And now for something completely different from the tribal-style fest that's been parading through here over the last few months: The next major bellydance star on our region's horizon is Ranya Renee, who is coming to Samora's studio in Atlanta March 18-21 for three days of workshops. Ranya is based in New York City, and is famous for her modern Egyptian style, her love of dancing to live music, and her improvisation skills. Her instructional DVDs, Egyptian Style: The Baladi and Modern Oriental, have become standards for students who love the sensuality, freedom, and challenge of expressing Arabic music through bellydance. She has a new DVD coming soon on improvisation: Bellydance Taqasim. All of the links to her DVDs include video trailers so you can see what each one is all about.

Here are a couple of videos that exemplify Ranya's style -- pay particular attention to the way she uses her dance movements, even some of the most basic, to illustrate the music with her body. This is the essence of bellydance.

If you can't make it to her workshops in March, I encourage you to check out one of her DVDs if you are interested in developing your ability to use the movements you are learning in class to really express your own emotional style in your dancing. You don't have to wait until you're a professional to take what you know to the next level!

See you in class!

1. Watch videos of the teachers and other performers. Here are two or three to get you started:

Myra Krien:

BellyCraft:

Zafira:

2. Shop! Here are links to just a few of the vendors who will be there:

• The Red Camel
• Magical Fashions
• Beledi Boutique
• Enchanted Dream Wear
• Diva Dreads

3. Do a new dance workout. Here's a great glute play-along!

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you in class next week! Don't forget, Core Fitness has moved to Mondays, starting this Monday, at 5:30 pm. See our website for details!

Bellydance magazines help you become a better bellydancer by connecting you with the larger dance community -- you will learn who the "stars" are, you'll see lots of pictures of performances, workshops and events, you'll get reveiws of bellydance DVDs and you'll get to read about lots of different perspectives on our dance form. And maybe best of all, you'll discover lots of resources for costumes, events and other dance "stuff" from the ads!

Follow the links below to get a sampling of what's out there -- some magazines are subscription only and some are free; some are published online and some are print only (and a few are both). Choose what works for you, and increase your knowledge about middle eastern dance in all its forms!

• Zaghareet (national; all styles; print)
• Belly Dance Magazine (international; all styles; print)
• Shimmy (national; all styles; print)
• Nafoura (international/Europe; all styles; online)
• Fuse (international; tribal; online and print)
• Jareeda (national/local [Pacific Northwest]; all styles; print)

These are the magazines I subscribe to; you can also find more listed at this directory. I encourage you to start exploring today!

Today's featured instructor is Asharah. If you'll be at TribalCon on Sunday, lucky us because she is teaching a brand new workshop -- Shimmies Asharah Style. In this workshop, Asharah will break down a variety of shimmies, and have you work on keeping them controlled, consistent, musical, and safe for your body. If you love to shimmy, or if you wish you loved shimmies and want to work on them, this will be a great workshop (2-4 pm on Sunday, Feb. 27).

You can read more about Asharah on her website; you can buy her technique DVD; and you can watch this video of one aspect of her dancing (she works in lots of different styles, not just tribal) from last year's TribalCon here:

And if you're inspired now to work on your shimmies, go ahead and shimmy wherever you are (at the copier? Sure, why not! Doing the dishes? Shimmy while you scrub!).

See you in class!

Feb. 5 -- Merrybellies Gems of the Oasis Double-Feature. Barking Legs Theater, Chattanooga. Doors open at 6 pm. Student show at 7 pm; Fantastic Creatures show at 9 pm. $10.

Feb. 8 – Sundari Bellydance (Rome) Level 1 Choreography session begins. Tuesdays, 7:30-8:45 pm, $60.

Feb. 11-12 -- Anasma workshops in Atlanta at World Belly Dance Alliance.

Feb. 12-13 -- Anasma workshops + Saturday show in Chattanooga at Learn2Bellydance Studio.

Feb. 22 – Sundari Bellydance (Rome) Basics session begins. Tuesdays, 6-7 pm, $40.

Feb. 25-27 – TribalCon in Decatur.

Also, check out Episode 3 of Project Belly Dance -- watch, then vote for your favorite!

Got a February event that's not here? List it in the comments!

So here's a homework assignment – we'll start with Level 1 and as the weeks go on, I'll add increasingly complex drills for you to work with. Your dancing (and your enjoyment of dancing) will increase by leaps and bounds!

Reviewing the Fundamentals -- Level 1

Basic Hip Isolations (see class handout):

• Hip lock (forward/back)
• Piston hip (straight up/in and down)
• Hip sway
• Hip twist (pelvis stays horizontal)
• Hip slide (pelvis stays horizontal)

Basic Rib Cage Isolations:

• Lift/Drop (back lifts/abs drop)
• Slide (bottom of rib cage stays horizontal)
• Forward/Back
• Twist (pelvis stays put)
• Arc (lift up then arc to side)

1. Stand in good dance posture. Feet under the hip joints, knees flexed, lower abdominals engaged so that the pelvis is in a neutral (flat) position, shoulder blades rotated back and down, chest lifted, weight over the ankles.
2. Choose one of the five basic hip isolations, and begin by doing it to a 4 count on each side. Use the slow movement to really focus on the muscles that generate the movement, thinking about strengthening and stretching as you concentrate on doing the move correctly (remember your posture). Repeat at least 8 times on each side.
3. Double the tempo, completing the move in 2 counts on each side. This should still be slow enough that you can maintain your focus on the muscles you’re using, but you may not be able to make the movement as big. Repeat at least 8 times on each side.
4. Double the tempo again, 1 count for each side. Focus on maintaining correct dance posture as you increase the speed of the movement, and make movements smaller but very precise. Repeat at least 16 times, or more if you feel you are not in control of the movement.
5. Double the tempo a final time, completing the full move (both sides) in 1 count (1-and; 2-and; 3-and; 4-and etc.). Repeat at least 16 times, or more if you feel you are not in control of the movement.
6. Repeat the whole sequence with another hip isolation.
7. Do the same for the basic chest isolations (NOTE: the arc and twist should never be done faster than is comfortable for your spine)

