São Paulo – Listening to Arab classical music and transforming it into dance steps and movements is one of the objectives of the workshop by teacher, ballerina and choreographer Marcia Dib, to take place on Sunday, the 23rd, in São Paulo. A granddaughter of Syrians and Arab dance teacher for over 15 years, Marcia hopes to receive dancers, students, choreographers and appreciators of Arab music in her course.
At the Arab Music Workshop, the teacher should cover general characteristics of Arab music, how it differs form western music and what are the aspects to be considered when elaborating a choreography or improvising. "It is a simple posture, guided and practised. After a theoretical lesson about the characteristics of this rich music, we will analyse music specifically for dance," said Marcia.
According to her, the idea of promoting the workshop arose after she felt the difficulty dancers had when listening to Arab music and applying it to dance. "To take the course, it is not necessary to know the Arab language, nor music or choreography," she said. According to her, the workshop is also useful for people who work with folk dance and not just belly dancing.
The course, to go from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, should be divided into three parts. The first should show general characteristics, like music as cultural identity, the difference of Arab and western music and the aspects and melodic and rhythmic instruments.
In the second part, the teacher should explain how to use melody, instruments and their activity on the body, how and when to emphasize the melody in the rhythm of the dance, etc. Last of all, comes the practical part. Students will have to work the aspects covered in the course in a specific song and should reach a line of choreography.
"In my experience, I have noticed that, when comparing two people who have the same technical level, the one who knows and studies music dances better," said Marcia. According to her, those who study music can point out and enrich parts of the music through dance. "Our hearing is very hard, we do not practice much. And Arab music is much more complex than Western music. It is necessary to train your hearing," she said.
With this workshop, Marcia believes the students will have greater respect for Arab classical music and, apart from that, will have greater ease to create new steps and movements in a choreography. This should be the teacher’s first workshop specifically on Arab music for dance. However, Marcia has already participated in talks and other specific workshops on the types of Arab music, focussing more on the theoretical structure.
Service
Arab Music Workshop
Date: August 23rd
Time: From 9:00 am to 12:00 am and 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Address: Rua Alves Guimarães, 1512
Cost of the course: R$ 180 (US$ 100)
Telephone: (+55 11) 3284-1618
E-mail: marciadib@hotmail.com
Blog: www.marciadib.blogspot.com
*Translated by Mark Ament
