Improv Vs. Choreo – Which do you choose?

Today, I was involved in a conversation on the venerable social media giant FaceBook. The question of the day, “Are you an improv style dancer or do you prefer choreography?”

Chreo Vs. Improv

Like most things in life, the answer is “Depends.” In the video above, it would be nearly impossible for the elegant and graceful Shoshanna to perform a set choreography.  Live music with a band requires the trust in your skills, have the speed to respond to tempo changes, idiosyncratic arrangements, and even unexpected shifts into different songs.

Choreography is great when you are working with a group of people and want to achieve a high level of synchronization. Working with recorded music helps groups stay together and on beat.

Different Approaches for Different Situations

So my answer is a resounding both!  New dancers often focus one one modality over another.  Experienced performing dancers face a variety of different performance scenarios.  One week you might dance on a standard stage. The next performance might be in round, a typical scenario at large weddings.  But there is also an infinite variety of facility layouts in restaurant, cafe, and bar scenarios.

One of the key skills that separates the student from the teacher, the social dancer from the professional, is the knowledge base to quickly take stock of the performance situations.  Where is the audience situated?   What are the paths to enter and exit?  Given the layout, what are the places to pause for one-on-one interaction with a VIP or patron with a special event like a birthday or anniversary.

Combonography

Okay, I get it, that’s isn’t really a word. But it catches the essence of my own personal approach when I have the opportunity to dance. As an older more experienced dancer, I have favorite combos that I know are comfortable, safe, and also as distinctive and show-stopping as I achieve in this season of dance.

Hybrid Dances: Choreography + Improv

As a long-time instructor I have crafted performance pieces for a  variety of dancers and groups. Over the arc of my career, I’ve come to the conclusion that to be a successful performing dancer, it’s important to have a full arsenal of approaches.  One approach is to craft dances to recorded music that include choreographed pieces, like a chorus for instance, and spaces for improv.

Including passages, verses or bridges for open improv allows for spontaneity and flexibility to interact with the audience. It also creates time for moving through spaces between tables, up and down off stages and platforms. It’s also time you can take to adjust to larger facilities, or smaller more intimate venues that might need subtle adjustments.

No matter where you have the opportunity to dance this year, I hope that these concepts give you food for thought and inspiration!

Happy costuming and dance,
Dawn Devine ~ Davina, 
Feb., 2025 

PS: Here’s a blast from the past with the 2019 lineup of my troupe Swirl, demonstrating a hybrid dance with choreographed portions with individual improv sections.

 

 

“Dancing Down the Midway: 1893”

I’m so happy to share my Winter 2025 belly dance history course, “Dancing Down the Midway: 1893.”

During this four-session belly dance slide-history course, we’ll take a deep dive into the venues on the Midway Plaisance of the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.

We are going to begin with an overview of the fair and a history of the exhibitions that lead up to Chicago in 1893.  Then we will zoom into the Midway Plaisance and look at the surviving primary source material featuring entertainers and the stages where they performed.  

• Part 1: Setting the Stage (Now Available!)
• Part 2: Cultures and Exhibits on the Midway
• Part 3: Dancers on the Midway
• Part 4: Personalities, People, and Myth Busting
• Part 5: Q&A wrap up (TBA Pending Questions)

These four sessions each include 50 slides featuring primary source diagrams, maps, illustrations, and photographs.  Then I’ll wrap things up and in fifth and final talk, pending questions and queiries.

The slide deck above is a quick flip of “Part 1: Setting the Stage.”  Now available on Patreon at the $15 Tier.

Check it out – and if it’s a good fit and the right price, join me for this deep dive into the archives!

Dawn Devine ~ Davina
Jan, 2025

 

 

Hello my friends in belly dance and costume. Welcome to the Studio Davina December Patreon Classes, Demos and Workshops.

I’m almost entirely back on my feet after struggling through an illness.  I’m a one-woman shop here at Studio Davina. I really appreciate all my friends, fans, and followers on Patreon for giving me the grace to heal.

My classes, demos, and workshops are all located over on Patreon. I offer three monthly informational and instructional demos/talks along with a free informal coffee chat

Subscribing is like buying a monthly class card to study with me. Best part, for less the cost of three cups of coffee, you can gain access to everything.

December Patreon Offerings:

• Free Coffee Chat – Click the Video Above to Watch!
• Show and Tell $3 – Level Özel’s “The Belly Dancer in You” Book flip and biographical information about this legendary Turkish belly dance star.
• Sewing and Design Demo $7 – Shalimar’s “Blue Mermaid” part 1 – The origin story, planning, and the costume in motion.
• History Talks $15 – “Recent Research” – Check out some of my latest finds and historical connections.

