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Belly Dance Essentials Homework Homework: Focus Topic - Veil We will continue to warm up with finger cymbals to continue our practice. In the Middle East the veil is an article of clothing worn by women to remain modest. A veil will often enter into old imagery of dancers, so we know it has been used for centuries. Most of the traditional dances I've seen from throughout the Middle East usually incorporate the veil in such a way that it still feels very much like a part of the costume, meaning it isn't typically used very extensively to perform veil tricks. Turks use the veil a little more extensively in their dancing, sometimes wearing it as a wrap that they would remove and then dance with for an entire song. Since many Turkish dancers were very influential in the early development of American Vintage Oriental (aka American Cabaret) dance, I'm going to guess that they also influenced what developed as a very extensive use of the veil as a prop in the USA, that in conjunction with a healthy dose of Orientalist fantasy on the part of creative American dancers. American dancers tend to use the veil quite extensively, showing their skill with tricks and spins, wrapping and unwrapping themselves often for an entire song. In Vintage Oriental dance sets, the dancer would typically start her set wrapped in her veil, she would dance her first song wrapped, playing finger cymbals and dancing to an upbeat piece of music. After that a slower song would come, often with a slow ciftitelli or rumba rythm and she would unwrap the veil from her body and show her skill with the prop for the entire slow song. Shems's rules for good veil (please memorize these rules): 1 -"The veil is an extension of your body and your body in an extension of the music" as Aziza would say. It isn't just a series of tricks, you must dance with your veil as though it were one of your bodies limbs...a detachable movable limb, but just an extension of your beutiful dancing body with all its lines and movements.. 2 - Go with the flow aka don't fight your veil - Veils are not always cooperative creatures. Instead of struggling with your veil and getting frustrated when things don't go exactly as planned, learn to just go with it, adjust to what's happening with an easy relaxed demeaner that just flows from one happy accident to the next. 3 - Catch Air - this one is Aziza's rule also. Allowing your veil to float instead of whipping it around too much really enables the beauty of the fabric to show through. 4 - Draw a smooth path - or as Aziza would say, keep your pencil on the paper (you can tell who one of my major veil inspirations is) - transitioning smoothly from one moment to the next and one movement to the next - drawing a smooth pathway, even through a single movement, is a defining element of great veil work. 5 - Don't pick up your veil by sticking you bum up in the air at the audience at any point in your performance - squat gracefully with you side showing to the audience instead to retrieve your veil. not rules, but good things to know A - a smooth recovery - match hands and slide one hand up the veil with out looking at what your hands are doing. Become an expert at this, you can use it for dropped or tangled veils. It's like a veil do-over. You can do it standing sexily or with a spin. B - practice monster veil - this is when you choose to play with your veil in an unconventional manner, let youself go to enjoy the fabric, wrap it in a wad, feel it's silkiness between your hands or against your face, wrap it around your body or your arms - grab it a different way, treat it like a rope, then a ribbon, then a sail, then a shawl, just be a rebel with your veil, lose one hand then recover it, lose both hands and recover again. See how it changes your relationship with the veil, making you more comfortable and willing to go with the flow. Footage Shems's Veil Belly Dance YouTube Playlist If you find a youtube clip of a veil piece that you particularly like, email it to me at shemsdance@gmail.com so I can add it to my playlist. DVDs you might want to consider getting to further your veil education. There are more out there than just those listed below you can search for. I have all of the following and I think they each have something to offer. I've listed them in order of preference: Fabulous Four Yard Veil with Shoshanna Bellydance with Veil By Sarah Skinner Petite Jamilla: Unveiled - Double Veil Instructional
I'll let you know if I think of any other really great veil performance dvds that are must haves.
