The 30-day belly dance improv challenge | RAQS and the City: Najla's Belly Dance Blog

I’ve been working on improv a lot, and had (what I thought) were a few pretty good improvisations at my performance yesterday. Still, it’s something that’s hard for me, and there are specific things I’d like to work on, including dynamics, varying arm positions and holding onto my posture (which seems to be the first thing to go when nerves or the unknown kick in!). I’ve been reading up on improv threads on Bhuz.com and the like, and have decided to make my own 30-day challenge based on a combination of advice I’ve read.

Who else is in?! What have you done to improve your improvisational skills?

Najla’s 30-day improv challenge

1. Improv to one song a day, preferably something unknown. Dance through the whole song, even if it feels horrible that day. Work your way up to longer pieces. I’m planning to use my stock of Radio Bastet podcasts to help with the random music.
2. Choose something to focus on for each song, whether it’s arms, floor patterns, speed, etc.
3. Focus on the music! There was a great quote in one of the Bhuz threads that said “your dance should make a deaf person be able to understand the music’s structure.” That’s definitely something to aim for.
4. Channel someone or something, be it Dina, Ranya or just a mood or a word like quiet or joyful. Dance that idea throughout the song and see how it affects your dancing.

I really want to do this. Who’s with me?! I LOVE improvising but I think I can do a better job of pulling from movement vocabulary I know and also being creative. The format I might follow is something like…

Song Name - Artist

Focus: 
Any comments about the practice.

To find new music, I’ll be using Spotify and eventually make a playlist of the songs I dance to. I’ll probably start this challenge sometime next week so look out for it!