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	Home About Despina Classes Dance Yoga Pilates Articles Animal Welfare Support Contact	Bellydance Articles, Page 2, Quick Tips by Despina: Accepting Criticism Arm Movement Avoiding Injury Backbend With A Shimmy Bent Knees And Elbows Body Carriage Clashing Personalities Dancing On A Stage Dangerous Moves Dirty Hair Don't Die For A Deadline Ego Poisons The Stage Eyes Funny Vibes Improving Your Zill Playing Money Nastiness Neck Pain Nightmares Opinions Of A Troupe Member Pelvic Tilt Performance Shoes Performer’s Checklist Posture Practising At Home Put Your Bum Away Returning Phonecalls Show Offs Structuring A Show Part 1 Structuring A Show Part 2 Surpise! Toes You’re The Best! Zills Plus Veil Accepting Criticism by Despina Choosing to be a in a dance troupe means that you put yourself in a position where you will receive criticism. And constructive criticism is necessary to become a good performer. None of us really enjoy being criticised – even when the criticism is constructive and gentle – because it’s always confronting to be corrected. But this is how things are if you want to be in a high standard performing troupe. So what do you do if you find that you’re taking the criticism personally and it’s having a negative effect on you? You need to turn that aspect of your thinking around, and look upon criticism as a wholly positive thing. To achieve this you could go to the other extreme and look forward to being criticised – actively ask for criticism in rehearsals. In the end you may discover that you just can’t cope with criticism of your dancing. There’s no shame there – possibly performance isn’t for you right now and further down the track you will develop the confidence to deal with criticism in a positive way. Arm Movement by Despina A lot of dancers have trouble knowing what to do with their arms. Poor arm carriage will ruin excellent dancing. Practice holding your arms gracefully and moving them with elegance. Make this a big part of your dance practice, and you’ll see that polished and fluid arm movement will add expression and flow to your dancing. Avoiding Injury by Despina What could you wear to class to help prevent injury and does this change with the seasons? Dance pants (NEVER a skirt). This allows the teacher to see your legs at all times, which means that she can check on correct stance constantly. That can help prevent injuries to the ligaments and tendons of the ankles, knees, hips and lower back. More layers in the winter months: cold weather can mean higher likelihood of torn muscles. What could you do or not do in class to help prevent injury? Avoid backbends. Not everyone will agree with this, but I think that avoiding back bends is essential UNLESS you do lots of Pilates and Yoga and you have a wickedly strong back, abdominals of steel and legs to match, lots of flexibility throughout your whole body AND you’re at least half way through your show or class and therefore extremely warmed up. Only then can you execute them safely. Permanent pelvic tilt. A slightly tilted pelvis while dancing (and in general) helps protect the lower back. Never skip the warm up section of a class (and I’m not talking about stretching, I’m talking about the warming up that must be done BEFORE stretching), and do an extra long warm up in winter to help prevent muscle tears. Don’t forget to stretch. Either at the end of a one-hour class or after the warm up of a one-and-a-half-hour class. Elongating your muscles through stretching is vital to maintain a healthy balance of strength and flexibility in your body. Inform your teacher the moment they feel ‘bad’ pain - stabbing or sharp pain, as opposed to ‘good’ pain where your muscles are being suitably taxed. Backbend With A Shimmy by Despina The following is a slightly edited version of a conversation I had with another performer (I’ll call myself ‘D’ and call her ‘Z’): Z: The audience loves it when I do a backbend with a shimmy. D: But what’s more important, what the audience loves or your back? Z: I’m careful. D: It only takes one slight misjudgement of how low you’ve gone or how hard you’re shimmying, and that’s it for your back. Z: Still, it looks good. So that’s both sides of the discussion. That leaves you to be the judge for yourself what’s more important to you. Bent Knees And Elbows by Despina Protect your knees and elbows by never locking them out completely. Even at their straightest, there should always be at least a micro-bend at those joints to protect them from harm. Body Carriage by Despina Constantly be aware of the following points when you perform. The manner in which you hold your body – your body carriage – is all-important to add grace and strength to your dancing: Ankles strong Arms in curves, not sharp angles Feet posed, massaging the floor as they move Fingertips extended, relaxed but alert Neck showing, chin slightly raised Shoulders relaxed, away from the ears Chest lifting Shoulder blades gently squeezing together Abdominals drawn in Thighs close Clashing Personalities by Despina There will be personality clashes within any group of people, and that includes a performing troupe. If you don’t like someone in the troupe, keep it well and truly to yourself during rehearsals. If you want to get it off your chest to your teacher, you may choose to do so IN PRIVATE, and never during class. Also, make an active effort to remind yourself of that person’s good points – they’re bound to have some – in the moment that they’re grating on your nerves. You don’t have to marry the person so there’s no need to go to great lengths to make things work between you as if you’re going to be cohabiting for the rest of your lives. You just need to get on with them for the purpose of having peaceful and productive rehearsals and performances. Dancing On A Stage by Despina Dancing on a stage can be unnerving. And you don’t have to be dancing on an elevated stage for it to be scary – using a dance floor on the same level as your audience for a stage is just as frightening. It can be very intimidating when you have an entire space to yourself and have to command the attention of the entire room – especially when they request a show without audience participation. Without audience participation it’s ALL up to you and even the smallest stage can seem immense when you’re not practised. And tiny little you has to fill up the ENTIRE room with your presence, and that’s a big ask for a single person. It takes a lot of experience to be able to do this well – but before you go out and get that experience, practise the right stuff in order to get better results sooner. So, if you’re a student intending on performing in the future, my advice is this: prepare! You need to practise: Travelling all the techniques in your repertoire, both long and short distances, and in all directions including: Backwards Forwards Sideways Diagonally Zig-zagging While turning Variety in your dancing, so practise changing between: Being on the move and being on the spot Spreading yourself out and staying in a small space Accented techniques and smooth techniques Powerful, dynamic movements and soft, introverted movements Zig-zagging While turning Other stuff that adds texture to both stationary and travelling movements: Height changes (going onto demi pointe, or into plié – ie. On the balls of your feet or bending the knees, respectively) Shimmies (shoulder or hip shimmies layered on top of another move) Shape-changing (by varying arm positioning and arm movement) Turning to face a different direction Turns – these are super-important as they add an exciting element to your show Props including any or all of the following: Stick Veil Tambourine Sword Zills/finger cymbals (although this is not strictly a prop, but rather an instrument that you play while you dance) Dangerous Moves by Despina There are some dangerous Bellydance moves. The ones I’ve seen include: Backbends (especially of the variety where both legs are parallel to each other, and even more especially if they are also of the hip shimmying variety. Head flick (the dancer, usually completing some kind of a body wave also includes a reasonably violent flick of the head from a looking at the ceiling position to upright again). Head turn (rolling your head in a full circle while turning). Quick, deep squat (Dina-style: she bounces down full force and then leaps up with about as much force). Have a look at the repercussions of the above moves, as expressed in the following equations: Backbends = lower back injury Head flicks = neck injury Head turns = neck injury Quick, deep squats = knees injury The repercussions of ANY injury include: Huge amounts of pain when the initial injury occurs. Huge amounts of pain that never seem to go away no matter what you do or don’t do. Moderate, aching pain if the huge amounts of pain miraculously subside. Low-level, nagging pain if the moderate, aching pain decides to take a holiday. Vast amounts of mental torture (“Why did I have to do that stupid move??”). because now you’re in pain because of it. I’m sure you can see how I feel about the above moves. If you must do them do them very seldom and: Only do backbends only when your legs and back are extremely warmed up and with one leg in front of the other for support (and therefore never with a shimmy). Only do head flicks only on occasions when you’re feeling particularly, fit, flexible and your neck is extremely warmed up. Only do head turns only on occasions when you’re feeling particularly, fit, flexible and your neck is extremely warmed up – and, by the way, if you’re a full-time dancer (teacher and performer), you’ll pretty much never feel like this…you’re more likely to feel like an 89 year old woman with bad arthritis all day every day. Only do the quick, deep squats only when your legs and back are extremely warmed up and your abdominal muscles are feeling strong. The other option is to just not do them. There are plenty of other moves to do. My advice is to stick to the safer ones. Dirty Hair by Despina How’s this for a bizarre tip: schedule your hair washing for AFTER performances. Unbelievably, your hair tends to sit better when it’s not squeaky clean. Newly-washed hair tends to be more fly-away and has that weird fuzzy look. It, of course, depends on the type of hair you have, but generally speaking: dirty hair sits better. Save your shampooing for after the show! Don't Die For A Deadline by Despina Once I was late for a gig because there was an eight car pile-up. There were ambulances, there were police cars, the traffic was heavy, and