Veil is done to a variety of music. In the vintage oriental routine veil is typically done to a slow çiftitelli or a slow rumba. Here is the playlist of music I'm using in class listed song - artist - album: Veil Choreography: Video of class choreography now available online - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5FYP8YSgj0 Here are the notes I wrote previously for the first part of the Desert Eclipse choreography: shorthand key Desert Eclipse Choroegraphy notes: weave - low right hands matching for 2 counts of four face or walk forward for 4 bring veil front over head - walk back for 4 frame hips with veil Sharp Hips Combo - slow sharp 3/4 shimmy stepping rt first - rt 23, lft 23 - cresent step to the right - rt 23 :|| left side Shimmy for 8 with veil front, continue shimmying for 4 as you bring veil around your body to the back counter clock wise - frame body with veil do level changing front to back horizontal figure 8s for 4 1 step 2 hip, 3 step 4 pivot 5678 walk to the back and 78 also under wrap veil on arms Sharp Hips Combo Variation facing back - rt23, lft23 - heel bounce for 5, look over left shoulder dropping left arm veil wrap on 6 Undulate, drop rt arm wrap, switch body angle shoulder rolls walk23 arabesque :|| other side - zig zag forward - hold veil high walk23 prepare (veil shoulder level)- turn cc and bow to the rt in preparation for the big rainbow --- middle section with ney reverse rainbow sharifa (bring the veil around behind you and continue to unwind towards the front) wrap your body front with rt arm behind the head and lft arm touching the lft hip - do chest circles pull veil tight accross your chest, walk towards your partner in formation ---- more to come Finger Cymbals homework: Practice your finger cymbals with movement. Practice your 3 tones: ring, clap and click. Here is notation for practicing the maqsum and malfuf rhythms at home on your finger cymbals, use clap for dums and rings for everything else, then try the opposite: I pulled this notation right off of Jas's Middle Eastern Rhythms website: http://www.khafif.com/rhy/ walking maqsuum 4/4 1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-| The couple of beats you are finding near the end of some of these variations are known as a "bridge" or "chain" -- they are not basic to the rhythm, but are often played as a pick up into the next measure. and here it is for malfuf: malfuuf 2/4=3+3+2 1-+-2-+-| Here are some basic finger cymbal patterns: The Gallop: RLR, RLR, RLR, RLR or LRL, LRL, LRL, LRL or RRR or LLL, try varying the ring and the clap, ring-ring-clap, or clap, clap, ring or all rings, or all claps, then try all clicks. Alternating: RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR woo-hoo! Patterns for 4 count rhythms like Masmoudi Saghir (Baladi), Saidi and Maqsum: RLR, RLR, RLRLRLR. I'm going to change my counting with numbers, just start every 1 with your dominant and or right hand, so the pattern above will read: 123, 123, 1234567 next pattern 7-3-3: 1234567, 123, 123 There are several more variations that you can do, but go ahead and start with these. Masmoudi Saghir - the name of a common rhythm in folk and popular Arabic music, also sometimes called "Beledi". It is a 4 beat rhythm. You will often hear it as part of the Egyptian Beledi Taksim musical construct. "Saghir" means "little" in Arabic. So this is the "little masmoudi". You can listen to it in it's most basic form online at Al Siadi.com, you may also hear it filled on Jas's Middle Eastern Rhythms page, and you may hear the name pronounced and hear the rhythm in music samples at Maqam world. Here it is mapped out for you: D represents the low Dum sound made by the Tabla, T the accented high Tek sound and t k are the tek and ka. 1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-| on your cymbals that would be Clap, Clap, Ring-Ring-Ring, Clap, Ring-Ring-Ring or Ring, Ring, Clap-Clap-Clap, Ring, Clap-Clap-Clap, also try it will all clicks. Watch this clip of local DC dancer Kawakib performing a finger cymbals only solo. Learn the different names:
Here are two additional video clips of two of my favorite sagat players: Ansuya, a very popular American performer, and Karim Nagi, another popular Egyptian-American performer. Listen to how Karim varies the tone as he plays. Notice how Ansuya's playing doesn't effect the beautiful shapes she makes with her hands and arms while dancing.
Resources for buying finger cymbals: Saroyan's Arabesque was the first set I got as a student. I still like them and use them, they come in silver and brass: My second pair of zills was the FatChanceBellyDance Signature Series. That particular set might be too big to start with, but they also sell student sized: My next favorite pair of sagat were the Sohaila exclusive: Other brand names you can shop for: Turquoise International is a very respected brand: El Coyote, I've been wanting for a while...of course their site says they're unavailable right now. Hopefully that will change: Zildjian makes a good pair, but they are one holers, so a little more difficult to handle. Try not to get the cheapy dinkies that sound like crap. You have to listen to them so try and find a pair you like the sound of. Once you buy them, you'll want to sew the elastic to fit your middle finger and thumb very snugly, with the seam on the inside, cut off the excess. You are welcome to buy a different color elastic at the fabric store if you don't want black.
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