Music Mishaps

I was in a show recently where my music cut in and out. I kept dancing. Whenever the music came back on, I was in the right place. I felt confident enough with how well I new my piece to just power through.

The only bad thing is the stress of "holy crap, what happened to my music?" shot my adrenaline up and then I crashed before the song was over. A combination that I struggle with on a good day looked like udder crap because I just didn't have it in me. But you know after all that, having only 16 counts off in an otherwise perfect performance - I'll take it.

After the show, I heard nothing but compliments on how I handled the music mix up and that's what I want to talk about.

#1 - I was at a show with Raksanna when her music did not play. 

This show was in an intimate setting. The dance space was at floor level with seating on two sides. Raksanna had already entered the dance space and was face to face with the audience when her music failed. After several tries she signaled her husband to go sort things out with the sound guy.

She then said that while they were getting that sorted out, why didn't we play a game. She divided the audience into groups and arranged is in sort of a clapping game so that we clapped out a rhythm. She then did a bit of improv to our clapping until the music got sorted. 

The way she dealt we a music mishap was graceful, fun and you know what? I remember it for all the right reasons.

#2 - I was a little involved with the backstage of this show and I recall that the CD player lacked a time signature. Somehow during the middle of a dancers piece, something happened to stop the song. She stopped, looked annoyed and told the sound man to go back to a certain part. He had to restart the song and forward it where everyone could hear it every time he stopped to let her listen if that was the right place. She got further frustrated and stormed offstage to yell at him. He reaction wasn't pretty, and those audience members setting so they could see behind the curtain on stage right (quite a few people actually) saw her continue to berate the poor sound man until her got it right. A lot of people remember this and still talk about it. 

I let both these instances be a lesson to me a long time before I myself ever had a problem onstage. Unfortunately, like wardrobe malfunctions, music mishaps are something that we have to prepare for. Here are some suggestions on how to handle it.

Music skips - Sometimes, like in my case, the music skips a little but then gets back on track. I chose to keep dancing. The first few skips were only a few seconds so I chose to hold on until they got too bad, and it actually got better by the 2nd half of the song. 

If the problems make the music undanceable then take a bow and walk off stage. You can ask the stage manager/organizer if they want you to get a back up of the music right away or go on later in the show instead.

Music stops - If you are near the end or it was a long piece anyway, its okay to make a face that says "this wasn't the end but oh well" do a big finish and take a graceful bow. 

If you are near the beginning or it is a very short piece, there is nothing wrong with starting over. You worked hard on your dance and the audience appreciates that. They want you to get to do it start to finish as much as they want to see it start to finish. 

Music won't play at all - I know organizers are busy, but there is no reason not to check all the music on the sound system before hand. Without taking breaks the music is never half as long as the show. Just let it play and listen for problems. Delegate it to the sound person. It also let's them become familiar with the equipment and music. 

But things happen and that's why we always bring back-ups. Again, exit the area and find out if they would like you to fetch your back-up while they stall or just squeeze you in to a later place in the show.

Or like in Raksanna's case where she was the headliner, she knew she had someone to get the back-up and get it handled so she did her own stalling.

They play the wrong music - Smile at the sound person and shake your head no. Or hold your pose/position  back stage in a way that says - that's not my music.

There is never a reason to get mad, and really never reason to get upset. I take exception to students and beginning performers whose nerves may be shot after a mishap. When that happens there is nothing wrong with gracefully walking off stage and telling the organizer that you just don't feel like your nerves recovered from the music problems and you will instead enjoy the show from the audience.

The only thing you can do is prepare yourself mentally and be prepared with music back-ups. Personally, I always go to a show with the three things. 

1. A CD with just my song. I burned it and tested it in my car and my very cheap CD player as well as my computer. I find cars and cheap players to be the most finicky of playback devices when it comes to homemade CDs.

I also label in BOLD sharpie marker

'Azraa

Bluegrass Bellydance

Title/Artist

Time Signature

This helps me and the people running the show to keep it from getting confused.

I also keep all these in one box in my dance room so I don't have to burn more than one if I use the same number several times.

2. My iPod. My iPod has all my music. I know not every sound system can play one but just in case.

3. A couple of back up songs. I have never used one yet but better to prepare for the worst.

I would love to hear about any music mishaps I didn't mention or any scenarios where you learned from another dancer both what to do and what not do when there is a problem.

