Thread: HELP!!! Presentation this weekend How therapy is like a classic AmCab set

Okay, I need help, please!

I have a presentation this weekend for school about our theories of therapy. I of course, have decided to use belly dance as my metaphor.

The problem is that I can't quiet remeber the exact structure of a classic AmCab set! Darn those Egyptians I have been hanging around with anyway!

Entrance
Fun song, usually Masmoodi with nods to traditionalisim such as saidi. Can also be the 'unveiling
Taxim
drum solo
(zar if desired, needed)
Finale

Does this sound about right?

Thanks!

And yes, for anyone who is interested, I'll post or e-mail my paper. AHdes, if I can get soemone to video tape it, I'll post it.

{{{HUGS}}}

When i think American oriental routine, I think:

Upbeat entrance with finger cymbals
Veil dance
taqsim
drum solo
finale with finger cymbals

1. Upbeat entrance with finger cymbals
2. Veil set to flowing, fluid music, usually rhumba/bolero rhythm
3. Upbeat medium-speed or fast piece to raise the energy level
4. Taqsim, which can be either floor work or standing undulations
5. Upbeat song, either medium-speed or fast, to raise the energy level
6. Drum solo
7. Finale, usually fairly short, high-energy

If the dancer weaves her way between tables throughout the set, then the songs for getting the audience up to dance (and to collect tips) would be #3 and #5. If the dancer performs most of her set on a stage, and leaves the stage for just one song to garner audience participation and tips, that would be #5.

What Shira said is what I learned. Or it can be done as a 5-part routine, leaving out #4 & 5. (sword can take the place of veil for the slow #2)

Originally Posted by *Shira*

1. Upbeat entrance with finger cymbals
2. Veil set to flowing, fluid music, usually rhumba/bolero rhythm
3. Upbeat medium-speed or fast piece to raise the energy level
4. Taqsim, which can be either floor work or standing undulations
5. Upbeat song, either medium-speed or fast, to raise the energy level
6. Drum solo
7. Finale, usually fairly short, high-energy

If the dancer weaves her way between tables throughout the set, then the songs for getting the audience up to dance (and to collect tips) would be #3 and #5. If the dancer performs most of her set on a stage, and leaves the stage for just one song to garner audience participation and tips, that would be #5.

Shira's list is almost how I recall it, but the taqsim would always include floor work (way back when) and #3 might be omitted, so it would be entrance, veil, taqsim w/floor dance, tip song, drum solo, finale.

I'm curious about the therapy aspect. I recently began taking a class on ecstatic dance and the sequence was interesting. First we just warmed up a little. Then we were instructed to "welcome yourself into the space and explore every part of the room." Next we were to "focus on creating a column of 'safe' space around yourself, extending to the back, front, all sides, up and down." Then, "begin to welcome the other dancers in the space while maintaining the 'safe' zone for yourself." (I'm paraphrasing these instructions, these weren't the exact words used by the facilitator.) Next "begin to interact with the other dancers without 'losing' yourself" and "begin to experiment with allowing a little bit of physical contact with other dancers, while maintaining your personal integrity," then "put your focus inward" and "put your focus outward, taking in all the dancers in the room at once yet staying related to them all," and so on.

It seemed like a good metaphor for any new situation, such as being a new dancer in town. Explore the "scene," create your own comfort zone at home and within your mind, greet other dancers and check them out, then interact with other dancers, then explore possibilites of connecting with them, and so on.

Not sure if all that relates to therapy, but just musing on the idea of the dance routine as a metaphor: entrance - explore the space and greet the audience. Veil: becoming more vulnerable, removing the "outer" garment and revealing more about oneself. Taqsim: turning the focus inward, creating a column of 'sacred' space about oneself, becoming very vulnerable (floor). Tip song: Interact with audience in a playful way. Drum solo: powerful, playful exploration of relationship of self to the music. Finale: High-energy, ecstatic.

Of course, the old 5-part routines we supposed to tell the story of a woman's various stages of life, but that idea never really made that much sense to me.

Oops, I seem to have written a novel here.

dunyah -

You have basically written my paper! This is pretty much how I am going to explain who therapy is like a 5 part AmCab set!

Entrance - introducing the dancer (topics, jusdgment, issue)
Veil - becoming vulerable.
taqsim - digging deep, isolating, moving / looking inward
Drum solo - building tension, more isolating, but in a way which builds energy and shifts it from one place in the body to another.
Tip song - going out into the audience, "meeting" your self from teh new perspective
Finale - Declaring it done! But in a fun way!

Okay, so it's a little out of order. But i think I can make it work!

Thanks everyone!

{{{HUGS}}

I would love to read the paper when it's done! Sounds very interesting.