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The Autumn Quarter "Energy" - with The Alay'nya Studio We so welcome the autumn rains that break the heat and drought of summer! And in celebration, we transition to more "liquid" dance movements. These are ones that often demand a year or more of patient cultivation in order to "reap a harvest"; they include deeper integration of undulations, figure-eights, and snake arms into our choreographies. We apply these when using the sensual Chifti Telli rhythms. (Don't click yet - details are still forthcoming.) We also re-visit veil dancing, this time with more emphasis on the "liquid" quality of veil work, as compared with the "floaty" quality that we expressed during Spring. In autumn, we also focus on the most challenging and inspiring aspect of dance, "taxims" -- improvisational response to an instrumental, improvisational solo, such as ney (flute). We also learn to tap into an inner awareness and slow down, allowing ourselves a deeper connection with the music and our soul. We learn how to put the year's study together in a full-length piece comprising of an opening number, often involving beledi with zills, followed by sections for veil work, chifti telli's, floor work, drum solo, and finale. Each year we complete a different, major piece of music with a full-scale choreography that "comes together" in autumn, before the start of the holiday season. AUTUMN -- A Time for Liquid, or "Cups," Energy Autumn is more than a "cooling off" from the summer heat. We sense changes in the natural rhythms around us, and often, the rains appear to break late summer's drought. The archangel associated with autumn is Gabriel, whose is associated with cups, or emotions -- and specifically with love. Gabrial is often visualized as holding a cup. In Judeo-Christian tradition, he was the bearer of good tidings; he announced the birth of Jesus to Mary. The color of this "water energy" is blue, and all the other colors that we associate with the sea, with brooks, and with lakes and pools. The direction in which this energy resides is the west, and the time is late afternoon and early evening. You may choose to pay attention to the west when you dance. You might want to make a costume that involves the colors of water.
This is also a good time to play with our veils once again, but this time invoking a more The quality of this "water energy" is that it is moist and cool. Our dances become more internal, more serene. We do very "liquid" movements; snake arms are a good example. We start focusing on on internal work. Early "Bright" Autumn Chifti telli rhythms, expressed using undulations, figure eights, hip and rib cage circles, and snake arms. Special attention to "liquid" movements with our hands. Late "Dark" Autumn In Late Autumn (after All Soul's Day on November 1st), we still put our attention on listening more to our bodies. We express this in taxims, or very "internal" dances. Your taxim is a solo improvisation -- just you and a single musical instrument, such as the ney (Mid-Eastern flute). While chifti tellis are very sensual, they are still rhythmic and structured. In contrast, the world of the taxim shifts into rhapsodic phrasing -- there is a sense of evolution, but it is very organic, very emergent. This is a much more private experience, one that the audience is privileged to watch -- but you are no longer dancing "for them." Rather, you allow them to watch and come with you as you enter a very personal realm. If your dance tells a story with "shamanic" undertones, the taxim signals the beginning of your "inner worlds" journey. |