there was nothing I could do about it. I called the restaurant and told the wife that I was going to be late and the reason for it. She answered dramatically: “Oooohhhhh my god!” This was not atypical - it was the usual answer on the very few occasions I’d been late before, said in a tone of voice that implies that the end of the world is nigh. When I finally arrived the husband came up to me and berated me for being late. I told him: "Hey, you know what? Tell that to the dead people who were blocking the road. People are dead in that accident and you’re worried about me being late?" He laughed at my ‘joke’, but I wasn’t kidding at all. I mean, that should that have been his perspective on the matter in the first place, without me having to point it out to him. I had thought this couple who owned the restaurant were good people - that they were a type of surrogate ‘family’ that I belonged to when I went to dance there on Friday and Saturday nights. I ruefully remembered the number of times I would stress out and hurry to make it there in time so that I wouldn’t let these 'nice' people down. They proved themselves not to be worth my concern, but really I should have been smarter than that from the start. I should have never rushed to get to that gig (or any gig) on time. Yes it's important to take your job seriously, but is it worth risking your life for? There were recently anti-speeding commercials with the slogan “don’t die for a deadline” which sums it up nicely - no gig is worth dying for. At some point after this incident, I was fired from that restaurant. They told me: “We need a dancer who is here every week, no time off.” In the years I'd been there, I'd taken breaks on two (yes, just two) occasions: the first due to a death, and the second due to a broken toe. In fact, I remember that on my return the first thing I was told by the husband was: “You’re not a professional. You take time off because so-and-so died, and then you break your toe.” He laughed his head off. This was meant to be some kind of a joke. Yeah...hilarious stuff. Anyway, when I was fired, I told them: “You can look all you like and you’re not going to find a dancer who never gets sick and who never needs time off. What you’re looking for is a robot!” And so, I haven’t danced at that restaurant for years now. I recently passed along the restaurant's street, and it seems to have disappeared. I can’t say I was sorry for them if their business went under. I think that when someone tells you that their entertainment schedule is more important than people’s lives, you’re not dealing with good-hearted people no matter how nice they seem. So I confess that I was somewhat vindictively gleeful that they went out of business. If that kind attitude is the one with which they ran their business, then not only was it not surprising that they couldn’t keep it going but, in my opinion, it served them right. Ego Poisons The Stage by Despina Leave your ego in the wings when you go on stage. Confidence and ego aren’t the same thing. You needn’t dance like a shy little mouse - that’s not what I mean by leaving your ego behind. I mean leaving behind any part of you that thinks you can rest on the credit of your other performances. You need to go on stage without any thoughts of how well your previous show went – your ego tells you that you danced well in previous shows and that you therefore are a good dancer – “go out and show them what a good dancer you are!” your ego tells you. Going on stage with confidence (not ego) means that you’re thinking you’ll go out there and prove yourself to be a good dancer. Ego will poison your performance because resting on your laurels means you’ll be too sure of yourself, too certain of your talent, and your resulting performance will almost certainly be mediocre. Remember, you're only as good as the show you're doing now - make every show the best one you've done so far. Eyes by Despina To add some ‘umph’ to an otherwise ordinary movement, or to add some emotion during a slower piece of music, use the glance of your eyes to draw attention to a particular movement. However, there is one rule in the use of the eyes in dance: NEVER look at your chest while you’re doing an upper body movement (eg. shoulder shimmy, shoulder bumps, rib drops, etc), because you don’t want to draw extra attention to it when you dance. I’m sure I don’t have to go into a long explanation as to why - suffice to say, it's not that kind of show. Funny Vibes by Despina Never accept shows that you’re not comfortable doing. If you get a funny vibe from the person on the phone and your instinct tells you that something is not quite right, thank them for calling and politely decline the offer. Improving Your Zill Playing by Despina You will probably be surprised to hear this but, besides practice, the thing that really helped me to improve my zill playing was learning to play some basic rhythms on the tabla (Arabic drum). You don’t need to become a professional tabla player, but if you’re really serious about become a good zill player, then do consider investing in a tabla and a few private lessons with a good teacher. I’m no expert on the tabla, but am pretty good at playing all the basic rhythms, keeping steady time, and can play well enough to be able to teach basic rhythms to others. It’s not only improved my zill-playing tremendously, but it’s also helped me to understand Bellydance music a whole lot better. So besides making you more dexterous, it gives you a better comprehension of the music that you dance to. Give it a go! Money by Despina An interesting question arose the other day when I passed on a job to a new performer who is also a student of mine. The job was about an hour away from her house and she said she was planning on charging $250 rather than the $200 that was the going rate at the time. She said it was warranted because the gig was quite far away. Of course, this sounds logical, BUT in my opinion it’s not a good idea for new performers to get into the habit of changing their fee depending on distance. In my opinion, when you're starting out, you're best off keeping to a flat rate - you're not an expert yet on fixing prices and knowing how long it will take to get from place to place, so keep things simple. It's enough pressure to do a good gig when you're a new performer, so don't make things more complicated for yourself when it comes to money. And also consider what happens when it’s the other way around? As a new performer, if you give the impression that you'll charge differently based on travel time, a prospective client may say: "Ah, well you can halve the rate because you'll be right in the next suburb!" So then you'll have to deal with explaining to them that it doesn't work that way and trust me when I say that they won't necessarily understand. So when you're starting out, keep it simple. Make a price and stick to it. Once you've got several hundred gigs under your belt, not only will you have the experience to charge more but you'll have the knowledge of travel distances to gauge it realistically. In the meantime, keep it simple. Nastiness by Despina If you encounter nastiness from other performers, as tempting as it is, don’t join in on it. For whatever reason, this person is insecure, so turn away and let them wallow in the filth of their own meanness. You don't want to be in there with them. Neck Pain by Despina Some of us suffer from stiffness in our necks. This stiffness can become rather painful and often lead to screaming headaches that last for two or three days. One thing I’ve discovered that helps me immensely is doing twisting stretches. Before giving twists a go, check with the professional who’s treating you as to whether or not they think it’s a good idea for you to do twisting stretches - based on your particular problem, twists might be a terrible idea for your neck. So if your health professional gives you the go ahead, have a private class with a Yoga or Pilates teacher so that he or she can show you some twists you can practice at home. From then on, do them at any opportunity you can. I try to hold them for just 8 counts and do many, many different types of twists, rather than doing a couple of ones for a long time. I find that, for me, holding twists for ages makes everything worse. So my trick is to do lots of them but for only a short period of time each. And doing them regularly is also essential. Even if you can manage just one twist a day (remember to always go in both directions – don’t just twist to one side because you feel stiffer on that side) go ahead and do it. It might make all the difference as to whether you get that horrendous headache or not. Nightmares by Despina A student of mine was very concerned that she was having nightmares about her coming performances. She had recently joined a troupe and these were to be her first shows. I assured her that it was normal to be scared and for fears to sometimes come out in dreams. I, to this day (and I've been performing since 1995) still have random nightmares about classes or shows. They don’t occur before any particular class or show, so there’s no specific fear associated with the nightmare: they just pop up randomly! My nightmares usually consist of being late to a class or show because I’ve been asleep when I should have been going to my class or gig. You might think that I might be a sleeping-in type of person – the type of person who has missed things because she’s slept through them. But how wrong you’d be! However, I do tend to work a lot and get horribly, horribly tired at times. And it's when this happens that the nightmares tend to crop up. I guess I’ve got a secret worry lurking at the back of my mind that because I'm so tired, I’ll just nod off at some random time and not turn up to a class or performance. Then there are the nightmares where I’ll turn up (still late) to a gig or class, but without half my stuff. For the Gig Nightmares I’ve only got part of my costume or I've forgotten to bring music. And for the Class Nightmares, I'm late and I've forgotten my music. Are my fears grounded in reality? No: I’ve NEVER turned up to a gig with only half a costume to wear, and I ALWAYS have my music with me (my entire collection of performance CDs live permanently in my performance bag, as do all my class CDs in my class bag). BUT, I have been late on occasion. I’ve probably been late to a dozen shows in the since 1995. Reasons have been both mine and others’ fault: the previous show I’ve done began late because the venue owners were disorganised, I’ve underestimated the time it takes to get somewhere, there has been unprecedented traffic on the way, I’ve left home late (usually when I’m so on time that I’m running early and I think to myself “Ah, I’ve got plenty of time!!”