"dance til the stars fall down from the rafters..."
Bit of a breakthrough while using Jillina last night -- I started watching very carefully, and noticed (yes, this was a “like, duh” moment) that the keys to looking dancey and not tentative are MAINTAINING dance posture while you dance (yes, a shocker, but I’m used to just doing that during drills where you’re standing still and you just align once & don’t have to think about it much after because since the moves won‘t work right if you don‘t, you do it automatically.).
Also, watching her feet very carefully, I realized that they’re extremely crucial too -- their positioning and weight distribution is the difference between looking confident & balanced or nervous & shakey. I adjusted accordingly, and VOILA! Suddenly I looked like a dancer, like I was really dancing instead of just awkwardly following someone else's choreography.
*cue happy breakthrough music*
Also -- I was working on finishing my skirt & my harem pants today while listening to a bunch of old records (spending the day singing along to old Muppet-movie songs & sewing is funner than you might think), and discovered the most amazing thing -- Alvin & the Chipmunks Sing Silly Songs is INCREDIBLE for belly dancing to. Seriously. It has these heavy, steady, rhythmic beats, it’s upbeat & fun to dance to, and you just can’t help have a huge grin on your face the entire time. Perfection.
I'm not accustomed enough to Middle Eastern music yet that it gives me that irresistable must-dance-now feeling, and now I figure that, in addition to listening to that more, I'll just pull out some of my favorite songs that have a strong bassline & try dancing to those, too.
Life + dancing = glorious goodness. :)
Also, watching her feet very carefully, I realized that they’re extremely crucial too -- their positioning and weight distribution is the difference between looking confident & balanced or nervous & shakey. I adjusted accordingly, and VOILA! Suddenly I looked like a dancer, like I was really dancing instead of just awkwardly following someone else's choreography.
*cue happy breakthrough music*
Also -- I was working on finishing my skirt & my harem pants today while listening to a bunch of old records (spending the day singing along to old Muppet-movie songs & sewing is funner than you might think), and discovered the most amazing thing -- Alvin & the Chipmunks Sing Silly Songs is INCREDIBLE for belly dancing to. Seriously. It has these heavy, steady, rhythmic beats, it’s upbeat & fun to dance to, and you just can’t help have a huge grin on your face the entire time. Perfection.
I'm not accustomed enough to Middle Eastern music yet that it gives me that irresistable must-dance-now feeling, and now I figure that, in addition to listening to that more, I'll just pull out some of my favorite songs that have a strong bassline & try dancing to those, too.
Life + dancing = glorious goodness. :)