Real (Music) Talk

So let´s talk music. Once you´ve practiced a buttload and are (almost) as good as the belly dance greats that came before you, you will want to perform and whatnot. Probably at Raqs Britannia or Tribal Fest or ya know, The Oregon County Fair. Anywhere cool like that really. In the true gypsy spirit you´re going to want to choose music that will inspire, haunt, intrigue, and excite your audience. And also entrance them, but that´s with your hips. You gotta pick good music, people. It´s very important.

So what are some things to think about while choosing your tunes? Firstly, are you going to choose one song, or use a mashup of two or three or even four songs? Because if you´re going to choose one song, it better be very attention-grabbing and multi-dimensional. Your job is NOT to bore the pants off everyone with your stupid song and consequently lame choreography! Here is (in my opinion) a very good example of a great song that works. It is called "Suicidal Sunday" and is a remix of Billie Holiday´s "Gloomy Sunday" by Venetian Snares. It´s important to ask yourself how you feel after you listen to the song you choose, how fun will it be to choreograph the movements/watch the choreography, and how well does the whole thing fit together as a piece. If you´re looking for something that really showcases your talents and your attention to technique, you might try something like one of Issam Houssan´s famous drum solos.

So now that you have the criteria in mind, the time has come to choose a song or a few that go together. In the video of Kami at Tribal Fest, we saw a great example of how she used more than one song to keep the audience guessing. Watching that performance was like being on a roller coaster ride, in a good way. It was fun, exciting, playful, romantic, and entrancing. However, its important to remember that this is old hat to Kami and that she is not afraid of being adventurous with her choices, because she is skilled at captivating an audience. Don´t overwhelm yourself at first!

There are a lot of songs by Beats Antique, Venetian Snares, Balkan Beat Box, Ratatat, and other popular choices among your favorite belly dancers that work well and fit amazingly with the image you´re trying to create for yourself. But don´t forget about the benefit of searching for new and exciting music on your own! If you find something you really like, and you feel awesome when you dance to it, your audience should too.

And remember, the greatest thing of all about Tribal Style and Tribal Fusion for most people is that you do have the freedom to experiment! That´s what drew me to it in the first place. So if you´re exploding with creativity, get listenin´ and you might be the next trendsetter.

Happy Dancing! <3