…then the next time I look at my watch it’s: “Oh noooooo! I’m going to be laaaate!”). As for classes, the reality is: I’ve been late to class about half a dozen times since I began teaching in 1997, the reason being that I've left home too late because I'd been running so early. So, I guess the only thing I can say is, that unless the dreams are grounded in reality, don’t sweat it, just enjoy waking up to realise that it was all just a dream! Opinions Of A Troupe Member by Despina You don’t need to be a hotshot dancer to give constructive criticism to other members of a troupe. This is because you are an audience member before you are a dancer, so as an audience member you are not only able to point out improvements that can be made, but you have the right and the duty to. It’s part of being in a troupe. Pelvic Tilt by Despina It can’t be said enough: keep the pelvis slightly tilted AT ALL TIMES when you dance (and even when you don’t dance). This will help protect your lower back. Performance Shoes by Despina If you have plenty of money at your disposal, you’ll want to have three pairs of performance shoes: platinum (a pale gold) silver black If you’ve got the budget for only two (and if you have black outfits), my suggestions are: platinum (it’s pale enough to look neutralish and will therefore go with your gold-beaded and silver-beaded outfits) black If you’re wanting two pairs and if you have no black outfits: platinum silver If you are only going to buy one pair of performance shoes: platinum (and avoid buying any black outfits) Performer’s Checklist by Despina Items that should permanently live in your performance bag: Zills Performance cds Coarse sandpaper (to scrub the suede underneath your performance shoes) Hairspray (for a quick spritz on the crown of your head to help the sword stay on your head) A short bit of candlestick (to rub onto the sword pre-performance to help it stay on your head) A face towel (to dab yourself dry after the performance) Spray-on deodorant (for obvious reasons) Fresh breath spray (a spritz before going on stage is always a good idea) Mini makeup kit for quick fixes just before going on stage (make sure it contains a small mirror) Business cards A spare pair of performance tights/nylons Items that should permanently live near your performance bag: Stick Sword Performance shoes Stage make up Hairpieces Performance tights/nylons Items that should be packed into your performance bag on the night you’re performing: Mobile phone (remember to hide it well in your performance bag when you go in for your show) The veil to go with the costume you’re wearing Your performance skirt (if you’re like me and you hate sitting on sequins and beads while you’re driving, you’ll wear a pair of dance pants between shows and only stay in costume from the waist up) A bra or tank top (for the end of the night so you can change the top half of your costume for a more comfortable drive home) Items to be wearing before you leave the house on the night you’re performing: Stage makeup Hairpiece Costume, including: Headband Bra top Gloves Performance shoes (my preference is ballroom shoes – they add elegance and height…goodness knows I need some...I'm 5 feet tall, if you've never met me!) Tights/nylons. My preferences are: A brand of dance stocking called “Shimmers” – they are specifically for dance and you can get them at any dance store. Get a few pairs for emergencies – although any stockings can get runs, these are very sturdy tights. The fishnet version of shimmers tend to run less than the plain shimmers, and if you get the tan coloured ones they won’t be noticeably fishnets to your audience. The big downfall is the extra lovehandles they create as there is a reasonable dig into your hips A type of stocking called “Stay Ups” (there are many different brands that make them) which go thigh-high and although there’s some dig into your thighs, it’s unnoticeable under a costume Non-costume, including: Button-up shirt or t-shirt with very stretching neckband (to take on and off easily without smearing makeup, ripping off hairpiece and/or displacing headband) Cardigan (again, because you can take it on and off without disturbing your hair and face – a short-sleeved light one for summer and long-sleeved heavier one for winter) Kaftan (middle eastern overcoat – ideally get one a heavy one for winter and lighter one for summer) Dance pants (one that has a mark-free waistband, and that are flared enough to get a heeled shoe through without too much trouble) Scarf (for cold weather) Items to put blocking the front door on the night you’re performing (they can’t fit into a performance bag, so blocking the door with them means you won’t forget them on your way out): Stick Sword Items to prepare and sticky tape to the front door (again, so that you won’t forget them) on the night you’re performing: A sheet of paper with details of all the various places you need to go that night, along with a contact phone number for the person who hired you Another sheet of paper giving instructions on getting from venue to venue. Use a permanent marking pen to write the instructions in big, fat letters, and if possible a different colour marker for each venue for easy reference when you’re stopped at the lights (no reading while driving – it’s illegal and it’s deadly) Items that should be packed into a separate bag to have on hand on the night you’re performing. (Ideally these should be put into a bag that is sturdy enough to sit steadily on the passenger’s seat so that you can easily access it when you’re stopped at the lights without the danger of having it topple and spill its contents. You may not need all of the following items – it depends how long your night is – but you’ll definitely want to take water with you if nothing else): Water Juice Easily nibbled-on and mess-free food (eg. Grapes, nuts, strawberries) A plastic bag to use for garbage Items that should be packed into yet another bag to that you’ll hide away safely somewhere on the night you’re performing: License (best not to carry any cash or credit cards if you can avoid it) Posture by Despina One of many important aspects of performing is having good posture. Slouching is ugly, ugly, ugly. Keep shoulders back and down, and ribs lifting gently up. Practising At Home by Despina If you’re in a performance troupe and you’re consistently not practising at home then maybe you should consider an early retirement. If you’re going to be part of a troupe, you need to act like you’re part of the troupe, not just dangling on the end of it. If you’re not practising at home regularly, start now. Put Your Bum Away by Despina As a dancer, how do I feel when I see a performer with a really skimpy costume, half her bum showing, her breasts pouring out of her bra? Well, as the cliché goes, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the human body, but I don’t see any sense in showing it inappropriately. When you go to a business meeting you don’t wear a bikini, just as you don’t wear a business suit when you go to the beach. There’s nothing wrong with showing or covering flesh as long as it’s at the right place and time. Bellydance costumes do reveal what street clothing may normally hide, but no reason to show everything. When I see these dancers, the first thing I wonder is whether or not they can dance. If they can’t dance and they’re relying on skimpy costumes to get them work, then I can understand why half their butt is hanging out. I can understand it – they want work and it’s the only way they’ll get it. But despite the fact that I understand what’s going on, I still don’t agree with what they’re doing. It makes life harder for the rest of us because unfortunately showing more talent doesn’t always beat showing more leg. So the bottom line is: appropriateness. And to the skimpily-clad dancers, I say: in the name of all women, put your bum away! Returning Phonecalls by Despina Have you ever been in a situation where you call another dancer up and leave a message about a job and she doesn’t bother to get back to you? Obviously her answer is ‘no’ but in my opinion it’s just common courtesy to return a phone call no matter what the answer is (or have the rules of etiquette changed somewhere along the line and no one told me?). I have one rule for these other dancers who haven’t the decency to call you back: two strikes and you’re out. If it happens once, assume it’s a one-off mistake. If it happens twice, it’s likely to be a habit, so stop calling this dancer to give her work. If she’s not polite enough to acknowledge your call by calling you back then simply stop passing on jobs to her. Now, if there is a phonecall at some point after these two strikes and a sincere apology is offered along with a proper explanation giving good reasons (not excuses, but reasons) as to why the calls weren’t returned, then definitely give her another chance. But the same rules will apply to this second chance: two strikes and she’s out. And no matter what explanations might be given to you after that, they’re just excuses at this point. She’s pretty much shown you that it’s a habit of hers to call or not call as it pleases her without consideration of others. Save the passing on of jobs to other more courteous dancers. Show Offs by Despina There’s an interesting type in this industry that you’ll come across. The type that shows off without showing off. It took me a while to figure this one out. With this type of person, you’ll find that whenever you mention any restaurant or function centre, they’ll say: “I dance there.” I used to think to myself: “Wow, this person dances everywhere! They are so popular. They must be amazing performers!” Then after quite a few of these conversations over a long period of time I started thinking to myself: “Hang on a second, how in the world are they dancing at ALL these venues? They claim to dance at every single place that’s ever mentioned. They can’t be dancing at all those places because they simply can’t be in that many places at the same time.” You see, most places here in Sydney have shows between 8pm and 10.30pm. And so, an average night would mean three shows if you do a 20 minute show with half an hour travel in between (which is typical for travel time here in Sydney). Add an extra-early show (maybe a wedding) and an extra-late show (a nightclub or private function), and that’s five in one night. That’s