_To Choreograph or Not to Choreograph...
By Michelle
And if you do choreograph, how do you remember it all?
“I always do the same moves over and over when I dance!”
" I get nervous and forget everything I was going to do!”
Sound familiar? It seems all dancers reach a point where they can see a
beautifully executed dance in their mind’s eye. They practice and practice; they know the
music; they have a large repertoire of moves. Yet when the lights go out and the music
comes on, their mind freezes. The adrenaline kicks in, blocking that huge vocabulary of
moves from reaching the hips, the feet, the arms! The ¾ shimmy goes into overdrive,
filling spots in the music that were supposed to be slow and floaty with lots of graceful
turns. Though your friends and family tell you it was a good performance (and truly, it
probably was), you’re not happy with it because you didn’t say what you had intended in
all those hours of practice. Sigh.
If this is a familiar scenario for you, it’s probably time to actually choreograph
you next performance. I know, I know. You’ve learned six choreographies at various
workshops and they just don’t work for you because a) it’s to hard to remember those
moves, b) the moves were beyond your skill, or c) the whole choreography thing is just
too confining. You prefer to let the music tell you what to do and you allow the energy of
the audience to affect your dancing. Let me quote a pop psychologist here: “How’s that
workin’ for ya?” The same actions will generally reap the same effects. Change your
actions and you can change the result.
Beyond this, there are many other reasons to choreography your dance.
Choreograhy allows you to polish your moves. Once your piece is together, you don’t
waste valuable practice time coming up with new combinations. You can rewind your
music over and over until you get that three-step-turn with a body ripple and chest pop
and know that it goes in exactly the right spot of music.
Assembling a choreography can also force you to push yourself a little harder
than you would if you were relying on the moves you already know. In each new dance I
compose, I plan a new move that I’ve learned. This makes me truly own the move—
something I may not have been disciplined enough to do without the deadline of an
upcoming show!
I have also found that when I have a choreography—and have really learned it,
put it in muscle memory (i.e., I’m not spending the whole song trying to remember the
next move), then my mental energy is free to pour into the emotions of my dance. I am
able to smile directly at an audience member, I can wink when the music gets coy, I can
ooze power or sensuality. All because I’m not frantically trying to think of what to do
next. When I’ve nailed a choreography, I never walk off stage unhappy with my
performance.
So you’ve agreed to choreograph your next song? Great. Now how do you
remember it? Here are a few techniques I’ve discovered which help me.
First, know your music, know your music, know your music! You can pick out
your spot in even the most repetitive song if you know it well enough. Other memory
techniques include writing the choreography down (on paper, in the computer, or, my
favorite, with dry erase marker on the mirror in the studio!). Talk the moves as you dance
them. This also works when you’re not dancing them—listen to the music in the car and
say the moves with it. You’ll even start to develop your own language, “Circle, circle,
bump ba dump.” A word of caution: I swear by the dancing-in-your-head-while-listening-
to-your-music-in-the-car technique. But you’ll find that just because your brain may have
the choreography memorized, but that doesn’t mean your body will. You may get home,
put on the music, and then be frustrated because your hips are way behind. You’ll still
have to put in the hours dancing each move. (Oh yes, other drives may also honk at you
when you’re sitting still at a red light swirling your veil in your head). Mostly, you have
to train your brain to remember. I promise, the more you choreograph, the easier it gets—
both to develop and remember! Plan for a slip and don’t panic if you do forget
something. That’s when you go to your old standby (that ¾ shimmy, remember?) and
then think of where you can pick up your choreography. Finally, PRACTICE,
PRACTICE, PRACTICE. There is really no substitute for dancing the moves six times in
a row (or ten, or twelve!).
All right, you say, but what about the benefits of improvisation. Aaah, I reply,
there are just as many reasons not to choreograph! When you own your repertoire of
moves, and you have an equal number of songs that you like, you can dance on a
moment’s notice and without worrying about your performance space. If you perform at a
restaurant or frequently do bellygrams, you know that you cannot rely on being able to be
in place before the music starts or have the lights fade at the right time. Often in venues
like these, you simply cannot be tied to certain moves at certain times because you have
the added factor of audience participation (which is a great part of belly dance).
