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Your First Lesson continued Water Please bring a water bottle to class and take a sip whenever you need some. I prefer to Pre-hydrate--to drink a couple of hours before class, and it's a good idea to stay hydrated all day. Most centres have a water fountain, so you can top up. Using your Knees to dance Put simply, please don't ! The more you use your knees to do this dance the less you will be using your tummy, hips and bum. Try to focus on using the muscles round your centre and your core rather than pumping your knees back and forth. Using your knees is not only hard work it also wears them out. Although currently unpopular Floor work is an important part of this dance and is a great example of why we don't use our knees. If you want to check you are doing it right get a base cushion off your sofa and kneel on it ( a yoga mat is probably too thin), now do your basic moves--hip lifts, drops, figure 8s, shimmies and hip rotations. If you can do them without your knees when you are kneeling then you can do them you can do them without knees standing up. Levels of Difficulty The first thing I hear at the end of a new class is that they didn't expect it to be such hard work ! I personally think that has more to do with peoples expectations than the actual class. Don't come thinking it will be a bit of jiggling around. - One of the things I love about this dance is that you can make it as hard or as easy as you want, from week to week and move to move. This means that everyone can work at their own rate every lesson. I don't have to use a mike or shout at students because I only teach adults, and I trust them to work as much or as little as they want to in each class. That means that if you missed the gym this week I expect you to add in all the extras and use the class as a work out. Equally if you have been up all night with a poorly child you can come to class for an hour of relaxation. Only you know about your life, your fitness level and your needs. If they fall into the mid ground then you don't need to share them with me--if I ask you to do more than you want to just say no--I'm not going to argue. If you think you are extremely unfit or have limited range please speak to me before your first class and I will make sure you get adoptions for each move. Making it Harder To make the moves harder you don't necessarily want to go faster. Often the moves are harder to do slowly, because then you can focus on every muscle and how it is working. Try to keep control over the movements, keeping them smooth and even. Engage your pelvic floor and maintain the posture for the whole time. Adding in arms or travelling can make it harder and anything that takes the arms above the heart, or includes an undulation will give you more of a workout. If you love to work out then try the Bellyrobics class on a Tuesday. Making it Easier If you are finding it too hard then you can relax the pelvic floor and also check you are not too tense over your shoulders. You don't have to add the arms to any moves, but don't let your arms just hang--put them in the basic frame and leave them there. Find a mid speed, something faster than very slow, but not fast and try to relax into the move. Let the music guild you. A Valuable Class for those with Limited Range or Fitness Bellydance is a fantastic class for anyone with limited range or who need to gently get back into fitness. Because this is a very personal style of dance you can adapt almost all the moves to fit in with your abilities. If you think that 45 minutes or an hour of class would be too much for you then please come along for the warm up. You can also join the class as a "chair dancer", doing what you can while remaining seated (this time would not count towards your 20/30 weeks before moving up a group). If you feel you have limited range or very low fitness please speak to your doctor before coming to class--hopefully they will be extremely supportive. Twice weekly sessions of bellydance combined with a daily walk will make a huge difference to your energy levels and self esteem. Students with disabilities Again students with disabilities should find the classes suit them with very few adaptations. If you have any questions and want to talk to me before taking the class please do so via email. I am keen to make everyone welcome and am an experienced teacher. Carers are welcome to join the class and the cost of student plus carer can be negotiated at most venues. Finding your Style There are many styles of Bellydance and Middle Eastern Dance and some will suit you better than others. As you use your freedance time to explore your dancing you will find certain styles appealing to you more than others. This is also influenced by your dress style, lifestyle and past dance experience. I ask that all beginners try out a variety of different styles before deciding what they do and don't like. I also expect lots of people to change their mind over the years. Later in this section is a list of dance heroes for you to look at so that you can see dancers of many different styles and judge for yourself what you like and don't like. It also helps if you can go to a Hafla (party/show) or a stage show. There is always something to go and see each month and a listing is on the events page. Once you have learnt the basics and have a good idea what to do with them then a personal style will start to develop. As a general rule I say that you can't go wrong in this dance--if you can hear it and show it then its right ! Be confident in your own ability and trust your instincts as you dance--you might be surprised by what a natural dancer you are ! Health and Safety Please make sure that you read and sign the green form I give out at the first lesson--this is my fitness to dance and its important that I get them back from everyone as soon as possible. Please arrive in time to get ready and in clothes suitable for a dance class. A description of suitable clothing and photos are on the FAQ page. You need to have bare feet or soft shoes (such as ballet pumps), I can't teach anyone in socks (you are far too likely to slip over and my insurance doesn't want to pay out for that !) The sports centre has an area to put your belongings, but at other venues we bring our stuff into class, but it needs to be put somewhere away from the dance floor. Your Commitments It is important that you confirm your place on a course with at least a week to spare. This helps with planning, and also saves time on the first day of term (much of the form filling of adult education can be done in advance). I also need to know if you plan to take a few weeks off from a course, perhaps for a holiday, or because of illness. Planned absence can be noted in the back of the yellow book, while unplanned absence can be emailed, called in to the answer phone number above (calls can not be returned), or to the centre direct. Different centres have different policies on long term absence, but you may find your name being removed from the register, or that you are called by the centre to confirm that you still wish to remain on the course. Please arrive in good time, as the warm up is most important to your general health, and be considerate to other students. If you are struggling with a step, move to the edge of the room and ask for help from your teacher - but remember that the occasional step in the wrong direction is to be expected!
History of this Dance This is such a huge section and I've not written it yet ! - I suggest you go to www.shira.net for a fabulous web site filled with more information that I could ever provide you with and all researched and updated regularly. My copyright By attending my classes you are agreeing to respect my rights and copyrights regarding my work. This means that nothing from this web site, nor any handout given in class can be copied without my permission. It also means that choreographies that I teach remain my property and can only be performed with my permission. This sounds very mean, but the truth is I will always give permission if I can. An example of where I wouldn't would be if I was intending to perform it at the same event. This agreement continues even after you stop coming to class. I truly hope that, after a reasonable amount of time in class, I will be able to teach you the key moves and how to use them so that you can both dance in a freedance style and write your own choreographies--my choreographies are designed to be a "one size fits all" and so you could do much better ! I teach a mix of the styles I learnt from my teachers (Tina Hobin, Afra Al-Kahira and Emma Pyke), influences from workshop teachers, including other ASMED teachers and what I have learnt from 7 years of teaching this dance 5 days a week--if you go on to teach this dance at a later date I ask that you make sure you have insurance, PPL, are honest about your experience and remember to credit me as one of your teachers ! Please read my terms and conditions and make sure you agree to them before attending class. Heroes video clips to inspire This list could go on and on, but I want to try to get a collection of video clip links here so that you can see some different styles of dance. Go to the Men of Middle Eastern Dance page for links to Male dancers http://www.orientalischer-tanz.ch/videos/index.htm In windows media player. This collection includes Amani, Fifi Abdou, Naima Akef, Samia Gamal and Tahia Carioca |
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Your First Lesson |
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This is what I would like to talk to you about when you first come to class if we had a few more hours and you weren't so keen to get on with the dancing !) I will always do posture with new students, but the rest I tend to drop in over the weeks. If you have any questions then email is the best way to talk to me, or we can arrange to have some extra time outside class. |
