Dancing

Dancing tonight went pretty well- a very small crowd, but we had some fun just being sort of silly. We ran over a few dances taht we'd taught before, and taught one that we'd tried last week and people were getting close with. I guess we did a lot of teaching and reviewing, but it seemed to work pretty decently. And they got one dance that ladynomi says I taught although I don't remember teaching it, without having to have it gone over, pretty much. I was proud. It sounds like a small achievement, but for folks who mostly haven't done much Israeli before, that's still pretty big, especially when they're not in a context where there are lots of people who know the dances- there are more beginners than those of us who know the dances, which makes it harder to pick up either the dances or style stuff. So when things work, I get excited. Especially since this is our first semester, and the room's lousy, and we're only dancing every other week. Hopefully next semester we'll get some more people. Must do more publicity- more flyers, and I don't know what else. Individual emails, or something?

I did realize last time that I really am teaching beginners (don't know why I didn't start off with that assumption- I guess because I have a few folks who know a bit more) for the most part, and that if I start with all the beginners' repetoire that I have, things work better. Starting this way, I can see real progress rather than just teaching stuff, them almost getting it, them being frustrated, me being frustrated, etc... We'll get somewhere by the end of the year, I think. Where that'll be, I don't know- but things are going well.

Went to pallasrosalind's short performance this afternoon. It was part of a short mid-afternoon low-key concert, including an open chance for anyone else who wanted to perform. It made me miss my book of klezmer tunes, not that I should ever subject the world to klezmer recorder, but I enjoy it for myself. But well, the other performers ranged in talent and skill and presentation quite a bit. A few were good, a few were verging on painful- squeaks, notes that were on the very edge of the range, an odd tone, etc. I think I noticed more just because I was mentally in music-mode last night: probably made me more critical than I often would be. But it was still fun, and I was sort of proud of myself for noticing the squeaks, etc- I don't know why. Whatever.

The rest of the day went decently, although I still got somewhat less done than I'd have liked. Oh well. Still some progress is better than none.

Dancing

Dancing tonight went pretty well- a very small crowd, but we had some fun just being sort of silly. We ran over a few dances taht we'd taught before, and taught one that we'd tried last week and people were getting close with. I guess we did a lot of teaching and reviewing, but it seemed to work pretty decently. And they got one dance that ladynomi says I taught although I don't remember teaching it, without having to have it gone over, pretty much. I was proud. It sounds like a small achievement, but for folks who mostly haven't done much Israeli before, that's still pretty big, especially when they're not in a context where there are lots of people who know the dances- there are more beginners than those of us who know the dances, which makes it harder to pick up either the dances or style stuff. So when things work, I get excited. Especially since this is our first semester, and the room's lousy, and we're only dancing every other week. Hopefully next semester we'll get some more people. Must do more publicity- more flyers, and I don't know what else. Individual emails, or something?

I did realize last time that I really am teaching beginners (don't know why I didn't start off with that assumption- I guess because I have a few folks who know a bit more) for the most part, and that if I start with all the beginners' repetoire that I have, things work better. Starting this way, I can see real progress rather than just teaching stuff, them almost getting it, them being frustrated, me being frustrated, etc... We'll get somewhere by the end of the year, I think. Where that'll be, I don't know- but things are going well.

Went to pallasrosalind's short performance this afternoon. It was part of a short mid-afternoon low-key concert, including an open chance for anyone else who wanted to perform. It made me miss my book of klezmer tunes, not that I should ever subject the world to klezmer recorder, but I enjoy it for myself. But well, the other performers ranged in talent and skill and presentation quite a bit. A few were good, a few were verging on painful- squeaks, notes that were on the very edge of the range, an odd tone, etc. I think I noticed more just because I was mentally in music-mode last night: probably made me more critical than I often would be. But it was still fun, and I was sort of proud of myself for noticing the squeaks, etc- I don't know why. Whatever.

The rest of the day went decently, although I still got somewhat less done than I'd have liked. Oh well. Still some progress is better than none.

Light RItuals

I was reading elsewhere about a light ritual, one of the gizillions of ritual behaviors out there that involves chandles. Judaism is particularly fond of candles, even if we don't do much (or, specifically, we don't do anything) with them once their lit. This was a Christian Advent and Christmas ritual, and I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of other religions that use candles- but for moment, I'm too lazy to go do research. But I was just thinking that in these cases, people view the candles as something peaceful, as light in the darkness, etc. But they're fire, and fire is inherently also dangerous. (Reminds me of the Shababt over the summer in which my grandma and her boyfriend kept running back home to move the candles around so they wouldn't burn the house down while we were at shul Friday night.) And yet we do not use them in that instance: no one that I've met looks at candles as says "these are a wonderful dangerous thing that we have tamed into this form", or anything of the sort. And yet the idea of using an electric light source for the purposes of candles is not acceptable, feels wrong... It's as if there's something about the danger that we know about and carefully try to avoid, that makes the final use of the candles More meaningful and More calm. Maybe there's something about danger that is not actually danger that makes the use of candles more potent. It is a statement of invested effort as well as simply ritual practice.

Light RItuals

I was reading elsewhere about a light ritual, one of the gizillions of ritual behaviors out there that involves chandles. Judaism is particularly fond of candles, even if we don't do much (or, specifically, we don't do anything) with them once their lit. This was a Christian Advent and Christmas ritual, and I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of other religions that use candles- but for moment, I'm too lazy to go do research. But I was just thinking that in these cases, people view the candles as something peaceful, as light in the darkness, etc. But they're fire, and fire is inherently also dangerous. (Reminds me of the Shababt over the summer in which my grandma and her boyfriend kept running back home to move the candles around so they wouldn't burn the house down while we were at shul Friday night.) And yet we do not use them in that instance: no one that I've met looks at candles as says "these are a wonderful dangerous thing that we have tamed into this form", or anything of the sort. And yet the idea of using an electric light source for the purposes of candles is not acceptable, feels wrong... It's as if there's something about the danger that we know about and carefully try to avoid, that makes the final use of the candles More meaningful and More calm. Maybe there's something about danger that is not actually danger that makes the use of candles more potent. It is a statement of invested effort as well as simply ritual practice.