conceivable. But if they were dancing at all the places they claimed to dance, they would be dancing at a dozen different places in one night. Not possible in that time frame. It took me AGES to cotton on to this method of showing off because I’m the kind of person who’d only say “I dance there” when I dance somewhere regularly. If I danced at a venue once I’d say, “I danced there once.” Or if I dance there intermittently, I might say, “They call me to dance there every once in a while.” To me “I dance there” is phrase that implies continuity: an on-going, weekly gig. Maybe I’m taking things too literally – or just being too pedantic about people being specific in their speech. Maybe. Or maybe what they’re doing is a subtle way of showing off without actually showing off, and (even more subtly) a way of putting you down – because, in the end, is what showing off is all about, isn’t it? So these days, instead of being intimidated by this person’s seemingly vast popularity and in awe of all the squillions of places that these non-showing-off-show-offs dance at, when I hear “I dance there” and I simply ask: “Every week?” after which the truth comes out. It might be every week (you might not be dealing with a non-showing-off-show-off), or it might have just been a one-off and they’re making that one little experience seem more important than it actually was. Either way, hopefully the two little words “Every week?” will bring out the truth. And if they are a non-showing-off-show-off, it’s their problem. In the past, it was my problem too: I was intimidated. Now I don’t care, BUT I still ask the magic question “Every week?” because I do want to know the score. I want to have a clear view of the person I’m dealing with. If I have to deal with someone as a colleague, it’s important to me to know who the individual standing in front of me is. And in the above context the two words “Every week?” will reveal much about the person you’re talking to and help you to treat them accordingly in the future: will you be likely to take what they say at face value, or will you have to dig a little to find the truth? You can’t judge an entire person by one little conversation, but it does give you clues. And you know what they say: when a person shows you who they are, believe them the first time. Structuring A Show Part 1 by Despina The following are some ideas about how to structure 20 minute professional performances. Of course nothing is set in concrete, so do experiment to find a system that works best for you. My ideas are just a starting place. The assumption is that, besides the finale (which should be about a minute long), songs are approximately 5 minutes long. 20 minute performance using veil/boa, zills, sword, stick WITHOUT audience participation: Entrance piece – use your veil (sometimes I use a feather boa), zills as well (if you’re able to play at the same time as holding veil/boa) to music that’s fast, dynamic and attention-grabbing Sword piece – zills off, slower, more introverted piece Stick piece – speed up the pace again, make it earthy and strong Drum solo – pop your zills back on, go fast and furious, knock them out with this one! Finale – grab your veil or boa, twirl majestically and make your exit 20 minute performance using veil/boa, zills, WITH audience participation, WITHOUT sword or stick: Same as above, BUT substitute sword and/or stick pieces for audience participation section of the show – use music that’s upbeat and fun Structuring A Show Part 2 by Despina The following are some ideas about how to structure 20 minute professional performances if you have the software to shorten your songs to about 2.5 minutes. It can break things up aurally and visually for your show. 20 minute performance using veil/boa, zills, sword, stick WITHOUT audience participation: Entrance piece – use your veil (sometimes I use a feather boa), zills as well (if you’re able to play at the same time as holding veil/boa) to music that’s fast, dynamic and attention-grabbing Song – with zills, keep the pace high, take the show amongst the audience, weaving through tables Sword piece – zills off, take the performance back to the stage, slower, more introverted piece Stick piece – stay on stage for this part, speed up the pace again, make it earthy and strong Song – pop your zills back on, keep the pace high, take the show amongst the audience again, weaving through tables where you haven’t been yet Drum solo – with zills go fast and furious, knock them out with this one! Finale – grab your veil or boa, twirl majestically and make your exit 20 minute performance using veil/boa, zills, sword, stick WITH audience participation: Same as above, BUT use the songs where you weave in and out of tables as your audience participation numbers Surpise! by Despina When being booked for a private party, ask the caller if your performance is a surprise. If it is, find out if it is a surprise for all the guests or just the guest of honour. Then, depending on the answer, discuss the following: What fake name and relationship to the organiser you will use in order to keep it a secret in case you need to phone them at their home or work. How you’ll be smuggled in without the guests or the guest of honour noticing. What their mobile phone number is – remind them to keep the phone close at hand on the night, so that you can call them to smuggle you in. Toes by Despina If you dance barefoot or with flat shoes, drag your toes when doing a simple walk during your show. That is, flip your foot over so that the top of your foot faces the ground and you’re dragging your big toe nail along the ground. This obviously doesn’t apply if you wear heeled ballroom shoes when performing when you do a simple walk with ballroom shoes, just be sure you’re walking heel-toe. Next: whenever your foot leaves the ground, you must point your toes. This adds a real stylishness to your dancing. Again, it doesn’t really work in quite the same way when you’re wearing heeled performance shoes, but although you can’t point your actual toes you can still put your foot in a more or less pointed position whenever your foot leaves the ground. And don’t be fooled – people do look at your feet when you dance. Especially other dancers. And even if no one in the audience ever glances at your feet, the overall picture of your dancing will be enhanced with a simple point of the foot. You’re The Best! by Despina If you’re a seasoned performer you will have been told “you’re the best dancer I’ve ever seen!” (and variations of that) in your time. If you’re a fool, you’ll believe it. If you’re smart, you’ll know the following: “Best” is a matter of opinion Opinions are often as fickle as people are (that is: very fickle) As “best” as they say they think you are, they’ll choose a younger dancer in a heartbeat over you as the supposed “best” dancer (we’re a youth-worshipping planet, if you’ve just joined us here from another one) As “best” as they claim to think you are, they’ll choose a cheaper dancer in a less than a heartbeat if she’s even a remotely decent performer (money rules the world, if you’ve been asleep for thousands of years and just woken up) So, for goodness sake, don’t be fooled! Thank them for the compliment and then let it wash off your back. It’s the entertainment industry: it’s fickle. With these restaurant owners, you can be the favourite one month and totally out of favour the next – and although it can be for good reason, it can also be for no apparent reason. Remember too that they might be trying to manipulate you with this compliment: if your self-esteem is not strong on its own, you will take these compliments to heart and allow them to define how you feel about yourself as a person and as a dancer. And that can be exploited quite easily. Let me explain: assuming your self-esteem is not what it could be, believing that the restaurant owner thinks you’re “the best” puts you at their mercy, because their opinion is what your self-esteem becomes dependent on. Therefore, you’re more likely to do almost anything for that person to continue to hold that opinion of you. You’ll find in no time you’ll be doing favours that are really putting you out. (eg: “There aren’t many people tonight, can you dance for half the money?” or “Oh gee, half the patrons just cancelled ten minutes ago. I know you’ve just arrived, but do you think we can cancel the show?”) If you actually believe this person is your greatest fan, you are more likely to pander to their wishes because your sense of self-worth relies on it, and the requests will get more outrageous each time (as the saying goes: give ‘em and inch and they take a mile). But they’re only manipulating you, so don’t believe the hype they’re trying to sell you, even if it is about you and makes you feel good. Take their words with a big, fat, gigantic grain of salt. Enjoy the pseudo-compliment if you wish, but as soon as you’ve enjoyed it, forget it. Also, don’t take these sweeping “you’re the best” statements seriously from audience members either. Again: smile, enjoy it, thank them graciously, and be on your way. You shouldn’t take sweeping compliments like that to heart just as you shouldn’t take sweeping criticism to heart (eg. “You’re the worst dancer I’ve ever seen!”). Being hostage to such sweeping praise or criticism is just plain bad for you. Constructive compliments, constructive criticism are fantastic – if someone is offering that (eg. “I love the way you execute your slow movements” or “I think you need to work on using your stage space better), take notes. Otherwise, smile and move on. Keep in mind too that this “you’re the best” compliment isn’t true even if the person believes it. It’s merely an opinion – an individual’s version of the truth. And everyone’s ‘truth’ is different, and everyone’s ‘truth’ can change and does change. Don’t rely on the shifting sands of opinion to define you as a dancer. And furthermore, don’t believe for a minute that this “you’re the best” opinion can be applied to ANYONE. There is no such thing as “The Best”. There is only “Your Best”, so that’s what you need to be: your own best. Zills Plus Veil by Despina If you want to come on stage with veil in hand while you play your zills, it’s all in the way you hold the veil. Instead of holding the veil between your index and middle finger, use the ring and pinky fingers so that the middle fingers and thumbs are free to play the zills. But it’s not as simple as that (nor is it easy): it takes A LOT of practice. So drill, drill, drill until you can do it before trying it out in front of a paying audience.

