random thoughts – Day 1,897 – (Tuesday) – dancey side quest

The home organizing/decluttering efforts of Monday had more than just the fancy side quest of refolding, laundering, and becoming reacquainted with vintage gowns. There was also a cleanout of files, where I confidently determined I don’t need every gas and electric bill or bank statement from the past nine years.

Clarksville Leaf Chronicle, May 20, 2011.

The file cleanout component of the larger project had its own side quest trip down memory lane with the file called “Dance.” I knew there was a file somewhere with printouts of belly dance choreography from my time in Tennessee, and yesterday, I was suddenly flipping through the belly dance memories. 

There were flyers, programs, and newspaper articles about the shows. Such fun times. The bulk of the file was choreography notes for dances. Some I remember doing and others I have zero recall. With the exception of the first dance I performed in Tennessee to a song called “Simarak” by the Turkish singer Tarkan, and a group number to "Istanbul Not Constantinople" by They Might Be Giants, I can’t remember any of the music from the dances. The songs might live in my old, long-forgotten, Apple iTunes account if it still exists and hasn’t been deleted due to lack of use.

Reading the choreography notes is like reading a foreign language. Unlike ballet or tap dancing, belly dance doesn’t have standardized, recognized names for steps. The same move can be called different things based on the country of origin, dance style, dance school, dance instructor's personal experience, and any number of other factors. 

The move that caught my eye on Monday was “cigarette turn” in the notes for the "Yasmeena" routine and I’m intrigued. And stumped. What even are those? We did them several times in the dance, so it was probably cool. An Internet search yielded nothing helpful.

In other dance news, tonight, at dance class, I was way off my game. It’s like I’ve gone brain dead, and it was rough running through the two group dances I’m in for the show in a few weeks. I’m going to need to stop the little side quests and dedicate more time to practicing my dances.  Channeling Yul Brenner as Pharoah Ramses II when he makes a decree in the 1965 movie The Ten Commandments, "So it is written, so it shall be done."