Saturday, November 17, 2012

Gorean Dance Contest

Gorean Dance Contest 121117

Tiviyah sent this invitation and note about Gorean dancing ...

====================

███▓▒░░.  ⊹⊱⋛ Dance Gardens of Gor Presents... ⋚⊰⊹  .░░▒▓███
×÷·.·´¯`·)» "What'd You Say?" Wordless Dance Competition «(·´¯`·.·÷×
███▓▒░░.  ⊹⊱⋛ Sunday, December 9th, 2012 10am - 12pm SLT ⋚⊰⊹  .░░▒▓███

In the Gorean community of dance, there seems to have derived two distinct 'factions' of dance.  While I personally believe that dance is dance is dance and trying to place a limited scope of what you CAN or SHOULD dance is a load of bosk dung, I've come to realize that in order to effectively communicate inside the community, we have to at least understand what these two onlineism terms have come to mean.

Dance faction dancing is a dance style that favors ONLY what can be seen through movement.  Your emotes will focus solely on what your audience members can see from the movements of your body.  Emotes would include things like: "[06:45:13]  riкi тiкi тivi şнεnzнou (tiviyah) whirls her body quickly, as if caught up in a hurricane, rapid extension and retraction of arms, the stamping of tiny feet causing the delicate slave bells about her ankles to ring out in time with the thudding of the kaska around her. She shows on her face the subservience involved in her submission, lips pursed together, eyes soft, cerulean orbs shining in the dim light of the tavern."  ((If it's not obvious, that was a challenge for me to try and write, as I do not stick to any one faction.  So forgive me if that was not perfectly dance faction.))

Story faction, on the other extreme of this, is said to be a "freer" faction of dance, in that you are free to describe those things that are not seen... feelings, etc.  You can incorporate movements as well, and it's wise to do so, but you are not limited in what you can describe.  Let me see if I can re-write the above emote in a more 'story faction' style.  "[06:48:16]  riкi тiкi тivi şнεnzнou (tiviyah) whirls her body around in a whirlwind of emotion, so caught up in her feelings of deepest submission to her Master. Her arms extend and retract, reaching for Him, to Him, calling from her heart to His own... a lifeline. Her feet stamp into the ground and the bells ring out above the kaska, that tiny voice among the crowd begging, "See me, Master!" Lips purse together in wanton desire for Him as her body writhes on the sands, helpless beast at His command."  There is still action in this emote, but also things were described that could not be directly seen... "deepest submission to her Master", "calling from her heart to His own... a lifeline".

The biggest argument that I see dance faction dancers make to those of us who blend factions, or those who dance purely story faction... is that in RL if you were to go up to do a dance, you would not stand in the pit and tell a story.  Personally, I agree with this fact.  BUT... we need to take it a step further, I believe...

If we're going to try and equate this to RL, then why are we using words at all?  You do not have words when you dance in RL.  All you have are your music, your costuming, your props, perhaps a backdrop or a set (for things like plays or recitals), and your movements.  You don't get any kind of words except for song lyrics to try and tell whatever story you want to portray.  And that, my dear Second Lifers, is what I want to portray in this next Fusion competition.  You will be allowed NO words, NO emotes.  Can your portray your story the way you would have to in RL?  Can you show us all what you want to say without actually SAYING it?

×÷·.·´¯`·)» The Basics «(·´¯`·.·÷×
·´)› 10 minute limit.  THERE WILL BE NO EMOTES. PERIOD.
·´)› Freestyle Dance Competition (Gorean dances do NOT have to be BtB, and dances do not have to be Gorean at all... diversity is encouraged.)
·´)› No duplicate song choices.  First come first serve.
·´)› 10 spots available.  2 alternates will be selected as well.
·´)› Must use NO emotes during the dance at all.  Must only use music, costumes, props, animations, etc.  Props are encouraged to aid in 'setting the scene'.
·´)› Props will obviously be allowed as long as they fit with your dances.  No more than 50 prims will be allowed per dancer, though less than 50 would be ideal.
·´)› Please keep costumes and props low-script in order to reduce the lag.  :-)

×÷·.·´¯`·)» Selection of Dancers «(·´¯`·.·÷×
·´)› Because this is a competition for BOTH Gorean and Modern dancers, the available spots will be divided evenly.
·´)› 5 spots and 1 alternate position will be available to Gorean dancers; 5 spots and 1 alternate position will also be available to modern dancers.
·´)› After the given day, any remaining spots will be open for any who want them.

×÷·.·´¯`·)» Music & Dance Order «(·´¯`·.·÷×
·´)› Dance order will be chosen "Mily-style" (I name it this because Mily Sandalwood is the first one I've seen who used this).  What Mily-style dance order means is that dancers will perform in reverse order to when they give me their music.  Meaning first to send me their music will perform last, and so on.  Encouragement to get your music in.
·´)› Email:
raa.shenzhou@gmail.com
·´)› Skype: blaise.sparrowtree
×÷·.·´¯`·)» Selection of Judges «(·´¯`·.·÷×
·´)› Judges will be chosen AFTER applications have been received, to be sure impartiality.
·´)› ONE Gorean judge will be chosen, ONE Burlesque Performer/Modern dancer will be chosen, and ONE "Average Joe" judge will be chosen.  This ensures that each dancer will get multiple perspectives in judging and provides the fairest judging possible for the diverse types of dances involved.

×÷·.·´¯`·)» NEW RULE RE: Scoring -- For FUTURE Competitions «(·´¯`·.·÷×
·´)› Obviously this is irrelevant in this competition, as no words or emotes will be used, BUT I'm giving you AMPLE notice that this will come into effect starting with the next Fusion competition involving emotes.  :-)
·´)› One thing I'm going to try in the future is that Grammar and Spelling will be a 'bonus' category, used only in the event of a tiebreaker.  Judges will still score it, and it will still be included in your score cards after the competition, so that you know what they thought about it, but Grammar and Spelling will NOT hurt you if judges score you low.  I understand language barriers. For those, I'm trying to be more fair.  If there is a tie, then the Grammar and Spelling score will be looked at and the tie will be broken that way.  If there is still a tie after using this bonus category, a procedure will be outlined as to which category will break the tie.

×÷·.·´¯`·)» Broadcasting «(·´¯`·.·÷×
·´)› The event will be broadcast by the Gorean Whip Radio.
×÷·.·´¯`·)» Prizes «(·´¯`·.·÷×
·´)› Prizes to be announced, but do I ever leave you girls hanging?  *Grins*
×÷·.·´¯`·)» The Application «(·´¯`·.·÷×

***Please fill out application as complete as is applicable for you and return it to Tiviyah Resident by 11/28/12.  (Any remaining spots will then be opened up to first come, first serve, regardless of dance type.)***