The last two weeks have been busy!

The last two weeks have been busy, so I'm a bit behind on posting what we covered, here is beginner and intermediate in review for November 23 and 30.

Beginner: We covered 2 point turns, pivot turns, step turns, paddle turns, 3 point turns, 4 point turns, basic Egyptian both cabaret and group improvisational style, basic Egyptian 2 point turn, hip circle pivot turns, marching shimmy, scooching shimmy and the John Wayne combo.

Intermediate: we covered additional ways to play Kash on the finger cymbles, belly rolls, tummy flutters, candle arms and continued to learn the choreography to Hoplanda

Beginner and Intermediate classes this week + Cartouche open house

In beginner class this week we reviewed hip and rib cage slides and circles, weighted hip lifts and the hip lift shimmy, weighted hip twists and the hip twist shimmy, shoulder thrusts and the shoulder shimmy. We then worked on snake arm derivative arm movements (medusa arms, Persian arms, fish tail, katia arms and low snake arms). We then worked on unweighted hip lifts, unweighted hip drops and unweighted hip twists. We finished the class working on single hip lift walk, single hip down walk, double hip lift walk and traveling with hip bumps.


In intermediate class we learned another way to play kashlima on the finger cymbals, the pelvic shimmy and the rotational shimmy. We then learned some “Turkish Hand Jive” and started learning the choreography to Hoplanda. The song can be found on the CD Bellydance With Ozel: How to Make Husband a Sultan

The information on the Cartouche open house I mentioned in class is as follows:

Cartouche takes pleasure in inviting you to our Open House
Saturday, November 20th, 2010
From Noon until 5:00 P.M.
at our Belly Dance Garage just North of 1344 Massachusetts St. (14th & Mass.) Lawrence, Kansas 66044

There is a phone number in case you get lost, if you think you might attend, please email me and I’ll send you the phone number, I don’t want to post it to the blog.

Last night in class

In beginner, we discused middle eastern music and the rhythm fallahi we reviewed hip and rib cages slides and circles. Learned about crescents and stepping side to side with hip circles and crescents. We also learned weighted hip twists which are horizontal and parallel to the ground. We then worked on weighted hip lifts speeding them up to a shimmy.

The fallahi rhythm is written:
1-+-2-+-

Dk-kD-k-
DtktDktk

and a track you can purchase to listen to the rhythm can be found here Fallahi

In intermediate we discussed how to recognize kashlima, I played it a bit on the drum and we learned the two easiest ways to play kashlima on finger cymbals. We reviewed the 3/4 shimmy on the up and on the down. We then discussed how to hold your skirt, various position it can be held and how to get it there, skirt figure 8s and layering skirt moves on to grapevine, rocking step hop and kashlima walk.

Kashlima rhythm is written:
1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-5-

D-__T-__D-__T-T-t-
D-kkT-kkD-kkT-T-t-
D-tkT-tkD-tkTkT-t-


and a track you can purchase to listen to the rhythm can be found here Kashlima (9/8)

I was asked about drumming books, the one I have and really like is Dumbek Fever: Dumbek Instructional Kit unfortunately it is currently out of print and not availble for a reasonable price. I do recommend Doumbek Technique and Rhythms for Arabic Percussion, Bellydance, and Drum Circles as a practice DVD and there is good information on rhythms on the booklet included with the CD Zill Speak - How to Play Finger Cymbals from A(lmee) to Z(ills) The booklet has a TON of excellent information and I recommend spending the money on the CD just for the booklet!

In beginner we learned about the history of belly dance, reviewed hip and rib cage slides and learned hip and rib cage horizontal circles


In Intermediate we reviewed ¾ shimmies on the up and down, learned the folkloric shoulder shimmy, zill played 3-1 and when you would use it. We also worked on adding heel drops and bounces on hip circles, the rocking step hop, the foot in the mud step, the double pelvic tuck and drop walks and hip downs.

In Advanced we learned various points to balance a sword or cane and worked on descending and ascending for floorwork gracefully in a skirt.

I was asked about tummy covers/body stockings, http://www.dahlal.com/ carries them for around $30. Search midriff body stocking. Nashid, one of the Manhattan dancers says she has a few that she is looking to sell. She would want $15-20 for them. If you would like to purchase one of hers, let me know.

What was covered the first week of the new session

 First, I have updated the music recommendations page on my website to include links to individual songs we use in class. If there is a specific song you are looking for that isn't listed, let me know and I'll add it. Here is the link to the page http://bellydancetopeka.com/MusicRecomendations.htm

Ok, now to recap this weeks classes.

Beginner - we learned dance posture, a bunch of arm positions and how to do hip and rib cage slides

Intermediate - we learned about the karsilama rhythm, how to count, how to clap it and three steps to do with it, the karsilama walk, the arabesque walk and the fall step. We also broke down the lower body accent drill and 3/4 on the down shimmy and learned how to play 3s on our zills.

Advanced - we learned various methods for descending to the floor and getting back up gracefully.

Last Fall Session Starts This Week!

Good morning!


First, the student show this past weekend was awesome! If you wanted a DVD and didn’t get one ordered, bring your check book and let me know in class this week. I’ll have order forms with me.

Now, on to the future :) We have a new session of classes starting this week. 

Beginner, Tuesdays at 5:45, will be covering horizontal circles. No props are required though some kind of hip adornment is recommended.

