Thread: What is YOUR biggest pet peeve?

Belly dancing is one for those incredible crafts where you can let your creativity run away with you weather your a Fusion dancer to classic Egyptian, the sky seems to be the limit. However we all have our personal styles. When watching other dancers, or teaching students...what is your biggest pet peeves?

Bad posture! Ahhhhhhh!!! lol A slip every now and then is one thing but throughout a performance gets under my skin.

As a teacher, my biggest pet peeve is the cry of "I CAAAAAAAN'T!". You can. At very least, you could properly TRY before you declare that you caaaaaaan't dooooo iiiiiiiit!

As a student, it's those crazy people who INSIST on spinning around the place like a pinball, usually while weilding a pen (for note-taking, natch) at eyeball level. MEDIC!!!

As a performer, people who think it's perfectly fine for their boyfriend/husband/friend/children to randomly pop in and out of a group changing room. I don't care if he's your damn husband and isn't just gawping. I would really like to get changed without having to hide from the OPEN DOOR every two seconds.

As an audience member, performers who dance with that "I'm too good for all this" face of disdain, and who stalk offstage without bothering to acknowledge applause. If you don't want me to acknowledge you, put it on the programme or something so I don't waste my time watching you.

*crankypants*

Fear of music.
Dancers who are afraid to take any initiative to learn about ME music on their own, and only listen to songs that another dancer or Miles has branded as "safe."

If you're not sure if something is suitable for dancing, don't dance to it, but you can still listen to it. Most music isn't controversial or inappropriate. How are you ever going to learn what shouldn't be used if you never peek over the fence?

Tourubeau, great point. I am one of two in my class that has a passion for the music, and sometimes it's an uphill battle...

I guess my pet peeve would be the sort of "one dance fits all" commercialism trend I am seeing. I miss seeing the raw emotion and subtle yet strong technicality (sp) of Middle Eastern dance.

I have to word this carefully: I think big showy dancing or BDSS style is fine, I enjoy watching it myself, but it seems to be eclipsing all else around here. Same costumes, same frenetic moves, same music. I miss the earthy quality. It's like what's happened in the olympics in recent years with ice skating and gymnastics, lack of personal style. It's virtually ALL perfect technique. Pops and locks are great to watch, yes, but what about connecting with some of the slower, emotional parts of the music?

high level dancers that have bad feet. turned in etc, etc. I know it happens in the midst of a turn sometimes but i can't take seeing dancers with bad feet. Feet matter too!!!!

OH and when watching a group, i hate seeing everyone using a different technique to create the same movement (kind of). That realllllly annoys me.

Originally Posted by AmandaRose2

high level dancers that have bad feet. turned in etc, etc. I know it happens in the midst of a turn sometimes but i can't take seeing dancers with bad feet. Feet matter too!!!!

Oh, I'm so glad that I'm not the only one. There are so many otherwise good dancers with ugly feet. I don't mean physically ugly, but dance ugly. They don't point their toes, they don't tuck them out of the way, they don't wear skirts long enough to cover their ankles, they flap them around like ducks.

I also am not fond of the overly-earnest-I'm-emoting-now facial expression. I can't help it, I want to giggle. Newbies, I feel for, completely...you just can't help that at first. But more seasoned dancers...show the emotion you feel, not the one you think you need to convey.

Skanky dancing/costuming. Sometimes called "Coffee Table" dancing. By far my biggest pet peeve - and there are those who gets away with it because they're "Big Name" dancers. I don't give a Dog Gamn who they are, skanky is skanky - they're almost always a far better dancer than I'll ever be - wow me with a classy performance! Otherwise, a six week wonder who shows some class will be thought far better of.

As for Wigglewhiz's comment about "I CCAAAAAAANNN'TTT" - how many times has someone said "See? I can't do this movement." - "Uh, you just, um, DID...".

*runs off to check if his ankles show from under his skirts*

Really bad sloppy turns. This peeves me because I regularly see comments like "Veil/wings is just a bunch of spinning around, not real dancing. Anyone can do that"

Originally Posted by zorba

Skanky dancing/costuming. Sometimes called "Coffee Table" dancing.

Unfinished bras. You do realize you have a back view, yes? Visible saftey pins. Unvarying 8 count troupe choreos. Was I allowed 3?