Bellydance Articles, Page 2, Quick Tips by Despina:

Accepting Criticism
Arm Movement
Avoiding Injury
Backbend With A Shimmy
Bent Knees And Elbows
Body Carriage
Clashing Personalities
Dancing On A Stage
Dangerous Moves
Dirty Hair
Don't Die For A Deadline
Ego Poisons The Stage
Eyes
Funny Vibes
Improving Your Zill Playing
Money
Nastiness
Neck Pain
Nightmares
Opinions Of A Troupe Member
Pelvic Tilt
Performance Shoes
Performer’s Checklist
Posture
Practising At Home
Put Your Bum Away
Returning Phonecalls
Show Offs
Structuring A Show Part 1
Structuring A Show Part 2
Surpise!
Toes
You’re The Best!
Zills Plus Veil

Choosing to be a in a dance troupe means that you put yourself in a position where you will receive criticism. And constructive criticism is necessary to become a good performer. None of us really enjoy being criticised – even when the criticism is constructive and gentle – because it’s always confronting to be corrected. But this is how things are if you want to be in a high standard performing troupe.

So what do you do if you find that you’re taking the criticism personally and it’s having a negative effect on you? You need to turn that aspect of your thinking around, and look upon criticism as a wholly positive thing. To achieve this you could go to the other extreme and look forward to being criticised – actively ask for criticism in rehearsals. In the end you may discover that you just can’t cope with criticism of your dancing. There’s no shame there – possibly performance isn’t for you right now and further down the track you will develop the confidence to deal with criticism in a positive way.

Arm Movement
by Despina

A lot of dancers have trouble knowing what to do with their arms. Poor arm carriage will ruin excellent dancing. Practice holding your arms gracefully and moving them with elegance. Make this a big part of your dance practice, and you’ll see that polished and fluid arm movement will add expression and flow to your dancing.

Avoiding Injury
by Despina

What could you wear to class to help prevent injury and does this change with the seasons?

Dance pants (NEVER a skirt). This allows the teacher to see your legs at all times, which means that she can check on correct stance constantly. That can help prevent injuries to the ligaments and tendons of the ankles, knees, hips and lower back.
More layers in the winter months: cold weather can mean higher likelihood of torn muscles.

What could you do or not do in class to help prevent injury?

Avoid backbends. Not everyone will agree with this, but I think that avoiding back bends is essential UNLESS you do lots of Pilates and Yoga and you have a wickedly strong back, abdominals of steel and legs to match, lots of flexibility throughout your whole body AND you’re at least half way through your show or class and therefore extremely warmed up. Only then can you execute them safely.
Permanent pelvic tilt. A slightly tilted pelvis while dancing (and in general) helps protect the lower back.
Never skip the warm up section of a class (and I’m not talking about stretching, I’m talking about the warming up that must be done BEFORE stretching), and do an extra long warm up in winter to help prevent muscle tears.
Don’t forget to stretch. Either at the end of a one-hour class or after the warm up of a one-and-a-half-hour class. Elongating your muscles through stretching is vital to maintain a healthy balance of strength and flexibility in your body.
Inform your teacher the moment they feel ‘bad’ pain - stabbing or sharp pain, as opposed to ‘good’ pain where your muscles are being suitably taxed.

Backbend With A Shimmy
by Despina

The following is a slightly edited version of a conversation I had with another performer (I’ll call myself ‘D’ and call her ‘Z’):

Z: The audience loves it when I do a backbend with a shimmy.
D: But what’s more important, what the audience loves or your back?
Z: I’m careful.
D: It only takes one slight misjudgement of how low you’ve gone or how hard you’re shimmying, and that’s it for your back.
Z: Still, it looks good.

So that’s both sides of the discussion. That leaves you to be the judge for yourself what’s more important to you.

Bent Knees And Elbows
by Despina

Protect your knees and elbows by never locking them out completely. Even at their straightest, there should always be at least a micro-bend at those joints to protect them from harm.

Body Carriage
by Despina

Constantly be aware of the following points when you perform. The manner in which you hold your body – your body carriage – is all-important to add grace and strength to your dancing:

Ankles strong
Arms in curves, not sharp angles
Feet posed, massaging the floor as they move
Fingertips extended, relaxed but alert
Neck showing, chin slightly raised
Shoulders relaxed, away from the ears
Chest lifting
Shoulder blades gently squeezing together
Abdominals drawn in
Thighs close

Clashing Personalities
by Despina

There will be personality clashes within any group of people, and that includes a performing troupe. If you don’t like someone in the troupe, keep it well and truly to yourself during rehearsals. If you want to get it off your chest to your teacher, you may choose to do so IN PRIVATE, and never during class.

Also, make an active effort to remind yourself of that person’s good points – they’re bound to have some – in the moment that they’re grating on your nerves. You don’t have to marry the person so there’s no need to go to great lengths to make things work between you as if you’re going to be cohabiting for the rest of your lives. You just need to get on with them for the purpose of having peaceful and productive rehearsals and performances.

Dancing On A Stage
by Despina

Dancing on a stage can be unnerving. And you don’t have to be dancing on an elevated stage for it to be scary – using a dance floor on the same level as your audience for a stage is just as frightening. It can be very intimidating when you have an entire space to yourself and have to command the attention of the entire room – especially when they request a show without audience participation. Without audience participation it’s ALL up to you and even the smallest stage can seem immense when you’re not practised. And tiny little you has to fill up the ENTIRE room with your presence, and that’s a big ask for a single person. It takes a lot of experience to be able to do this well – but before you go out and get that experience, practise the right stuff in order to get better results sooner. So, if you’re a student intending on performing in the future, my advice is this: prepare! You need to practise:

Travelling all the techniques in your repertoire, both long and short distances, and in all directions including:
- Backwards
- Forwards
- Sideways
- Diagonally
- Zig-zagging
- While turning

Variety in your dancing, so practise changing between:
- Being on the move and being on the spot
- Spreading yourself out and staying in a small space
- Accented techniques and smooth techniques
- Powerful, dynamic movements and soft, introverted movements
- Zig-zagging
- While turning

Other stuff that adds texture to both stationary and travelling movements:
- Height changes (going onto demi pointe, or into plié – ie. On the balls of your feet or bending the knees, respectively)
- Shimmies (shoulder or hip shimmies layered on top of another move)
- Shape-changing (by varying arm positioning and arm movement)
- Turning to face a different direction
- Turns – these are super-important as they add an exciting element to your show

Props including any or all of the following:
- Stick
- Veil
- Tambourine
- Sword
- Zills/finger cymbals (although this is not strictly a prop, but rather an instrument that you play while you dance)

Dangerous Moves
by Despina

There are some dangerous Bellydance moves. The ones I’ve seen include:

Backbends (especially of the variety where both legs are parallel to each other, and even more especially if they are also of the hip shimmying variety.
Head flick (the dancer, usually completing some kind of a body wave also includes a reasonably violent flick of the head from a looking at the ceiling position to upright again).
Head turn (rolling your head in a full circle while turning).
Quick, deep squat (Dina-style: she bounces down full force and then leaps up with about as much force).

Have a look at the repercussions of the above moves, as expressed in the following equations:

Backbends = lower back injury
Head flicks = neck injury
Head turns = neck injury
Quick, deep squats = knees injury

The repercussions of ANY injury include:

Huge amounts of pain when the initial injury occurs.
Huge amounts of pain that never seem to go away no matter what you do or don’t do.
Moderate, aching pain if the huge amounts of pain miraculously subside.
Low-level, nagging pain if the moderate, aching pain decides to take a holiday.
Vast amounts of mental torture (“Why did I have to do that stupid move??”). because now you’re in pain because of it.

I’m sure you can see how I feel about the above moves. If you must do them do them very seldom and:

Only do backbends only when your legs and back are extremely warmed up and with one leg in front of the other for support (and therefore never with a shimmy).
Only do head flicks only on occasions when you’re feeling particularly, fit, flexible and your neck is extremely warmed up.
Only do head turns only on occasions when you’re feeling particularly, fit, flexible and your neck is extremely warmed up – and, by the way, if you’re a full-time dancer (teacher and performer), you’ll pretty much never feel like this…you’re more likely to feel like an 89 year old woman with bad arthritis all day every day.
Only do the quick, deep squats only when your legs and back are extremely warmed up and your abdominal muscles are feeling strong.

The other option is to just not do them. There are plenty of other moves to do. My advice is to stick to the safer ones.

Dirty Hair
by Despina

How’s this for a bizarre tip: schedule your hair washing for AFTER performances. Unbelievably, your hair tends to sit better when it’s not squeaky clean. Newly-washed hair tends to be more fly-away and has that weird fuzzy look. It, of course, depends on the type of hair you have, but generally speaking: dirty hair sits better. Save your shampooing for after the show!

Don't Die For A Deadline
by Despina

Once I was late for a gig because there was an eight car pile-up. There were ambulances, there were police cars, the traffic was heavy, and there was nothing I could do about it. I called the restaurant and told the wife that I was going to be late and the reason for it. She answered dramatically: “Oooohhhhh my god!” This was not atypical - it was the usual answer on the very few occasions I’d been late before, said in a tone of voice that implies that the end of the world is nigh.

When I finally arrived the husband came up to me and berated me for being late. I told him: "Hey, you know what? Tell that to the dead people who were blocking the road. People are dead in that accident and you’re worried about me being late?" He laughed at my ‘joke’, but I wasn’t kidding at all. I mean, that should that have been his perspective on the matter in the first place, without me having to point it out to him.

I had thought this couple who owned the restaurant were good people - that they were a type of surrogate ‘family’ that I belonged to when I went to dance there on Friday and Saturday nights. I ruefully remembered the number of times I would stress out and hurry to make it there in time so that I wouldn’t let these 'nice' people down. They proved themselves not to be worth my concern, but really I should have been smarter than that from the start. I should have never rushed to get to that gig (or any gig) on time. Yes it's important to take your job seriously, but is it worth risking your life for?