Coming Soon: Level 2 (adding weight shifts)

This year, TribalCon  (Feb. 24-27, Decatur, GA) is hosting one of the legends in the world of male dancers: John Compton. John is based in California, and is co-director of the Tribal-Folkloric troupe Hahbi'Ru, with whom he often appears. A former student of Jamilia Salimpour, John was also a member of her troupe Bal Anat, which is often credited with originating the Tribal style in the United States in the 1970s.

John's style combines the folkloric foundations of belly dance with modern understanding of technique and an emphasis on theatricality, which you can see in the clip of John's famous tray solo below:

Also, take a look at this clip of Hahbi'Ru, which will give you a really good sense of what John calls the "Old-World-Folkloric" style that he will be teaching at TribalCon:

At TribalCon, John will be teaching a zil (finger cymbals) class on Friday afternoon, and a class on the roots of tribal (folkloric movement and combinations) on Saturday afternoon (I'll be there!). He is also giving a lunchtime lecture on the history of tribal bellydance on Sunday. This is a great opportunity to learn about tribal style from someone who was there when it all began!

You've heard of Dancing with the Stars? So You Think You Can Dance? Dancing is My Life? How about a TV dance competition just for bellydance? Michelle Joyce has produced just that: Project Belly Dance is a reality show that pits 23 professional bellydancers against each other, all competing for the grand prize -- a featured role in a Cheeky Girls instructional DVD. The first two episodes are online now -- check it out!

Of course, one of the most important things you can do for your dance practice is take a class! There are two classes you can join this week:

• Bellydance Basics, Tuesdays through Feb. 15, 6-7 pm
• Bellydance Basics + Core Fitness, Thursdays through Feb. 24, 5:30-6:30

There's also a Level 1 Choreography class starting on Feb. 8. All details are on the Sundari website -- hope to see you in class soon!

She'll be teaching two workshops at TribalCon (Feb. 24-27): a two-part session for advanced dancers on Dancing Effectively to Electronic Music on Friday afternoon, and an intermediate class called Style and Grace on Saturday morning. Check out the TribalCon schedule page for details. I'll be there Saturday morning, bright and early -- hope to see you there!

Don't forget this weekend's Raq Revolution at Atlanta Fusion Belly Dance.

And a quick heads up about some more amazing workshops coming to our area later this year:

• Belly Dance by Samora (Atlanta) will be hosting the incredible Ranya Renee April 15-17
• Atlanta Fusion Belly Dance is hosting the legendary Suhaila Salimpour Sept. 17-18

It's been a crazy week in Northwest Georgia, weather-wise. Hope everyone stayed safe this week -- here's to no more snow!

This DVD is just what it says – a collection of drills for strength, isolation technique, layering, shimmies and zills (finger cymbals); it also includes a drum solo choreography that puts everything together. This 115-minute DVD is not necessarily intended to be done from beginning to end – instead, you can use it to vary your practice, picking and choosing the sections that you want to work on that day. Each set of drills progresses in difficulty, establishing a foundation first, and then adding layers, speed, or both. Beginning students should expect to be challenged by the basic levels of each drill at first, but as your ability grows and you build your strength, stamina and ability, you will be able to progress to the intermediate and advanced sections.

The strengthening drills include glute, ab, back and leg work. Those of you who have taken my fitness class will recognize the core section (planks are our friends!). One caution here is to be very aware of positioning – I would recommend having someone check your alignment for all three, but particularly the plank series, to make sure you are not inviting an injury.

The isolation section reviews posture and then breaks down each of the 7 hip isolations in the drill, as well as feet and arm patterns that can be layered on top. Michelle then goes through the whole drill at a moderate tempo, and repeats at a much quicker tempo. Beginners can work up to adding the feet and arms; more advanced dancers can use this section to work on precision and range of movement in a variety of positions.

There are several layering drills – the zig-zag drill involves layering shapes and weight shifts on top of the isolations practiced earlier; the foot pattern drill layers these same isolations over grapevines and other travelling patterns. There is no way to get better at these key skills other than getting in there and doing them, so even beginners should at least give these a shot. They are bound to be frustrating at first, but perseverance will pay off quickly. Later, there are more advanced drills that layer different hip and chest movements – these are brain teasers that will really give you a sense of accomplishment when you’ve got it!

The shimmy drills are extensive, covering 3/4 shimmies on the up, on the down and standing hip shimmies. Again, the only way to get better is just to keep trying, so these drills should be practiced often no matter your level.

Zills/sagat are introduced early on, using the body to internalize basic patterns before actually playing; following this section, most drills eventually add zill patterns as a final layer of difficulty. If you are interested in learning this much neglected element of bellydance this is a great way to build your skills.

The DVD wraps up with a choreography that combines movements from the drills – it is not intended to be a performance-level choreography, but practicing it will help put all the pieces together. The production values on this DVD are very good – Michelle is filmed in front of a mirror so you can see front and back at the same time, the sound is good, and Michelle is very conversational and relaxed. All in all, I highly recommend this DVD to students of all levels who want to have stronger, cleaner and more visible isolations and layers.]]> Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:26:58 GMT