Aziza!

[parasitegirl]

(cross posted from costume page)

It’s no secret that Aziza was my first dancer crush…or that I am not alone in this…or that it’s not over yet. It’s the sort of crush that only grew stronger as I started having access to her workshops and as I, like so many of you, have watched her actively exploring dance each year.

 

 

In 2009, based only on her impression of my dance abilities within a workshop (Michelle Joyce, 2008?) Sakiko Takeda of Habibi Bellydance (http://habibi-bellydanceusa.com) asked me if I would dance in the show when Aziza came. I remember the email, the confusion of if it asked what I >thought< it was asking (it was in Japanese) and then, on confirmation, that I bounced up and down flapping my arms in a fit of impotent-armed T-Rex joy. This is what Aziza makes me do. I did this very same thing in the last week when Aziza contacted me.

 

I’ve just finished the third year of taking workshops with Aziza here in Japan. I continue to be impressed.

 

In the spirit of full disclosure: This year and last Aziza has been brought to Japan by Deseos Productions. I teach at Deseos Studio and Deseos Productions is run by my good friends Jo (http://joetribalfusion.com/) and Henna (http://hennadances.com/Henna_Homepage.html ). Both dancers are friends of mine.

 

There’s things I know about Aziza that make her workshops and shows a good investment:

 

-She doesn’t rest on her laurels. I know she’s always looking to a variety of photographs, art, and dances outside of the bellydance world to mine for inspiration. This year she performed a stunning, elegant, tribute to classic Egyptian style in the show’s first set and then tore the place down in her second set which included drum-solo music outside of her usual wheel-house (some techno leanings) and energy levels I have rarely seen. Her dance ideas are fully realized in a way that inspires me.

 

I know bits about how she actively collects ideas not just because I see it, but because she talked about keeping notebooks, how she finds inspiration, how she likes to write down concepts after seeing performances, and such in 2009 in a workshop…and it stayed with me.

 

I know she’s always open to inspiration from any outside source. Period. She and I ended up talking a little bit about Steve Martin’s book, Born Standing Up, and how a section he wrote about how he was able to project his comedy when he did MASSIVE venues resonated with her and has informed her teaching and performing… I got this because, well, not only did I listen to that on Audible TWICE but I think I have blathered on here about my love of Marc Maron’s WTF podcasts. So much of the themes Marc and his visiting comedians talk about in regards to finding their voices as comics, interacting with audiences, how they cope when they feel they are losing a crowd and such has been resonating like a goddamned bell-tower in my skull.

 

As far as I can gather from her schedule, her way of collecting and being open to inspiration is essential. I don’t know that I’d be able to make the time to grow as an artist while constantly traveling.

 

This growth I harp on is why I always book to see her shows and attend many of her workshops. Japan workshops are pricey. I have experienced dancers whom I enjoy, who have brought the exact same workshops year after year (not always under the same titles) and who’ve trotted out the same music, even the same sets, that I’ve paid to see in the past. It’s hard to pay nearly 90USD$ and up per for a workshop and 50$ and up for a show and not resent repetition. Aziza brings a good mix of all new choreographies, new ideas, and when she repeats workshops they are clearly explained in detail so you know the content and don’t make spending errors.

 

-Aziza’s costumes are always unique and come from a variety of sources. Some dancers have “their look” and it suits them and has come to define them in some way, like Sandra’s Bellas. This is a wise approach in many ways and I sometimes envy the way it must make some choices easier, but it doesn’t personally ring my bells. Aziza manages to find (and commission) costumes that suit the narrative/mood of the dance/music she is exploring while also flattering her in a manner that makes her range of costumes seem consistant.. That’s not easy. It impresses me because it’s the sort of costume brain I try to have.

 

And, I also am impressed because I feel she’s worked at finding her costume voice. I love the Aziza Raks DVD but I do watch it wanting to shout “Those fringe swags are eating your figure! You have a short torso! STOP THAT!” and now when I see her dance her choices seem seamless.

Quick recap:

This year I was unable to attend her oriental choreography workshop on Saturday, because I was teaching Zills and Drills and Roma & more in Matsudo.

