Ranya Renee, Revelations, Motherhood, Dancing

February has been a busy month for dance. In all honesty, there have been a plenitude of workshops every month and I now have to choose carefully because I need to get childcare. When Ranya Renee came to RI, I couldn't turn it down. I already had missed her the year before, because it conflicted with Randa Kamal in Montreal. She will also be in New Hampshire in May, but the length of the drive prevents me from going in my new-mom status. I have been a fan of Ranya Renee since I got her baladi video last year. Her down-to-earth teaching style, with the heavy emphasis on visualizations, really works for me. She also has a ton of knowledge about Egyptian dance. I wasn't sure however how I felt about the workshop topics – Balancing Act (balancing props) and Character In Dance. I confess I thought I would have preferred something more dance-y. But I got so much more, something longer lasting.

One cool thing that happened is that Ranya recognized me from Facebook and my Amazon reviews of her DVDs. Nothing puts you at ease around a star than when the star already knows YOU. This is also why I don't review bellydance products I don't enjoy. By the way, she is coming out with several more DVDs, some on musical interpretation, taxim, and finally her classical oriental DVD. From now on I will be buying directly from her website, because after talking to Nadira last night and Ranya today, I know now that the artists do not make as much money on Amazon purchases.

As I told the gal I drove down there with, the first workshop was great, but it paled in comparison to the second. In the first workshop, we learned to balance tray. However unlike other balancing workshops or videos I have taken, Ranya went to a deeper level. Making turns, spins, and complex movements while balancing a tray has a secret, and that secret comes from your nightclub door – which should always be guarded by a bouncer. Yes, you shouldn't leave the backdoor of your nightclub open! Don't know what I'm talking about? You should spend some time with Ranya. Her analogies are hilarious, apt, and really make you aware more than anatomical exactness could. At any rate, between the breathing methods and extending away from the floor, I really felt that the work I have done lately with yoga and Ruby's floorwork DVD came in handy. Yes, we did floorwork with an Egyptian instructor – it's part of doing Shamadan.

The second workshop delved deeper into ourselves. Both workshops revealed a method of breathing into your back, through your softly open mouth, breathing with every movement and with the music. I have been working on breathing with the music, but I did find it difficult to breathe through my mouth because yoga teaches you to breathe through your nose [and she explained why!]. I came to several realizations…although I often do just let the joy pour out of me, I also do feel compelled to smile and can't turn it off. Sometimes (I would say in performance often) that smile is genuine, but at other times, it reveals a forced set of the jaw. Ranya pointed out that breathing through the mouth has a different feeling, more of an energy exchange, more open, more sharing – and it forces you to be in touch with yourself. I found it extremely difficult to breathe with my mouth softly open and not smile. In fact, all I could do when breathing this way was really sink into myself and the music. I couldn't be in my head – I had to be in my body – in my SELF. Any attempt to do anything else felt uncomfortable or I would have to stop breathing that way.

Ranya had some great ideas for visualizing, like embodying that welcoming feeling of your entrance piece by painting rainbows on everyone and everything within the performance space. That you are giving beauty to the people around you, painting beautiful garments on them, putting up decorations around the space that you're dancing in. I work very well with visualizations, and since the entrance song is often where we (I) feel the most nervous – having a mental focus could really help me. You know, these things do not sound nearly as cool when you write them down, much as many dancers lose their sparkle when reduced to a youtube video. You really HAD to be there.

We also worked with characters, even exploring the "negative" characters – the bitch and the slut. My bitch smiles, it turns out. Ranya focused on bringing out characters within ourselves, rather than exploring, say, typical Arabic woman characters. It seemed that Ranya's workshop had a strong focus on being the authentic woman (or man) within. I have to confess I was moved and empowered by today's workshop, some of the things she talked about, that I could not do justice by repeating. Everyone has their way of accessing certain aspects. My experience of motherhood, of giving birth, has given me a certain awareness of my body and I thought about that today. Clearly, it's not the only path to that awareness, since Ranya Renee doesn't have kids but she is clearly in touch with her power center.

I may not go to many more workshops this year. I am really glad for the ones I attended, but they haven't been easy. Not as the mother of an infant. Today's workshop only had a 30 minute break. In that time, I had to eat as well as pump. Despite this being a woman-focused art form, I'm still uncomfortable pumping in front of others, so I always end up in a tiny restroom. I have to use most of the break doing that. If the workshop is far away, it makes it even more difficult, extending the time I'm away from my son. Not only do I need to make sure we have enough milk at home for him, I then am away for longer and therefore need more breaks for pumping. I realize I am away every work day for 8 hours, but it's different since we have a nanny and my work provides a comfortable room for mothers. Today, the workshop ran longer than expected, and apparently my son started to cry for me around 6:15 onwards. I got home at 7pm, and I just wanted to connect with my son. He goes to bed around that time, and I won't see him again until early morning. I really miss him and while it was worth it, I have a feeling that's my last workshop for the year. I'm so glad I am taking him with me to the hafli tomorrow. Truly, being a mother changes you!

Speaking of which, there was a big to-do in Facebook today about a certain local restaurant that is now cutting dancer's pay and expecting them to dance for free if they get enough tips. I am disappointed, in yet another restaurant where dancers are not being valued as we should be. It is probably fortunate that I am also at a point right now where I would rather stay home with my son while he is so young, rather than go out and dance for less than I am worth.