Thread: Recommendations for candle dance duet?

One of my students is looking to be more avant gard in her performances, so she and I are going to dance a duet at the December Casbah Lounge holding lit candles in each hand. Any suggestions on the type of music for this act? I prefer to stay within Middle Eastern music, but East Indian would be fine too. Do we go traditional or modern? I am just not sure exactly what is appropriate since this will be something totally new for me.
Thankx in advance for any help!

Check out "La Mamounia" on the Moroccan Spirit album (track 10). Perfect for candle dance: exotic, hypnotic, dark & mysterious. It's very long (7:43) but there's an pretty good alternate ending embedded in it at 4:43 so it can be shortened.
"Jilala I - Nocturnal Ritual", track 2 on the same album, is another good one.
Sounds like a great project. Have fun!
Rosette

Thankx so much for the help! I'll check out those number a.s.a.p.

Originally Posted by Rosette

Check out "La Mamounia" on the Moroccan Spirit album (track 10). Perfect for candle dance: exotic, hypnotic, dark & mysterious. It's very long (7:43) but there's an pretty good alternate ending embedded in it at 4:43 so it can be shortened.
"Jilala I - Nocturnal Ritual", track 2 on the same album, is another good one.
Sounds like a great project. Have fun!
Rosette

These are excellent suggestions!

Generally, any slow but interesting song with a chiftetelli rhythm works well for candle. If you want to be a bit more experimental, you might want to check out "Slow" or "Derivation" from Tribal Derivations by Beats Antique.

Have fun and be safe! Remember that the battery operated candles look pretty nice too and are completely safe.

"Ou Es Ma Petite Danseuse?" on Gypsy Caravan's cd: Migration

Oh hey, about battery-operated "candles" - I saw some for sale recently that FLICKER, and are made to look like a fat candle that has burned down so that the "flame" is down inside and you're seeing it glowing through the side of the candle; thus you can't tell it's an electric bulb. Just the perfect thing if you wanted to do this without real fire. I'm sorry to say I can't remember where I saw these flickering electric candles, but I'm sure it was an on-line supplier, so maybe you could Google them up.
Rosette

Thanks! The flickering candles sound good. Especially since I lit my hair on fire during practice!.w.:

I bought flickering battery operated candles at Michael's craft store. I use them inside a frosted glass candle holder and they look very real.

It's amusing to hear that candle dancing is avant garde. There were lots of candle dances back in the '70s when I began dancing.

Can you get the venue to give you special lighting during the dance to accentuate the candles. At least part of the dance done in semi darkness so that the candles stand out and the eye follows their movement is especially effective when the dancers are silhouetted. So you see the dance movements too.

That is a good idea. I'll have the lights at the lounge dimmed with only enough light for the owner to run the cash register.

What types of music did they dance to with candles in the
'70's?

Originally Posted by Vahana

That is a good idea. I'll have the lights at the lounge dimmed with only enough light for the owner to run the cash register.

What types of music did they dance to with candles in the
'70's?

Slow/mysterious sounding music: favorites of mine were Zexra off the LP "Belly Dance To Great Navel Music" and "Jamila" -- especially the version on the Jalaledinn Vol. 2 LP.

Originally Posted by kat

Slow/mysterious sounding music: favorites of mine were Zexra off the LP "Belly Dance To Great Navel Music" and "Jamila" -- especially the version on the Jalaledinn Vol. 2 LP.

LOL! I did my first ever candle dance solo to "Chapkun Chapkun" by Jalaleddin. My first instructor was a '70s belly dancer and had all his albums (yes, LPs). Good times. ..g.:

Originally Posted by Vahana

One of my students is looking to be more avant gard in her performances, so she and I are going to dance a duet at the December Casbah Lounge holding lit candles in each hand. Any suggestions on the type of music for this act? I prefer to stay within Middle Eastern music, but East Indian would be fine too. Do we go traditional or modern? I am just not sure exactly what is appropriate since this will be something totally new for me.
Thankx in advance for any help!

What about some of Jehan's music?

http://cdbaby.com/found?allsearch=jehan

I like some of her music for sword, I would think it would be good for candles too.

Lisa