Training your mind and body to work together, quickly, on the spot is a great way to
stretch your dance creativity. Thank goodness for videos because I’ve often had people
tell me they loved a combination I performed (when in fact, I had no idea what I’d done
or where the inspiration for the move came from!). Mind you, this level of comfort with
your dance and music doesn’t just happen. You must practice even more than if you
choreograph! Just like all the muscles in your body, you have to train your brain to think
quickly, to interpret the music as you go. You also MUST MUST MUST know your
music! You cannot (let me say SHOULD NOT) pick out a song off your new CD on the
way to perform. That is a good exercise to practice at home, but to dance well to a song,
you’ve got to know what is sounds like, what it feels like, and when it changes. When I
plan to improvise (is that an oxymoron?), I break my music down just like when I’m
going to choreograph it. That way, I can see the musical patterns (for example: 32 counts
of ney followed by 32 counts of full orchestration, etc.).
Finally, improvisation allows you to play off the energy of the evening, to express
the emotions you have right then, as opposed to the tale you have prepared to tell. There
is a completely different current of emotions when you are reading the audience and they
are reading you, you are interacting on a more intimate level than if you are dancing your
story as scripted.
So, you now ask, which method should I employ? Choreography or
improvisation? My professional advice (which, with $17 will get you a cup of coffee at
Starbucks) is to do both! Choreograph your next three dances. Then plan to improvise
your next three. Choreograph a dance, but leave a chunk in the middle for improvisation
(I simply cannot bring myself to choreograph a drum solo—I just love the spontaneity of
them too much!). Listen to your improvised song and choreograph a dynamic entrance or
a nice combo for the accordion taxsim. Work both sides of your brain as you work both
sides of your body. You’ll find that the creative stretching makes you a better dancer and
performer!
By Michelle
And if you do choreograph, how do you remember it all?
“I always do the same moves over and over when I dance!”
" I get nervous and forget everything I was going to do!”
Sound familiar? It seems all dancers reach a point where they can see a
beautifully executed dance in their mind’s eye. They practice and practice; they know the
music; they have a large repertoire of moves. Yet when the lights go out and the music
comes on, their mind freezes. The adrenaline kicks in, blocking that huge vocabulary of
moves from reaching the hips, the feet, the arms! The ¾ shimmy goes into overdrive,
filling spots in the music that were supposed to be slow and floaty with lots of graceful
turns. Though your friends and family tell you it was a good performance (and truly, it
probably was), you’re not happy with it because you didn’t say what you had intended in
all those hours of practice. Sigh.
If this is a familiar scenario for you, it’s probably time to actually choreograph
you next performance. I know, I know. You’ve learned six choreographies at various
workshops and they just don’t work for you because a) it’s to hard to remember those
moves, b) the moves were beyond your skill, or c) the whole choreography thing is just
too confining. You prefer to let the music tell you what to do and you allow the energy of
the audience to affect your dancing. Let me quote a pop psychologist here: “How’s that
workin’ for ya?” The same actions will generally reap the same effects. Change your
actions and you can change the result.
Beyond this, there are many other reasons to choreography your dance.
Choreograhy allows you to polish your moves. Once your piece is together, you don’t
waste valuable practice time coming up with new combinations. You can rewind your
music over and over until you get that three-step-turn with a body ripple and chest pop
and know that it goes in exactly the right spot of music.
Assembling a choreography can also force you to push yourself a little harder
than you would if you were relying on the moves you already know. In each new dance I
compose, I plan a new move that I’ve learned. This makes me truly own the move—
something I may not have been disciplined enough to do without the deadline of an
upcoming show!