Bellydance and Finances

So one of my 2012 goals, both personally and professionally, is to do a better job at accounting. This is funny if you know me in real life where I run a small business, have an MBA and spend most of my days bookkeeping. I think this is why I slack off after hours, I am burnt out!

To kick this goal off, I have made a few simple changes that will help me get in better control of my finances.

Paypal: Paypal has sent notices to several of colleagues who have business accounts and receive money as "personal." Sending money this way avoids Paypal's fees and I think they have caught on that some people use this type of transaction even if they sell goods. I do a lot of personal shopping with my Paypal but usually have a balance because many of my students use it to pay for classes. For this reason, I have opened a 2nd personal account. Paypal let's you have one business and none personal account and I am going to take advantage of this. They won't let you duplicate funding sources but I have a business checking account and a credit card dedicated to dance.
In doing my end of year reporting, I saw how much I paid in Paypal Fees last year. When I first started taking Paypal for classes, I chose to eat the fee so the cost was the same for students no matter how they paid. Now that I have seen how much that cost me I decided to add the fee into the cost of paying online. I know many other teaching and businesses that do this.

Outright.com: Since ,until now, I had been mixing personal with business on Paypal and my credit cards; doing my end of year finances were kind of tedious if I didn't sort things out pretty regularly. I was using Quickbooks Simple Start (I use Quickbooks Pro at work so it made sense to me). QB Simple is easy but is not really more than an electronic check register that will total things for you. There is also only a check register and credit card register so adding in Paypal was difficult. All this prompted me to look for something better. Enter Outright.com. I found a review and recommendation from PCWorld, and then checked a few other reputable sources.
Here's why I like it. It can import transactions from most major banks, credit cards, and Paypal. It will actually import sales info from sources such as Etsy as well. If you have ever used Mint (something else I recommend), it is very similar. One of the best features is that not only can you add custom categories, one of the preset categories is Personal Expense. Once you mark something as a Personal Expense (or Personal Income) it gets removed from all the reports. It also separates out the Paypal Fees, which is how I came to the conclusion above.

I have also set up a Square account so I can take Credit Card payments in class. I am going to add on the 2.75% that Square charges into my rate.

I feel really positive about all of this. My life seems easier already :)

Organizing Your Belly Dance Notes

After I posted the "Hoarding" confession regarding my bellydance media and notes, dancer Naima asked:

So what is your recommendation on sorting notes? I have workshop hand outs, workshop choreos, my choreos, my notes, zill/music, etc. I just can't seem to decide how I want to organize them. Everything is in a big binder in order I obtained them only. I tried sorting once and got overwhelmed because I couldn't decide how to sort them.

That is an EXCELLENT question, and I would love to address it. Please keep in mind I am NOT the most organized person on the planet by ANY means, and what works for me may only confuse other people! But I've tried a few systems before, and I'll give you the rundown on five of what appear to be the most common. I personally actually use a combination of systems, with multiple copies of notes in multiple places, and organized mostly by subject matter, so I sort of blend all of them.

(FYI - When I'm discussing notes, I'm talking about printed copies. I'm very old-school and don't like searching the computer for digital versions of my notes. I like to see them printed out in black and white. However, a more eco-friendly approach would be to scan and digitize all those notes and organize them in your computer using one or more of these systems. That keeps the clutter down, prevents you from spending a month's pay on sheet protectors, and allows you to search your files by keyword, which I imagine would be infinitely helpful! Don't forget to back up your files or save them to Google documents, where you can access them from any computer.)

First let's talk about the types of notes we're dealing with:

1. Class handouts describing what you're learning in class that week.
2. Workshop handouts given by the instructor to either help you remember concepts or to give additional reference material to what she/he is teaching.
3. The almost mandatory "list of bellydance moves I've learned" that every student at least attempts to create at some point in her education.
4. Notes you've taken by hand at workshops or during classes
5. Notes you've taken on DVDs (instructional or performance) or on live shows you've seen.
6. Notes you've taken on your own performances or videotaped practice sessions, or from private lessons or other suggestions.
7. Choreography notes: either yours or someone's else's.
8. Notes you've taken on non-dance subjects, like music, culture, language, costuming, song lyrics, etc.