There were recently anti-speeding commercials with the slogan “don’t die for a deadline” which sums it up nicely - no gig is worth dying for.

At some point after this incident, I was fired from that restaurant. They told me: “We need a dancer who is here every week, no time off.” In the years I'd been there, I'd taken breaks on two (yes, just two) occasions: the first due to a death, and the second due to a broken toe. In fact, I remember that on my return the first thing I was told by the husband was: “You’re not a professional. You take time off because so-and-so died, and then you break your toe.” He laughed his head off. This was meant to be some kind of a joke. Yeah...hilarious stuff.

Anyway, when I was fired, I told them: “You can look all you like and you’re not going to find a dancer who never gets sick and who never needs time off. What you’re looking for is a robot!”

And so, I haven’t danced at that restaurant for years now. I recently passed along the restaurant's street, and it seems to have disappeared. I can’t say I was sorry for them if their business went under. I think that when someone tells you that their entertainment schedule is more important than people’s lives, you’re not dealing with good-hearted people no matter how nice they seem. So I confess that I was somewhat vindictively gleeful that they went out of business. If that kind attitude is the one with which they ran their business, then not only was it not surprising that they couldn’t keep it going but, in my opinion, it served them right.

Ego Poisons The Stage
by Despina

Leave your ego in the wings when you go on stage. Confidence and ego aren’t the same thing. You needn’t dance like a shy little mouse - that’s not what I mean by leaving your ego behind. I mean leaving behind any part of you that thinks you can rest on the credit of your other performances. You need to go on stage without any thoughts of how well your previous show went – your ego tells you that you danced well in previous shows and that you therefore are a good dancer – “go out and show them what a good dancer you are!” your ego tells you. Going on stage with confidence (not ego) means that you’re thinking you’ll go out there and prove yourself to be a good dancer. Ego will poison your performance because resting on your laurels means you’ll be too sure of yourself, too certain of your talent, and your resulting performance will almost certainly be mediocre. Remember, you're only as good as the show you're doing now - make every show the best one you've done so far.

Eyes
by Despina

To add some ‘umph’ to an otherwise ordinary movement, or to add some emotion during a slower piece of music, use the glance of your eyes to draw attention to a particular movement. However, there is one rule in the use of the eyes in dance: NEVER look at your chest while you’re doing an upper body movement (eg. shoulder shimmy, shoulder bumps, rib drops, etc), because you don’t want to draw extra attention to it when you dance. I’m sure I don’t have to go into a long explanation as to why - suffice to say, it's not that kind of show.

Funny Vibes
by Despina

Never accept shows that you’re not comfortable doing. If you get a funny vibe from the person on the phone and your instinct tells you that something is not quite right, thank them for calling and politely decline the offer.

Improving Your Zill Playing
by Despina

You will probably be surprised to hear this but, besides practice, the thing that really helped me to improve my zill playing was learning to play some basic rhythms on the tabla (Arabic drum). You don’t need to become a professional tabla player, but if you’re really serious about become a good zill player, then do consider investing in a tabla and a few private lessons with a good teacher.

I’m no expert on the tabla, but am pretty good at playing all the basic rhythms, keeping steady time, and can play well enough to be able to teach basic rhythms to others. It’s not only improved my zill-playing tremendously, but it’s also helped me to understand Bellydance music a whole lot better. So besides making you more dexterous, it gives you a better comprehension of the music that you dance to. Give it a go!

Money
by Despina

An interesting question arose the other day when I passed on a job to a new performer who is also a student of mine. The job was about an hour away from her house and she said she was planning on charging $250 rather than the $200 that was the going rate at the time. She said it was warranted because the gig was quite far away. Of course, this sounds logical, BUT in my opinion it’s not a good idea for new performers to get into the habit of changing their fee depending on distance. In my opinion, when you're starting out, you're best off keeping to a flat rate - you're not an expert yet on fixing prices and knowing how long it will take to get from place to place, so keep things simple. It's enough pressure to do a good gig when you're a new performer, so don't make things more complicated for yourself when it comes to money. And also consider what happens when it’s the other way around? As a new performer, if you give the impression that you'll charge differently based on travel time, a prospective client may say: "Ah, well you can halve the rate because you'll be right in the next suburb!" So then you'll have to deal with explaining to them that it doesn't work that way and trust me when I say that they won't necessarily understand. So when you're starting out, keep it simple. Make a price and stick to it. Once you've got several hundred gigs under your belt, not only will you have the experience to charge more but you'll have the knowledge of travel distances to gauge it realistically. In the meantime, keep it simple.

Nastiness
by Despina

If you encounter nastiness from other performers, as tempting as it is, don’t join in on it. For whatever reason, this person is insecure, so turn away and let them wallow in the filth of their own meanness. You don't want to be in there with them.

Neck Pain
by Despina

Some of us suffer from stiffness in our necks. This stiffness can become rather painful and often lead to screaming headaches that last for two or three days.

One thing I’ve discovered that helps me immensely is doing twisting stretches.

Before giving twists a go, check with the professional who’s treating you as to whether or not they think it’s a good idea for you to do twisting stretches - based on your particular problem, twists might be a terrible idea for your neck.

So if your health professional gives you the go ahead, have a private class with a Yoga or Pilates teacher so that he or she can show you some twists you can practice at home. From then on, do them at any opportunity you can.

I try to hold them for just 8 counts and do many, many different types of twists, rather than doing a couple of ones for a long time. I find that, for me, holding twists for ages makes everything worse. So my trick is to do lots of them but for only a short period of time each. And doing them regularly is also essential. Even if you can manage just one twist a day (remember to always go in both directions – don’t just twist to one side because you feel stiffer on that side) go ahead and do it. It might make all the difference as to whether you get that horrendous headache or not.

Nightmares
by Despina

A student of mine was very concerned that she was having nightmares about her coming performances. She had recently joined a troupe and these were to be her first shows. I assured her that it was normal to be scared and for fears to sometimes come out in dreams. I, to this day (and I've been performing since 1995) still have random nightmares about classes or shows. They don’t occur before any particular class or show, so there’s no specific fear associated with the nightmare: they just pop up randomly!

My nightmares usually consist of being late to a class or show because I’ve been asleep when I should have been going to my class or gig. You might think that I might be a sleeping-in type of person – the type of person who has missed things because she’s slept through them. But how wrong you’d be! However, I do tend to work a lot and get horribly, horribly tired at times. And it's when this happens that the nightmares tend to crop up. I guess I’ve got a secret worry lurking at the back of my mind that because I'm so tired, I’ll just nod off at some random time and not turn up to a class or performance.

Then there are the nightmares where I’ll turn up (still late) to a gig or class, but without half my stuff. For the Gig Nightmares I’ve only got part of my costume or I've forgotten to bring music. And for the Class Nightmares, I'm late and I've forgotten my music. Are my fears grounded in reality? No: I’ve NEVER turned up to a gig with only half a costume to wear, and I ALWAYS have my music with me (my entire collection of performance CDs live permanently in my performance bag, as do all my class CDs in my class bag).

BUT, I have been late on occasion. I’ve probably been late to a dozen shows in the since 1995. Reasons have been both mine and others’ fault: the previous show I’ve done began late because the venue owners were disorganised, I’ve underestimated the time it takes to get somewhere, there has been unprecedented traffic on the way, I’ve left home late (usually when I’m so on time that I’m running early and I think to myself “Ah, I’ve got plenty of time!!”…then the next time I look at my watch it’s: “Oh noooooo! I’m going to be laaaate!”). As for classes, the reality is: I’ve been late to class about half a dozen times since I began teaching in 1997, the reason being that I've left home too late because I'd been running so early.

So, I guess the only thing I can say is, that unless the dreams are grounded in reality, don’t sweat it, just enjoy waking up to realise that it was all just a dream!

Opinions Of A Troupe Member
by Despina

You don’t need to be a hotshot dancer to give constructive criticism to other members of a troupe. This is because you are an audience member before you are a dancer, so as an audience member you are not only able to point out improvements that can be made, but you have the right and the duty to. It’s part of being in a troupe.

Pelvic Tilt
by Despina

It can’t be said enough: keep the pelvis slightly tilted AT ALL TIMES when you dance (and even when you don’t dance). This will help protect your lower back.

