The “Art of Mystery”: Preparing for the First Veil Workshop

Pre-Workshop Study: Dancing with a Long, Chiffon Silk Veil

We are so often too obvious. We run around in simple clothes that show all of who we are, all at once.

So often, when we watch dancers, we see them entering the stage with their veil behind them. They do a quick series of veil flourishes, then drop their veils and move on to the “main portion” of their dance.

Where is the mystery in this?

Today, we begin learning the Art of Mystery.

We don’t give it all away anymore.

Instead, we are worth waiting for.

Everything good comes in time, including the privilege of someone seeing us in our full glory.

 
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The Music

Most of us use Spotify, so I’m going to do my best to assemble Spotify playlists for you.

There are two kinds of music with which we’ll experiment for the Art of Mystery; music where we want to be in a more reserved space.

  • Chifti Tellis are a specific Turkish rhythm. They are very lush and sensual; perfect for veil dances – particularly for in-place veil moves. (Sometimes they are also good for movement across the floor.) See the previous blogpost for a good chifti telli link. Introduction to Veils: Framing Yourself Beautifully.
  • TaximsTaxim (sometimes taksim) literally means “solo improvisation,” and in Oriental dance circles, generally means a solo improv by a single dancer to improvisational music by a single musician; generally on an oud or wind instrument.

Chifti Telli Music

In a recent class, we experimented with framing different parts of our body (hips, rib cage, hips from a back angle, and diagonal-back view) using this music:

Soulful Music – Good for Interpretive Veil Dancing

Our featured study piece for this workshop will be Sira’s dance; details below. She uses a song that is performed on the Armenian duduk. This music is actually a composed song, it’s not a taxim – but it is very soulful and heartfelt. Very good for veil dancing.

Here’s another beautiful piece on the Armenian duduk (the name was not given, so I don’t have a Spotify link for it): Armenian duduk music; very emotional and haunting – good for an introspective taxim (solo improvisation) with veil.

 
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Music Interpretation

When we work with a chifti telli, we can do fairly structured movements, because the chifti telli has a specific 8-count rhythm (slow, slow, fast, fast, fast, space – which is too much of a simplification, for the actual chifti telli count, listen at chifti telli rhythm explained and demonstrated). The movements are usually rounded instead of percussive, although we could throw in something with a little definitive crispness to it at the end of a motif. In working with a chifti telli, you might use your veil to frame different parts of your body (and costume). For example, with the Journey of Light piece mentioned above, I used a simple choreography that separately framed the hips, rib cage, hips from a back angle, and diagonal-back view. This particular piece also led easily into a touch-step walk.

In contrast, when we dance in a (solo improvisational) taxim, the last thing that we want to do is make it seem as though it’s pre-choreographed. Instead, we want to be flowing and interpretive, and (very often) in a more inner state – as opposed to being outgoing and audience-interactive.

 
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Featured Study Piece

Sira, who has studied with Anahid Sofian as well as other New York City masters, performing a moving dance with a classic veil entrance – notice that she keeps herself covered for the first couple of minutes: Sira – Veil Belly dance to “Wishful Thinking”. The beautiful and haunting music is performed on the duduk, an Armenian wind instrument. Here’s a link to the music for Sira’s dance, which she says is by “Sol Shalapanova … it’s “Wishful Thinking” by Raul Ferrando featuring Ararat Petrossian and Faisal Zedan on duduk,” and here’s the link to Wishful Thinking on Spotify.

 
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Pre-Workshop Study

The best way to get the greatest value from your workshop is to pre-prepare.

Anahid Sofian is one of the great proponents of dancing with a long silk chiffon veil. (Typically, 3 1/2 -4 yards, trimmed as needed – inch-by-inch – to the dancer’s ability to work with the veil. For dancers such as myself, at 5′ 4″, the 3 1/2 yards of silk chiffon is probably good. For dancers who are 5′ 6” or taller, Anahid recommends 4 yards.)

Sira has studied extensively with Anahid, so you’ll see elements of Anahid’s style in Sira’s dance.

A silk chiffon veil becomes an extension of the dancer – Anahid Sofian.

At the same time, another exceptional dancer is Eva Cernik, who is internationally recognized as a great and innovative artist. She has also studied extensively with Mdm. Sofian, as well as with other great – and worldwide – master teachers. Although Eva’s style is distinctly her own, we can trace the influence of Mdm. Sofian’s teachings. Eva typically uses a silk habotai (China silk) veil. Eva has described her veil as “dancing with a partner.”

This is a really interesting compare-and-contrast study, because both master dancers (Sira and Eva) trace their lineage to Mdm. Sofian. In the YouTube link above for Sira, and in the YouTube links for Anahid and Eva in Dancing with Your Veil: YouTube Resources, you can see three magnificent dancers, with two different kinds of veils – coming from the same tradition.

