[Ansteorra] A&S

Virginia Lively vdlively at yahoo.com
Mon Jan 21 17:46:23 PST 2008


I never post - okay, unless we are having Middle
Eastern Championships or a hafla.....- but I do want
to say something here.

Documenting is very important.  For example, there can
be so many misconceptions about Middle Eastern Dance
(it is not period, it was only like this, etc), that I
feel the best way to prove your point is to find
sources that support your position/persona, etc and
begin to teach others (plug here - I'll be teaching
Documenting Middle Eastern Dance at King's college and
will have a bibliography to pass out if anyone is
interested).

Documenting dance is not easy.  One of the reasons I
have ended up Indian is because when I was trying to
find dance references, I fell in love with the images
left to us from history.  

You cannot document overnight either. It takes me 2-4
months to get my books for documenation since they
come from New Delhi for the most part.  However, I
feel that it is worth it, as it backs up my art.

I realize that it may not be everyone's joy to put
together documentation, but in doing so, I find out
much more about my art than just reading the books. 
Having to put it in my own words (with proper
citation) helps me put it in my head even more and
helps me decide on what I want to focus on.

I feel that as dancers, we are performers and
entertainers first and foremost.  However, to stand
our ground as artists, we must also document.

In service- HL Rhiannon NiBryan MacLaughlan
(fyi-Mistress Kassilda's apprentice-the shy one-heh.)




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