Combinations & strategies for improv: classic veilwork tricks plus a lot of veil flares, body frames, high-drama moves
“Today we’ll work on a practice veil choreography to ‘Miserlou’ – a popular old-fashioned bellydance veil performance song… As you know veil moves fall into 2 main groups – veil tricks, really sophisticated ways to maneuver your veil for spectacular effects, and simpler moves that accompany travel steps, turns, sways, arabesques and so on. We’ll use some tricks, and a lot of veil flares, body frames, some high-drama moves and so on. We’ll stay with fairly simple vocabulary, focusing on developing autopiot mode with the veil – so that no matter what you do, you feel confident about your veil moves, not panicking if the veil is not behaving, staying with clean technique and moderate pace. Many veil performances lack hipwork altogether, because veil dance is all about full and upper body moves and angles, about travel steps and turns. But I feel we should always try to squeeze some hipwork into our veil routines, just so they look a bit more exotic and bellydancey.”
What you’ll learn
- Work on developing autopilot mode with the veil.
- Develop a strategy of consistent veil work throughout your performance, with clean technique and moderate pace.
- Add more hipwork to your veil performances.
- Polish classic veil tricks and layering veil moves on turns, sways, arabesques.
Course Content
- A Practice Belly Dance Veil Choreography “Miserlou” –> 6 lectures • 1hr 50min.
Requirements
“Today we’ll work on a practice veil choreography to ‘Miserlou’ – a popular old-fashioned bellydance veil performance song… As you know veil moves fall into 2 main groups – veil tricks, really sophisticated ways to maneuver your veil for spectacular effects, and simpler moves that accompany travel steps, turns, sways, arabesques and so on. We’ll use some tricks, and a lot of veil flares, body frames, some high-drama moves and so on. We’ll stay with fairly simple vocabulary, focusing on developing autopiot mode with the veil – so that no matter what you do, you feel confident about your veil moves, not panicking if the veil is not behaving, staying with clean technique and moderate pace. Many veil performances lack hipwork altogether, because veil dance is all about full and upper body moves and angles, about travel steps and turns. But I feel we should always try to squeeze some hipwork into our veil routines, just so they look a bit more exotic and bellydancey.”
We’ll also learn switching between Oriental music sections with a distinctive melody line great for dramatic high-impact veilwork, to filling sections of instrumental improvisations with steps and moves helping to recover from potential mishaps, prepare for the next round, and interact with our audience. We’ll cover a few flashy veil tricks from the classic American Cabaret style veilwork repertoire.