TFBD Mar-Apr 2010 Series: Class 2 Notes

I know what you're wondering... Where are the Class 2 notes? I apologize these are so late in arriving on the blog, but just in time before Class 3. So, it's a good thing you checked before going to class, right?

Here's a recap of Class 2...

We warmed up with some double-time singles (in the Suhaila Salimour terminology) or also known as the choo-choo shimmy (not to be confused with the ATS Choo Choo step!).

Jumana Points at the ribcage to warm up the upper body. Imagine the asterisk sign on the floor and slide your chest towards each point on the asterisk sign. This is a good exercise to help increase your range of motion. Try this also at the hips!

Practice the hip squares alternating:
- front, right, back, left;
- front left, back, right;
- front.
That's 5 counts total. Practice starting at a slow speed, then build up to as fast as you can. We're going to use this in the next class.

It's all going to come together in Class 3. So, come prepared!

I know I mentioned putting up a little video, but I'm going to save it for Class 3 as it will be our half way mark.

See you Thursday!
Lily
www.LilyBellydance.com

HipMix.net article on "Tribal CONfusion"

From HipMix.net's Hip-to-Know section

http://www.hipmix.net/hip-to-know-article.php?pid=3

Let me know what you think!
Lily

Kami Liddle's Incredible Tribal Fusion Solo

Having seen Kami Liddle's performance at 3rd Coast Tribal in January, I wanted to share her talents here on the blog.

I once heard someone said you couldn't smile in a tribal style performance. Here is Kami proving them wrong! Her smile is sweet, inviting, and mischievious at times! So, put on a grin, show us some teeth... charm the pants off of us...



Enjoy!
Lily

TFBD Mar-Apr 2010 Series: Class 1 Notes

Greetings Dancers!
Thanks you for a great first class of this new session. With a mixed-level class, we will always have some review to do. It is a great time to check in on your foundation, posture, and technique. For those who are just starting their journey in bellydance, welcome! I hope you'll find what you're looking for in these classes and also continue on to learn more... because there is always more to learn!

In our first class, we started with a mild warm-up, checked our posture, reviewed our arm positions and went right into the hips. With this session offering basic belly dance techniques and American Tribal Style (ATS) movements, I try to use an expanded vocabulary when talking about these movements. For the basic belly dance technique, I tend to use the vocabulary from the "Suhaila Salimpour Format" and when referring to ATS movements, I use the ATS vocabulary.

Here is a general breakdown of what we did:

• Hip Singles
  
  
  
  • hip singles with down beat on the right (right hip up on the down beat)
    
  • hip singles with down beat on the left (left hip up on the down beat)
    
  • With body turned to face the left diagonal, hip singles with down beat on the left. (These look like drops)
    
  • With body turned to face the left diagonal, hip singles with down beat on the right. (These look like "bumps")These are also known as "Hip Bumps" in the ATS vocabulary.
    
  • With body turned to face the right diagonal, hip singles with down beat on the right. (These look like drops)
    
  • With body turned to face the right diagonal, hip singles with down beat on the left. (These look like "bumps")
    We add flamenco arms to the hip singles down beat on the right with body turned to face the left diagonal while traveling forward and get the ATS Choo Choo.
    
  
  

ATS Choo Choo - Starting with the hip singles down beat on the right with body turn to face the left diagonal position and traveling forward, every time your right hip is up, your weight is on the right foot in releve. When your right hip is down, your weight is on the left foot. By transferring the weight between your feet you can shuffle your feet towards the right.



Adding arms and a turn, we get the ATS Choo Choo Arc Turn (also known simply as the Arc Turn).

ATS Choo Choo Arc Turn - An 8 count movement in total. Choo-choo to the front 2 counts, then bring left arm down to meet right arm in front 2 counts. Slightly raising both wrists, then for the next 4 counts, pivot around to the left, bringing both hands to the left hip as you turn to the back. Sweep arms around and overhead to complete, ending with arms in starting position. Land back on the starting position on the next count 1.

For our class, we're going to use the ATS Choo Choo Arc Turn with a slightly different counting, adjusting to the music we're dancing to.

modified ATS Choo Choo Arc Turn - An 8 count movement in total. Choo-choo to the front 4 counts, then bring left arm down to meet right arm in front 2 counts. Slightly raising both wrists, then for the next 2 counts, pivot around to the left, bringing both hands to the left hip as you turn to the back. Sweep arms around and overhead to complete, ending with arms in starting position. Land back on the starting position on the next count 1.


Lastly, we have some hip lock combinations. Use gentle muscle contractions to create a sharp quality to the hip singles for the hip locks right and left. Be sure to release the muscle contraction in order to continue and be back at center for the next movement.

We then add in pelvic locks front and back. For pelvic lock front, use the lower abdominal muscles. For pelvic lock back, use the lower back muscles.

So, the entire hip lock combination is: right, left, front, back. Very quickly!

By adding punctuated hips and arms, we create what we're calling the "Double-Down Combo" to be used in the choreography:

• Double-Down Combo
  
  
  
  • Slowly lift arms to flamenco position. Facing right corner, left hip double-down on count 4.
    