Intermediate, Tuesdays at 7:00, will be covering kashlima rhythm and 25 yard skirt. If you have a yoga mat, I recommend bringing it, if you don’t have one the community center has some we can borrow. You will need finger cymbals (zills) starting the first week of class. I recommend Saroyan zills. If you do not have them ordered yet, I have checked and Super Sonic Music in downtown Topeka does carry Saroyan finger cymbals. They are located on 6th street between Kansas and Quincy. You will need a 25 yard skirt by the 3rd week of class. If you do not wish to purchase a skirt, you can use a 3 yard rectangular veil as a substitute. It won’t be exactly the same, but you will get the feel for using a skirt. If you do not have a skirt and want to order one, moondancebellydance.com carries them or you can search on ebay.

Advanced, Thursdays at 5:45, will be covering balancing and floor work. The first week we will be working on just floor work, so you don’t need to bring any props – just your yoga mat and your zills, I will let you know each week in class what you will need for the following week. When we get to balancing, items to consider are: cane, sword, tray or basket. Since not everyone will have all the items we will most likely play musical props and pass them around so everyone can try each item.

Performance Preparation, Thursdays at 7:20, we are going to start with reviewing all the choreographies that everyone knows so that we can video them from behind and get them up on youtube for everyone to practice when we want to use them. Videos to practice with are posted as unlisted videos and I only send the links to those who have learned the choreography, so don’t worry about having an imperfect video out for everyone to see. We will start with Zeina, so please bring your 2.5 yard, half circular liquid lame veil. We will also work on adding zills to group improvisation.

Hope I'll see you this week!

Ok, well here goes for a two week update!

My internet was down for almost a week, so I never got to post what we had covered last week and now I need to do this week as well.


In Beginner, in the last two weeks we have learned:

Unweighted hip twist
Unweighted hip lift – aka Choochoo in group improv – cue is arm position – L arms to front
Unweighted hip drop
Hip Bump
Double lift hip walk
¾ shimmy (ghawazee in group improv)
Basic Egyptian – group improv and cabaret versions
Hip Bumps moving to side
Chassez/step ball change
Unweighted bicycle hip circles

We have also practicing the lead and follow of group improv using choochoo, basic Egyptian and ghawazee all of which can turn in a personal circle and travel forward and backward.

As requested the pattern for the ¾ shimmy on the up is:
Hip lift with the step on 1
Hip drop on 2
Hip lift on 3
Hold on 4

All of which happens during a single beat of music.



Also, as requested, the song we will be using for Shimmy Spectacular on October 23rd is Masmoudi Kebir 3 Dums by Guy Schalom from the Album Tabla Tastic!

And the final request, Masmoudi is written like this, with the D representing Dums, the T representing Teks and the K representing kas

1-+-2-+-3-+-4-+-5-+-6-+-7-+-8-+-
D---D---____T---D---____T---T---
D---D---tktkT-tkD-tktkt-TktkT-tk
D---D---D---T---D---____T---T---


In Intermediate, in the last two weeks we have learned:
Tummy flutter
Hip Drop pivot turn
Drop kick pivot turn
Hip lift pivot turn
Hip twist pivot turn
Belly rolls
Ghoush w/ ¾ shimmy
Man’s step
Siadi Hop
Horsie step 1 (pawing the ground)
Horsie step 2 (knees bending heel striking the ground)
Group Improv combo Basic E hip twists
Group improv combo Abeda Deveka
Egyptian Shimmy
How to hold the cane
Forward swing dominant hand
Backward swing dominant hand
Forward swing non-dominant hand
Backward swing non-dominant hand
Twirling cane over head dominant hand
Twirling cane overhead non-dominant hand
Twirling cane figure 8 dominant hand
Twirling cane figure 8 non-dominant hand

And we have also started learning the cane choreography

In Advanced we have been concentrating on the Drum Solo choreography with conditioning exercises and a few new shimmies thrown in for spice.

Last week's classes

Beginner Class:

We reviewed all moves covered last week and learned hip lifts, hip lift shimmy, rib cage lift drop, sagital rib cage circle and sagital pelvic circle. We also learned finger ripples, hand ripples, incense rising, Suhaila arms and Delilah cobra arms.

Intermediate Class:
After warming up and learning the upper body portion of the accent drill, we worked on the 3-1 zil pattern and reviewed ¾ shimmies on the up and down. We then worked on horizontal hip and rib cage figure 8s. We added an accented hip lift to our ghoush and learned the folkloric walk/run. We also reviewed all beginner level group improv moves.

Advanced Class:
We did single, ¾ and segmented glute squeezes and the following abdominal exercises:

• Scissor Kick – lie on back; legs kick up and down getting smaller – low abs
• Side Crunch – lie on side arm under head, brace w/other arm and lift legs – obliques
• 1 arm thrust – stack feet (top foot same side as arm behind head), arm straight up – upper abs
• Lie on back draw belly button down, exhale and contract and hold for 5 – transverse abdominus
• Kneeling arm and leg lift – on hands and knees- lift and hold opposite arms and legs – low back

We reviewed Hoplanda in preparation for ADAF as well as group improv to Walk Like an Egyptian. We then started learning the drum solo for the Shimmy Spectacular.

Time to start up the blog again :)

Classes started up again last week, so its time to start posting what we covered so you can either check and see what you missed or remind yourself of what was covered so you can practice at home.

Beginner - We discussed the class format, what to wear and other basic housekeeping items. We then learned to do single glute squeezes, proper dance posture, belly pushes, many belly dance arm positions, pelvic tuck and drop and rib cage lift and drop.

Intermediate - We discussed if anyone was interested in performing at the fall show (the answer was no) and then warmed up using beginner level moves. We did single glute squeezes and 3/4 time glute squeezes. We learned the lower body accent drill and broke down the 3/4 shimmy on the down. We learned how to play finger cymbals and drilled 3s. We then learned twisted rib cage and hip slides, horizontal diaganol rib cage movements, the gush, hip sway and Egyptian hip circles.

