These rhythms are often used interspersed with other rhythms; a piece of music will have standard 4/4 time for the first third of the song and then transition to 10/8 time for, say, 10 measures, and then lapse back into the 4/4 time signature again. Last night in our dance workshop we discussed advanced rhythms and how to dance to them. Very very tricksy bain-brendering stuff, 3/4 and 7/8 and 10/8, fast and slow tempos.
We also encountered a 13/8 rhythm in an intro to a song by the amazing Oum Kholsoum called El Hob Kolloh, which although I don’t speak Arabic, I understand translates to “The Love Complete.” We used a sideways cross-step with a fall back and quarter turn (step over with the left, out with the right, step back behind with the left, sort-of half a grapevine step), roll up and we’ve counted 6 beats, quarter-turn left with right hip out to the opposite side at the 7, turn into the hip circle around to face front to fill in the 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 beats, then repeat on the other side.
Moving to it is actually easier than it sounds; the difficult part is hearing and recognizing the 10/8 or 13/8 rhythm when they're embedded in a piece of music that fluctuates between different drum-beat patterns.
Exhilaratingly difficult and makes the mind work in complex ways, it had me in a near-euphoric thought-process counting 13s by the time I was leaving class, and I completely forgot where my car was parked.
My Saturday morning dance classes have started again; a whole new bevy of beauties to make sweat, and enough returning faces I know I must be doing something right. We stretched, and did our sit-ups and push-ups and strength-builders, and worked on basic isolations. We took our time; we went slow, and focused on technique.
The movements for Middle Eastern dance are internal, and require control of isolating different parts of the body. We do not use leaps, and we do not, usually, bounce. Easy on the joints, works the muscles. It’s not so physically demanding as other forms of dance. It’s actually a lot like swimming, and with practice, when done correctly, it becomes effortless.
This seems like a very nice group of ladies, all different shapes and sizes and ages. I have a mother & daughter, I have two grandmothers who giggle in the corner, I have three hot young thangs just beyond puberty and still afraid their changing faces are doing something to betray their supposed boredom. I have some very insecure women and some very boisterous devil-may-cares bordering on obnoxious. I appreciate them all (especially when they laugh at my jokes), and find myself flattered and disbelieving my position as a role model.
I tell them that because there is no established standard vocabulary and no set method of movement, Middle Eastern dance is a dance for every body. After posture, correct body alignment, and muscular isolations are learned, the motions themselves are open to interpretation. Yes there is a lot to learn, there is always something new to learn, but we don't all have to be shaped identical. The shapes are for individuality, and the flesh is supposed to move, and yes even skinny angular limbs can look graceful, and hooray for big buxom curves.
One woman who took classes last quarter and has enrolled again told me my class is her therapy. Another confided to me that learning dance has made her aware of being a woman, and that she was going out on her first date in four years.
They all come to me with different goals; their goals are so different, some of them have no idea that they’ll actually progress and develop a goal. Some will continue for years, and some will drop the class, but I know they’ll all learn something about their bodies, and hopefully about their souls.
It’s almost a study on human nature; from my viewpoint, I see a huge cross-section of the population dabbling in a foreign culture’s music and dance traditions, which truly provides a strange insight into things like motivation and desire. My current motivation is to learn and pass on the knowledge. This situation may change but for now I'm happy.
My advanced students are coming to my house for a choreography lesson tomorrow evening. Which means... I really need to vacuum.
We also encountered a 13/8 rhythm in an intro to a song by the amazing Oum Kholsoum called El Hob Kolloh, which although I don’t speak Arabic, I understand translates to “The Love Complete.” We used a sideways cross-step with a fall back and quarter turn (step over with the left, out with the right, step back behind with the left, sort-of half a grapevine step), roll up and we’ve counted 6 beats, quarter-turn left with right hip out to the opposite side at the 7, turn into the hip circle around to face front to fill in the 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 beats, then repeat on the other side.
Moving to it is actually easier than it sounds; the difficult part is hearing and recognizing the 10/8 or 13/8 rhythm when they're embedded in a piece of music that fluctuates between different drum-beat patterns.
Exhilaratingly difficult and makes the mind work in complex ways, it had me in a near-euphoric thought-process counting 13s by the time I was leaving class, and I completely forgot where my car was parked.
My Saturday morning dance classes have started again; a whole new bevy of beauties to make sweat, and enough returning faces I know I must be doing something right. We stretched, and did our sit-ups and push-ups and strength-builders, and worked on basic isolations. We took our time; we went slow, and focused on technique.
The movements for Middle Eastern dance are internal, and require control of isolating different parts of the body. We do not use leaps, and we do not, usually, bounce. Easy on the joints, works the muscles. It’s not so physically demanding as other forms of dance. It’s actually a lot like swimming, and with practice, when done correctly, it becomes effortless.
This seems like a very nice group of ladies, all different shapes and sizes and ages. I have a mother & daughter, I have two grandmothers who giggle in the corner, I have three hot young thangs just beyond puberty and still afraid their changing faces are doing something to betray their supposed boredom. I have some very insecure women and some very boisterous devil-may-cares bordering on obnoxious. I appreciate them all (especially when they laugh at my jokes), and find myself flattered and disbelieving my position as a role model.
I tell them that because there is no established standard vocabulary and no set method of movement, Middle Eastern dance is a dance for every body. After posture, correct body alignment, and muscular isolations are learned, the motions themselves are open to interpretation. Yes there is a lot to learn, there is always something new to learn, but we don't all have to be shaped identical. The shapes are for individuality, and the flesh is supposed to move, and yes even skinny angular limbs can look graceful, and hooray for big buxom curves.
One woman who took classes last quarter and has enrolled again told me my class is her therapy. Another confided to me that learning dance has made her aware of being a woman, and that she was going out on her first date in four years.
They all come to me with different goals; their goals are so different, some of them have no idea that they’ll actually progress and develop a goal. Some will continue for years, and some will drop the class, but I know they’ll all learn something about their bodies, and hopefully about their souls.
It’s almost a study on human nature; from my viewpoint, I see a huge cross-section of the population dabbling in a foreign culture’s music and dance traditions, which truly provides a strange insight into things like motivation and desire. My current motivation is to learn and pass on the knowledge. This situation may change but for now I'm happy.
My advanced students are coming to my house for a choreography lesson tomorrow evening. Which means... I really need to vacuum.
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