In Praise of Simplicity

Tribal Scribe Audra writes in Mid-Bits magazine (Canadian belly dance mag)

In Praise of Simplicity

I recently had an online exchange with a friend regarding simplicity with regards to belly dance and that got me thinking…

Simplicity: the state, quality, or an instance of being simple
Simple: not elaborate or artificial: plain

For many of us, belly dance grabs us and it becomes, well, let's be honest, an obsession. We learn new ways to move our bodies, often to new music and using new dance concepts and ideas. We take as many classes as we can, we take workshops, we learn other people's dances, we make our own dances…

I have found that in fact many dancers get caught up in the opposite of simplicity. We move from beginner to advanced classes, things get more complicated and faster. There is a desire to learn the newest move or to learn the hottest new combination. All of this is somehow equated with better. But is it? I've taken a look at some of the dancers that I admire and I beg to differ.

When a performer embodies simplicity, there is a clarity of movement present that is completely engrossing. Rather than being the only movement the dancer is able to perform, instead simplicity is the dancer's choice at that time. The dancer is saying 'of all the movements I am able to do right now… I choose this one'. That one movement is a fully loaded movement though. Paired up with that one move is the right glance, the just-so arm placement, the subtle gesture with the hand and often times that gloriously perfect ah-ha expression of the face.

I personally love watching that. It's expressive and genuine as opposed to technically proficient. It's subtle and skillful. To me, that is watching someone dance rather than watching them execute technique.

Over the past 20 years, the standard for belly dance technique has risen to new heights. That's great for the art form as now we actually have a large percentage of casual dancers who know how to use their bodies. Many people even know which muscles are in use when executing movements. Workshop instructors no longer teach how to perform basic belly dance movements, but instead work on more complex aspects of the dance or areas of their personal specialization. Instead we now discuss the pros and cons of using the obliques versus the glutes to execute hip work as we execute our ¾ shimmies on the down. It's amazing!

What that has translated to as far as performance goes is far from amazing in many ways though. Many performances (and I use that word deliberately as opposed to dances) from well known local and international dancers these days are merely technical demonstrations without any feeling, any connection to the music. Standing and showing us all of the 15 isolations you can perform with your hips or performing complex high speed sequence of selected isolations isn't dancing, that's demonstrating for technical proficiency. If you feel the need to do that, perhaps you'd better reconsider your choice of profession in my opinion.

I'm not putting in a plug for dancing slowly, though I do personally love to do so. I'm just saying you don't have to pull out all your moves in a single song to impress. I've been saying that for years.

I'm not saying that learning technique isn't important. Anyone who knows me or has been to a class with me can attest to the fact that I think the opposite. I think it's a vital aspect of being a belly dancer (or dancer of any genre), no matter what your level is or how long you've been doing it. Practice and attention to technique are essential.

What I'm saying is let's take a look at what we're presenting as belly dance (and I know, that's a loaded phrase in and of itself). What is it your trying to say when you get up there and perform? What is it that the audience is going to see when you dance? Let's think about that instead of thinking about our next performance as an opportunity to demonstrate the latest complicated trick we can perform with our bodies. If you think it's an art, then treat is as such.