Introducing - Djinn and Soniq!
I've got a performance tonight at the OMEDS hafla in Oxford (sorry, tickets all sold out). It's a new choreography for me, and in keeping with my tradition of "Sorcha only does wacky dance routines with weird time signatures or other strangeness", it's a beautiful traditional tune, which happens to be in 10 8 time.
Unsurprisingly, it's a bit of a git to choreograph! (At the moment it's half choreographed and half improvised, and how it all works out will really depend on the size of the stage...)
And because I couldn't just do a straight orientale style dance (because that would be boring) I've added another level of complexity and novelty in the form of my very good friend and oboeist, C. She'll be playing the tune (Lamma Bada Yatathanna for those who know their Arabic music) on her oboe, while I'll be swooshing a veil around, and valiantly trying to keep up the dancing while playing finger cymbals in the aforementioned 10 8 rhythm. (Ah, it'll be easy - just think of it as a slow 5 4...)
So, we're a new duo, debuting for the first time tonight, and I'm really looking forward to it. Working with C on this has really got me excited about dancing again, because it's something new for me, dancing to live music, and something new for her, playing this sort of music (she's classically trained). My grand plan is to build up a whole band for my troupe to work with, then we've got so many more performance opportunities available (like village fetes and other times when a cd player just won't cut it). I've got a fiddle player interested, and possibly a guitarist, so it might happen...
Unsurprisingly, it's a bit of a git to choreograph! (At the moment it's half choreographed and half improvised, and how it all works out will really depend on the size of the stage...)
And because I couldn't just do a straight orientale style dance (because that would be boring) I've added another level of complexity and novelty in the form of my very good friend and oboeist, C. She'll be playing the tune (Lamma Bada Yatathanna for those who know their Arabic music) on her oboe, while I'll be swooshing a veil around, and valiantly trying to keep up the dancing while playing finger cymbals in the aforementioned 10 8 rhythm. (Ah, it'll be easy - just think of it as a slow 5 4...)
So, we're a new duo, debuting for the first time tonight, and I'm really looking forward to it. Working with C on this has really got me excited about dancing again, because it's something new for me, dancing to live music, and something new for her, playing this sort of music (she's classically trained). My grand plan is to build up a whole band for my troupe to work with, then we've got so many more performance opportunities available (like village fetes and other times when a cd player just won't cut it). I've got a fiddle player interested, and possibly a guitarist, so it might happen...