When I first started Belly Dancing the standard was to go to a class on a weekly basis and then work at home trying to remember what you learned.  The other options where to buy a DVD and hope that what you purchased was of value and worth the price in the end most just ended up sitting on a shelf creating dust.  Technology, Internet, IPhones and such has made an impact on where and how we can learn to dance, but we still must take caution because there is instruction out there that you have to be careful with and are not the best.  Some leave you with false hope and promises such as “Become a professional Belly Dancer in less then 6 weeks” or all you have is a video with no coaching or support.

I have used online training for the past 6 years in conjunction with taking workshops to advance my training and career.  Since I started the online training has skyrocketed! So what is out there?  Here is my list and pros and cons of each I hope this list helps you in making the right decision on online and remember the best way to learn is going to an actually class, but online will help further your dance, use it as another outlet.

Suhaila Salimpour Online Classes:  http://www.suhailaonlineclasses.com/

Suhaila was one of the first Belly Dancers I saw when I just started taking lessons.  Her skills, movement and style intrigued me I was blown away by her dancing and I actually had the chance to do a weekend workshop with her years ago before she had an online class.  Her workshop was brutal, I had never sweated so much in my entire life, but I was happy and on cloud nine the whole weekend!  Every part of my body ached at the end of the weekend!  I was elated though and you would have thought I had earned a gold medal!  In my mind; I did!!

Suhaila offers a 3 day trial for her online classes so you can try it out first.  This is good because it will give you for a feel of her curriculum and to see if you like it enough to move forward with a subscription.  She offers 100+ online classes and each one is filmed live out of her studio and is recorded.  She has three different levels; 1, 2 & 3 and also offers Folkloric Fusion, Dance Movement and Jamila Format Classes. Suhaila’s format is one of a kind and is her own that she has developed over the years.

Level 1:

She teaches you the basics, her terminology and the movement is broken down and very clear she leads you through a warm-up, technique section, drills and then usually ends with a combination.

Level 2:

Once you learn the basics this level is more advance adding footwork, advance movement and so forth.  You must have a good understanding and able to do level 1 before moving to this level.

Level 3

This level is for those who have been certified in level 1 to have access.  It is more advanced and complicated using zills, footwork, muscle contractions and more.

Folkloric Fusion class you will do zill work with movement

Dance Movement is a mixture of ballet, jazz and modern dance and will just add to your belly dancing

Jamila Format Classes

“Jamila Salimpour, the American matriarch of belly dance, was the first belly dance teacher to create a specific format of movements with individual names for each step. The steps she created are now the majority of belly dance movements taught today. Her format was the inspiration and foundation of what later became known as American Tribal Style. Jamila is also the master of finger cymbals. The class begins with playing cymbal patterns and then moves on to practicing moves in a circle around the room. Be prepared to use cymbals the entire class. Each class is different and invaluable as far as developing both dance and finger cymbal skills, as well as learning the history of belly dance movements in America.” taken from Suhaila online.

Subscriptions

She also offers a 3 day free trial so you can check out her videos and classes.  There are also choreographies that you can learn that cost extra on top of the membership fee.

I was a member of Suhaila online for a little over 2 years just recently I cancelled due to lack of money.  It is one of the more expensive online trainings but definitely one to think about.  Instruction is top notch and there are new and updated videos that are added all the time!  This is the first part of my online training blog  as to their are others out there.  My focus is to educate you on the best ones and then for you to make your decision on what fits best for you.

For those of you in my classes I do use some of her technique specifically the glute squeezes and a few of her other strength training exercises we have done in warm ups and drills so you will be familiar with her structure and technique to a point.

I would love to hear your comments or questions!!!

Be on the look out for Part 2!!

Photo above:  Courtesy of NightWing Photography

Over the last few months I knew that I had wanted to make some changes to my curriculum, but I did not know what direction I wanted to take or what changes.  After many weeks of thinking and brain storming it hit me as I was preparing to introduce a Belly Dance Class at our local YMCA.  I needed something that would catch people’s attention and at the same time described what my classes would be about.  As it began to piece together I sat at my kitchen table and realized that most of what we do is hip work; layered on by other movement such as traveling, accents and so forth.  So I thought to myself ok Hips, but Hips what??  I continued to brain storm and asked myself what do I want my students to achieve out of my curriculum and I came up with being able to effortlessly move from one movement to the next the hips being the core and icing the cake with other movements.  That is when I came up with Luscious Hips and started to develop the curriculum.  I ended up with 8 weeks of solid curriculum, tested it out myself and then took it to my students and tried it out.

The goal is still to drill a movement, but also learn to travel with that movement and to put movements together much quicker but drilling so it becomes natural in the body.  For instance,  the first week we started out with the Egyptian drilled it then added hips up in place first drilling then putting it together by moving with it and going from basic Egyptian to Egyptian with hips up.  Each week we add movement and always review the weeks before.  What happens is that it becomes progressive so if a student misses a class they may miss out.  This curriculum also helps with transitioning and putting moves together which seems to be very common in most students.  There will be at least 3 different levels or more and once a student is finished then they will be tested on their knowledge before they can move to the next level.  This is not a learn belly dance quick approach I wanted to make that clear.