People teaching too soon. Yes, 'soon' is a relative term. For someone exceptional, who spends every moment of her free time taking classes and practicing, it might mean teaching after only a few years of dancing. For most of the rest of us, teaching should really just wait until our dancing itself is better, more solid technically and in terms of musicality, and when we generally have MORE experience.

Originally Posted by wigglewhiz

As a teacher, my biggest pet peeve is the cry of "I CAAAAAAAN'T!". You can. At very least, you could properly TRY before you declare that you caaaaaaan't dooooo iiiiiiiit!

As a student, it's those crazy people who INSIST on spinning around the place like a pinball, usually while weilding a pen (for note-taking, natch) at eyeball level. MEDIC!!!

As a performer, people who think it's perfectly fine for their boyfriend/husband/friend/children to randomly pop in and out of a group changing room. I don't care if he's your damn husband and isn't just gawping. I would really like to get changed without having to hide from the OPEN DOOR every two seconds.

As an audience member, performers who dance with that "I'm too good for all this" face of disdain, and who stalk offstage without bothering to acknowledge applause. If you don't want me to acknowledge you, put it on the programme or something so I don't waste my time watching you.

*crankypants*

I'm right with you!!

I'd also add: dances at one level throughout the entire performance. Both emotional level and physical level.

As mentioned, the overly emotive face is part of this problem (and yes, it makes me squirm in my seat too!), but it goes deeper than that. Usually the problem with the face is it is held for long stretches throughout the dance, whereas if one were feeling and expressing a range of emotions, the face (and everything else) reflects that. That is, I hope, what happens in real life, and therefore feels more natural and effective in the dance. We're complex creatures, so show me your complexity!

Haha you guys are funny- 'Feet' is actually very interesting pet peeve, You can really spot a talented girl because costumes (expeically in fusion) are getting shorter so your feet show


MY PET PEEVES:

Bad Arms- this goes for almost every style. I hate seeing life less noodles up there, in tribal fusion I expect elbows up up up. Its an overall picture and lazy arms just mess with your posture and the overall picture, put some energy in those arms!

Posture- TUCK THOSE TAIL BONES!!! thats belly 101!

Choreography- I hate overly predictable dances, where you do the same step only changing direction

Bored faces- If I see a dancer looking a little nervous or scared it doesnt bother me. I think awe bless their hearts they are nervous,...thats something you out grow. How ever it amazed me how dancers have the balls to go up on stage and look bored.
ENERGY!

understanding music is the other pet peeve

Poor music choices are my pet peeve. Ack, don't dance to the Tarkan Kiss Kiss song when everyone has done it a million times. Yearning is also getting very over done. Try to find something fresh if you are dancing for an audience with many dancers in it.

Thumpy drum machine bass lines are horrible to me.

Sorry, but tribal fusion dancing to random western music just doesn't move me at all - in a good way, that is. I know that is an artistic choice, but I just don't connect with it emotionally, 9 times out of 10.

Staring at the floor while performing. Occasionally and intentionally is fine. Throughout your entire performance because you don't like looking up is not.

I have 2 for now:

1) Overanalyzers: you can be wearing the most to die for Pharaonics, have impeccable makeup and hair, been trained by the top master teachers in world, but if you get out on the stage and I can read all over your face "Ok, 1,2,3, hip drop, shimmy, pause for effect, Lebanese hip circle, wait, my arms! crap!" I've already forgotten that you look great and have lost interest.

2) The Desperate ones: Not as bad or obvious as the overanalyzers but if I'm out at a restaurant/hookah lounge and you come out and your dancing is aimed at the men and its pretty clear your rent is due, then I know you're not there for the art, more for the cash and it comes off cheap.

Originally Posted by dunyah

Poor music choices are my pet peeve. Ack, don't dance to the Tarkan Kiss Kiss song when everyone has done it a million times. Yearning is also getting very over done. Try to find something fresh if you are dancing for an audience with many dancers in it.

Double pet peeve if you're dancing to an old pop song and acting like it just came out last week. There's a difference between "new" and "new to you." Triple pet peeve for dancers who've been teaching a choreography to a stale pop song for longer than five years and still telling students that it's a "new" song when they introduce it. There's nothing wrong with having a few golden oldies in the repertoire, but come on. Five years ought to be enough time to rotate the inventory and put some fresh stock on the shelves.

Dancing at venues inappropriate for one's level of experience/talent/ability.