Performance Shoes
by Despina

If you have plenty of money at your disposal, you’ll want to have three pairs of performance shoes:

platinum (a pale gold)
silver
black

If you’ve got the budget for only two (and if you have black outfits), my suggestions are:

platinum (it’s pale enough to look neutralish and will therefore go with your gold-beaded and silver-beaded outfits)
black

If you’re wanting two pairs and if you have no black outfits:

platinum
silver

If you are only going to buy one pair of performance shoes:

platinum (and avoid buying any black outfits)

Performer’s Checklist
by Despina

Items that should permanently live in your performance bag:

Zills
Performance cds
Coarse sandpaper (to scrub the suede underneath your performance shoes)
Hairspray (for a quick spritz on the crown of your head to help the sword stay on your head)
A short bit of candlestick (to rub onto the sword pre-performance to help it stay on your head)
A face towel (to dab yourself dry after the performance)
Spray-on deodorant (for obvious reasons)
Fresh breath spray (a spritz before going on stage is always a good idea)
Mini makeup kit for quick fixes just before going on stage (make sure it contains a small mirror)
Business cards
A spare pair of performance tights/nylons

Items that should permanently live near your performance bag:

Stick
Sword
Performance shoes
Stage make up
Hairpieces
Performance tights/nylons

Items that should be packed into your performance bag on the night you’re performing:

Mobile phone (remember to hide it well in your performance bag when you go in for your show)
The veil to go with the costume you’re wearing
Your performance skirt (if you’re like me and you hate sitting on sequins and beads while you’re driving, you’ll wear a pair of dance pants between shows and only stay in costume from the waist up)
A bra or tank top (for the end of the night so you can change the top half of your costume for a more comfortable drive home)

Items to be wearing before you leave the house on the night you’re performing:

Stage makeup
Hairpiece
Costume, including:
- Headband
- Bra top
- Gloves
- Performance shoes (my preference is ballroom shoes – they add elegance and height…goodness knows I need some...I'm 5 feet tall, if you've never met me!)
- Tights/nylons. My preferences are:
  - A brand of dance stocking called “Shimmers” – they are specifically for dance and you can get them at any dance store. Get a few pairs for emergencies – although any stockings can get runs, these are very sturdy tights. The fishnet version of shimmers tend to run less than the plain shimmers, and if you get the tan coloured ones they won’t be noticeably fishnets to your audience. The big downfall is the extra lovehandles they create as there is a reasonable dig into your hips
  - A type of stocking called “Stay Ups” (there are many different brands that make them) which go thigh-high and although there’s some dig into your thighs, it’s unnoticeable under a costume
Non-costume, including:
- Button-up shirt or t-shirt with very stretching neckband (to take on and off easily without smearing makeup, ripping off hairpiece and/or displacing headband)
- Cardigan (again, because you can take it on and off without disturbing your hair and face – a short-sleeved light one for summer and long-sleeved heavier one for winter)
- Kaftan (middle eastern overcoat – ideally get one a heavy one for winter and lighter one for summer)
- Dance pants (one that has a mark-free waistband, and that are flared enough to get a heeled shoe through without too much trouble)
- Scarf (for cold weather)

Items to put blocking the front door on the night you’re performing (they can’t fit into a performance bag, so blocking the door with them means you won’t forget them on your way out):

Stick
Sword

Items to prepare and sticky tape to the front door (again, so that you won’t forget them) on the night you’re performing:

A sheet of paper with details of all the various places you need to go that night, along with a contact phone number for the person who hired you
Another sheet of paper giving instructions on getting from venue to venue. Use a permanent marking pen to write the instructions in big, fat letters, and if possible a different colour marker for each venue for easy reference when you’re stopped at the lights (no reading while driving – it’s illegal and it’s deadly)

Items that should be packed into a separate bag to have on hand on the night you’re performing. (Ideally these should be put into a bag that is sturdy enough to sit steadily on the passenger’s seat so that you can easily access it when you’re stopped at the lights without the danger of having it topple and spill its contents. You may not need all of the following items – it depends how long your night is – but you’ll definitely want to take water with you if nothing else):

Water
Juice
Easily nibbled-on and mess-free food (eg. Grapes, nuts, strawberries)
A plastic bag to use for garbage

Items that should be packed into yet another bag to that you’ll hide away safely somewhere on the night you’re performing:

License (best not to carry any cash or credit cards if you can avoid it)

Posture
by Despina

One of many important aspects of performing is having good posture. Slouching is ugly, ugly, ugly. Keep shoulders back and down, and ribs lifting gently up.

Practising At Home
by Despina

If you’re in a performance troupe and you’re consistently not practising at home then maybe you should consider an early retirement. If you’re going to be part of a troupe, you need to act like you’re part of the troupe, not just dangling on the end of it. If you’re not practising at home regularly, start now.

Put Your Bum Away
by Despina

As a dancer, how do I feel when I see a performer with a really skimpy costume, half her bum showing, her breasts pouring out of her bra? Well, as the cliché goes, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the human body, but I don’t see any sense in showing it inappropriately. When you go to a business meeting you don’t wear a bikini, just as you don’t wear a business suit when you go to the beach. There’s nothing wrong with showing or covering flesh as long as it’s at the right place and time.

Bellydance costumes do reveal what street clothing may normally hide, but no reason to show everything. When I see these dancers, the first thing I wonder is whether or not they can dance. If they can’t dance and they’re relying on skimpy costumes to get them work, then I can understand why half their butt is hanging out. I can understand it – they want work and it’s the only way they’ll get it. But despite the fact that I understand what’s going on, I still don’t agree with what they’re doing. It makes life harder for the rest of us because unfortunately showing more talent doesn’t always beat showing more leg.

So the bottom line is: appropriateness. And to the skimpily-clad dancers, I say: in the name of all women, put your bum away!

Returning Phonecalls
by Despina

Have you ever been in a situation where you call another dancer up and leave a message about a job and she doesn’t bother to get back to you? Obviously her answer is ‘no’ but in my opinion it’s just common courtesy to return a phone call no matter what the answer is (or have the rules of etiquette changed somewhere along the line and no one told me?).

I have one rule for these other dancers who haven’t the decency to call you back: two strikes and you’re out. If it happens once, assume it’s a one-off mistake. If it happens twice, it’s likely to be a habit, so stop calling this dancer to give her work. If she’s not polite enough to acknowledge your call by calling you back then simply stop passing on jobs to her.

Now, if there is a phonecall at some point after these two strikes and a sincere apology is offered along with a proper explanation giving good reasons (not excuses, but reasons) as to why the calls weren’t returned, then definitely give her another chance. But the same rules will apply to this second chance: two strikes and she’s out. And no matter what explanations might be given to you after that, they’re just excuses at this point. She’s pretty much shown you that it’s a habit of hers to call or not call as it pleases her without consideration of others. Save the passing on of jobs to other more courteous dancers.

Show Offs
by Despina

There’s an interesting type in this industry that you’ll come across. The type that shows off without showing off. It took me a while to figure this one out. With this type of person, you’ll find that whenever you mention any restaurant or function centre, they’ll say: “I dance there.”

I used to think to myself: “Wow, this person dances everywhere! They are so popular. They must be amazing performers!” Then after quite a few of these conversations over a long period of time I started thinking to myself: “Hang on a second, how in the world are they dancing at ALL these venues? They claim to dance at every single place that’s ever mentioned. They can’t be dancing at all those places because they simply can’t be in that many places at the same time.”

You see, most places here in Sydney have shows between 8pm and 10.30pm. And so, an average night would mean three shows if you do a 20 minute show with half an hour travel in between (which is typical for travel time here in Sydney). Add an extra-early show (maybe a wedding) and an extra-late show (a nightclub or private function), and that’s five in one night. That’s conceivable. But if they were dancing at all the places they claimed to dance, they would be dancing at a dozen different places in one night. Not possible in that time frame.

It took me AGES to cotton on to this method of showing off because I’m the kind of person who’d only say “I dance there” when I dance somewhere regularly. If I danced at a venue once I’d say, “I danced there once.” Or if I dance there intermittently, I might say, “They call me to dance there every once in a while.” To me “I dance there” is phrase that implies continuity: an on-going, weekly gig. Maybe I’m taking things too literally – or just being too pedantic about people being specific in their speech. Maybe. Or maybe what they’re doing is a subtle way of showing off without actually showing off, and (even more subtly) a way of putting you down – because, in the end, is what showing off is all about, isn’t it?

So these days, instead of being intimidated by this person’s seemingly vast popularity and in awe of all the squillions of places that these non-showing-off-show-offs dance at, when I hear “I dance there” and I simply ask: “Every week?” after which the truth comes out. It might be every week (you might not be dealing with a non-showing-off-show-off), or it might have just been a one-off and they’re making that one little experience seem more important than it actually was. Either way, hopefully the two little words “Every week?” will bring out the truth.