If you've never considered taking written notes on any of the above, now is the time to consider doing so. You can learn a lot from disecting and analyzing a videotaped practice session, or from taking notes at a show, or from making that "list of moves" that we all seem to acquire during our early years of education.

Now how to organize them? Let's look at a few different approaches:

1. Chronological
2. Instructor-based
3. Subject-based
4. Combinations and movements only
5. Personal practice system only


1. CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEM

Any student who has been taking class for more than 6 months or so probably has a fistful of class handouts, maybe a few workshop notes, and that "list of bellydance movements." Keeping a file folder or binder full of those notes in chronological order is probably the first "system" that most students try. This works great for a few months or years, but at some point it becomes a lot of work to go back through those notes to find a meaningful bit of information.

Personally, I still have all the original notes I received in class or in workshops, (and also printed copies of the handwritten notes I took during those workshops) stored chronologically in a couple of binders, but really more for sentimental reasons. I think of it as my dance scrapbook, more than an actual USABLE resource. While I do believe that thumbing through your "dance scrapbook" can be a healthy experience, letting you see what you've learned and how you've grown over time, it's probably not the BEST system for making use of your notes, especially if they have expanded into larger and larger binders, or even into multiple binders (or in some serious cases, into their own room in the house!)

If you choose this system, I would recommend the following:

• Separate the pages into years or months or decades -- whatever works for you. Use divider pages to keep the sections clear.

• Make an INDEX page for the beginning of your binder. Don't feel the need to get overly specific, but general notes like "Stage presence and dynamics, see pps 12, 189, 200" or "Dancing for Lebanese Wedding -- see pps 34, 56, 78." Or "Saidi dance/music pps 12, 18, 145" (or if you don't do page numbers, you can use colored sticky tabs for each topic, or mention the instructor and the date/year.)

• Make friends with paper flags, post-it-notes, highlighting, and any other attention-grabbing devices, and use them. Flag the important stuff (or what you deem important today.) Highlight the stuff you want to remember.

• READ your notes! It seems obvious, I know, but who wants to read a bunch of notes when there's dancing to do! Seriously, get a cup of tea and some cookies and just sit down and read through them on a regular basis: once a week for relatively new students; once a month or once every two months if you have more experience, or as your note collection grows. Read through them daily if you're super-motivated or need ideas for your daily practice material.

• If you attend a workshop or class, take hand-written notes on the material. This is a general rule and applies to all systems. TYPE OUT YOUR NOTES (or at least rewrite them) VERY SOON AFTER THE CLASS IS OVER. This is key -- don't be like me and wait until almost a year later to message your dance partners and ask "What was that funny Reda step thingie we did in Sahra's class last spring right before lunch, do you remember? I can't read my notes." They will usually not remember, or if they do, will get tired of you asking. Rewrite the notes no longer than a week after the class. Place the rewritten notes in chronological order in your binder, alongside any handouts you got at the workshop. (Many times your notes will help you make sense of the abbreviated notes on the handouts, so you'll want to keep them together.)

• Keep your "list of moves" in the front of the binder, and don't be afraid to add to it on a regular basis, or abandon it as you see fit. (I made a spreadsheet on the computer and after the thing grew to over 3 pages, I abandoned it. But it was a great reference at first, and probably could be pretty useful if I ever would go back and rethink it.) But more on that later.

2. INSTRUCTOR-BASED SYSTEM

This could be a pretty useful system if you spent a lot of time studying from or attending multiple workshops with a handful of teachers, or if you enjoy training in multiple "styles."

I worked with this system for a while, and I still use it to some degree. I had individual binders for Suhaila Salimpour class, workshop, choreography, and general notes; Shareen el Safy workshop, choreography, and dvd notes; Ansuya class, workshop, and dvd notes; Tribal workshop notes -- etc. (Alternately you can section off one big binder into compartments for each "style.")

Currently I have a big binder that's all notes on "Egyptian Style" from instructors like Tito, Dina, Raqia, Shareen el Safy, Sahra Kent, Ranya Renee, Faten Salama, and my teacher Nashwa. (I suppose I should actually create a sub-section of the binder for just Reda Troupe technique, and maybe I'll get around to doing that someday.) I read through this one about once a month, and try to work through the concepts and practice the movements at least once a month.

