TFBD Jan-Mar 2010 Series: Class 1 Notes

Hello Ladies!

Thank you so much for a fantastic start to 2010! I enjoyed meeting all of you and look forward to a great 5 weeks together. Here is what we did in the first class:

Warm up!
- lunges and squats
- head circles, shoulder circles, chest circles, hip circles
- leg circles while lying on the floor
- accessing lower abdominal muscles and contractions
- hamstrings contractions
- accessing upper back contractions
- downward facing dog pose
- 1-legged plank pose

Technique!
(in the Suhaila Salimpour vocabulary)
- Hip singles: lifting right hip up, then left hip up. Practice continuously and varying the speed and intensity (soft vs. sharp).
- Pelvic locks: contracting the lower abdominal muscle (not your entire stomach), then lower back muscle. Practice continuously and varying the speed and intensity.
- Hip squares: putting the hip singles and pelvic locks together, we can start in the front: contract lower ab, right hip up, contract lower back, left hip up. Practice continuously in one direction, then practice continuously in the other direction. Also, try starting from the right hip, the left hip, or the back.
- Interior hip circles (also known as "Omi"): smoothing out the hip squares in to a circle. This circle is "interior", so the affect is about bringing the energy in.
- Chest locks: lift chest up by contracting the upper back muscle and then contracting the upper abdominal muscle to bring chest down. Practice up and down continuously, then double lifts up and down; also varying speed and intensity.
- Chest tilts: similar to the hip singles, we are bringing the right rib cage up, then the left rib cage up. This also means when one side of the rib cage is up, the other side is down. Feel using your oblique muscles. For exaple, when the right side rib cage is up, the left oblique contracts.
- Chest squares: similar to the hip squares, the chest squares utilize the chest locks up and down and chest tilts right and left. So if the chest squares start front going clockwise, the sequence would be: chest lift up (upper back contraction), right chest tilt (left oblique contraction), chest down (upper ab contraction), and left chest tilt (right oblique contraction).
- Interior chest circles: similar to the Interior hip circles, smooth out the 4 sides of the chest locks and chest tilts.
- Head slides: neck muscles are used here. Keeping the head (notice chin) steady, slide the head to the right and left. This is not a head tilt!
- Feet pivot: Begin facing left diagonal, standing flat left foot and right heel up. Pivot to the right diagonal by pressing against the floor and pulling the feet away from each other, rolling the right heel down and picking up the left heel.

Combo 1
Head slide right (count 1)
Head slide back to center (count 2)
Chest circle: Left chest tilt up (count 3), chest lift (counts 456), right chest tilt up (count 7), and upper ab contraction (count 8)
[Repeat on the other side]
When you transition from one side to the other, use the feet pivot.

Combo 2
Step out to right corner with right foot while opening arms out (counts 12)
Pelvic lock back (count 3)
Pelvic lock front (count 4)
Interior hip circle starting right hip(count 5), back (+), left (count 6), front (+).
Interior hip circle starting right hip(count 7), back (+), left (count 8), front (+).
[Repeat on the other side]


We did a lot! Hope these notes come in handy.
I will have some more DVD's at the next class.
Happy Practice!
Lily

Welcome 2010 January-March session!

This post has been a little late in the making. I have been busy with the BellyFusions Festival in Paris that I forgot to post some important information for this first tribal fusion belly dance session of 2010.

Dates: Jan 28, Feb 4, Feb 11, Feb 18, Mar 4 (5 classes total)

As usual:
- Class starts at 7:45pm... and as usual, we will end somewhere between 8:45 and 9.
- There is a yoga class before our class, so if you arrive early, please be as quiet as possible.
- No coined hip scarves or belts.
- Bare feet only.
- Fitted clothing is the preferred attire.
- Class notes will be offered here, so check this page often.

Music: For the first time ever, I'm offering the class music for download
http://www.lilybellydance.com/Shashkin.mp3

See you Thursday!
Lily
www.LilyBellyDance.com