And if they are a non-showing-off-show-off, it’s their problem. In the past, it was my problem too: I was intimidated. Now I don’t care, BUT I still ask the magic question “Every week?” because I do want to know the score. I want to have a clear view of the person I’m dealing with. If I have to deal with someone as a colleague, it’s important to me to know who the individual standing in front of me is. And in the above context the two words “Every week?” will reveal much about the person you’re talking to and help you to treat them accordingly in the future: will you be likely to take what they say at face value, or will you have to dig a little to find the truth? You can’t judge an entire person by one little conversation, but it does give you clues. And you know what they say: when a person shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

Structuring A Show Part 1
by Despina

The following are some ideas about how to structure 20 minute professional performances. Of course nothing is set in concrete, so do experiment to find a system that works best for you. My ideas are just a starting place. The assumption is that, besides the finale (which should be about a minute long), songs are approximately 5 minutes long.

20 minute performance using veil/boa, zills, sword, stick WITHOUT audience participation:

Entrance piece – use your veil (sometimes I use a feather boa), zills as well (if you’re able to play at the same time as holding veil/boa) to music that’s fast, dynamic and attention-grabbing
Sword piece – zills off, slower, more introverted piece
Stick piece – speed up the pace again, make it earthy and strong
Drum solo – pop your zills back on, go fast and furious, knock them out with this one!
Finale – grab your veil or boa, twirl majestically and make your exit

20 minute performance using veil/boa, zills, WITH audience participation, WITHOUT sword or stick:

Same as above, BUT substitute sword and/or stick pieces for audience participation section of the show – use music that’s upbeat and fun

Structuring A Show Part 2
by Despina

The following are some ideas about how to structure 20 minute professional performances if you have the software to shorten your songs to about 2.5 minutes. It can break things up aurally and visually for your show.

20 minute performance using veil/boa, zills, sword, stick WITHOUT audience participation:

Entrance piece – use your veil (sometimes I use a feather boa), zills as well (if you’re able to play at the same time as holding veil/boa) to music that’s fast, dynamic and attention-grabbing
Song – with zills, keep the pace high, take the show amongst the audience, weaving through tables
Sword piece – zills off, take the performance back to the stage, slower, more introverted piece
Stick piece – stay on stage for this part, speed up the pace again, make it earthy and strong
Song – pop your zills back on, keep the pace high, take the show amongst the audience again, weaving through tables where you haven’t been yet
Drum solo – with zills go fast and furious, knock them out with this one!
Finale – grab your veil or boa, twirl majestically and make your exit

20 minute performance using veil/boa, zills, sword, stick WITH audience participation:

Same as above, BUT use the songs where you weave in and out of tables as your audience participation numbers

Surpise!
by Despina

When being booked for a private party, ask the caller if your performance is a surprise. If it is, find out if it is a surprise for all the guests or just the guest of honour. Then, depending on the answer, discuss the following:

What fake name and relationship to the organiser you will use in order to keep it a secret in case you need to phone them at their home or work.
How you’ll be smuggled in without the guests or the guest of honour noticing.
What their mobile phone number is – remind them to keep the phone close at hand on the night, so that you can call them to smuggle you in.

Toes
by Despina

If you dance barefoot or with flat shoes, drag your toes when doing a simple walk during your show. That is, flip your foot over so that the top of your foot faces the ground and you’re dragging your big toe nail along the ground. This obviously doesn’t apply if you wear heeled ballroom shoes when performing when you do a simple walk with ballroom shoes, just be sure you’re walking heel-toe.

Next: whenever your foot leaves the ground, you must point your toes. This adds a real stylishness to your dancing. Again, it doesn’t really work in quite the same way when you’re wearing heeled performance shoes, but although you can’t point your actual toes you can still put your foot in a more or less pointed position whenever your foot leaves the ground.

And don’t be fooled – people do look at your feet when you dance. Especially other dancers. And even if no one in the audience ever glances at your feet, the overall picture of your dancing will be enhanced with a simple point of the foot.

You’re The Best!
by Despina

If you’re a seasoned performer you will have been told “you’re the best dancer I’ve ever seen!” (and variations of that) in your time. If you’re a fool, you’ll believe it. If you’re smart, you’ll know the following:

“Best” is a matter of opinion
Opinions are often as fickle as people are (that is: very fickle)
As “best” as they say they think you are, they’ll choose a younger dancer in a heartbeat over you as the supposed “best” dancer (we’re a youth-worshipping planet, if you’ve just joined us here from another one)
As “best” as they claim to think you are, they’ll choose a cheaper dancer in a less than a heartbeat if she’s even a remotely decent performer (money rules the world, if you’ve been asleep for thousands of years and just woken up)

So, for goodness sake, don’t be fooled! Thank them for the compliment and then let it wash off your back. It’s the entertainment industry: it’s fickle. With these restaurant owners, you can be the favourite one month and totally out of favour the next – and although it can be for good reason, it can also be for no apparent reason.

Remember too that they might be trying to manipulate you with this compliment: if your self-esteem is not strong on its own, you will take these compliments to heart and allow them to define how you feel about yourself as a person and as a dancer. And that can be exploited quite easily. Let me explain: assuming your self-esteem is not what it could be, believing that the restaurant owner thinks you’re “the best” puts you at their mercy, because their opinion is what your self-esteem becomes dependent on. Therefore, you’re more likely to do almost anything for that person to continue to hold that opinion of you. You’ll find in no time you’ll be doing favours that are really putting you out. (eg: “There aren’t many people tonight, can you dance for half the money?” or “Oh gee, half the patrons just cancelled ten minutes ago. I know you’ve just arrived, but do you think we can cancel the show?”) If you actually believe this person is your greatest fan, you are more likely to pander to their wishes because your sense of self-worth relies on it, and the requests will get more outrageous each time (as the saying goes: give ‘em and inch and they take a mile). But they’re only manipulating you, so don’t believe the hype they’re trying to sell you, even if it is about you and makes you feel good. Take their words with a big, fat, gigantic grain of salt. Enjoy the pseudo-compliment if you wish, but as soon as you’ve enjoyed it, forget it.

Also, don’t take these sweeping “you’re the best” statements seriously from audience members either. Again: smile, enjoy it, thank them graciously, and be on your way. You shouldn’t take sweeping compliments like that to heart just as you shouldn’t take sweeping criticism to heart (eg. “You’re the worst dancer I’ve ever seen!”). Being hostage to such sweeping praise or criticism is just plain bad for you. Constructive compliments, constructive criticism are fantastic – if someone is offering that (eg. “I love the way you execute your slow movements” or “I think you need to work on using your stage space better), take notes. Otherwise, smile and move on.

Keep in mind too that this “you’re the best” compliment isn’t true even if the person believes it. It’s merely an opinion – an individual’s version of the truth. And everyone’s ‘truth’ is different, and everyone’s ‘truth’ can change and does change. Don’t rely on the shifting sands of opinion to define you as a dancer.

And furthermore, don’t believe for a minute that this “you’re the best” opinion can be applied to ANYONE. There is no such thing as “The Best”. There is only “Your Best”, so that’s what you need to be: your own best.

Zills Plus Veil
by Despina

If you want to come on stage with veil in hand while you play your zills, it’s all in the way you hold the veil. Instead of holding the veil between your index and middle finger, use the ring and pinky fingers so that the middle fingers and thumbs are free to play the zills. But it’s not as simple as that (nor is it easy): it takes A LOT of practice. So drill, drill, drill until you can do it before trying it out in front of a paying audience.

In the words of Mahatma Gandhi: "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

At Say No it's estimated that 130,000 dogs and 60,000 cats are killed every year because there are not enough homes for them all. You can be part of the solution by NOT breeding your pet – any vet will tell you that desexing your pet is part of responsible pet ownership. On top of that, too many are bred simply for profit and many petshops are contributing to this enormous problem by encouraging irresponsible breeding and impulse purchasing of puppies (for more info, visit www.saynotoanimalsinpetshops.com:80/). For these reasons, shelters are a far better place to buy a pet:

Animal Welfare League www.animalwelfareleague.com.au/index.asp
RSPCA www.rspca.org.au
Randwick Dog Rescue www.randwickvet.com.au/adopt_a_friend.htm
Jack Russell Rescue: www.jrtrescue.net
Sydney Dogs Home: www.paws.com.au
Cat Rescue www.catrescue.com.au
Sutherland Shire Animal Shelter: www.sutherland.nsw.gov.au/ssc/home.nsf/Web+Pages/9B867513EA8B512FCA25721F0022B0CC?OpenDocument
St George & Sutherland Branch of Animal Welfare League: www.animalwelfareleague.com.au/branches.asp
Paws 'n' Hooves: www.pawsnhooves.net
Greyhound Adoption Program NSW: www.gapnsw.org.au
DABS: www.dabs.org.au

Or, look on www.petrescue.com.au/shelter_directory/nsw for an extensive list of NSW rescue organisations, or Google "animal shelters" to find one in your state and country.

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