Summer is the time of year when I’m on the hunt for new music. It’s the time when I go through the entirety of my music collection looking for just the right piece that inspires me to create choreography. I also spend hours on iTunes and other online music sites looking for inspiration. I need at least two songs, one for Br’Issah and the other for my Beginner’s class. The criteria I use to select these two songs are very different from each other.
For the beginners the song must be short, around three minutes, be Middle Eastern, have a regular pattern that repeats, and isn’t too fast. This allows me to create a simple choreography using combinations taught in class.
Finding music for Br’Issah is way more challenging as the criteria isn’t as definite. The main criteria is that the song should be around five minutes long. After that I basically find at least a couple songs that tickle my fancy and can stand to listen to hundreds of times. I look for music that moves me, has some variety or layers, and is generally instrumental. I then present them to my two troupe members with a description of my choreography concept for each song. They then let me know which song/concept they prefer, and I start the choreography process. But sometimes neither song/concept appeals in which case I go back to the drawing board to find new songs and repeat the process until we all agree on something that moves us all.
And there you have a quick overview of my choreography music selection process.
There are no classes this week. Fundamentals resumes on Tue, Jul 24, 2018. I need at least four students signed up so please register online to avoid the disappointment of cancelled classes.
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