Simple Things that bring Joy to your Dance

 

Let me ask you something:

When you think about Egyptian Dance, what are the first words that pop into your head?

For most of us, Egyptian Dance comes with baggage. Heavy Baggage.

My man was once asked, in an ushered, almost forbidden manner, if what "I did" was allowed for children.

I was often asked, at the beginning of my career, if what I did was a dance of seduction and whom, if I didn´t mind answering it, I was seducing.

 

 

When "Egyptian Dance" comes to the table, it usually shows up side by side with seduction, exoticism, far-away lands made of white sand and an oasis, sultans and odalisques, forbidden fruits, seven veils, and other delicacies, equally annoying.

 

Joy is not one of the first words that most of us will think of, when we think about Egyptian Dance. 

 

Furthermore, students and professionals in this area are told that, in order to excel at this art form and be respected, they have to be serious, heavy, never sensual-excited-too passionate; a bit on the suffering end of life. 

 

 Serious dancers are serious. 

Joyful dancers are just fooling around.

 

I´m here to tell you otherwise: many years of study and career in Egypt; plus, other good amount of years of non-stop travels around the world teaching, lecturing, and performing, have shown me that JOY IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF EGYPTIAN DANCE.

 

Joy is not optional. It´s not a personality preference or a tendency some of us have and some, don´t. Joy is a skill, a discipline, a habit, a way of dancing and, yes-you-guessed-it, a way of living.

 

In this Blog Post, a Bonus Resource inside "Joana Saahirah´s Signature Course" - authentic Egyptian Dance, Personal Discovery & Empowerment from the ABC to Mastery (more information at the end of this post), I´m sharing a few SIMPLE & POWERFUL WAYS TO MAKE JOY A NATURAL PART OF YOUR DANCE & LIFE.

 

Interested in the goodies?

Dive in 

 

1. Choose Music that you love.

It doesn´t have to be a "happy musical piece" but it must be a music that you love, that makes you want to get up and dance, that moves you in a personal/emotional way.

Joy is not about holding a creepy-fake-ever-lasting smile while you´re dancing - it´s about creating an experience whose base is joy, zest for life, passion. The only way to make it possible is to choose a music that sets your heart on fire.

 

2. Decide you´re going to have fun.

- Decide? Is it that simple?

-Yep. It is. 

 

There are a lot of things in life that we presume are gifts, strikes of luck, circumstantial. And they´re not.

We can decide to have a joyful time. We can decide to feel grateful. We can decide to be happy. 

We´re so much more powerful than we think. Decide, beforehand, that you´re going to have a joyful experience - may that be in a dance class, private practice, or in a performance. Especially, in a performance.

 

3. Remember you´re going to die.

I tell this to my students, frequently. They still love me. Can you imagine? ;) 

Remember you´re going to die. Imagine if this was your last day on earth - how would you dance, then? How would you live, if that was the case?

We often live as if we were eternal. Our souls may be eternal but our physical body, the one who´s hosting our soul in this life-time, is not. 

Dance as if there was no tomorrow. Literally. And see the freedom that comes from it.

 

4. Create clear boundaries around your Self-Worth

Work on yourself, your self-confidence, and self-worth. Detach the image you have of yourself from the image other people have of you, or the image you imagine they have of you.

Your dance is yours to be danced.

Your life is yours to be lived.

Stop caring about what others think and deliver all that you are in the dance and in the life you´re experiencing.

 

5. Embrace Imperfection, Nonsense, and Madness

We thrive for perfection, don´t we? 

We´re afraid of looking ridiculous, don´t we?

We don´t trust Madness, do we?

 

Yet, our Dance and our Life cannot thrive if we keep holding on to ideals of perfection - how things should look and feel like -; if we worry about "looking ridiculous"; and if we remain distanced from the magic of madness. Creative madness.

 

Embrace what is. As it is. And make the best of it. Perfection ideals - out the door.

Embrace the "ridiculous". It´s there that we´ll frequently find the genius. Fear of the ridiculous - out the door.

Embrace the Madness. Loose your mind and see where that absence of control will take you; offer yourself the gift of freedom, child-like pleasure, nonsensical joy.

 

Now, choose at least one of these tips, and apply it. Key words: APPLY IT.

P.S: Have fun! (pun intended)

 

 


 

This Blog Post is a part of "Joana Saahirah´s Signature Course", a journey of authentic Egyptian Dance, Personal Discovery & Empowerment available at Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School

 

The SUBSCRIPTIONS for this Course/Membership are now closed but...

 

There´s a 2nd Edition of "Joana Saahirah´s Signature Course" arriving this June. If you want to be the first to know about it, SUBSCRIBE TO JOANA SAAHIRAH´S WORLD NEWSLETTER BY CLICKING HERE

 


 

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