Especially when a teacher is promoting such performances among his/her students.

Deborah

Originally Posted by casbahdance

Dancing at venues inappropriate for one's level of experience/talent/ability.

Especially when a teacher is promoting such performances among his/her students.

Deborah

Word. Also with the beginners who shouldn't be teaching.

This is probably really nit-picky. But...

I absolutely can't STAND it when I see a dancer grab the BLADE of her sword. It destroys the whole act! The suspense, the danger - all gone. It's the equivalent of a magician explaining to the audience how he does his slight-of-hand routine. Lift the blade from underneath with your hand, but never forget the importance of illustrating that you are performing with a weapon by not treating it as such!

Whew! Ok. Felt good to get that out finally!

Originally Posted by la_soraya

2) The Desperate ones: Not as bad or obvious as the overanalyzers but if I'm out at a restaurant/hookah lounge and you come out and your dancing is aimed at the men and its pretty clear your rent is due, then I know you're not there for the art, more for the cash and it comes off cheap.

AGREE! We have a lot of belly dancers who do a style I like to call "Club Belly" The girls who do three basic steps, usually egyptian walk, hair sways and overly hyper shimmies and kicks w/ shimmies...Theyre basic and overly flirty, what gets annoying is when people think THAT is belly dancing...anyone can do what they do, to me that is not a belly dancer...thats a something else.;-) haha

Singing the song while dancing. Unless you are Arabic or speak the language...it looks wrong and fake!

Bad feet/turned in

Bad posture.

The belief that teaching early is ok if "you're just teaching beginners"

Originally Posted by TanyaLV

Singing the song while dancing. Unless you are Arabic or speak the language...it looks wrong and fake!

Totally! It's distracting

Originally Posted by ozma

The belief that teaching early is ok if "you're just teaching beginners"

yes yes yes yes yes

Originally Posted by Qalysha

This is probably really nit-picky. But...

I absolutely can't STAND it when I see a dancer grab the BLADE of her sword. It destroys the whole act! The suspense, the danger - all gone. It's the equivalent of a magician explaining to the audience how he does his slight-of-hand routine. Lift the blade from underneath with your hand, but never forget the importance of illustrating that you are performing with a weapon by not treating it as such!

Whew! Ok. Felt good to get that out finally!

YES!!!! Thank you!
I've seen good dancers do this and it drives me bonkers! Another case of not just spoiling it for your own performance, but disrupting the image for other performers the audience sees later on.

& I'll add- not finishing a move. you went to all the effort to get the veil soooo high and forgot to flick your fingers to really make it come off. or you cut your lean at your shoulder and didn't let your head respond to the momentum (I know sometimes that is the desired look, but many times it is just forgotten and looks stilted)

Originally Posted by BELLA_BELLA

I also am not fond of the overly-earnest-I'm-emoting-now facial expression. I can't help it, I want to giggle. Newbies, I feel for, completely...you just can't help that at first. But more seasoned dancers...show the emotion you feel, not the one you think you need to convey.

My corollary to that: the sultry face, the Dina face, and the frozen smile. (newbies get a pass)

Originally Posted by LaylaPage

Posture- TUCK THOSE TAIL BONES!!! thats belly 101!

My corollary to that: when a dancer has beautifully dropped tailbone, but is arching her upper back so far that it looks like she's not tucking.

Originally Posted by TanyaLV

Singing the song while dancing. Unless you are Arabic or speak the language...it looks wrong and fake!

Agreed, UNLESS she makes me believe that she loves the song so much that she can't help singing. (And I won't believe it unless it's true. Emoting face doesn't cut it.) And it has to be singing, not lip-synching. Even if I can't hear it, I can tell the difference.

p.s. to Tanya: great job on project belly dance!

If I have to pick just one, it's belly dance performances to Western music! And, this is nothing new, it's been done and overdone for 25 years at all sorts of shows, festivals, even bellydance contests, and not as comic relief either! I guess the idea is for self-expression or novelty, but it irks me to no end because hello, bellydance is a Middle Eastern dance art form!

Okay, I know that as Westerners, it's easier for us to dance to Western music but I was trained, "back in the day" to listen, practice and perform to the best ME music I could get my hands on. Reason given by every belly dance teacher I ever had was that understanding structure of ME music, especially it's nuances, pauses, breaks, enables belly dancer to express it better and I think this is a very valid point.