Monthly Archives: October 2013

Ölü Tavuk/Çeribaşı Istanbul

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I got a fun challenge recently – the wonderful local dancer Naharin asked me if I could find out what the song “Ölü Tavuk/Çeribaşı Istanbul” was about. After searching fruitlessly for a while, I managed to dig up the lyrics in Turkish, and had a go at translating them with the help of Google translate. I’ve posted them below, my translation in English, followed by the original Turkish.

Çeribaşı is a city name in Turkey. It appears there are two; I’m going to guess the song is about the one in Edirne province on the European side. I believe “turn the lamb’s head” refers to roasting it on a spit, and “dale dale” is just a nonsense sound like “tra la la”. Naciye is a girl’s name.

This is a fun song to dance to. There are several recorded versions; you can find one with vocals here:

http://www.amazon.com/Olu-Tavuk-Ceribasi-Kasilama/dp/B00CKUS8N4/

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They cooked the chicken
Brought it to our table
Daughters of Çeribaşı
We drank the wine and the rakı

Ah Naciye Naciye coquettish Naciye
Ah Naciye Naciye coquettish Naciye
Come to me
Come to me

Çeribaşı Çeribaşı
What beautiful eyebrows
When it comes to the holiday feast
Turn the lamb’s head

Ah Naciye Naciye coquettish Naciye
Ah Naciye Naciye coquettish Naciye
Come to me
Come to me

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Ölü tavuk pişirdiler
Soframıza getirdiler
Çeribaşı kızları
Rakı şarap içirdiler

Ah Naciye Naciye cilveli Naciye
Abe dale das dale gel bana das dale
Abe dale dale dale gel bana ah dale

Çeribaşı çeribaşı
Ne güzeldir gözü kaşı
Bayramları gelince
Çevirirler kuzu başı

Ah Naciye Naciye cilveli Naciye
Abe dale das dale gel bana das dale
Abe dale dale dale gel bana ah dale

Pelvic alignment – rethink that tuck

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My students can attest to the fact that I’m somewhat obsessed with pelvic alignment. Belly dance teachers still frequently teach their students to tuck the pelvis, but gone are the days when a swayback was the most common postural problem to be corrected. Most of the folks I see these days over-tuck their pelvises under and push them forward, the result of sitting at a desk all day. I spend more time guiding my students to release that tuck and bring the hips back to fall naturally under the ribcage.

Hadia of Canada opened my eyes to the fact that when the pelvis is correctly aligned, the slight knee bend of belly dance posture causes the tailbone to drop slightly on its own as the hip adductors engage, which is really all we need to be able to move those hips safely, precisely, and freely.

Here’s a wonderful article on how pelvic alignment is meant to work, and how to find it:

http://dancingsoul.typepad.com/dancing_soul/2009/09/finding-your-center-irene-dowds-article-on-pelvic-structure-and-alignment.html

And, here’s one written about prepping for squats with proper form, but it’s fantastic for finding and fixing the tight muscles that are getting in the way of your pelvis aligning properly:

http://www.katysays.com/you-dont-know-squat/