SEPTEMBER 2010 Published by the Austin Belly Dance Association, Editor M’lilah barAbba ENTERTAINMENT SECTION – Supplemental for Choreography Project The Choreography Project for Middle Eastern Dance Austin, Texas 6th Annual Troupe Competition - Saturday, July 31, 2010! Various Comments and Short Articles – Bylines indicate Author or Photographer Written by ‘Lyzabyth (Center) (Member of Desert Passion Middle Eastern Dance Company – Buda) The entire weekend of The Austin Troupe Competition was fabulous. There are so many experiences to reflect upon and hold onto. The performance night was a wonderful thing unto itself, but today I want to focus on my time with Dalia Carella. I met Miss Carella Saturday morning for her second Austin workshop (Dalia taught us her choreography to Ghannali by Grace Deeb. The workshop held at Eternal Way, 1122 South Lamar, Austin, Texas was very well attended. The room was crammed full of excited dancers ready to work hard and learn all they could from Dalia. This was one of the largest workshops I’ve been to but Dalia was extremely attentive to all of her students. She often had us make a circle around her in two rows so she and her teaching assistant, Amantha, could demonstrate from the middle. She was clear and focused. Dalia was able to challenge the experienced dancers who could grasp it all quickly and were ready for more, as well as work with the less experienced dancers who needed more explanation. It was awesome. Being a fairly new devotee of belly dance I appreciated her ability to connect with dancers of all levels. What I really felt and learned from Dalia was respect. The reverence she has for dance pours out of her. She tried to give us a little taste of what dance classes in New York were like. But although she has this amazing reputation, that is completely deserved, she was humble as well as regal. I think that is making her sound a little serious, she is seriously passionate about dancing and teaching, but this woman loves to have a good time! She kept us laughing while she kept us working. She did it all, and taught us the whole choreography in two and a half hours. Some of her great words of advice were “don’t panic” and “kill it!” You can tell that she loves teaching, she is a wonderful educator who is great at getting the best out of dancers. Saturday night we were blessed to have Miss Carella perform a solo at the Troupe Competition. (R by M’lilah) I was lucky to sneak in and see her from the back of the theatre. I was really impressed. Her dance was a lively Turkish Roman piece which showed her personality, her knowledge and her mastery of her art. I was so taken by her ability to connect with the audience. I was at the very back, not even in a seat and I felt like she was looking at me and dancing to my heart. I ask her about her ability to reach her audience and she told me that she has had that quality since she was a child. She said that the stage is her home. Published for the Austin Belly Dance Association, September 2010, Page 1 ENTERTAINMENT SECTION Sunday morning we got back to work after the excitement of the show the night before. Dalia told us what a pleasure it was to see the whole show Saturday night since she is normally on stage or back stage for most of her performances. She also mentioned that it was difficult deciding which of her pieces to choose since she performs seven different styles and was only doing one dance that night! Sunday Dalia taught a class on Arabica/Latino style, it was a fusion of Arabic, Latin Caribbean, Salsa and Mambo. This workshop was also very well attended, but not bursting at the seams like Saturday morning. Dalia worked with us on combinations, taken from Salsa, Samba, afro-Caribbean, ballroom, and Mambo styles. After a great warm up she had us break into four lines and move across the floor, drilling the combos. She again brought a little New York to us as she explained some basic classroom etiquette. She also brought home that sentiment of respect for our art form and fellow dancers. She said if you came in with an attitude you could take it right on back out the door! She talked to us about the fusing of styles, saying that both of the styles need to be well understood and represented in order to keep the integrity of each. She illustrated this by telling us that she has studied flamenco for many years but still shows her instructor her flamenco fusion pieces before performing them, to be certain that they are properly representing the flamenco style. As serious as she is about losing the attitude and keeping integrity, Sunday’s workshop was all about having fun. She wanted us to let go and have a good time, saying we needed to enjoy our time together. In this relaxed atmosphere we worked across the floor, learning several combinations. Dalia would pull girls out of line to show things she liked and have them show the rest of us. She praised individuality and having the right feeling of the styles. The music we danced to was from the CD “los Niños de Sara”. Dalia also suggested Baila Habibi # 3, Hossam Ramzy’s Vol. 1, 2, 3 of Flamenco Arabe and Alabina. It was an honor to study with Miss Carella and I am sure all who attended feel the same way. A huge thank you to Dalia Carella, Amantha, and Z-Helene, Rick and their team for bringing us such a fantastic workshop and competition What I Learned By Competing in Z-Helene's Troupe Competition 2010 by Lori of the Damali Troupe Z-Helene has been running a troupe competition for several years, almost as long as I've been dreaming of Damali entering it. The end of July date has been difficult for us, as is contemplating going up against the likes of Sa’diyya's Danza Della Luna and Austin's Typsy Gypsys. This year I convinced my troupe member Leeza to join me in a duet. We had fun and as usual, I learned a lot. The first question every troupe must answer is whether to dance from the current repertoire or create a special choreography for the competition. Since choreography is a third of the score, you want to have something with pizazz and substance. We chose from dances we already knew, but had to rework some sections since we didn't have the whole troupe there. I believe that in reviewing the existing choreography that we didn't have to learn from scratch, we were able to find areas that needed sprucing up and enriching. Specifically, we added level changes and more complex arms work to our number. And as usual, about an hour after the show I thought of even more interesting changes we could have made. The two other areas of scoring are technical execution and presentation. Because we were refining stuff we already had learned, we were able to pay attention to technical execution, but we could have done more. We should have either filmed ourselves or had some troupe members spot us and point the areas we needed to tighten up. Well, when the DVDs come out, I'll be able to do that myself, I guess. Presentation always has an element of luck to it- are you 'up' and 'on' the evening of the show, physically and emotionally? Anyone who's ever gotten her period the day of a big performance knows all about this, but there are other things that can knock you down or build you up. I'm thinking the best way to approach it is to really embrace the thrill and feedback of performing live. Some people have this naturally; others of us may get stage fright. I'm working on feeling the support and interaction with the audience and letting it shine through me. (Again, let's wait for the video before calling that successful). Aside from the actual dancing, I learned from watching my competitors. When you're not competing, it's just another pretty show that you can sit back and enjoy. But when you're thinking about gathering all the points you can, you watch to see how others are doing and see things that you should have done yourself. Specifically, I could have used the stage area better and moved around more. I could have added more surprises and personality into the choreography. Oh well. Wait till next year.... Editor’s Comment: The judges thought they did it right though – placing 2nd in the Duet Category. Published for the Austin Belly Dance Association, September 2010, Page 2 ENTERTAINMENT SECTION Two Gems of Wisdom from the July Choreography Project Workshops by Lori of the Damali Troupe The main reason I go to workshops is to be exposed to the dance philosophy of the well-known and successful dance teachers that come visit us here in Austin. Here are two gems I gained from the Austin Troupe Competition’s workshops. The morning workshop was taught by Dalia Carella of New York City. She made the point that when you're dancing on a stage, your feet matter. If you're dancing at the same level as people on a dance floor or among tables, the observers don’t focus on your feet; they can't really see your feet.