IMPROVISATION IN EGYPTIAN DANCE

Feared by some and much desired by others, improvisation is often the center of some controversy ... here on my page I give you my version so that you can have an extra point of view with which to read your ideas.

Oriental dance, as I have specified numerous times, is a dance halfway between Folklore and personal creation. That is, it is born from a people with its customs and aesthetic sense but it develops by integrating new elements, even from Western culture. The dominations in Egypt have left traces of their identity, mixing with native cultures. Peoples migrate .. and dance migrates with them ... always. Specifically, the structure of Arabic music has always promoted improvisation:

just think of the phenomenon of Taqsim, or Mawwal ...

Arabic music despite its extremely defined structure always offers space for what we can call "the exploration of the artist's own feelings" in that specific way.

... But how does the dancer compare then? ...

The dancer is theoretically the visual narration of the music. If we think about this it will be quite intuitive to understand that dance can (if not have to) include a space, even a short one, dedicated to improvisation.

- All this speech is clearly valid with live music, with the CD it changes but I have always maintained both the choreographic flexibility and the improvisation of the taqsim and of the tabla alone also with the CD. -

Choreographing the whole piece is too mechanical as well as improvising the whole piece is too risky.

We are always subject to the atmosphere, the personal mood, the energy of the audience .. so having a secure base, the skeleton of the performance, is essential.

That said: is there a way to learn how to improvise ???

OF COURSE YES!!!

Improvisation is studied! That is: we study the music, we listen to the instruments, we listen to the rhythmic changes, how they are linked, we learn to feel the mood, we learn to listen to the intervals ... as Westerners we must be aware that some things do not they will be immediate and we will have to STUDY them!

We must create within ourselves a network of meanings to express ourselves but above all to express ourselves in accordance with the Egyptian culture and the Egyptian feeling.

To those who study with me I always give the same advice:

improvise with the movements that you really know, those that your body has acquired, assimilated .. and with very few movements in space, almost elementary. But sudden!

Also improvise alone in your room, become familiar with the relationship between music and your movement. Find out with which movements you feel comfortable and at ease. This is not only LIFE for oriental dance, but it is essential to avoid being yet another copy among a thousand copies ... Happy listening and good improvisation to everybody! ❤