. On the contrary, I only choreograph about half of my solo pieces. I really enjoy the
improvisational side of belly dance and sometimes my mind refuses to label one piece of music with one
particular move. However, I always break the music down the same way whether I'm improvising or
choreographing.
When I do decide to choreograph a song, I simply take the additional step of assigning appropriate moves
to the various sections. (Please forgive my shorthand below—while the moves described make perfect
sense to me, they probably appear as nonsense phrases to you! But you'll have your own shorthand...)
Drum Intro 8cts 5X Enter w/down 3/4 shimmy; dancer #2 fetches #1 and #3
Drum 8cts R hip drop/kick; body diagonal down stage L ; dancers in line
Singing 8 Basic Arabic to stage left 4 cts; R hip twist fwd 4cts
8 Repeat to stage R
8 Big bouncy hip circle; hip wag
Tikyboom 6 Dancer #1 swoop to pose 2cts; repeat dancers #2, #3
boom boom 2 Chest drop/pop
Girls sing 8 Undulate chest; step down up up; move closer together
8 Reverse Ghawazee facing SR
Tiky boom 6 #3 swoops to SR pose, #2, #1
Boom boom 2 R hip twist f/b
Etc...
When I choose to improvise, then knowing what section of music is coming up allows me to be prepared so
I don't hop into a bouncy hip circle when the music is preparing to play a soft ney taqsim. Even more
importantly, you won't miss those crucial transitions and stops in the music.
Think of yourself as part of the orchestra—the visual part. The thing most important to AVOID is dancing
OVER the music.
And always keep in mind your goal: Make Your Movements Match the Music.
By Michelle
Have you ever attended a belly dance show with great anticipation, so anxious to see the headlining
performer, steal some hot new moves from her, gain inspiration from her smooth professionalism? Have
you ever been utterly disappointed by that performance? Perhaps she had a bad night. Perhaps the altitude
was affecting her. Perhaps she was exhausted from teaching all day. Or, PERHAPS SHE SIMPLY
WASN'T DANCING TO THE MUSIC!
Now the disappointing headliner may usually dance with the music and perhaps she really was having a
bad night. Most professional dancers only attain that status by being superb performers and a superb
performer WILL dance to the music. But I have encountered dancers who were too lazy, busy, or confident
to take the time to really listen to their music when preparing their dance. (I plead occasional guilt to the
first two cases.) I have heard advanced/professional dancers MANY times brag that they only picked out
their music that morning and never practiced with it. (Can you imagine? Yikes!)
The most important element of a performance is your ability to hear—and as a result, allow the audience to
see—the music. The painful phenomenon of a dancer who does not hear her music, I refer to as "dancing
OVER the music." What this means is that, while her moves and technique might be beautiful, she could be
dancing to Om Khalthoum or Puddle of Mud, so unconnected is her performance to her music. And I have
seen beginning or inexperienced dancers so completely become their music that the audience was utterly
enthralled, completely unaware that she only knew four moves! It takes extra effort to leam your music and
dance accordingly, but it is well worth it.
Here are the critical elements you should be able to distinguish in your music:
• The introduction (Some songs have long drawn out intros, other songs seem to get moving right away.)
• Slow versus fast sections of the song
• Single instrument taqsims versus fully orchestrated phrases
• Stops in the music (these may be percussive or soft, but if you don’t hit them, your audience will notice!)
• Layers in the music (for example, distinctive drums overlayed with soft violin strains)
• The ending (Is it distinctive and abrupt or drawn out and fading?)
Below, I use the song "Tiky Boom" from Emad Saayed to share my technique for really learning my music.
First, I listen to my music with pen and paper in hand. I write what I hear. In other words, I note the major
changes in the music.
Drum Introduction
Drum Fast tempo
Singing Moderate tempo
"Tiky boom chorus" Stops in chorus
Boom boom Sharp accent
Girls sing
Tiky boom chorus
Boom boom
Etc...
Now not everyone likes to count music, but I really feel it is imperative that you're able to. I am by no
means a musician, but I can determine which phrases are 8 counts, which are 4 counts, and which are the
odd 11 counts.
Part in song Counts
Drum/ Intro 8cts 6X
Singing 8
8
8
Tiky boom chorus 6
"Boom Boom" 2
Girls singing 8
8
Tiky boom chorus 6
2
Etc…
Now that I know what the sections of the song are and how long each section is, I listen to it over and over
and over and over. I don't practice to it at first (well, if I am enamored with it, I will, but just for fun—the
task of listening I do without dancing). Instead, I really make myself hear each section and change and stop.
I listen to it until I can sing it without the CD. (I don't sing very well, but then 1 know that I know the song
and anyway, my daughter doesn't complain too much.) Then and only then do I get down to the business of
DANCING.
To Choreograph or Not to Choreograph...
Having written a previous article on choreography, you may think that I will insist you write down hard and
fast moves. On the contrary, I only choreograph about half of my solo pieces. I really enjoy the
improvisational side of belly dance and sometimes my mind refuses to label one piece of music with one
particular move. However, I always break the music down the same way whether I'm improvising or
choreographing.
When I do decide to choreograph a song, I simply take the additional step of assigning appropriate moves
to the various sections. (Please forgive my shorthand below—while the moves described make perfect
sense to me, they probably appear as nonsense phrases to you! But you'll have your own shorthand...)
Drum Intro 8cts 5X Enter w/down 3/4 shimmy; dancer #2 fetches #1 and #3
Drum 8cts R hip drop/kick; body diagonal down stage L ; dancers in line
Singing 8 Basic Arabic to stage left 4 cts; R hip twist fwd 4cts
8 Repeat to stage R
8 Big bouncy hip circle; hip wag
Tikyboom 6 Dancer #1 swoop to pose 2cts; repeat dancers #2, #3
boom boom 2 Chest drop/pop
Girls sing 8 Undulate chest; step down up up; move closer together
8 Reverse Ghawazee facing SR
Tiky boom 6 #3 swoops to SR pose, #2, #1
Boom boom 2 R hip twist f/b
Etc...
When I choose to improvise, then knowing what section of music is coming up allows me to be prepared so
I don't hop into a bouncy hip circle when the music is preparing to play a soft ney taqsim. Even more
importantly, you won't miss those crucial transitions and stops in the music.
Think of yourself as part of the orchestra—the visual part. The thing most important to AVOID is dancing
OVER the music.
And always keep in mind your goal: Make Your Movements Match the Music.
