Tips for fancy shawl dance competition

[flamin toes]

can anybody offer some advice on competition fancy shawl dance...footwork or ragalia wise?? thanx

[Clangfancy07]

FOOTWORK

YOUR FOOTWORK HAS TO BE PRECISED AND BALANCED. WHAT YOU DO ON ONE FOOT DO IT ON THE OTHER FOOT THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIMES. BE GRACEFUL AND FLOW WITH THE BEAT. FOOTWORK NEEDS TO BE NEAT.:p :p

[powwow_twinkle]

always keep your shawl up high, try to pace yourself (like not starting off too fast), don't spin too much, keep your head up high and if you want, you can turn your head (looks really nice when spinning and you have plumes), and throw some high kicks. what you do on one foot, you do on the other too. just have fun!

[One_Chey_Ojib]

if you start to get tired then try to go backwards. Don't get to wild with your shawl, incorporate some foot work with your spinning, and most of all have fun dancing!!!!

[StandsTallWoman]

Tips on Fancy Shawl Dancing

I will take your advice Clangfancy07, Powwow_Twinkle and One_Chey_Ojib. It is great to learn something from the fancy shawl dancing experts. Wish me luck for I'll be dancing fancy at the New York City Powwows in both June and July! ::

[LiLT206]

Yup, just keep on going with the flow, and be sure you don't kick too high, and do a lot of shawl movement, but dont get too crazy xD

[WhoMe]

can anybody offer some advice on competition fancy shawl dance...footwork or ragalia wise?? thanx

__

Two extremely helpful bits of advice. . .

1. Do endurance running and sprint the last part of your run. This will help you in actual competition when the final push up comes around and your acclimated to giving it your all - at the end.

2. Collect as many powwow CDs as you can and dance at home to this music. This personal training gets you used to different songs while building your endurance and moves. (I know a lot of top dancers who dance or have danced at home in their backyards, garages, dens and living rooms).

__

"It don't matter if you have the sweetest moves of all the competitors . . . if you run outta' gas."

[hoopster girl]

1) take off your sunglasses
2) don't waste time inbetween judges, but don't sprint from one judge to the next. (Dance in front of the judges)
3) Don't get lost in the crowd

Most importantly Have fun. The judges can tell.

And if your Going to Be in NYC, you should go to Paumanauke Powwow on long island second weekend in August. Its a decent compitition powwow and hopefully will become "the powwow before schemitzun"

Hoopster Girl

[nopakuwese]

my feet want to do the same thing

i practice at home (anywhere) but my feet seem to resist new footwork and I do the same ol same ol. At powwow I try and get in close to watch compitition but i'm too shy to ask women to show me footwork (my outfits not complete). it doesn't feel right to get a video, but what do you think?

[scorpiostwin11_76]

i practice at home (anywhere) but my feet seem to resist new footwork and I do the same ol same ol. At powwow I try and get in close to watch compitition but i'm too shy to ask women to show me footwork (my outfits not complete). it doesn't feel right to get a video, but what do you think?

Practice is good and thats where your foot work will surely develop. All the posts I read before are right on point. The main thing is endurance. If you concentrate too much on your foot work you have a tendency of looking at your feet while you dance. Its OK to keep an eye on them while practicing, but don't make it a habbit. New foot work will never be adapted if you don't try to envision it in your mind. The most important thing that I have been reading in the posts are HAVE FUN! If you have fun while dancing footwork will come more easily, unless your trying to team dance. One last piece of advise, try to have someone watch you while you dance. Me and my sister did it all the time and we gave eachother constructive criticism. It helps a lot!

[nishnamouse19]

okay okay okay...i got a question...some of you said to dance in front of the judges right...well i happen to hate that when im judging juniors and teens...and when i do it in my contest i notice the judge looks away...so uhm what to do then??

[dancinpowwowbabe]

okay okay okay...i got a question...some of you said to dance in front of the judges right...well i happen to hate that when im judging juniors and teens...and when i do it in my contest i notice the judge looks away...so uhm what to do then??

i would definatly begin with an eyecatching outfit so u get noticed then show off the smoooth moves and impress the heck outta them heh

[ballin_n_shawlin]

FOOTWORK FOOTWORK FOOTWORK!!!! i'm not a fan of all the running around and spinning that i see!! making a a circle around the arena every push up doesn't impress me!!!

good advice tho!! dance in front of hte judges!! even balanced foot work!! do something "special" on the honor beats!! and hopefully be in front of a judge during that time!!...

don't wave ur shawl around and hold it 2 high (so it bunches) ur fringe should FLOW

[marichriaddi]

make sure you shake everyone's hand, kiss babies, politic w/ the best of em...nah just playin. i think all the advice is hecka good. practice to northern cree's Nikamo CD...oh my god there are some kick rear songs on there that you can't help but dance to!!! also, if you really want 2 get good and stuff...dream about it...daydreaming counts too. just...see yourself doing it and you will. (i'm big on the dreaming and know it helps!) plus...tell yourself you can and you will kick rear. but yes. practice practice practice. i quit dancing for a few years and had to work my butt off for a month by dancing at home and running plus strength training to get back into shape. i would highly recommend circuit training for fancydancing. you dance two or three songs to warmup, stretch out, dance another song, then alternate dancing one song with doing push-ups, lifting freeweights, squats, lunges, and other exercises the next song. so its like dance a song, do an exercise for a song, dance a song, etc. it is a process. but its worth it when you can jam two, three, and four songs in a row during a contest plus intertribals and an entire grand entry w/o hardly bustin a sweat or bein out of breath. makes u feel good even if you don't win.

[ndnMSW]

I normally don't offer any advice here....aye....but I have to offer this....PUH-LEEZE don't dance right in front of the judges. Try to position yourself where you know they can see you, not in the middle of a crowd, and not way out there all by yourself in the middle of no-man's-land, but don't plant yourself right in front of them and dance. That's annoying, obvious, and it makes me look away quicker than anything. Honestly, I will sometimes look past those right in front of me to see what the dancers are doing that think they are out of the sight-line of judges, or I'll try to look in the middle of a crowd where dancers like to hide when they are pooped out...lol. You'd be surprised what you see when you do that....people all off beat, just running around, or even just stepping around (almost walking) trying to catch their breath.

I know that Bonnie and Lana King used to like to dance in the middle, but they are tall and they used their height well when they danced in contests. You could see them in the middle, they were very noticeable. Lisa is just the master at positioning herself where she knows judges will notice her, and it's not always in the obvious spots - like right in front or whatever...Donetta Ewalk could do the same thing too. She was really tiny but you would notice her, even if she was in the middle.

I'm in agreement with those who said balanced footwork, your fringe should FLOW, and being in shape.