I have also found that when I have a choreography—and have really learned it,
put it in muscle memory (i.e., I’m not spending the whole song trying to remember the
next move), then my mental energy is free to pour into the emotions of my dance. I am
able to smile directly at an audience member, I can wink when the music gets coy, I can
ooze power or sensuality. All because I’m not frantically trying to think of what to do
next. When I’ve nailed a choreography, I never walk off stage unhappy with my
performance.
So you’ve agreed to choreograph your next song? Great. Now how do you
remember it? Here are a few techniques I’ve discovered which help me.
First, know your music, know your music, know your music! You can pick out
your spot in even the most repetitive song if you know it well enough. Other memory
techniques include writing the choreography down (on paper, in the computer, or, my
favorite, with dry erase marker on the mirror in the studio!). Talk the moves as you dance
them. This also works when you’re not dancing them—listen to the music in the car and
say the moves with it. You’ll even start to develop your own language, “Circle, circle,
bump ba dump.” A word of caution: I swear by the dancing-in-your-head-while-listening-
to-your-music-in-the-car technique. But you’ll find that just because your brain may have
the choreography memorized, but that doesn’t mean your body will. You may get home,
put on the music, and then be frustrated because your hips are way behind. You’ll still
have to put in the hours dancing each move. (Oh yes, other drives may also honk at you
when you’re sitting still at a red light swirling your veil in your head). Mostly, you have
to train your brain to remember. I promise, the more you choreograph, the easier it gets—
both to develop and remember! Plan for a slip and don’t panic if you do forget
something. That’s when you go to your old standby (that ¾ shimmy, remember?) and
then think of where you can pick up your choreography. Finally, PRACTICE,
PRACTICE, PRACTICE. There is really no substitute for dancing the moves six times in
a row (or ten, or twelve!).
All right, you say, but what about the benefits of improvisation. Aaah, I reply,
there are just as many reasons not to choreograph! When you own your repertoire of
moves, and you have an equal number of songs that you like, you can dance on a
moment’s notice and without worrying about your performance space. If you perform at a
restaurant or frequently do bellygrams, you know that you cannot rely on being able to be
in place before the music starts or have the lights fade at the right time. Often in venues
like these, you simply cannot be tied to certain moves at certain times because you have
the added factor of audience participation (which is a great part of belly dance).
Training your mind and body to work together, quickly, on the spot is a great way to
stretch your dance creativity. Thank goodness for videos because I’ve often had people
tell me they loved a combination I performed (when in fact, I had no idea what I’d done
or where the inspiration for the move came from!). Mind you, this level of comfort with
your dance and music doesn’t just happen. You must practice even more than if you
choreograph! Just like all the muscles in your body, you have to train your brain to think
quickly, to interpret the music as you go. You also MUST MUST MUST know your
music! You cannot (let me say SHOULD NOT) pick out a song off your new CD on the
way to perform. That is a good exercise to practice at home, but to dance well to a song,
you’ve got to know what is sounds like, what it feels like, and when it changes. When I
plan to improvise (is that an oxymoron?), I break my music down just like when I’m
going to choreograph it. That way, I can see the musical patterns (for example: 32 counts
of ney followed by 32 counts of full orchestration, etc.).
Finally, improvisation allows you to play off the energy of the evening, to express
the emotions you have right then, as opposed to the tale you have prepared to tell. There
is a completely different current of emotions when you are reading the audience and they
are reading you, you are interacting on a more intimate level than if you are dancing your
story as scripted.
So, you now ask, which method should I employ? Choreography or
improvisation? My professional advice (which, with $17 will get you a cup of coffee at
Starbucks) is to do both! Choreograph your next three dances. Then plan to improvise
your next three. Choreograph a dance, but leave a chunk in the middle for improvisation
(I simply cannot bring myself to choreograph a drum solo—I just love the spontaneity of
them too much!). Listen to your improvised song and choreograph a dynamic entrance or
a nice combo for the accordion taxsim. Work both sides of your brain as you work both
sides of your body. You’ll find that the creative stretching makes you a better dancer and
performer!
