Spasming jellyfish, anyone???

Today in my bellydance class, we learned a move that I had seen before, thought was cool but wasn't quite sure how to do it. I thought I was getting better at it but it isn't quite up to par yet. I tried showing it to my sister and it didn't go well. I tried it again and faired better the second time. I likened the first attempt to a spasming jellyfish which my sister said she would have said the exact same thing. Somehow I think she was being sarcastic (she isn't at all subtle where sarcasm is concerned). Anyway, today's favourite thing is learning moves that I have seen before but didn't know how to do.

Back to basics....

Tonight, I went to a bellydance workshop put on by my teacher. It was on American Tribal Stylie which is the type I started with back in Regina. It is mostly improvisation with a certain set of moves that the leader cues by specific arm positions or verbal cues. I love it because it really connects you with the other people you are dancing with. It was good to return to that style of dance because my teacher usually teaches tribal fusion which focuses on isolations and is more focused on choreography and solos. I am enjoying the fusion classes but it was nice to go back to the reason I fell in love with the dance. So today's favourite things is the improvisation and group dynamics of American Tribal Style bellydance.

Good times

Tonight I went to a get together at my dance teachers house to watch a documentary and some performance videos. After some slight issues actually getting there (I left the directions at home and even if I brought them, they would have done me little to no good as they didn't give details on how to get from the bus stop to house. Three phone calls back home to Saskatchewan later, I made it there. It would have helped if people in that area had actually heard of the street I was trying to go to.), I had a really enjoyable time. We watched 2002 documentary about Tribal Bellydance which I really enjoyed. Then we watched some performance videos of both my teacher's performances and my performances from back when I lived in Saskatchewan.
I started bellydancing in January 2003 and had never heard of Tribal before that time. I then started taking the more tribal related classes and loved it even more. What I learned in Saskatchewan had more improvisation elements than what I am learning here. Here I am learning more fusion/ choreography based stuff but I am still quite enjoying it. The main things I love about it is the communication between the dancers and just being in the moment. I also enjoy the fact that with the improvisation, it is kind of a follow the leader situation so you are fully expected to look at the "leader" in order to follow them. I find that some of the time with choreographies, you are really just dancing side by side with no communication between dancers so you might as well be doing a solo.
Below are some videos of various types. The first video is of FatChanceBellyDance who are credited with really making American Tribal Style Bellydance in the late '80s. They are of the more improvisational style with combinations of moves and cues:


This next video is of Kami Liddle. I am thinking she is doing more of the Tribal Fusion stuff based on the fact that it is a solo. She does some great body isolations and is really cool to watch.


The final video is of Hipnotic from Chicago. I am not entirely sure if it's fusion or improv but I am guessing it may be a combination of the two. The main reason I am adding them here is that they do an amazing move about at about 2:20, so if you don't feel like watching the whole thing, you should fast forward to about that point.


I am not the best at it yet but I have a very good time while I am dancing. I really miss the ladies I danced with back in Saskatchewan as, after we danced together for a few years, we got to be pretty close. I am hoping I will find close to the same thing here in Ottawa. We'll see.