Thread: Creating a sword choreography, can you help me?

Hi all,
I want to start working on my first sword choreography and need some tips. I have performed sword before but never choreographed a piece for my troupe. Some dos and don'ts will be appreciated, I am new at this. Any ideas on moves you can do, holding the sword, of course balancing, and floor work will be appreciated. We will be wearing pants so won't have to worry too much about skirts getting in the way. My students are new at this too, their first time with the sword, so nothing too complicated. I will keep it short, maybe 3- 3 1/2 minutes max, but haven't found a song yet. Thank you in advance!

here is some ideas you can use from Suhaila's troupe for inspiration.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqxZU7WvNQ0]YouTube - Suhaila Salimpour Group Sword Dance[/ame]

There's a helpful thread here and I'm sure there are others if you can find them.

http://www.bhuz.com/forum/belly-danc...on-advice.html

Also you could get ideas from Youtube clips.

The reason sword is such a crowd pleaser is that it creates the illusion of danger. The juxtaposition of the sword and dance is incredibly powerful. Capitalize on that!

My biggest pet peeve in the world is when dancers grab the blades. Your sword suddenly looks a lot less big and bada$$ when you hold the blade for that barrel turn. Always treat your sword as if it is sharp and dangerous. Do that when you transport it and when you practice with it, and then performing with it that way is easy.

I always hold the hilt with one hand and then rest the dull edge on the back of my other hand if I need two hand on it.

Since you're working with a group that's new at is, make sure they know the same. A lot of people just don't realize they're doing it.

Oh, also, go easy on the group play-fight scenes ... I have yet to see one that looks good on stage.

Thank you AngelaDiCaprio for posting the Suhaila clip, I love her work and always get good ideas from her, they did a beautiful job.
Thank you Jahbie for the link to a previous post, it was rather interesting and full of good ideas. I particularily liked the clip of Ronka's sword dance, very awesome choreography.
And thank you LeylaFahada for your tips. I have taken a few sword workshops and the whole idea that the sword is a weapon with a sharp edge is a recurring theme in all of them. I have told my students this, but will make sure they keep their fingers away from the blade side of the sword at all times.

I have also read Shira's site about sword dancing. She mentions to help it stay on your head to wear hairspray, to use nail polish with sand on the sword, or rubber cement, or rub it on a voltive candle. She also mentions different head bands to wear or not to wear. What do you guys feel are the best techniques to help keep the sword on your head? Me and another dancer both have thin soft hair, and the sword falls off all the time. Do any of you put actual grooves in the sword?
Thanks for all the advice, I very much appreciate it!!!

My hair is also straight and slick so I use a of rubber cement on the balance point. I can get away with one application for a while, but just before a performance I usually peel it off and put a fresh coat on there.

My advice is to dance! Dance with the sword! Tricks are great and crowd-pleasing, but if your choreography is all tricks, it's like why bother playing the music? Just get a drummer to do a roll for 3 minutes, hehehe. :-)

Also, I've never choreographed for a group before but give people plenty of time to find their balance points. Have you ever had one of those "off" nights where the prop of choice just doesn't want to balance? Multiply those odds by the number of people in your group, and keep in mind it's not like you are dancing on your own and can improv your way out of a sticky (or unsticky in this case) situation.

Here's something I've been considering lately (since I have some requests for a group sword choreo in the future), if you have people who are more comfortable with the tricks or the stage in general, have them do the hard stuff, while the others do something less showy in the background. Will be easier on everybody, give the tricksters more room to do their thing, and it will add dimension to your choreography too.

Check out this dancer's website Isidora Bushkovski's Website, or on youtube -- her sword dancing is very powerful and beautiful. Also Morgana of spain

I just finished one with students. During one part I gave lots of room for individual/small groups to to a section. This gave the students with different skills a chance to use them! I made sure we played with levels (when one group is down the other up). They seemed happy to a) contribute to the choreo and b) use a a skill that perhaps not everyone in the group had but they did.

I would really emphasize safety when choreographing a sword dance for more than one person. Even with very experienced dancers, it's easy to forget or misjudge the space between you and another dancer's sword. Try to allow for plenty of room to move the sword and for "clearance" around each dancer for the sword to fall without killing anyone--including members of the audience!

If you want to really keep it simple, why not choreograph a few 8 or 16-count combos using the sword--then teach it to the students minus the sword. Once they have it memorized, add the sword back in. I find that when students are trying really hard to remember what step comes next, they tend to forget all about the prop and that's when accidents happen. If you have a large group, why not have small groups (i.e. 2, 3 or 4) take center stage and perform a couple combos while others stand back and act as the "chorus"? Then that group fades back (i.e. transition w/ traveling step) and another group comes forward to highlight different combos/moves. This could be done with any style of belly dance--Oriental or Fusion.

I actually used this strategy for a student dance that included 3 groups--one with swords, one with candles and another emphasizing skirt moves. One of the students did manage to hurt herself with the sword (i.e. caught it by the blade instead of letting it fall) but with fewer people dancing right next to her, nobody else was injured.

Good luck!

Just DON"T do that Brazilian sword choreography from that other thread. [the infamous whacked crack attack]

I don't do sword but my teacher was a master at it and I too really rate the "gasp, scary weapon" school of thought. One thing she used to talk about was the need to demonstrate complete control because a sword is not a toy. Her sword was real (as, I think, is Kashmir's). She said she once saw a sword piece where the dancer rushed at an audience member (hopefully a stooge) and held the blade to her throat. If you do *that* you risk getting punched, so please don't!

There is a stunning sword dance on the second IAMED awards DVD - Zahirah.

Maybe it's just me, but the fact that the dancers crotch the audience from every angle within the first 60 seconds of that Suhaila video seems to me like an example of "what not to do!"

Check out Sabine's work--she is great with a sword. (Plug "Sabine" and "sword" into YouTube and it should turn something up.) I also second the recommendation of Isidora Bushkovski. She did a very cool sword dance on the "Temptation of Bellydance" DVD.

I like Jaded's idea of letting smaller groups have the center stage in intervals. Its more manageable that way.

You can experiment with hairspray, rubber cement but it really comes down to practice and lots of it. One thing I learned with the sword is not to stiffen up so much. Balance is not rigid, it is responsiveness.

Look up Isidora Bushkovski sword dance on youtube, she uses some martial elements in her sword dance that gives it a unique edge.

Originally Posted by nimah

the dancers crotch the audience

Is this a new Bhuz verb? To crotch?

Which Bhuzzer used to chant 'A sword is not a hat...a sword is not a hat.' I think it was Carolynn.

To me what's important is to DANCE. Let the sword enhance the dancing rather than trying to fit every possible sword trick into the piece at the expense of the music.

The piece I just did for my students last year has the playfight scene in it -- hah!

My student sword pieces always have two parts -- one group who does floorwork and a group who does coordinating movements while standing. Students with bad knees appreciate it.

I like to teach sword because it's often sloooow and that makes good technique practice for the students. Also, practicing the moves while balancing helps to identify technique problems. For this reason, I like sword choreos that are slow, isolated and really emphasize great technique, great awareness of lines, etc.

Thank you all for such wonderful advice. My goal is to ease them into the whole sword thing. Get them used to it, see what works for them, see who is good at what, and then start to do little bits of chorography at a time. I do like the idea of doing moves without the sword first as Jaded mentioned. Also, like you Lauren, I have some people who have bad knees and don't do floor work, so I do have them stand while others are on the floor, it looks good too like you and Faaria have mentioned.
And Nimah it is not just you, I have noticed this too, in that video and others, and we WILL NOT 'crotch' (if that is what we are calling it) the audience, that is just not appopriate as far as I am concerned.
And Jaded thanks for reminding me of the safety issue and space, I wouldn't have thought of that until something bad happened. ..cr.:
And I agree with you blueyeddancer, all the rubber cement and hairpsray in the world, although helpful, does not make up for practicing. And just dancing (not worrying about tricks with it) as Sidonia suggests is great advice.
And Zumarrad and Bella Bella, don't worry, I wouldn't do anything crazy , but always appreciate the "Not to do's" advice! And thank you for the video recommendations.
Thank you again, all of you. You have helped me a great deal, and I will be showing my students the videos you have recommended and will have them read this thread for themselves. All this advice is very much appreicated!!..g.:

Also keep in mind that if you have older dancers, like myself, floor work may not work well for them.

Originally Posted by rassicahl

Also keep in mind that if you have older dancers, like myself, floor work may not work well for them.

Absolutely!! We are all not in our 20s and flexible like the girls in Sohaila's video! I would not ask them to do back bends either! Like I said, I do like to see what they can do and who can do what and go from there, it is good to have different talents and be able to display them in one group choreography.

Rather than choreogrpahy, I do troupe sword improvisation with my troupe, "Tribalation!" (and improvisation as a sword soloist, as well).
For my style, we learn combinations and movements that work well with swords, and practice "following the leader" to make them flow together. That way we can adjust the dance 100 different ways without having to create a new choreogrpahy. Most of the movements are slow, so it's not a problem to follow along. We may have a planned ending or section or two, and may have a plan on the way a song builds, but it's largely improvisational. We even have a code word that anyone can say when their sword starts to slip and we need a few moments to adjust, and we practice moving the swords to mask "mistakes."

