Dancing is an integral part of every good kajira's service. There are many different types of dances -- this girl believes there are as many types of dances are there are girls. There are many other pages that delve into the dances portrayed in the books. sleen is not going to do that here. Instead, she will offer her thoughts on dancing, give some basic tips on how to write your own dances and also offer some samples of her own dancing.
This girl must beg that any who read this page and her dances: please don't take sleen's dances and use them as your own. sleen's slaveheart and soul went into writing each of her dances.
First, sleen must say that she loves to dance. ~*impish grin*~ a girl sees dancing as an opportunity to...tell a story without words. While dancing, a kajira can express her innermost thoughts and feelings, without fear of reprisal. One of a girl's sisters described dancing for her Mistress as one soul speaking to another, without words. Also, ~*chuckling*~ dancing is a wonderful way to show one's needs and desires.
sleen has been honored to teach a few classes on dancing to her sisters in the Tavern. She begins each class by asking whether or not her sisters enjoy dancing. this girl hopes all of her sisters, both in the Tavern and throughout Gor, see dancing as a joy, not as a chore done only because the Free enjoy it. If this page helps at all in helping her sisters (and brothers ~*warm smile*~) gain the confidence and skills to truly enjoy their own beauty and gifts as dancer, sleen would be overjoyed.
The second question she asks is, "Why do we dance?" The easiest answer is, of course, to please the Free. However, sleen believes that is only part of it. Pleasing the Free is always part of everything a slave does, and it should be that way (otherwise why be a kajira/kajirus on Gor?). When applying that question to yourself, though, sleen believes there are endless answers to that question -- all of them right, for you. Whatever you feel in your heart is why you dance, and if you stay true to that feeling, you will be a beautiful dancer.
1. What kind of dance does a girl want to write? There are so many specific types and kinds described in the books (e.g., need, submission, chain, whip, etc.), though sleen often likes to add her own twist to the traditional (see a girl's example of a whip dance below for a twist on tradition).
Additionally, sleen thinks there are two main categories of dances that overarch the different kinds of dances. Basically, there seem to be dances that hold little actual description of movements, and instead delve deeply into the dancer's feelings and emotions and thought. The other kind dwells more on the specific movements and attributes of the dancer's body.
So, a decision has to be made as to what general kind of dance, and then what specific type of dance a girl wishes to write.
2. Who is the expected audience? For example, sleen would write an entirely different kind of dance if she knew it was intended to be used to beg a ko'lar, or to entice a specific Master, or please her Mistress...all different dances, with different emotions and movements, etc. Also, is the dance intended for a large audience, or to be done in the privacy of a Master's chambers?
3. What main point (if any) does a girl wish to convey? sleen finds it helpful to decide on a main theme for a dance, and then everything in the dance points back to that theme. sleen thinks this helps to make the dance more...coherent and interesting. a girl also finds it helpful to think of a dance as a short story about a main theme. This helps everything hold together, and, she believes, makes the dance more pleasing.
For example, if a girl wishes to write a submission dance, everything in that dance is in there so at the end, she realizes the depth of her submission, her love of slavery and the fact that she is truly la kajira. See a girl's example of a submission dance below. That dance she truly thought of as a story, telling of a girl's journey (and not necessarily sleen's own journey -- just that of a girl) from outward submission to true acceptance of her slavery. sleen also was subtle in a few of the things she did in that dance. she deliberately refrained from using the words slaveheart and slavebelly until the end of the dance when the dancer truly embraces her slavery. That's an example of what a girl means by having everything in a dance point to the main theme.
three hands are not possible!
Once she knows what kind/type of dance she is going to write, Who it is intended for and the story or main point of the dance, she has to decide what to actually do in the dance. Most of the time, sleen will simply let all the answers to her questions percolate in her brain ~*chuckles*~ (such as it is) for a few days, picturing which movements she would use in her dance.
Finally, when sleen does sit down to write her dance, she usually has it pretty much blocked out in her mind. Often, she already knows what she wants to do at the climax of the dance, and how it will end. she finds this makes it easier to write, because she knows where all of her movements are leading. this girl is also a very visual person. So, she tries to picture how she would look dancing, and describes the movements and motions she would use rt.
sleen usually writes a dance in one sitting. If she runs out of time, a girl makes notes for herself for the rest of the dance. a girl finds writing it all at once helps with the continuity of the dance. Then, she lets it sit overnight. The next day, she reads through it again, correcting any mistakes and adding and editing the entire dance.
NEW belt dance NEW
If you have any comments or critiques of a girl's dances, please feel free to email a girl. she would love to hear what you have to say.
Here is an annotated list of some of the links sleen has used to learn about dancing. Of course, there are many more out there.