Study Questions

  • What are your thoughts and feelings as you study the performances by these three masters? More specifically, if you can imagine yourself being Sira, or Anahid, or Eva, how would you feel as you danced?
  • Does one kind of veil (silk chiffon or China silk) appeal to you more than another?
  • What sorts of techniques and timing seem to work better with one kind of veil than another?
  • How would draping yourself with the two different kinds of veils work for you?
  • What kinds of movements could you do with the two different kinds of veil – both static (in-place) movements and movements across the floor?

Bring your notes (and questions / comments) to the workshop, and we’ll discuss during the lunch break.

Extra-special advanced study questions:

  1. How is Sira using dynamic tempo (fast slow, including pauses) to create more interest in her music? How do Anahid and Eva use variations in tempo?
  2. What are some of the different drapes that the dancers are using? How do these different drapes make you feel as an audience member? How would you feel differently as a dancer?
  3. When does Sira start removing her veil? (Actually, she’s less removing it, and more dancing with it.) Same questions, with regard to Anahid and Eva.

 
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Suggested Reading

What was it that Anahid had, and that I had totally forgotten?

Simply, it was the power of holding something back.

Quote from: Unveiling: The Inner Journey, by Alay’nya; Chapter 26: Unveiling: Selective Revelation, p. 359

Book signing for the release of Unveiling: The Inner Journey at the Jewels performance in North Virginia, July, 2011. Photo Courtesy Kim M.
Book signing for the release of Unveiling: The Inner Journey at the Jewels performance in North Virginia, July, 2011. Photo Courtesy Kim M.

The whole notion of unveiling ourselves – slowly – is behind the book, Unveiling: The Inner Journey, which was published in 2011.

 
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Very best wishes as you use Oriental dance (belly dance) for personal growth and healing!

Yours in dance –

Alay'nya - author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unveiling-The-Inner-Journey-Alaynya/dp/0982901305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368123419&sr=8-1&keywords=unveiling+the+inner+journey">Unveiling: The Inner Journey</a>
Alay’nya – author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey

Alay’nya
Author of Unveiling: The Inner Journey
You are the Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus. Become the Jewel!

Founder and Artistic Director, The Alay’nya Studio
Bellydance a courtesan would envy!

Check out Alay’nya’s YouTube Channel
Connect with Alay’nya on Facebook
Follow Unveiling: The Inner Journey on Facebook

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Alay’nya, Unveiling: The Inner Journey

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Copyright, 2018 (c). All rights reserved.

Related Posts: Veil Dancing

Copyright, 2018 (c). All rights reserved.

Anahid Sofian Labor Day Weekend Workshop – Beautiful "Patterns in Space"

Anahid Sofian, Master Teacher of Oriental Dance, Hosts Four-Day Intensive Starting Thursday, August 30, in New York City

If you’ve read Unveiling: The Inner Journey, you’ve read about Anahid Sofian. She’s responsible for several of my most significant breakthroughs in Oriental dance – both in the technique and the “psychology” of the dance.

Here’s just a sample:

“… What she had just shown me was not something new. I had not only known it: I had taught it to my students. And here I was, taking my new creation in to my master teacher, and realizing that I’d forgotten the basic lessons.

“What was it that Anahid had, and that I had totally forgotten?

“Simply, it was the power of holding something back.” (Unveiling: The Inner Journey, Chapter 26: “Unveiling: Selective Revelation,” p. 359)

This week, from Thursday, August 30 through Sunday, Sept. 2nd, Anahid will be holding an Intensive Workshop in her studio in NYC. This will be a magical time!

One of the things that Anahid teaches, and which I’ve learned from very few others, is the mystical, elusive art of creating beautiful, flowing patterns in space as you move with your veil. Most veil work that we see today is stationary. Anahid excels at the earlier version of veil art – the kind that is mesmerizing, captivating, and infinately memorable.

 

Alay’nya showing veil techniques that she learned from master dancer teacher Anahid Sofian

Anahid will be teaching her special veil movements this coming Sunday, Sept. 2nd. There’s possibly still room for one or two more to join her class.

On Saturday, Eva Cernik, Anahid’s protege and a master teacher in her own righ, will be teaching, and this is another stellar opportunity. I’ve adored every single thing I’ve learned from Eva, and have watched her videos time and again. (Showing an Eva video, and then trying to capture her “essence,” is a staple part of my class curriculum.)

If you live in the Greater DC Metro Area, or in Baltimore or anyplace up the I-95 corridor, you can get to Anahid’s studio easily using Amtrak. It’s a bit of a long day, but very doable. And totally worth the doing!

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