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.