Defining and Describing Zeina's Genre
I place Zeina in the greater genre of Theatrical Oriental Dance. Although we're working in classic belly dance, it's not accurate to describe this piece as Cabaret or Nightclub, primarily because this dance isn't meant for the context of a typical commercial show.
Because of Zeina's delicate details the work shows best in cozy venues, so Zeina is not “theatrical” in the sense of requiring a proscenium stage. Rather it is theatrical in that it is not intended for a restaurant, nightclub, or energetic party. The idea here is more poetic, the mood is more dreamy, and the execution is more gentle: the dance was designed for an engaged audience who has come ready to sit back and give an artistic work their full attention. Making an analogy to chamber music—sophisticated work for small ensembles, played in intimates space rather than concert halls—one might also describe Zeina as a solo “chamber belly dance.”
Looking at the
style of Zeina's movement vocabulary, one will find steps drawn from
my own lyrical repertoire, Modern Egyptian Oriental, softer Egyptian
beledi, and American Vintage. But the real artistic signature of the
dance vocabulary comes from way steps are delicately interpreted and
densely intertwined. The personality of the dance also enriches its
style; Zeina is heavily influenced by the warm and open-hearted
dances of “Golden Age” Egyptian cinema, although I've channeled
that vintage feeling through the language of contemporary precision
technique. I think of this kind of fantasy-retro, lyrical, precision
intricacy as “Cabaret Fusion,” an approach that emerges from the
same impulse as Tribal Fusion, but that builds from an Oriental
movement vocabulary rather than ATS. But Zeina could also be
described as contemporary lyrical fusion, or just as “Autumn
Style.”
Another key aspect
of Zeina's style is pivoting and gliding footwork, vocabulary that
necessitates a smooth clean floor, and
that works best for most dancers in a flat soft-soled dance shoe. Since footwear in belly dance is usually a costuming decision rather than a technical requirement, the use of shoes may strike some as noteworthy.
Finally, Zeina is
defined by compositional rigor and a deep structural integration of
music and movement. My steps follow the interplay of
call-and-response phrasing, the mood changes of varying
instrumentation, and the longer development, repetition, and
variation of melodic themes. This strategy—music visualization—is
my favorite approach to traditional-context Oriental dance.
←Previous: Time-Indexed Table of Contents for the Zeina Step-by-Step Video
↑ Zeina Step-by-Step Gift Pack Table of Contents
↑↑ Zeina Step-by-Step
↑↑↑ Autumn Ward Presents Artistic Belly Dance Student Resource Center
No comments:
Post a Comment