The advantage to this system is that you keep all of your notes regarding special "techniques" or "methods" all together. This can help a lot if you are trying to focus on or specialize in a particular technique at that time. Having a binder for Tribal and a binder for Egyptian style makes it easy to create a personal practice session based around one concept or the other. I currently have one binder for Suhaila/Jamila material (and nothing but Suhaila/Jamila material) so when I feel inspired to work with her method, I pull that binder out and practice whatever I turn to.

The disadvantage to this system is that if you don't do extensive study with any one method or any one instructor, then you'll just end up with a bunch of mostly empty binders. Also, it can be difficult reconciling what two instructors tell you when that instruction differs. I have movement notes from one dancer that say "never start in the front" and notes from another dancer that say "always start in the front." This system is best left to the student who understands the variances in the "continuum" of a chosen style or method.

My recommendations for using this system:

• Don't try it if you are a very eclectic student, studying from multiple instructors and in multiple styles or disciplines, unless you really really really want to be able to focus on each system individually.

• Make use of that index page. Instructors like Shareen el Safy often teach choreographies and include detailed information about the music and the composer, or the first dancer to dance to that piece of music. You don't want to lose this info, so make a note of it on your index page.

• Consider adding additional notes, comparing and contrasting different instructors and different methods. (Learning Reda technique is good. Comparing Reda technique to general Oriental dance technique, looking at what was changed and stylized, and anticipating what Reda would do with movements and choreographies you've already learned is even better!)

3. SUBJECT-BASED SYSTEM

Sorting by subject can be a relatively organized system, but it's also the most unwieldy system when you're dealing with a lot of notes. I use a modified version of this system, with multiple copies of notes in different locations: I have a file cabinet full of individual file folders on subjects from Algerian dance to Zeffa, and several binders devoted to specific subjects: choreographies, Egyptian dance, personal practice notes, performance analyses, etc.

Consider the following when putting together a subject-based system:

• Keep separate binders or files for subjects like costuming, ethnic or region-specific dances, music theory, music lyrics, Arabic language, and Middle Eastern culture. These subjects can easily grow into very very large stores of information, and if you can separate them out, it will help you access all the material more easily.

• Keeping a binder solely devoted to choreographies can be a great resource when you need to plan a show or work on a piece you learned two or three years ago. I like to thumb through mine every now and then for an old choreography to "resurrect" for a hafla.

• Make friends with someone who owns a photocopier. Or scan your original note sheets and print out as many copies as you need in order to file those notes in all of the appropriate places. I have Habiba's notes on Andalusian dance choreography in three places: once in the original chronological "dance scrapbook" binder, again in the file on Andalusian dance, and again in the binder full of choreographies.

• Subject-based notes can be great for concepts and ideas that maybe you don't think about during every practice session. I have a binder I've named "Performance Study Guide" and in it are copies of all my notes on stage dynamics, presentation and performance skills, choreographic theory, improvisation, and anything I feel I need to consider when preparing a new dance for performance. Another binder is all notes on concepts that I want to include my classes: ideas on how to vary the texture or dynamics of a movement, exercises for improvisation, classroom games, etc.

• Although you can make one binder for all of your "Notes on DVDs" it's probably more helpful to break down those notes into individual subjects too. If the DVD focuses more on concepts in dance or movement rather than specific technique tips, you might get more use out of the DVD and your notes on it if you filed those notes in your "Performance Study Guide" binder, or your teaching binder.

• Don't let this system get out of hand. If you have a file cabinet or big book shelf and are comfortable with 100 individual files/binders on 100 individual topics, then great! But if you find yourself overwhelmed by multiple files/binders full of information you're not even sure what to do with, then consider just picking a topic or two and focusing on those for a while. It's not necessary to keep a detailed separate binder on Tunisian rhythms if you aren't currently working on Tunisian dance. Keep those notes in the original binder or folder, (or make one big file of "stuff to work on later,") put that binder on the shelf (or put the file in the cabinet) and come back to it when you feel ready. It is actually possible to over-organize. Don't let that happen!

4. COMBOS AND MOVEMENTS ONLY

This is the least helpful system to most advanced dancers, because at some point we realize that the list of moves we started during the first week of class has either (a) gotten way too ridiculously long, or (b) pretty much topped out at a total of 10-25 by just describing the movement shapes. For a new student, it's a great resource. But don't stop there.

