I
find myself ruminating on a lot of discussion about acknowledging our
teachers lately. It could be the Jamilia workshop I took a few weeks
back - just a taste of it with Christy - so many familiar things to ATS -
the evolution is RIGHT THERE. Workshops with Jill and Rachel who have
each independently talked about their own progression as dancers and
their family trees - acknowledging their influences and teachers, where
they've come from and where their teachers have come from.
the coolest thing about dance? it is an evolution. you go to various workshops and you see things - familiar things - maybe taught as a variation or with different terminology but it comes from somewhere - it has evolved down from dancer to dancer - surely you've noticed.
an ever changing
progression of moves, stylization, terminology, costuming. for me and
tribal - from Jamila's studies of Arabic dancers to her own development
& teachings to Suhalia to Masha, Carolena & Kajira, Mardi - to
the dancers I've directly trained with from Mira to Jill to Ange to
Colette to Faith and Sam, Candace and Rachel - the list could go on and
on.... we do ourselves and the dance form a huge disservice not to
acknowledge our family tree and the tree of the dance we study. Have you
traced out _your_ family tree of dance? could you or do you stop
somewhere along the way without knowing where that teacher comes from
and her or his background and teaching?
yes - we can specalize. we can be pure traditional ATS or a rocker punk goth fusion or something inbetween with more oriental and arabic influences.... you can shimmy it in whatever style you wish. but make it yours and know where style(s) come from. and acknowledge them - don't say all those moves are yours alone. you bet - some might be and that is SO COOL! but many will have evolved or have been learned from somewhere. who? who did they learn from? do you know?
it is a challenge I
give you and myself for the fall - to trace your dance family tree - to
know where you come from so you can be part of where we're going in an
enlightened, acknowledging and thankful way. acknowledge your teachers. and you may not have to name them all, but acknowledge and be grateful for their teachers and their teachers before them. we come from an incredibly richly woven tapestry in North American bellydance. It's so good to see it finally being publicly talked about.
knowing I could
keep going on this topic for a very long time, I will dream that when I wake up I will have tickets to see the Jamila show later this month.... they'll be propped up next to the coffee pot - okay?
I leave you with the words I have written down to always MC for Mira Betz...
she is ... a dancer.
period.