My current students seem to enjoy the new curriculum and the class is going over very well at the YMCA, we are getting geared up for week 3 and they are all doing well and learning!

The Picture above was taken by NightWing Photo!  We had about 500 shots in 3 hours it was a wonderful, but exhausting!

We all know that one way to stay in shape is to dance. It does not matter what type of dancing it is but, Belly Dance has so many pluses that most do not realize the effects and how much it can not only help you lose weight, gain muscle and just feeling good about yourself. Belly Dancing for myself is the only way I stay in shape. Years ago I was a fitness instructor and I taught 12 different fitness classes a week. To have a full body workout including aerobics, strength, toning and endurance I would have to take or teach a separate class. Belly Dancing is truly a all in one work out. Yes, we do get our heart rate up so it is an aerobic workout plus with each movement we contract muscles so we not only work out our center core but, arms and legs as well. We are always working on flexibility and strength and endurance. One of my students messaged me one day very ecstatic that she had gone from a size 15 jean to a size 11 in just about 5 months. She was so grateful and thanked me for what I had done but, I had to remind her that even though yes, I was there to help her along she did it all by herself by being dedicated and coming to class as much as she could. All of my students have felt the benefits of Belly Dancing and most of them will tell you that they have slimed down and they just feel better about themselves in general!

Here is a list of all of the benefits that we get from this dance:
1. Improved posture and muscle tone
2. Strengthens your bones
3. Weight Loss
4. Helps prepare for child birth
5. relieves STRESS
6. Strengthens your core, back, legs & arms
7. Improves mood
8. Helps digestion
9. Helps with self image
10. Increases circulation
11. Improves sleep patterns
12. Helps with depression
13. Increases your flexibility
14. Easy on body (low impact)
15. Helps in relieving PMS

With all of the benefits it is no wonder more women are trying it! If you would like to try it check out my schedule or contact me for more information @ 740-466-7590 or najlasdance.com@gmail.com

Over Christmas vacation my husband recieved a doumbek so that he can learn to play the drum and go with me on gigs.  The doumbek is a goblet shaped drum and is known by many names; depending on the region. In Egypt it can be know as the:  Darabukka, Derabucca, and Darbouka. In Lebanon and Syria it is called the Derbekki, Drbekki, and Drbakka.  In Morocco and Algeria it is called the Derboka. The doumbek orginates in North Africa.
There are basic hits or strokes when it comes to playing the doumbek.  The first is the Doum which is done by hitting the center of the drum that creates a deep sound.  The Tek is done by hitting the edge of the drum and makes a higher pitch sound that is sharp.  The third is the Ka and this is done with the opposite hand and is similar to the Tek but can be done on the rim or on the head of the drum.  The body of the drum can be made up of ceranmic or metals such as copper or aluminum.  There are generally two types of drums which are the Egyptian and Turkish.  The Turkish drum has bolts on the outside edge of the drum head and are made up of metal.  The Egyptian drum has a smooth edge which is what my husband has.

As a dancer it is important to know about the different rhythms.  When you listen to music or dancing you should be able to pick out the basic rhythm.  Knowing and being able to hear them will help you grow and make you a better dancer because you will know what is coming up next in the music because there is a pattern in each and most times it is played at least 2 times before it changes.  I have also been learning to play the drum and in the little bit of time I have noticed that it has made a big difference in my dancing, plus it is lots of fun!  Over the next few months I will be talking about the different rhythms.

Being a professional solo dancer,other then dancing with my students on a occasion I do not get a chance to dance with other professional dancers. Recently, I became part of a professional belly dance group, “The Mystic Jewels.” The experiance was wonderful and I not only learned alot about myself, but I learned alot more about the other dancers that were involved and formed a bonding relationship with both of the women in the troupe.  The troupe came about when Athena Nile came up with an idea where other dancers come together to not just perform but collaborate with one another.  Myself and another girl jumped at the chance when Athena was taking volunteers!!  The experiance was so wonderful and I miss both Athena & Erica!!  I not only gained new ideas, but new friendships as well.

When you are in part of a troupe, naturally some things happen there is one person who stands out as the leader and the others along with the leader work together to make things happen; sharing ideas, what is working or what is not working. This group was a collaborate effort and each one of us came up with different ideas and because we each also dance a different style we walked away from our first choreography and first performance that was very unique and very individual, which you would not normally expect with a group choreography. We created a ballet/belly dance performance. Since we were performing at a fusion show we could not do cabaret or egyptian style dancing so we intertwined ballet with belly dance and our costumes consisted of leotards and a skirt wrap donned with pink tights.  When we put on our leotards and pink tights with matching skirts each one of us commented on how we actually felt like ballarina’s.  We all felt very girly and laughed and giggled as we were fooling around doing leaps and peorette’s.  I am looking forward to dancing with these girls again in the near future!