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Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.
DANCING WITH TWO LEFT FEET |
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I don't know much about Indian dancing, neither the American kind nor the one from India. Actually, I was never much interested in either type, and reluctantly went to the Ragnoli Dance Festival 2005 at the Madrid Theatre in Canoga Park. The artistic Director, Malathi lyengar, magically transformed a group of young Los Angeles teenagers into a cohesive professional dance group.
The drumbeat rhythm and some of the footwork was quite familiar, being somewhat similar to some of the intricate Bulgarian dances, and I am sure, if the sitar music changed to a bagpipe, we could squeeze a fast Râčenica out of it.
What impressed me the most is that the half dozen young girls performing on the stage in perfect coordinated movements didn't just simply dance. They were moving every part of their body, the arms moving in one direction, twisting at the wrist with hands performing a dance of their own, accentuated by finger movements. That not being enough, the head moved at the neck with the dark eyes pointing in the other direction. Several times I stopped breathing, mesmerized by the intricacy of the dances and the control and sequence of the movements.
Watching the performance made me realize what a bunch of amateurs we folk dancers are. Most of our dances involve only simple steps. We complain when some of the dances require simple arm movements and coordinating them with the steps becomes a major task. Even simple styling, such as head movements, are soon forgotten. Forget the finger or eye movements. Even a simple Armenian pinky hold becomes too complex, and we just hold hands.
I don't mean to be hard on us. After all we are simple folk that "Folk Dance." We are not here to impress any audience, unless they are members of our own group. And most of all we have fun; dance a little, talk a little.
So should we do something about our dancing?
The answer is "Yes." We should always try to improve we can start with the simple things such as: holding pinkies in Armenian dancing, and eventually graduating to coordinated or movements. Not jerking the hand next to you can greatly improve your own and your neighbor's dance experience. And guess what, by doing some of these simple things, we will have more fun.
Printed in Folk Dance Scene, "DANCING WITH TWO LEFT FEET (13), April 2006.