5 Essential Tools That Made Me Evolve in Oriental Dance
By Rita Pereira
Hello! Over 6 years as an Oriental Dance student with Catarina Branco and at Catarina Branco Oriental Studio, I have learned a lot and overcame several challenges! It can be said that, at the moment, I am in the transition to becoming a professional dancer and I will also start to share some experiences that I have acquired here on the blog ‘Oriental Dance with Attitude’! This first post of mine focuses on the most fundamental tools that I used to evolve at the beginning of my dance journey and I share them to help my colleagues and students of Oriental Dance who are at the beginning of their journey. I hope it will be useful. Let’s go!
Always attend regular classes
The first and main tool in my evolution is, without a doubt, the regular presence in regular classes. I think that sometimes people are not very aware of this issue but going to class is not only a right that you acquire towards the tuition you pay but also a duty as a student! In the case of Catarina's classes, we always work on some important point for our evolution, be it basic technique, technique in the choreography that we are teaching, improvisation exercises or the classes where we learn theory. Since we don't always know where Catarina is going focus on the next class, so it’s important to attend all classes.
It is in the context of the classroom that we are able to evolve the most, because it is in it that we learn our bases and it is also in it that we are accompanied, directed and challenged to be able to do and be more and better, whether you want to evolve in dance as a hobbie or as a professional dancer!
I would also like to mention that, in my opinion, going to class is also important not only for the sake of responsibility towards us but also towards two other entities: the teacher and our colleagues. As the choreographer Olga Roriz refers in the book Narrativas do Corpo, referring to the lack of discipline of some professional dancers faced in her school: The undisciplined being generates an immense lack of freedom. (...) They do not realize that to be free is precisely to do what they want and not to stick to exactly what they have chosen for their lives. Enjoy regular classes, guys!
Doing the homework
If you are a CBOS student, you know that there is not much that Catarina asks to do at home as homework. However, when this happens it is important that you do it because, just like at school, these works are used to better follow the next class or to understand that specific subject better. In my case, as homework, I got watching a video of one of our performances and checking what my colleagues and I were doing poorly in technical terms so that we could improve next time. I also got to see a film to discuss in the next class. Both were very useful to me: they helped me to improve both in technical terms and to understand a specific style that we were going to dance to.
The recent Homework for Holidays - are also very important for you to be able to prepare for the next quarter and, at least in my case, the one from this first quarter helped me to consolidate knowledge and learn more in musical terms (and it didn't take long) so much time to do!).
Improvisation by Rita Pereira in the show ‘Natal Oriental 2020’. This was a performance of a song presented in a class, after a challenge from professor Catarina Branco.
Fulfill the objectives defined in each school year
In our studio, Catarina always gives a year-end goal. It may be doing a choreography; make an improvisation; make a folklore, among others. Taking into account my experience (in my case, it was Catarina who started to encourage me to create, but over the years I have been, in a very natural way, to set myself new goals according to my tastes and needs), I tell you that they were the ones that made me evolve more in every way!!
Testing new possibilities of style (Oriental/Folklore, for example), dance creation (Choreography/Improvisation, for example) are experiences that enrich you, that help you to evolve immensely and give you confidence to improve your will on stage, your technical and creative ability. I even consider that putting myself in new challenges is, today, what helps me to evolve more as a dancer so I encourage you to do so! You will see that you will evolve a lot !!
Seize opportunities for action
Since the beginning, I have always tried to take advantage of all the opportunities that existed to act and I strongly advise you to do the same! I have already danced in the middle of the street, in Praça do Bocage, in a courtyard with people around, in parks, in a dance studio room, at Fórum Luísa Todi, at Camões Auditorium and at Casino Figueira. In all these contexts I have already danced oriental and folklore and choreographies of 3 and 7 minutes, just as I improvised 3 and 7 minute songs and it was also where I took the opportunity to dance the first time with new costumes (so that when I arrived at the contest I would already know how I felf with it). All of these places were important to me because in all of them, I had a different experience that made me gain experience: from the floor (sometimes it is linoleum, other times it is wood, grass and other times it is cement) to the public (in some places the spectator is people from the Belly Dance community; in others they are people who ... don't even know what dance they are watching). Oh, and it also helps you to have good mishaps at the beginning of the route so that when you are professionals you are already used to it, such as, for example, the skirt unfastening at the beginning of the performance (it happened to me in the middle of the Luísa Todi Municipal Forum), or simply slipping on the floor without knowing how!! (it happened to me in the middle of the East Fest 2018 contest). These two things happened while I was dancing solo, alone, so I really had to figure out how to deal with the situation!
As you have already noticed, in these years I have experienced many contexts, with different audiences and I believe that this only added me because it gave me more confidence in my work. So I give you this advice: when there is an opportunity to act, don't think twice: go! Go for you first, for everything I have already told you, but by the way, also go for the teacher who supports you whenever you need it and also for your colleagues! Although we do a lot of solos, dancing is not an individual activity - if we act in a group and are part of a school, we have to think about the collective. Oh and by the way, if the teacher needs people to dance a solo in a certain event, be a good comrade and make yourself available to dance!
Working outside of classes
Working outside of classes? What are you talking about?
Although going to class is the most important step, there are aspects of our dance that need extra work and that is why it is very important to work at home. One of the situations is, of course, when we have choreographies for public performance. Since we are going to dance in a group, we need a certain uniformity on stage. For this reason, if we do not have some parts of the choreography well memorized, it is even necessary to train at home so that the performance goes as smoothly as possible. When we tell our teacher and colleagues that we want to act (something that is not mandatory), we have an extra responsibility because we are committing ourselves to those who train us, to those who share classes with us and, of course, to a very important entity - with the audience - that we are going to present a cohesive dance moment. Therefore, we must always try to do our best!
Another point, which can also be related to this if we are going to dance in a group, is the work of the technique. Over the years, we will learn more and improve our technique, so if we are unable to execute a certain movement correctly, it is even necessary to practice at home. This is a point that Catarina also usually points out to you. The practice of a certain technique in a group choreography will make that point better in your dance in general, which will later reverberate in your solo dance (and vice versa, of course).
I hope that this sharing has helped you to understand the importance that these tools can have in the dance of a student of Arab Dances and help you in your journey. The text is more aimed at CBOS students, but I believe that many girls from other teachers have a lot to do with it. If you want to give me your feeback or have any questions, don't hesitate to tell me!
Rita Pereira is a Level 5 Oriental Dance student at Catarina Branco Oriental Studio. Her work focuses on the creation and interpretation of dance in Oriental and Egyptian Folklore. Since 2017 she has performed and won several awards at national festivals: get to know her work on her Instagram and Youtube!