Some instructors suggest that students make notecards of their movements, sorting them by "sharp" or "soft" or "traveling" moves. I think this is a great approach for learning choreography and improvisation. We do tend to grow out of a need for this after a certain amount of experience, though, and we want to explore more facets of the dance other than just movement.

If you ONLY keep notes on movements, you're missing out on the music and the culture and the real spices that infuse our dance and keep it fun and exciting. Consider keeping those workshop handouts too. Consider taking notes that aren't centered around the movements themselves. You'll be a much more well-rounded dancer in the long run, and you'll get a lot more out of your classroom and workshop experience.

If you like to keep notes on combinations, do you find yourself ever actually going back and reviewing or USING those combinations? If not, consider making a simple practice choreography using only the combinations from a particular DVD or from a single workshop. See if you can vary and change up the combination enough to make it really fit the music like a glove. That's what your instructors want you to learn from those combo workshops and DVDs. Don't collect combos like baseball cards -- USE THEM!



5. PERSONAL PRACTICE ONLY

This one works for some people, but not me. Basically this theory is to throw away old notes on stuff you already know and only keep the notes on things/movements/concepts you haven't yet mastered. I hesitate to throw any notes away because I never know what I might forget (and also because I'm an information hoarder.)

So I modify this. I have my "Personal" binder, wherein I keep my notes on personal practice critiques, my analyses of videotaped performances of both myself and the classic dancers, personal practice goals, copies of notes taken on DVDs I'm working with (like Ranya Renee's Balady DVD and Nadia Jamal's Improvisational Tooklit), and notes relevant to whatever concept or choreography I'm currently working on. It's my "to do" list, sort of. But I still keep all the other notes in their original forms. I just can't bear to throw them away!!



So as you can see, I use modified versions of most of these systems. Yes, it means a lot of paper and sheet protectors. Yes, it means a whole file cabinet of notes and book shelf full of binders. But I like being able to go into my study and pull out the binder on Egyptian Musical Studies, for instance, and have access to all my notes on music in Egypt. I like to look through the binder on Suhaila method for inspiration in creating a Suhaila-style finger cymbal drum solo. I like being able to grab the "Egyptian style" binder to compare modern Egyptian dancers with my notes on those from the Golden Age, or to contrast all the variations of the "Jewel" step. And I like to thumb back through the years of workshop notes in my chronologically-ordered "Dance scrapbook" if only to giggle over what was just SO HARD in those first years, and puzzle over why I ever thought Hadia's "Tales of the Sahara" choreography was too complicated for me.

Anyway, this is what I've gathered over the years on ways to organize my dance notes. I hope this information is of some value to you dear readers, and especially to Naima, who inspired this blog post. And please, if you have a different system or found a way that works for you, leave me a note in the comments section!

Things I Like

I have an MBA with a concentration in Marketing so I should be good at building a brand, right?

Well, starting from scratch is hard. Although, I am lucky in that my brand is very niche. Bellydance lessons in Owensboro, KY.

Here are some things I like and don't like:

Facebook - I use this because I am already on it personally. I begged friends to become fans and begged them to beg their friends but that is all you can do unless you run a

Facebook Ad - I am currently running two ads on Facebook. I have had 113,138 impressions but only 23 clicks. Now I am targeting women in my local area and according to Facebook there at 52k such users. All 23 clicks came on the single day Facebook ran my add upwards of 60k times. Otherwise nothing. I like Facebook ads because you set your max daily budget, I don't like it because you can't say that you want your ad run more.

Weebly - I made my website with Weebly. Weebly is super easy. Actually it is probably too easy for me because I like to tweak things but it looks good and kept me from having headaches. (like the 20 times I redesigned this blog) It is also really easy to update. If you have very little skill and/or time then I really recommend Weebly. My site will definitely stay with them until I get a lot more free time or money to hire someone.

Mailchimp - I admit I was going to just write plain text e-mail newsletter and send them out to a group in my address book. Then someone on Bhuz mentioned mailchimp. A free account includes 500 subscribers and up to 3k e-mails per month. Well, I will never have that. Wow! You can customize your sign up form for your site. They have great templates, and excellent tracking. I can't recommend them enough.

Cafepress - I am sure you have bought something from them but have you ever looked at what it takes to make a store. If you already have digital artwork, all you do is upload it and pick your items. I like this method because you don't have to order X number of smalls, etc. People just order what they want.