 

I did attend the show. I’ve praised her performances but would be remiss if I didn’t praise EVERYONE in that show. Deseos runs a good show with a full mix of styles. There were no low points in the show for me, nothing I had to fake-smile my way through to be a good audience member, and many of my favorite dancers performed (Nicole! Farasha! Anaan! Harissa! The male power of Eg’zile…you tube them all!) including Eshe who’d traveled from Korea for the event. Eshe is just getting more powerful each year and continues to inspire me and push me…and trade costume with me.

 

Sunday workshops.

 

Maybe we’d all gone out drinking after the show. Maybe tongues were loosened. Still, come 10 AM, Sunday morning, we were in Tokyo. We were all a little slow and stupid from festivities but Aziza, per usual, POWERED us through her “outside of the Aziza box” drum solo from the night before. I appreciate dancers who teach professional level choreographies and challenge us to exceed out expectations.

 

Drum Solo Workshop:

This kicked my ass in some ways, but not to the degree that I wanted to give up. I’ve worked hard over the last few years to get better at learning choreographies. I think that making choreographies for home practice and for teaching has helped that section of my brain.

 

I like the fact that the drum solo was the one she’d performed in her show and not one simplified for us. She’d mentioned when talking to me prior to show-day that her new drum-solo had more techno…so when I saw it in the show I got very excited and hoped that we’d be learning it. BOOOYA!

 

Over all it was a great chorography that will become part of my at-home practice. Aziza’s breakdowns of the choreography were easy to understand even when the moves were hard to execute (so…My weight it on one leg, both legs shimmy, I’m undulating and leaning further forward with each undulation?….ooooooookkkaaaay) I knew what I was supposed to be doing. Moves were clear. Weight and direction changes made sense because of the clarity of movement and the way Aziza works to give purpose to each move. She’s also very good at line rotation and managing a crowd of dancers.

 

Special thanks must be given to Farasha for her always amazing translations.

 

In the afternoon Aziza went back to her hotel to catch up on work while Jo, Anaan, Eshe, Farasha, Nin and I caught up on food. Eshe and Anaan left shortly after (Eshe needed to pack up for Korea) and Farasha, Nin, Jo and I tried sleeping on the couches at the studio.

 

Evening workshops:

These fall into the category of basic instruction.

 

Zills: I went into this knowing it wouldn’t be a challenge. Aziza made a point to tell me that it wouldn’t be fancy, hard to play, patterns. That was fine by me. I can construct, find, work-on challenging patterns on my own. I was in zill class to watch a masterful teacher break down how to get started with zills f. It was about learning from how and what the teacher teacher, not about learning what is being taught…if that makes sense.

 

It was very similar to how I teach zills and drills. Getting a pattern out there, walking it, drilling it with movements with enough changes that the measures (where they start and stop) are understood…and then drilling a few different patterns with footwork etc.

 

There are things I will steal, have already stolen, like drilling arm and hand movements with zills (but silent) to help dancers from getting zill claws whenever they have them on.

 

Arms, Hands and Poses:

I stayed on as staff for this one. I would not have attended it otherwise as I have taken the workshop before and I have the DVD. She did introduce a new concept but had told me and Eshe about it prior, understanding that we were familiar with the rest of the content. 

Despite covering much of the DVD content, I did think it held a great deal of merit for non-English-speaking Japanese students (as Farasha translated a lot of solid concepts) and was glad to have observed the class to, yes, gain inspiration for my own classroom teaching skills.

At the end of the workshops Aziza broke into tears, as did Farasha myself, and others, when she talked about the earthquake and her desire to still come here. It was something I had spoken to her about in thanks and I know I was not alone. I also know the choice to come here when you don’t have to, when it is not your life, is hard.

I have respect and a deep understanding of the pressure placed on many dancers who come to Japan to do workshops. It took me a while to set aside my anger at the relatively small losses of a workshop here, a teacher there, a gig over yonder, but I have.  It was never an anger I wanted to focus at any one person, but it was the anger that comes from horrible things outside of your control…and that sort of anger finds undeserving targets at times.

I respect how a desire to alleviate family anxiety and personal stress has meant the cancellation of some workshops here. My own desire to put my family at ease motivated me to be on a plane headed to Taiwan.

Thank you, Aziza. Thank you to all  the dancers who come here and those who plan to resume trips to Japan in 2012.