this is not about politics
Nov. 9th, 2004 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
keryxI know it's shocking, but I'm not going to talk about politics today.
I've been looking for a dance teacher who does ATS, or at least one of the many forms of wacky fun triberet and fusion.* No such luck. None here in town.
I have a very good ethnic instructor, and an okay cabaret instructor, but I really want to have a tribe and community and stuff. And I want to be learning the more me-ish dance styles.
So, sometime in the past week, it finally came to me that I'm going to have to lead this, or move. Since moving doesn't fit with the rest of my plans just yet, I'll have to get started on my own - or with a few other people. I'm hoping they'll come pre-trained and can actually teach me, but I'll teach them if I have to. And... we'll make it up as we go, I guess. Anyone want to bellydance in Richmond?
I've been mentally rearranging all my plans for the next year around the idea of going to at least a couple of the various tribal dance cons and workshops and stuff. I want to learn a lot in a relatively short time because - shock of shocks - I'm impatient, and if I'm going to have to lead/teach others, I'd better become more than a rank beginner myself.
Yeah. That's where my mind's been. When I'm not at work. When I'm at work, my mind's mostly screaming What! The Hell! Am I Doing! (new job, remember?).
* A summary of different types of dance, substantially colored by my opinion of them, for the uninitiated:
"Cabaret" bellydance is mostly American, and you've probably seen it. Lots of sequins and chiffon, lots of emphasis on solo performance and individual skill vs. group, and a tendency to be entertainment rather than art centered. Also, where the "me so sexy" thing comes from.
"Ethnic" or "folkloric" middle eastern dance is theoretically as close to the geographic bellydance roots as possible. So there's a Tunisian form, a Lebanese form, an Egyptian one, etc. Still with the sequins and the individual craft center, but at least not tacky.
"Tribal" covers a wide range of group-oriented dance styles that branch off the American Tribal Style tree; see tbd.org for the best definitions evah. Most tribal is all kinds of earthy and randomly ethnic in a way that I find very appealingly American/modern/feministy. Because it's basically a made-up modern folk dance form, there's a lot of diversity in styles - like tribal hip hop, Bollywood, as well as more purely ethnic influences.
So there, now you're educated and can go back to reading about me me me. ;)
I've been looking for a dance teacher who does ATS, or at least one of the many forms of wacky fun triberet and fusion.* No such luck. None here in town.
I have a very good ethnic instructor, and an okay cabaret instructor, but I really want to have a tribe and community and stuff. And I want to be learning the more me-ish dance styles.
So, sometime in the past week, it finally came to me that I'm going to have to lead this, or move. Since moving doesn't fit with the rest of my plans just yet, I'll have to get started on my own - or with a few other people. I'm hoping they'll come pre-trained and can actually teach me, but I'll teach them if I have to. And... we'll make it up as we go, I guess. Anyone want to bellydance in Richmond?
I've been mentally rearranging all my plans for the next year around the idea of going to at least a couple of the various tribal dance cons and workshops and stuff. I want to learn a lot in a relatively short time because - shock of shocks - I'm impatient, and if I'm going to have to lead/teach others, I'd better become more than a rank beginner myself.
Yeah. That's where my mind's been. When I'm not at work. When I'm at work, my mind's mostly screaming What! The Hell! Am I Doing! (new job, remember?).
* A summary of different types of dance, substantially colored by my opinion of them, for the uninitiated:
"Cabaret" bellydance is mostly American, and you've probably seen it. Lots of sequins and chiffon, lots of emphasis on solo performance and individual skill vs. group, and a tendency to be entertainment rather than art centered. Also, where the "me so sexy" thing comes from.
"Ethnic" or "folkloric" middle eastern dance is theoretically as close to the geographic bellydance roots as possible. So there's a Tunisian form, a Lebanese form, an Egyptian one, etc. Still with the sequins and the individual craft center, but at least not tacky.
"Tribal" covers a wide range of group-oriented dance styles that branch off the American Tribal Style tree; see tbd.org for the best definitions evah. Most tribal is all kinds of earthy and randomly ethnic in a way that I find very appealingly American/modern/feministy. Because it's basically a made-up modern folk dance form, there's a lot of diversity in styles - like tribal hip hop, Bollywood, as well as more purely ethnic influences.
So there, now you're educated and can go back to reading about me me me. ;)