Advanced - After discussion of upcoming performances and costuming we did our conditioning exercises which consisted of:

Seated:


• Arms out to side, palms up, fingers ripple in then back out, leading w/pinky
• Shoulder rolls backwards together
• Shoulder rolls backwards alternating
• Shoulder rolls forward together
• Shoulder rolls forward alternating
• Shoulder Thrusts
• Hands to side, palms down rotate elbow back and forward
• Triceps stretch
• Gluts – single, ¾ and segmented
• Pigeon Pose

Kneeling:
• Thigh stretch (quads) with knees part
• Thigh Stretch with back bend
• Thigh stretch w/knees together

On the Floor:
• Reverse crunches – legs go out and in – low abs
• Oblique Crunch – lie on back legs to one side, other hand behind head, bring elbow towards opposite hip – obliques
• Crunch – upper abs
• Lie on back draw belly button down, exhale and contract and hold for 5 – transverse abdominus
• Prone arm and leg lift - Lie on stomach and lift arm and opposite leg, keep head down – low back
• Cat/cow
• Cobra push ups
• Childs pose
• Down dog
• Plank
• Plank w/shimmy (hip lift and hip twist)

Standing:
• Dancers Pose (standing quad stretch) – modification – w/band
• 5 Up to down belly rolls
• 5 Down to up belly rolls

We then reviewed all beginner and intermediate level shimmies and broke down the hegalla

Busy Fall Coming Up

A new session of classes starts right after Labor Day!

The classes:

·         In beginner class will be working on sagital circles. You don’t have to bring anything extra, just come ready to learn and have fun.

·         The upcoming session of intermediate belly dance will cover the saidi rhythm, cane (raks al assaya) and horizontal figure 8s. We will learn a cane number that the class can perform at the fall show in Manhattan. If you have a yoga mat, go ahead and bring it with you, we will use them during the warm up. If you don’t have one, the community center has some mats we can use, but they are not “sticky mats”. You will need finger cymbals and a dance cane.

·         In the advanced class we are going to be working on conditioning, shimmies and arm movements. If you have any shimmies/shimmy layers you would like to work on let me know and I’ll include them in the lesson plans. We will learn a new drum solo with plans to perform it at the fall show in October. Please bring a yoga mat and resistance bands if you have them. A yoga mat should run less than $15 and the resistance bands about $10 at Walmart.  I know Central Park has resistance bands that we can probably borrow, but I have not seen yoga mats there.

·         While class session prices are staying the same, it sounds like drop in fees are going up. I don’t have all the details yet, but if they do what I heard they were talking about, the drop in rate for beginner (1 hour) will be $12 and the drop in rate for intermediate (1.5 hours) will be $15  starting this fall (advanced has never had a drop in rate). The sessions will still be $56 for 7 weeks beginner and $70 for 7 weeks intermediate or advanced, if you are live outside the city limits those prices are slightly higher.

Ordering stuff:

·         I recommend ordering finger cymbals from Saroyan Mastercrafts http://dwp.bigplanet.com/saroyan/. Anyone who needs to (wants to) order finger cymbals let me know by August 13^th and I’ll get you all in touch with each other. If everyone who needs a set orders together, you can all save on shipping.

·         The dance canes are expensive if you only order one because of the shipping involved, so I usually organize a group order at the start of each new session of cane. I have a few left over from the last cane order, but I’m not certain I have enough for everyone. They are relatively inexpensive (usually between $5 and $7 each) when you order them in bulk this way, so I generally recommend ordering two, that way if one breaks you have a backup, and if you ever decide to do double cane, you have two that match. Please email me by August 13^th and let me know if you need a cane. Once I know how many canes are needed I can determine if I have enough or if we need to place a group order.

·         We will be placing a costuming order from LRose Designs the first week of September. We want to have the order turned in by September 10^th so we can be sure and have anything ordered for the October show in time for the performance. Our orders are usually large enough we can take a 10-15% discount on the prices at the website. Have fun looking at all the options at http://www.lrosedesigns.com/  and let me know if you would like to order anything by September 9th.

Fall Performance Opportunities:

·         The first fall performance opportunity is Saturday, September 25^th at 11 AM. We have been asked to perform at the Aaron Douglas Art Fair. Anyone Intermediate level and up is welcome to perform the numbers they know. Costuming will be decided upon once we know who is planning to perform and which numbers we will be using. A good bet is gypsy skirts and coin belts, the top is what we need to get figured out. One of the numbers will be group improv.

·         The second fall performance opportunity is Saturday October 23^rd at 7pm in Manhattan. This is our annual fall recital. All students in all levels are welcome to perform. Beginner level students who choose to perform will do a short group improvisation number with me leading. The costume will be black pants, a midriff top and a coin belt. Intermediate level students will do the cane number we will be learning. The costume for this number will be harem pants, coin belt and a knot top (Simplicity pattern 3832 includes both a knot top and harem pants if you want to make your own, though I use pattern 5359 for my harem pants or you may choose to order them from LRose Designs). Advanced students will perform a drum solo, we will discuss costuming options the first night of class.

Fall Workshops:

·         Gaitri of Manhattan will be offering two costuming workshops before she leaves the area! She is teaching her Bead Your Bedlah 2 – the Bra class on August 14^th in Manhattan. You do not need to have taken part 1 to take part 2! You can register at http://beadthatbra-efbevent.eventbrite.com

·         Gaitri will also be offering the Bead Your Bedlah 1 – the Belt class on August 28^th in Topeka. You do not need to take these classes in order.  Registration information is available at my website http://bellydancetopeka.com/BeadBedlahPart1.htm  

·         Troupe Duende is holding their annual Belly Dancers’ Ball on September 18^th and 19^th in Kansas City you can get more information or register at  http://bellydancersball2010.eventbrite.com/ .

·         We will be have a day of makeup and hair workshops in October. You can find out more and register online by visiting my website http://bellydancetopeka.com/MakeupHair.htm. This is a great series of workshops and has been greatly expanded since the last time we hosted these workshops in Topeka. You do not need to be currently enrolled in classes in Topeka in order to attend the workshops.

Private lessons are available! They run $30 per hour for one student or $40 per hour for 2-4 students. I am usually available Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings, though other weekend times are a possibility. From August 13^th to Labor Day I am also available on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Private lessons are generally held at your home or other location that you find where we have space to dance and a power source for the music. Travel outside of the Topeka city limits is charged at the IRS rate for mileage. Payment in full must be received at least one week before the class or upon booking if there is less than one week between scheduling the lesson and class date. There are no refunds of private lesson fees. Private lessons may be rescheduled once if notice of the need to reschedule is received by me at least 24 hours in advance of the lesson.

Who should take private lessons? Private and semi-private lessons are best for students who already have some belly dance background. They are great for students who have taken one or more sessions of beginning belly dance and would like some extra help, students who are thinking of moving up a level and want to review items they don't remember, students who have taken some time off and want to brush up on their technique before returning to class and anyone wanting to learn more about a special topic.  Other good reasons to schedule a private lesson are if you need to take a session of beginner or intermediate off and don’t want to get behind (a session of beginner can be covered in 3-4 continuous hours of private lesson a session of intermediate would take 4-6 hours depending on if you wanted to learn the associated choreography)  or if you want to learn or need extra help with one of the choreographies taught in intermediate (1-2 hours); if you want to work on the group improvisation stall moves, combos and cues used in Topeka; or if you just can’t make the regularly scheduled classes but want to learn more about belly dance.

Finally, if it has been a while since you last visited my website, http://bellydancetopeka.com/, you should swing by. There are a couple of new pages including a music recommendation page and an articles page (let me know if there is a topic that you would like to know more about and I will either write an article or ask someone who is knowledgeable to do so). I’ve also totally reorganized the DVD recommendations page so things are easier to find. I’m still making improvements, so if you have a suggestion, let me know.

What was covered the first week of August :)

Beginner:

We reviewed hip slides, rib slides, pelvic tuck/drop, rib cage lift/drop, hip lifts, hip lift shimmy, shoulder shimmies, omi and vertical rib cage circles and then we learned ¾ shimmy on the up, chassez (aka step ball change) and rocking step.

Intermediate:

We warmed up with 3s then worked on singles with our zils. Next we reviewed ¾ on the up and ¾ shimmy on the down. We then worked on Sharita, sharita w/3pt turn, Sharita while spinning, Scoop and pivot, sheherazade and Angel (butterfly) wings with the veil.

Advanced:

After warming up we worked on timing the right and left hand open fan waves and flutters so they match. We then worked on open fan vertical and horizontal figure 8s following the together, chasing, mirrored, alternating rules.

Troupe notes were posted to our yahoo group.

What was covered the last week of July

Under the theory better late than never, here is what we covered in class last week:

Beginner:

We reviewed hip slides, rib slides, pelvic tuck/drop, rib cage lift/drop, hip lifts, hip lift shimmy, omi and vertical rib cage circles and then we learned inward arm circles, outward arm circles (both directions one at a time, together and alternating), shoulder thrusts and shoulder shimmies.

Intermediate:

We warmed up with 3s then worked on singles with our zils. Next we reviewed ¾ on the up and ¾ shimmy on the down. We then learned traveling hip rolls, reviewed Mayas and upward hip 8s and worked both directions with level changes up and down. We then got out our veils and worked with the matador, half matador, figure 8 and combining matadors with turns.

Advanced:

After warming up we worked on timing the right and left hand open fan waves and flutters so they match. We then worked on open fan vertical and horizontal sweeps and vertical and horizontal circles  following the together, chasing, mirrored, alternating rules. We then worked on our choreography Dream. We finished up the class with a review of GIC with zils and Disco GIC Fusion.

Troupe notes will be posted to our yahoo group.

Last weeks classes

I've been without internet at home since Thursday night (fingers crossed it will be fixed by the time I get home tonight) so the update is running a bit behind, however, here is what was covered in class last week.

Beginner

We discussed some of the many different styles of belly dance found around the world today. We then went over Middle Eastern rhythms in general and the maqsoum rhythm in particular. After warming up with glute squeezes, plies releves and tummy pushes we reviewed hip and rib cage slides and then learned pelvic tuck and drop, rib cage lift and drop, hip lifts, omi (vertical hip circles) and vertical rib cage circles.

Intermediate

We discussed belly dance ethics – belly dance as a valid art form and then reviewed the beginner level rhythms (falahi, maqsoum and masmoudi). We then did our glute squeezes single time and ¾ time and did our arm and leg warm up series. We then did beginner level moves with 3s and the accent drill with 3s. Next we practiced ¾ shimmy on the up and on the down. We then learned vertical rib cage figure 8s in both directions, boxy and smooth and vertical hip figure 8s in both directions.

Advanced

After glute squeezes, arm exercises and warm up we worked on equality of motion between the left and right hand when working with flutter fans and fan veils. We discussed why it is important and ways to strengthen the non-dominant hand so that its movements will be equally powerful to the movements by the dominant hand. We then worked on Dream and finished learning the choreography, though the timing on the end still needs some tweaking.

Troupe notes will be posted to the HH yahoo group.

The week in review

New sessions started for beginner and intermediate levels this week.

In beginner we discussed what to wear to class and the class format. We then worked on glute squeezes and warmed up our shoulders with shoulder rolls before proceeding to releves and plies sequence. We then did tummy pushes. Next we learned proper dance posture, pretty hands and various arm positions. We finished the class by learning hip and rib cage slides.

In Intermediate we warmed up with glute squeeze singles and ¾ time followed by pigeon stretch, we then did shoulder rolls and two other arm exercises, followed by wall pushups and eagle and cow face poses. We warmed up and did our accent drill with 3s on the zils then worked on the rhythm 3-1. We then did our ¾ shimmy on the up and ¾ shimmy on the down practice drills. We worked on diagonal rib cage lifts and drops, accented belly pushes and double hip drops and double hip lifts (Ms and Ws). We then reviewed all beginner level tribal moves.

Advanced was a continuation of the same session as we have a 10 week session this summer. We warmed up then did single fan veil improv in the right hand, then in the left hand. We then talked about the concepts of together, chasing and mirrored when it comes to double fan veil. We then worked on the closed fan veil technique we had covered in single fan veil as double closed fan veil using the concepts of together, chasing and mirroring. We covered proper back bend technique and worked on learning the choreography Dream.

Jillina’s Shape Up N Hip Out

This week I’ve been using Jillina’s Shape Up n’ Hip Out DVD on my lunch hour. In the introduction she states it is geared towards the beginner student or professionals wanting to drill, however, I would NOT recommend this DVD for a beginner. There is very little in the way of posture instruction and while she does break down a couple of moves (snake arms for one) she does not break down the more difficult moves (in particular the hegalla, which is one I know even my Advanced students have never learned).

The workout is broken into a warm up, three progressively more intense workouts and a cool down. Each of the three workouts can be done with instruction or music only. In the warm up section, Jillina states that one of the ladies will be doing modified versions of the moves if you need an easier/less intense option. However, I did not notice her doing modified versions in the actual workouts or the cool down, only in the warm up, so I can’t even suggest a beginner use the DVD and follow Heather instead of Jillina. If someone was looking for a 30 minute workout, doing the warm up, one of the workouts and the cool down would get you there. Or you could do the whole thing for an hour long workout.

The Slow and Smooth workout could almost be used as a warm up in and of itself. Nothing is overly sharp and most of the moves are moves I use in my classes as a warm up after we have done our strengthening exercises. Rhythm Hips takes things up a notch and Turbo Hips will definitely get your heart rate up as it’s full of shimmies. Turbo Hips is where I ran across two moves I do not include in my beginner or intermediate curriculum, the Saidi hip drop and the hegalla. In all three workouts, Jillina starts with a small combination of moves and then keeps adding small combinations (two or three moves) until you have a full series. She also starts by doing each small combination at half speed before taking it up to tempo.

Bonus sections on this DVD include outtakes and five performances, two by Jillina and then one by each of the four ladies who are showcased in the workout section. The performances are all very nice and use a variety of props (cane, isis wings, double veil and sword). The outtake section is very brief and more like a montage of behind the scenes in less than two minutes than anything else.

I’m definitely enjoying this DVD as a workout. It gets the heart rate up and keeps you moving. I also really like the fact you can adjust it based on how long you have and how intense you want the workout to be.

Beginner and Intermediate class this week

In beginner we reviewed the moves covered thus far and then worked on traveling and turning with the unweighted hip lift, we also learned the double hip lift walk and broke down the mechanics of the ¾ shimmy. We then did some group improv using the choochoo (unweighted hip lift) and the ghawazee (3/4 shimmy/double hip lift walk).

In Intermediate we warmed up with 3s then worked on a couple of variations for playing chiftitelli. We then reviewed our ¾ on the up and the down shimmies. We did a session of improv arms and worked on half circular veil technique (loop-d-loop, on handed matador, one handed horizontal figure 8, one handed vertical figure 8). We learned the Arabic 4 point turn, Arabic with a twist, Arabic with a twist and dip (a Troupe Duende combo) and the Groovy Christina (a Diva Soma combo). We then did a traveling circle so everyone could practice cuing a few moves.

Took the week off last week

I was on “vacation” last week (though if you are retiling your bathroom I’m not sure it should count as vacation) so I didn’t do my regular AM and noon time workouts. I did however attend my Monday and Saturday yoga classes and teach.

So last week in Beginning Belly Dance, we covered weighted hip twists, hip twist (washing machine) shimmy, weighted hip lifts, hip lift shimmy, unweighted hip lifts (aka choochoo in group improv)  and unweighted hip drops. We also did single hip lift and single hip drop walks.

In Intermediate we learned one way to play chiftitelli rhythm on our finger cymbals, reviewed our ¾ up and down shimmies, learned the vibration shimmy. We also reviewed all beginner level arm moves and learned the arm figure 8. We then started working with our veils learning the matador, half matador and the figure 8.

As requested, here is the list of the arm exercises we have been doing in Advanced. In addition to the below, we have also been doing our regular leg exercises and glutes – singles, ¾ and segmented.

Standing:

·         Wall pushups

·         Wall pushups hands turned in

·         Wall pushups feet further back

·         Hands at sides, bring up to shoulder height, rotate hands, take up to 5^th, then back down (I’ve told you about this one, but since it requires weights we haven’t been doing it in class)

Seated:

·         Arms out to side, palms up, fingers ripple in then back out, leading w/pinky

·         Shoulder rolls backwards together – 2 ct, 1ct

·         Shoulder rolls backwards alternating – 2 ct, 1ct

·         Shoulder rolls forward together – 2 ct, 1ct

·         Shoulder rolls forward alternating – 2 ct, 1ct

·         Shoulder arcs – hands out to side – up front up back, 1 side at a time – 2 ct, 1 ct

·         Rope pulls to the side

·         Hands straight forward, pull back, elbows going behind back

·         Rope pulls down

·         Hands pull down from 5^th position to shoulder height

·         Hands to side, palms down rotate elbow back and forward

·         Arms to side, palms facing back in blade, down and up

·         “Make a muscle”

·         Cow face pose (Triceps stretch)

·         Eagle pose

On the Floor:

·         Backward crunches

·         Lie on stomach and lift arm and opposite leg, keep head down

·         Cat/cow

·         Rotate cat/cow

·         Pigeon pose (after glute exercises)

Wednesday's Program

Started the morning with my AM Yoga routine. For lunch, I did the 30 minute workout from Bellydance Fitness for Beginners: Hip Hop Hip Drop. It is mostly based on what I consider beginner level moves. Unweighted hip lifts, unweighted hip drops, horizontal hip circles, chest drops, hip bumps and basic Egyptian. Combinations four and five start getting into intermediate level territory, but they are easy enough I think beginners, especially if they have a session or two under their hip scarves, could figure them out. Combination four uses a move I hadn’t seen before, that I would describe as a reverse gush, it seemed a bit awkward. Combination five is drop-kicks. There is no mention of proper posture, so make sure you are checking your own. Some of the moves could hurt your back if your pelvis comes un-tucked.  This DVD does not teach proper technique. In some instances it describes the easiest way to create the move, but not necessarily the one I think makes the most sense or would recommend using.  All in all it was a descent workout, but not overly challenging. The DVD has two bonus features, two costumed performances and a 10 minute arms, chest and back workout.


That was it for the day, didn't even work on bellydance related projects in the evening.

Tuesdays practice and what was covered in class

Started the morning with AM Yoga, my left arm was still bothering me for the poses like cobra and downward dog, so I decided not to do yoga at lunch time again. Instead I worked with Bellydance Fitness for Weight Loss: Bellydance Boogie. This 30-minute workout uses up-to-down undulations, vertical and horizontal figure 8s. I would recommend this for my students who have started intermediate and up. My biggest complaint with this workout is the snake arms. The vast majority of them look sloppy. This is because they are performed too large and/or too fast. My recommendation is to do the snake arms at half the speed they are presented, or to do them as arm ripples at the tempo presented. This will keep the movements controlled and graceful. This workout wasn’t as intense as the one in cardio shimmy, but it defiantly keeps you moving. I was pleased there wasn’t as much hopping; it focuses on the smooth bellydance moves. There is little to no instruction on proper dance posture on this DVD so if you decide to use this one, make sure you check your own posture periodically. This DVD also includes two costumed performances and a 10-minute dancer’s legs workout as bonus features.

After work, it was off to teach for 2.5 hours. In Beginner we discussed the history of bellydance and Middle Eastern music, specifically, the Fallahi rhythm. We then reviewed plies, releves, glute squeezes, tummy pushes, hip slides and rib cage sides. We also learned rib cage forward and back, keeping the shoulders still, rib cage circles, hip circles, snake arms, medusa arms, Persian arms, low snake arms, katia arms, fish tail and tribal snake arms.

In Intermediate we discussed bellydance ethics: respecting others, reviewed the three beginner level rhythms and learned about the chiftitelli rhythm. We warmed up with 3s then learned to play 7s on our zils, practicing it with our smooth bellydance moves (slides, circles and undulations). We reviewed our up-to-down and down-to-up undulations, added stepping flat-ball-ball-ball to up-to-down undulations (aka Arabic 2) and turning in personal circle. We reviewed ¾ on the up and ¾ on the down and learned the heel drop shimmy. We worked on traveling with the single and double camel walks. We also learned the u-turn undulation. In group improv, we learned the Happy Birthday Grapevine combination by Unamata and then reviewed all GIC stall moves and combos using a traveling circle.

Monday's report

Started the day with my AM Yoga. I have a couple of other AM themed yoga programs, and I really will try a different one some time soon, but I enjoy the familiarity of doing this same program every day. Also, I need something to slowly wake me up, which this one does, some of the others I have are a bit more vigorous. 


At lunch time, I decided not to do yoga and to only do bellydance as I had issues during my AM practice with downward dog in particular because my left arm and shoulder are sore from being knocked over by one of my cats on Sunday and the 15 minute results DVD is heavy on arm supported poses. So I did Bellydance Fitness for Weight Loss: Cardio Shimmy. The 30 minute workout uses Egyptian shimmy, shoulder shimmy, choochoo shimmy. Most of the moves are taught in my beginner level classes, the exceptions being the Egyptian shimmy and the gush (King Tut walk). Also, Rania does not name her hip shimmy, so beginner level students might not realize it is different from the hip lift shimmy taught in class. Beginner level students could use this video if they substituted the hip lift shimmy for the Egyptian shimmy. This video has a lot of hopping in it, something I don't care for, but is certainly effective in getting the heart rate up and makes a good workout. More advanced dancers could change it up by changing the type of shimmy they use each time they use the video, for example, replace the hip shimmy with a twist shimmy, replace the shoulder shimmy with the 3/4 shoulder shimmy. The bonus features are a 10 minute “waist cincher” workout (rib and hip slides, horizontal and vertical hip figure 8, up to down undulations and vertical rib cage circles) which I did not add in to my lunch time practice and two costumed performances which I watched while eating my lunch.
 

I was supposed to go to yoga class Monday evening, but because of my arm and shoulder decided to stay home and rest the muscles and joint. After all, over doing it will only make it worse and take that much longer to heal.

Over the weekend

Ok, for purposes of this post, Friday is part of the weekend. Friday I did my AM Yoga first thing in the morning and the lower body workout off of 15 minute results and the yoga fusion workout off Bellydance Body at noon. The yoga fusion workout includes layering up to down undulations with both vertical and horizontal figure 8s. It also has up to down, down to up and u-turn undulations while standing in tree pose.  I went to my nieces first dance recital (she is 5) Friday evening and then stabilized the other side of my feather fans  while Bri and I watched Lethal Weapon 2.

Saturday I went to my yoga fusion class. Turns out Cyra and I are the only ones enrolled and Cyra wasn’t there, so it was a private lesson. The class focused mostly on yoga with a bit of tai chi and Pilates thrown in. I was hoping for a more even mixture, we will see what the future classes hold.

Sunday I spent the day cleaning so unless you consider cleaning exercise (which I suppose it could be) I didn’t do any workouts. 

Thursday's Workouts

AM Yoga to start the day, followed by 15 minute results – upper body and the jazz workout on Bellydancer Body at lunch time and then Advanced and troupe for 2.5 hours yesterday evening. I think the Jazz workout is my favorite on the Suhaila DVD (at least of the 3 I’ve done). It starts with weighted hip twists, then basic Egyptian, Basic E 4pt turn, Basic E 2pt turn. Next up is ¾ twist, then adding it to basic E, so you get a ¾ basic E. This was done moving forward, backward and while turning at various speeds. This workout felt more like dancing than drills. Both the Buns and Pilates workouts felt like drills.

My Workout Report and Stabilizing a Feather Fan

Yesterday wasn’t that great for working out. I did my AM Yoga with Rodney Yee first thing in the morning, but then my dad wanted to take me to lunch, so I missed my lunch time workout session. I also have Wednesday nights as a “free night” partially so I can work on other belly dance projects, sewing, choreographing, website updates and so forth. So I stopped at hobby lobby and picked up the materials I would need to stabilize my feather fans and then started on that project while Bri and I watched Lethal Weapon last night. The technique I used to stabilize the fans is outlined below.

To stabilize a feather fan:

You need to pick up adhesive backed felt, felt glue, E6000 (hobby lobby wanted $14 for this, looks like amazon has it for $5), loose feathers or 2 feather boas that match the color of your fans and cheap water color paint brushes from the craft store.

Open the first fan as wide as it will go – use a pen or pencil and a piece of paper to make a pattern of the area of the fan staves not covered by feathers. Remember to make a notch in the bottom for the space where the staves all come together.

Trace your pattern four times onto the felt and cut them out. I could only get 3 pieces per 8.5 x 11 piece of felt. When I spoke to Gaitri, she said she got all four on her piece. I don’t know if she found larger felt or if her pattern was smaller or if she is just better at making it all fit.

With the fan spread to its fullest potential, put E6000 on one side of the bare fan staves (you can use water to smooth the bottom part of the feathers already on the fan back away from where you are working). Once you have the E6000 on the fan staves (it does not need to cover them) peel the backing off one felt piece and apply it to the area.

Next, use a paint brush to paint a thin layer of felt glue all over the felt and apply your feathers. I used a boa because I couldn’t find loose feathers that matched my fan. I followed the arc with the first pass of the boa, curved up followed it again and finished with a final pass straight across the bottom of the fan (small arch over the place where the staves join together).

Set it aside and let the first fan dry over night. Repeat with the second fan. After both fans have set over night, you can repeat the whole thing on the other side and both sides will be stabilized and covered with pretty feathers.

I'll talk about decorating the fans in another post. I also plan to upload the above instructions (with pictures I took while doing it) to the website at some point.

What was covered in class last night AND what else I did in my exercise program

Ok, so I wrote things in the reverse order of the title, but you can skip to what was done in class last night if you want, just skip the first paragraph, or if all you care about is the work, skip the last two paragraphs. :)

I started the morning with A.M. and P.M. Yoga with Rodney Yee again – I’m probably going to use this one all week as my morning starting point. I have a couple other AM yoga DVDs that I’m previewing to see if I want to mix it up next week. Then at lunch I did the lower body segment off of Rodney Yee/Mariel Hemingway: 15-Minute Results Yoga. Again it was very vigorous. They really work at getting your heart rate up and getting you moving. I like Rodney Yee, but I’m finding Mariel Hemmingway to be a bit distracting with her comments. I’d probably prefer this if it was just Mr. Yee, but it is workable. After I finished the yoga section of my lunch time workout I did the Pilates section of Bellydance Body for Beginners with Suhaila. This one includes pelvic locks, glute squeezes and interior hip squares (segmented omis) all while stepping, again more intermediate level than beginner level. I then taught for two and a half hours in the evening.

In Beginner class we covered: what to wear to class and the format of the class. We then learned proper dance posture and warmed up our ankles and legs with pliés and relevés. We then sat down and found our glutes and worked on isolating the individual sides. Next we worked on tummy pushes. We then learned hip slides and ribcage slides. We finished the evening by going over many of the arm positions used in belly dance.

In Intermediate we warmed up with 3s on the zils then learned how to play 5s and what kinds of movements to pair 5s with. We then practiced our ¾ shimmy on the up and broke down the ¾ shimmy on the down. Next, up-to-down and down-to-up undulations were covered, both while standing still and while rocking from foot to foot. We also discussed the mechanics of belly rolls. We then did a review of all group improvisational moves that are covered in beginner and learned the cues for Arabic, reverse Arabic, reverse Ghawazee, drop kick and Turkish 4 point turn

Report on yesterday’s exercise program.

Session 1: I got up at 5 and did 20 minutes of yoga with Rodney Yee (A.M. and P.M. Yoga – AM track with Rodney Yee). This was my very first yoga purchase way back when. I really like the way the AM session wakes you up. I originally purchased this on VHS and have since replaced it with DVD (though I think I still have the VHS version around somewhere). The AM Yoga practice starts with breathing and what Mr. Yee refers to as conscious relaxation. Then there is 15 minutes of moving yoga poses and finally 2 minutes of meditation. This routine really helps me wake up in the morning. I’d almost say it’s better than coffee, but I really don’t want to give up my coffee!

Session 2: Over my lunch break I did the upper body routine off of Rodney Yee/Mariel Hemingway: 15-Minute Results Yoga. The upper body workout is like yoga aerobics! It includes things I never really considered yoga before but it gets the heart rate up and I actually broke a sweat. None of the poses are too challenging for a beginning yoga practitioner. However, I had to look up on Youtube the difference between upward dog and cobra (its subtle). After I finished my yoga session, I switched gears and did the 10 minute Buns workout off of Bellydance Body for Beginners with Suhaila. (By the way, this DVD is advertised as for beginners but I would only recommend it for Intermediate and up). The buns workout starts with glute squeezes then uses glute squeezes to travel with hips on the up, hips on the down and ¾ hips up and ¾ hips on the down.

Session 3: After I got home from work and had a snack, I did about a half hour of shimmy drills with Celeste using her DVD produced by IAMED: Turbo Shimmy with Celeste: Instruction Belly Dance Series. I did not do the entire DVD (I just didn’t have time) but I did the strengthening exercises she starts off with and her technique break down of three shimmies (Egyptian aka straight leg shimmy, ChooChoo aka marching shimmy and American (bent knee) aka hip lift shimmy). I also did the first shimmy drill, which is about 10 minutes of Egyptian Shimmy. Since I don’t particularly care for the Egyptian shimmy, I was tempted to do the drill with hip lift shimmy, but since my Egyptian shimmy is weaker than my hip lift shimmy (see the part about not liking it as well) I decided to go ahead and drill the Egyptian. The drill consisted of slow, medium and fast speeds, doing each speed with both legs and then with all the weight on one leg then all the weight on the other leg. I had no trouble at the slow and medium speeds (both legs and single leg varieties) but noticed my Egyptian shimmy started to sputter and loose rhythm on the fast speed – now I know I need to drill this more.

Session 4: After I finished my shimmy drills it was time to head to my yoga class at Crestview. If you live in Topeka, I suggest you find time to try and take a yoga class with Mimi. She has several available through Crestview. This was an hour of what I consider endurance yoga – get into a pose and hold it! It was very relaxing and a wonderful way to end the day.

Last night in Beginner & Intermediate

Last night in beginner we went through proper dance posture, hand position (pretty hands) and a bunch of different arm positions. We also learned how to do hip  and rib cage slides.

In intermediate we reviewed all beginner level group improv stall moves and combos. We also practiced the 3/4 shimmy on the up and learned the 3/4 shimmy on the down. We learned the different sounds our zils can make and how to play threes or triplets on them. Additionally we worked with twisted rib cage slides and hip slides in preparation of learning the horizontal figure 8s next week.

Once again, there is a new session starting :)

We have a new session of beginner and intermediate classes starting tonight. Hope to see you there!

New session starts tonight, and what to wear to class

We have a new session of classes starting tonight. In case you are wondering what is appropriate for class, here are some recommendations:

Feet:

I recommend dancing bare foot. If you prefer to wear shoes I recommend ballet slippers, jazz shoes, modern dance sandals or jazz sneakers. If you prefer high heels, ballroom dance shoes work well. You can find many styles of dance shoes at Foot Lights in Fairlawn Plaza or you can order them online at discountdancesupply.com.

I do NOT recommend tennis shoes as they are difficult to spin in and do not allow for much flexibility of the foot. However, if that is what you are most comfortable wearing, you may wear them to class.

Flip-flops, sandals or any other type of shoe which is not well secured to the foot and just socks or hose (with no shoes) are all not allowed for safety reasons.

Pants:

I recommend workout shorts or yoga pants. You can also purchase pants made specifically for belly dancing which is what I usually wear. You can purchase dance pants from lrosedesigns.com, desertdancer.com and melodiadesigns.com.

I do NOT recommend jeans as they do not allow for freedom of movement or skirts which can either hamper movement or make it difficult for me to see what your legs and feet are doing and therefore difficult to offer correction.

Top:

I recommend a tight fitting or midriff top. A sports bra is generally the cheapest option. I usually wear shirts specifically designed for belly dancing. Again, you can purchase tops from lrosedesigns.com or melodiadesigins.com.

I do NOT recommend overlarge t-shirts, bulky sweaters or bulky sweatshirts. All of these prevent me from seeing what you are doing and therefore make it difficult for me to offer correction.

Around your hips:

I recommend something tied around your hips, a scarf or sash will give you some movement on the hip it is tied over, a fringed shawl will exaggerate your movements and make them easier for you to see, a coined hip belt will give you auditory feedback as well as visual. I usually wear one (or two) fringed shawls and a coined hip belt.