Trying the Tabla

I recently bought a drum. I've wanted one for a while, but the reason I finally bought one, was that I wanted to learn to stand on top of it ala Tito.

But now that I have it, I've found it's really hard to stand on top of it – especially without getting any help to get up there. I am afraid it will fall over at the point where I only have one leg up and need to pull up the other.

So, instead I've been learning to play it. It's actually quite fun! I had some trouble at first with some of the sounds, particularly the "ka" with the left hand. Also I have trouble distinguishing my sak from my dum. But it's coming along with practice, which I've been doing every day. I got both Rhythms of the Arab World from Karim Nagi, and Doumbek Rhythms and Technique from World Dance New York. Karim's video is as engaging as the man itself, and has a helpful closeup of his hands. However, it moves quite fast and a beginner like me would probably be best served by repeating the early drills over and over again. The latter video moves slower, with many more drills, and adds another sound technique called a "pop". Amir also describes the different types of tablas, which was interesting. I think the World Dance New York DVD is very detailed as they tend to be, and is great for a beginner like me. That's exactly what most of the Amazon reviews said! I think it's always good to get instruction from two perspectives, as one might hit on something the other doesn't – or sometimes someone's explanation makes more sense to an individual than another.

Anyway, as if I needed a new hobby that takes away from my existing limited time where I need to work out and dance and prepare for the upcoming Raks Nativity show I am producing – here I have a new hobby. At least it is something I can do while I watch my son play – it doesn't require a lot of room and while it takes concentration, I can keep my eyes on him. In fact, this morning he was taking to swinging my cane around (it's way too long so it's very funny – about twice his height) – as I was playing. It's like a belly dancer's dream to be sharing Arabic music and dance with your child!

 

A Day of Arabic Folkloric Dance

Today's Arab Folkloric Dance workshop with Karim Nagi was illuminating as always. I think my favorite part was learning the men's style of Raqs Assaya. I thought it might be similar to what Shadia taught us when we started flipping the sticks - but he showed me an even easier way to do it (with the same visual effect). I learned a lot of new moves, new ways to spin the cane, and also got the breakdown on how to do certain moves I had seen in videos.

I just loved the men's style so much that it's a pity that we ladies are not really supposed to do it! Although I guess it leave something to men to do ... and with my son picking up my cane all the time to toy with it, maybe he will someday be my backup Saidi dancer. :-) Doing the men's style dancing gave me the same awesome feeling as when I used to do boxing, I guess because it was a martial art. It was a relief not to have to feel graceful and light, as much as I obviously enjoy that too. I partnered up with Goddess Moe for the mock tahtib section and we just had a lot of fun at it. I was totally inspired to go home and review the choreography we have written so far for the Shepherd scene in Raks Nativity to see if any of these new movements will fit.

We also did zikr, a type of sufi dance that is meant for worship and transcendental experiences. I think it was all too short but worth learning more about. All too short I say because we couldn't go in depth with it like we did with spinning and zar at the Arab Dance Seminar a few years back. But a good length to get a taste of it and to learn more about that culture. Karim shared some experiences he had had.

Then we moved on to debke. Fourth debke workshop I've taken now (three of those were with Karim). I still haven't quite gotten to the point where I can take my eyes off the feet and just enjoy it, but it's definitely getting easier. For both Debke and Saidi, I felt like I was getting more of the subtleties this time because I had previously been exposed to the basics.

Overall, a great day down at the World Dance and Music Center.