Filming

Sensual Bellydance

What is the difference between “sexy” and “sensual”?
Same as between “cute” and “beautiful.”
“Sensual” starts inside and radiates outside.
“Sexy” starts and ends outside.
“Sexy” commands attention, but “sensual” commands desire.

We've spent today filming the "Sensual Bellydance" – instructional program by Blanca. The level is beginner-intermediate. Blanca's dance philosophy: dance must be physically gratifying; the ability to move fluidly in an organic, connected way begins with an intuitive knowledge that arises when we are sensually awake and experience physical enjoyment of our movement.

The mind receptive to physical pleasure translates the dancer's sensory experiences into projecting sensuality through movement - sharing this feeling of sensual joy, being "comfortable with one's body", with the audience.
As bellydancers we're all familiar with a typical comment from "civilian" audience members: "I like this dancer - she really looks like she is enjoying herself!"

Blanca's method teaches this precious quality from the very first dance steps. Since sensuality begins from within, Blanca focuses on translating this internal state of mind into a movement style that "reads" as sensual, looks on the outside just as it feels inside – so that nothing is lost in translation. Quite a challenge!

Blanca's own dance movement has a special languid, effortless, melting, intoxicating quality to it - something rarely seen. The powerful potential of sensuality in bellydance movement can be seen with utmost clarity in Blanca's technique. Her range of hip motion is uniquely large, the muscle elongation and control is such that every move is gooey, fluid, curvy, coming from deep inside, and reading like "slow motion" even when it's ultra-fast.

It was remarkable to see Blanca implement her method as we were filming her video program today. She offers meditation to awaken one's sensory abilities in relation to touch and movement. The three main sections of the program are:

- the Sensual Bellydance Flow - sequences of steps building from simple isolated moves to the layered "look" where footwork, arm patterns, head angles and motions are gradually combined for the effect of total coordination and efforless control;

- Step-by-step breakdown of the movement vocabulary for the Flow via Progressions. Progressions are the main element of Blanca's method - the gradual layering of body, head, arm angles, and bellydance moves on footwork to teach coordination and "connectedness" - wave-like echoing and interconnectedness of movements ( e.g. arm movements are taught in conjunction with the upper back arch, etc.) There is a section of sensual poses and fluid transitions, aimed at improving pacing - since one of our sins as beginner dancers is a hectic pace, cramming too many steps into a dance phrase with a resultant loss of distinction in accents and highlights.

- The step-by-step breakdown, demonstration, and performance of the "Venus" choreography - another amazing feature of Blanca's method: awakening sensuality through visualizations and story-telling, linking key moves and poses to fantasy or archetypal images (many poses and movements have fantasy names such as "Priestess," "Nymph," "Serpent,") and linking the moves into a story highlighting archetypal aspects of femininity.

To sum up - a focus on sensuality is a brilliant approach to teaching bellydance, many of us are capable of grasping quality in movement on the intuitive level before we bring it to the analytical level - "there is nothing in mind that hasn't been in the senses."

~ Neon

SENSUAL BELLYDANCE :: neon
from Venus Uprising's blog