Time

One thing that separates dance and other performing arts from the visual arts is that it’s all about time. A live performance is about creating a moment in time that will never come again. And so playing with time is an important tool in our artistic tool kit. So in this episode, we’re going to talk about three ways to work with time. Alternation patterns, speed variations, and pauses.

Alternation patterns are when we mix and match movements or combos using clear structures. Some common examples are AAAB and ABAB. So AAAB is when you do the same movement three times and then do something different on the fourth, like lift, lift, lift, drop. ABAB is when you alternate two movements like lift, drop, lift, drop. And like all of our dimensions, we can use alternation patterns to create simple variety just to make it different from what we were doing before.

But one of the benefits of alternation patterns is that they allow us to organize our movements into a clear structure that makes sense to the audience. If the audience can’t follow your train of thought, they’re going to get bored. But alternation patterns also allow us to play with the audience’s expectations. That classic AAAB pattern lets us lull the audience into thinking that we’re just going to repeat the same thing four times, but instead of the fourth one being the same, we give them a surprise at the end.

Another reason to use alternation patterns is that these structures are baked into the music. The composers who created the music in the first place are using these same tools because they have that effect on the audience. And so using alternation patterns is also a way to respond to what you hear, not just to create combos out of thin air. Now this was the very first thing that I talked about in the very first episode of my very first podcast called [inaudible 00:02:33], back in 2006. If you’d like to see that in a whole lot more detail, you can check out episode one on my website or in the Dimension Library.

Another way to play with time is with speed variations. Our goal here is to use the full spectrum of speeds in your dancing. A lot of us fall into a speed rut sometimes. You’ll find that often you may be dancing in two speeds, slow, medium, and shimmy. But the thing is, belly dance movement vocabulary can support a huge range of speeds. We’ve got super slow, slow, medium, fast, really fast. And if you have the technical skill to pull it off, you can do extraordinarily slow or extraordinarily fast.

Cultivating that full range is partly an issue of technique because both ends of the spectrum are harder to execute, but I think that they’re underused mostly because we forget to do it. Again, speed variations can create simple variety, but there are also some other effects that they can create on our audience. When you mix and match speeds together, it creates this kind of unique texture. If you’ve been dancing slowly, then throwing in a little bit of fast here and there spices things up, and it creates a sense that anything is possible.

If you’ve been dancing at a faster speed, throwing in some slow can create this great sense of drama, or just give the audience a breather, depending on how you style it. And switching to medium from any more extreme tempo creates this kind of relaxed, confident feeling, and it gathers the audience’s attention back into you, like you’re regrouping as a team. The classic example of this is when a song switches from any tempo to that kind of mid-tempo [inaudible 00:04:17] or [inaudible 00:04:19]. [inaudible 00:04:21]. And you just stand there doing hip drops and the crowd goes wild. That’s that affect in action.

Speed changes are also a tool for reflecting changes in the music. Now there’s the obvious because sometimes the musical tempo changes and it’s nice to be able to follow it, but there are also more artistic ways of doing that. For example, if your song is starting to build dramatic tension, then moving extraordinarily slowly can up the ante, regardless of the actual tempo of the song. If the music’s going crazy, moving extraordinarily slowly can be contrast that builds that tempo.

Now our third topic is pausing. This is when we mix movement and stillness. Now pauses can be brief, just a beat or two. Or, they can be more extended, lasting a whole phrase or even longer. One of my favorite dance quotes is from Modern Dancer, Martha Graham, who once said, “Don’t just do something. Stand there.” Now the key to any pause is to keep your expression alive, that’s what makes this effective. You’re not frozen, you’ve just stopped moving, and so having a clear intention for your pause can really help.

So some ideas are you can take a deep inhale, you can take a deep sighing exhale, you can do both and then out. You can sweep your gaze over the audience and connect with them. You can also imagine yourself inviting the audience to witness that moment. Whether that’s noticing the lines of your pose or to join you in whatever emotional experience you’re having. You can say to them in your mind, “Oh, just listen to that knee. Oh, that’s so intense, I just couldn’t take it for another second.” Right, having a clear intention behind your pause gives it life and makes it a dance move, not just a stop.

Now my favorite pause is what I call the Wait For It Moment. This is when you stop, pause, and then resume with a very specific emotional intention. We stay communicating with the audience the whole time, so when you stop, you’re saying to them, “Wait for it.” And when you resume, you’re kind of releasing that tension. You’re saying, “Oh, okay. You can have it. I’ll dance for you again.” Or, “I was just kidding. We’re not going to stop.” Now if you’re interested in pauses, this is a really rich topic and a great resource is Rosa Noreen’s Delicious Pauses DVD.

So how do you apply these to your dancing? Well, like any variation, it’s just about the same process. A good place to start is by brainstorming some of these variations. List as many alternation patterns or pause ideas as you can. Go through your movement vocabulary and explore your speed spectrum. Which movements can you do super slow, slow, medium, fast, or really fast? Are there any movements that you could stretch into more challenging speeds with more practice? And is that a good goal for you right now? Or, is it not really a priority now or maybe not ever? Then explore. Play around with as many different combinations, and variations, and moves as you can. And as always, watch yourself and notice how you respond.

Now for the other dimensions, I was pretty big on recommending video, but I think for a lot of time dimensions, you really can observe yourself effectively in the mirror. But regardless, notice how you respond to each of these. What do you like? What don’t you like? What emotional textures does that create? And for extra credit, start watching how other dancers use these same ideas.