I'm actually teaching a workshop on group sword improvisation coming up in Seattle April 4 at Troupe Hipnotica's "cues and tattoos" festival, if anyone's interested.

As for what you do with the swords, I agree on keeping the mock-fighting to a minimum...or not at all. Ditto on the 'tricks.' I like to tell people who are dancing with swords that you need to remember you are not a circus performer, you are still a dancer first and foremost.

Re: gluing things to the sword or notching it, I'm not a big fan, mostly because it digs into the scalp and hurts, plus it's a more obvious "helper" to an audience member who might see your sword. I find that a little natural beeswax on the balance point can help keep it from slipping on the hair. Nothing wrong with a headband or wrap, as well. And practice your legs off--it's all about the isolations and going with the flow.
~Sabine

we go by sweat factor.i sweat from my hair, so i get spins over with first.i do make a big deal if a have to wipe off my chin for the back bend down, and torso before the head pop.
we are freestyle dancers.but this advise will help.plan loosly with a prop,you can not tell it what to do!

As several people have mentioned, focusing on dancing (rather than sword tricks) is the most important thing. But that's true for any prop.

I only do sword work now and then, but, as much from my experience watching as from doing, here's what I'd recommend:

1) Give the dance time to unfold and build the suspense. Begin the piece with just dancing, then take a long moment to present the prop to the audience. Give them time to recognize the sword, and wonder what you're going to do with it.

2) Leyla mentioned the illusion of danger; once you start dancing with the sword, don't do anything to dispel that illusion. I think it was Melina of the Daughters of Rhea (who is a fantastic balancer) that said that your goal is to make the easy stuff look hard and the hard stuff look easy. Every time you choose a new balance position (head, shoulder, etc.), STOP and hold still while you place the sword, and when it's balanced, hold still for another moment to create dramatic tension. Then start with VERY easy and simple movements. You may be able to layer shimmies on top of hip circles with chest pops with a sword on your head while turning, but BUILD up to it, or they'll get jaded quickly. But if you start simply (just the hip circle is enough to start with) you can build the complexity as you go, and they'll still be excited and impressed by every step.

3) The sword doesn't have to be balanced every second; it makes a nice frame for hipwork. Overhead is nice (especially for vertical 8s and mayas), or at an angle over the working hip, as if it were a cane. Just be sure to treat the edge and point as if they were sharp. I hold the hilt in one hand and the "dull" edge of the blade in the V between between the thumb and forefinger, keeping the fingers far away from the "sharp" edge, as if I were afraid to cut myself.

As for music, I really like "Move Your Belly" from Electric Oasis (lots of texture), and "Beledy" from Gypsy Fire. A friend of mine used "Gamil Gamal" once, and it was really effective.

Originally Posted by Taj

Is this a new Bhuz verb? To crotch?

Maybe it's a Twin Cities thing?, but I've heard "crotch" used as a verb for years. To lay back or to fold backwards while facing the audience is to crotch them. Not a flattering angle!

"the sword is not a hat"
amen! that is why we do sooo much with it.that clip that was posted, i have seen it before.perhaps it is a style thing, but i keep waiting for something to happen, especially on the floor!

I like to incorporate some of my fave yoga poses into my sword routine. There is a clip on my website (Mychelle :: Belly Dance Performance and Classes in Sacramento, CA.). Remember that it's not about holding your balance, it's about moving into balance. i.e. Trees (and suspension bridges) sway slightly with the wind; you have to continuously move into your center of balance.

Originally Posted by Mychelledancer

I like to incorporate some of my fave yoga poses into my sword routine. There is a clip on my website (Mychelle :: Belly Dance Performance and Classes in Sacramento, CA.). Remember that it's not about holding your balance, it's about moving into balance. i.e. Trees (and suspension bridges) sway slightly with the wind; you have to continuously move into your center of balance.

Thank you! I do yoga all the time in our warm up and never even thought about that! I like what you and other's have said about balancing, it helps me a lot. And I agree, the sword is NOT a hat!!!


And jmdruadh thank you for the music suggetions! I like them a lot! ,r:;

Just found this clip, it CRACKED me UP!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7q18AwXdNA]YouTube - Belly dance in the Arabian nights in the Egyptian film of 30s in the Egyptian film Ali Baba[/ame]

See, now and I was always told that Egyptians never danced with swords. Another myth busted.

LOL!! Good one Lauren! That is pretty funny. Who knows where they got the reference to do that, especially since they seem to be treating the swords like assayas. The way they hold them (grasping the blade side), hit them on the ground, and hit them against each others' (as if simulating a tahtib) I guess this is a good example of what NOT to do in a sword choreography. Thanks for the clip that was entertaining!!