If you are reading this in the future, all of these presentations are available in the Patreon archive.  Just click through and flip through the collections or use a quick search by title or keywords to find the video you want.

Patreon: What’s up Next?  December 2024

Patreon classes are released during the last week of the month.  In December, this is sometime between Christmas and New Years.  Watch for topics:

• Coffee Chat – Studio reorganization, destashing project, and plans for 2025
• Book Flip – “Style File” a breakdown of what is moving to “Costuming from the Hip: 30” and what is not making the cut.
• Sewing Demo – Shalimar’s “Blue Mermaid” – Building the master to:do list, order of construction, shopping my stash, appliqué design and planning.
• Belly Dance History Talk – New Series Starting “Dancing Down the Midway: 1893” – In Part 1 we are setting the stage, discussing the venues where patrons of the fair could see cultural performances.

I’m very happy to be back on my feet!
But I’m simply over the moon to be back at my desk working.

Thank you for your continued support of my work in belly dance costuming and history.  Happy holidays!

Dawn Devine ~ Davina
Dec. 2024

 

 

My favorite free digital tool for belly dance costume design and historical research is Pinterest.  I think of Pinterest as the younger, cuter, but a little ditzier cousin of Google search. If you haven’t visited Pinterest recently, I recommend you consider it. It’s a great tool for planning, making, or purchasing items for your belly dance wardrobe.

With Pinterest, you can search a tremendous visual database for ideas and inspirations.  But even better than the search features, are the free tools and storage space. Use Pinterest to store your favorite images in an organization system that works for you.

But Pinterest for belly dancers goes beyond costume design. Here’s how I use Pinterest as a multi-purpose from my belly dance business.

Using Pinterest Boards for Design

When I’m working on a costume, I will create a private board and share it with my clients and collaborators so we can discuss the design elements and features that we’re integrating into the overall design.

If you are designing garments for yourself, you can use these same tools to plot and plan, finding out what fabrics, materials and supplies are available. As I “shop the web” I pin images and links to the supplies I might choose to purchase to complete my project.  This makes it very easy to do side-by-side comparison shopping for both quality and price.
Read my past blog “Using Pinterest Sections” for more organizational tips.

Using Pinterest as Shopping Aid

I’ve installed a widget to my Google Search Bar that lets me effortlessly send pictures and links to my Pinterest boards. In the example below, I’ve visited BellyDance.com, an internet store that I trust, to look for fabrics and design elements for this “Blue Mermaid” ensemble.

When I find a costume piece I want to consider for future purchase, I click on the Pinterest icon at the top left corner of the image. Then, using the drop-down feature, I select the board to save the image.

Building a Belly Dance Costume Design Portfolio on Pinterest

Of course if you, like me, make your own costumes and want a totally free and accessible location building your design portfolio, Pinterest is the perfect place!

In fact, though I have this blog where I share loads of design tips and tricks, works-in-progress shots, and finished garments, I have boards dedicated to sharing my work on Pinterest.

There are two ways you can add to your portfolio.  You can drag and drop your images directly to the site. If this is your primary portfolio location, I recommend using links to your favorite social media outlet. This is a great way to gain new followers on your Instagram, YouTube, or any popular platform.

If you have an established blog or YouTube channel, link from your posts and videos directly to Pinterest to share your content. I have found that over the years, Pinterest generates the most organic inbound links to my blog.

Pinterest for Belly Dance Publicity

If you’re a professional dancer, building out a Pinterest page is a great way to share your content. Since accounts are free, it’s a great way to share your content when you’re operating on a limited budget.

Use your publicity shots, event flyers, videos of past performances, to build a record of your body of work as a dancer. When potential students, or booking agents want to see what you’ve done, this is a great place to send them.

Bottom line, since Pinterest is a free and searchable platform where people go for ideas, inspirations, and information, it’s a great place to share your work.  It’s free, it’s not behind a membership or paywall, and is a tool I use weekly, if not daily.

Streamline your Belly Dance Content Sharing using Pinterest

Collect your content from around the web and store links on Pinterest boards. I love having links all in one convenient storage place.  If I need to send someone a video, I simply come here and snag the link. This page works like an index of my digital work. On this board I store links to websites with podcast interviews, dance performances, and more.

Basically, anywhere I might have appeared on sites around the web. And unlike a boring spreadsheet, I can use visual clues to find the links fast!

I hope have a festive and merry holiday season!
~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina