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 13th 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 13th 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 10th 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 25th 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 23rd 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 14th 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 28th 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 18th and 19th 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 13th 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.