  • Facing center, right hip on count 5 + left hip on count 6 + pelvic lock front on count 7 + pelvic lock back on count 8.
    
  • Slowly lift arms to flamenco position. Facing left corner, right hip double-down on count 4.
    
  • Facing center, right hip on count 5 + left hip on count 6 + pelvic lock front on count 7 + pelvic lock back on count 8.
    
  
  

The music we're dancing to is called "1000 Eyes", from the album "Satya" by Solace. You can find it on iTunes!

See you all next week!
Lily
www.LilyBellydance.com

Exciting workshops in Austin!

It is very unusual for Austin to be graced with so much instructional bellydance talent all at once. So, these events must be recorded! Here is a list of bellydance workshops in Austin during March and April from visiting instructors... and Austin's annual bellydance convention in June!

Swanky Sword Workshop by Onca O'Leary
Sunday, March 14, 2010 from 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
http://swankysword.eventbrite.com/


Technique Throwdown with Zoe Jakes and Rose Harden in Austin!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM and
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
http://zoeandrosetechniquethrow-down.eventbrite.com/


Bellydance Workshop with Sabah & Lauren
Sunday, March 28, 2010 from 12:30 PM - 3:30 PM
http://blondeambitionbellydance.eventbrite.com/


Zafira Dance Company and Just Trudi in Austin!
Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 10:00 AM- 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM- 3:30 PM
Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 10:00 AM- 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM- 4:30 PM
http://zafirainaustin.eventbrite.com/


The Austin Belly Dance Convention featuring Ava Fleming!
Friday, June 04, 2010 at 7:00 PM - Sunday, June 06, 2010 at 4:00 PM
17 hours of workshops, classes for all levels, 8 hours of performances, Open Stage performances, Shopping!
http://www.theabdc.com

In case you're wondering which one to attend... go to all of them!
I'll be there. So, I hope to see you there!
Lily
www.LilyBellydance.com

Zafira in Austin

Dancers!

If you haven't signed up for the Zafira workshop in April... do it now!

Rumor has it... there's going to be a show... a belly dance show... and they will be performing!

http://zafirainaustin.eventbrite.com

TFBD Jan-Mar 2010 Series: Class 5 Notes

What a great way to start the year! Well, it's March and look what you've accomplished... hip singles, pelvic locks, chest locks, interior and exterior hip circles, interior and exterior chest circles, undulations up to down, undulations down to up, body wave, shoulder rolls, chest figure 8's, hip figure 8's Front to Back, hip figure 8's Back to Front, hip figure 8's Up to Down, hip figure 8's Down to Up.... and what we covered in the last class:

Hip Twists and 3/4 Shimmies!
(Not necessarily together)

When we talk about hip twists, you can imagine the inside of a washing machine twisting back and forth in time. The muscles used to execute these twists are the obliques. When you twist the right hip forward, it's the left oblique contracting and your right oblique stretching. When you want to add a sharp quality to your hip twist, add a glute contraction. This means, when you twist right with a sharp accent, add a right glute squeeze at the end of that twist. Note that you do not have to make this a BIG movement! With varying degrees of muscle contractions you can start to play with different esthetics of the twists: loose and full, quick and concise, quick and sharp!

Try to keep your legs parallel and knees in the same level. This will help maintain the twists and prevent it from looking like something else.

We also explored other possibilities with the twist: facing front and standing in place, walking step twist, walking twist step, facing diagonal with the front foot on releve. There's no mistake twists are fun!

Finally, we spent a few moments on 3/4 shimmies, as we had been attempting to use shimmies as a warm up in the past few classes. We are finally talking about them. Stepping on the right foot, right hip is up-down-up. Keep that right hip up in order to step on the left foot with left hip up-down-up on the next count. Some people like to think of these as "two hip singles" on each foot evenly distributed for each count. Either way... practice! Experiment with tight shimmies that utilize glute squeezes and also with looseness. Start slow, gradually speed up the tempo. Practice standing on one foot and doing the 3/4 shimmy in place. Hold on to a chair for support. This is a good way to build muscle memory.


I've decided to not post a video clip of this last combination. I'm confident everybody got it!


Thanks for a great first series!
We're almost booked up for the next series. Just two spots left!

See you Thursday!
lily
www.LilyBellydance.com

TFBD Jan-Mar 2010 Series: Class 4 Notes

We breezed through the basic figure 8's today! Thanks for hanging in there... Remember to practice diligently. Aim for smooth transitions from one side to the other. Also, the rotation in the pelvis (lower ab engaged) is key for keeping a long back. Use the obliques to control the movement. With the work of your muscles, the result is a clean, powerful, and flowing figure 8.

Hip
* down to up figure 8 (vertical plane)
* up to down figure 8 (vertical plane)
* front to back figure 8 (horizontal plane)
* back to front figure 8 (horizontal plane)

Chest
* up to down figure 8


As promised, here is the video clip of the combo we covered in class today.




Even though it seems like we've covered a lot with regards to figure 8's... We've only scratched the surface! There are so many different variations with figure 8's. I think it's possible to do an entire dance using just figure 8's! Ya gotta love them!


:: REMINDER ::
Next week is our last week of this session.

The next session starts on March 18th. Sign up now!
http://www.lilybellydance.com/instruction