All posts by najla

If you live in or around the Chillicothe, OH Area, and want to learn Middle-Eastern (belly) Dance, learn new ideas, bond with other women of many different cultures and backgrounds, and even get some exercise, then look no further! You have found your passion! Turn to Najla’s Dance to fulfill this passion.

What is your Passion

When it comes to Belly Dancing each one of us dance for many different reasons.  For some it is about getting exercise and or losing weight.  Then there are some women that dance because they have always been fascinated by the dance or have always wanted to do it but never had the opportunity.  There are also women who dance due to life changes or life celebrations.  No matter what your reason for dancing is a passion for the dance starts building up inside of you and with each of us our passion is unique and different.

When I started dancing my passion was not the same as it is now.  The passion I have for Belly Dance is teaching and sharing this wonderful art form to other women and sharing my experiences as a dancer along the way.  The other passion I share is to educate the community that I live in on what Belly Dancing or Middle Eastern Dance is really about.  My passion of Belly Dance has turned into a life style, which means it is a very important part of my daily life and I really could not imagine my life without it!  Dancing, sharing and connecting not only with my spiritual self but others is a passion that is deep within.  What is your passion?

Intermediate Class

  • Shoulder shimmy sit position
  • straight leg shimmy
  • pistons with arm work
  • small hip circle with hand undulations

review

  • hip diamond lift
  • maya with accent
  • walk 2 suspend

New moves

  • Undulation move r 4
  • Undulation move l 4
  • alphabet with hips

Choreography Dance of Eternity

The Importance of Arms

  Last night I was watching a video of  myself dancing a few years back and I literally wanted to hide under the covers!  We have all felt like this at some point in our career.  Sometimes, so much emphasis is put into hip and chest work, forgetting completely of working our arms just as much as our hips.  In the video, my arms and hands were everywhere not being able to keep them still or commit to a position.  Our arms frame and pull together our moves and when we do not concentrate on the placement of our arms it will make the dance go from fantastic to very poor.  What I was doing with my arms and hands where so distracting it took away from what I was doing. 

Keeping the arms in simple positions are best so that way your arms do not take away from the hip, stomach or chest moves that you are doing.  We must get just as comfortable with the position of our arms just like that of pistons and hip thrusts so that it becomes natural in our body.  The arms and hands are artistic gestures and they are just as important!

Tips:

  • Practice arm positions each time you practice
  • practice form and placement of arm and hands
  • look in a mirror to make sure the form and placement our correct
  • keep arms nice and strong and the energy flowing all the way through your finger tips
  • drill placing your arms in 1st, second & third position
  • vary the positon of your arms when doing hip work
  • take a video of yourself dancing