Tribal Fusion Bellydance Fall Class 7

Thank you, Ladies for a fantastic last class of the year! What we did for this last class was cleaned up the movements. There is always some level of refinement that can be done. It's especially important for dancers who've progressed beyond beginner classes to start address them. Some times, it's just our memory that keeps us from dancing full-out, but that's what repetition is for. Thank you for your efforts!



I'm going to miss seeing on my students on Wednesday and Thursday nights, but I hope to use that time to "recharge" my batteries and work on some new class plans for 2011.

I hope you'll use your free Wednesday/Thursday nights for something run, relaxing, or productive!

In case you were wondering, this piece to Dilges was inspired by the dances of the Indigo (group choreos with Rachel, Mardi, and Zoe):







And here is perhaps a little inspiration for next time...



Keep an eye out for class registrations on LilyBellydance.com!

Enjoy!
Lily
www.LilyBellydance.com

Bellydance Basics Class 7

Thanks everyone for a fantastic last class of the year! I'm really honored to have been able to share this dance with you. Hopefully you've been inspired enough to keep dancing. Whether it's with me or someone else, just keep dancing!

In this last class, we covered undulation and choo choo shimmy.

An undulation can be broken down into 4 parts:
- upper back contraction
- upper ab contraction
- lower ab contraction
- release
Note that a typical undulation will start in the upper back, but really, you can start at any part of this 4-part movement. Crazy isn't it?! For the purpose of our choreography, however, we will work on the typical "up to down undulation" which starts in the upper back.


A choo choo shimmy is defined:
Fast hip singles on the balls of the feet. Meaning, right ball of the foot steps and the right hip is up; left ball of the foot steps and the left hip is up. The faster you go, the more important it is to stay centered. Make sure your hips stay right under your ribcage.

Here are the new sections to this drum solo piece:

3:08 Undulations up to down
- facing left diagonal
- facing right diagonal
- facing left diagonal
- facing right diagonal

3:17 Locks Combo:
Shoulders RLRLRLRL
Chest UDUDUDUD
Hips RLRLRLRL
Pelvic FBFBFBFB
Alternatively, you can vary the four body parts. Here is an example:
Chest squares 2x
Hip squares 2x

3:25 Choo Choo Shimmy in place for 16 counts

Finale Choo Choo Shimmy for 8 counts turning around yourself.
Pose!

I hope you had fun ladies. It's amazing what your body can do when you train it!

Keep an eye out on this blog for the announcement of the January classes.
Enjoy the rest of the year and hope to see you joyful as ever in January!

With lots of shimmies,
Lily
www.LilyBellydance.com

Topics for January 2011

I know you're wondering what's next? With this week being our last week together, we'll have a two month break until we see each other next. So I wanted to give you a heads up on the topics that we'll be covering starting mid January:

Bellydance Basics
In January 2011, we will start off the year with some good drilling of the foundation movements with focus on improvisation. My goal for this class is cardio, so we will be continuously moving!

Tribal Fusion Bellydance
I have said this before, and I'll say it again: "It's good to know your roots." I've also said: "In order to move forward, some times it's good to look back." This past year, I've grown to love finger cymbal playing. My most recent inspiration is the Jamila Salimpour bellydance format, which is essentially the roots of tribal bellydance in America. Coincidentally, the Jamila format also includes a heavy dose of finger cymbal patterns which we will use. Get ready to get "old school" with your finger cymbals.

I will have pairs of Saroyan finger cymbals (zills) for sale and for borrowing in class. If you would like to purchase them from a website, please let me know first before purchasing. Quality varies between makers!


You can learn about Jamila Salimpour from these two articles:
http://www.suhailainternational.com/JamilaSpeechICMED1997May.pdf
http://www.suhailainternational.com/FromManyTribesOriginsofBalAnat.pdf

Check back on this blog for registration information!
With hips of fury,
Lily
www.LilyBellydance.com

Tribal Fusion Bellydance Fall Class 6

The second half of the "Dilges" choreography is essentially the same as the first half with a few exceptions:

2:51 Figure 8 Walk and 5-Count Combo
3:13 Combo A (but left side)
3:49 Combo C - Figure 8 Up to Down (RL). Right hip hook. Walking with interior hip circles (Hip downbeat front clockwise sixteenthnotes/fulltime; feet downbeat R quarternotes/halftime. Essentialy, one full circle per step)

Everthing else is the same. Have fun praticing and see you Thursday!
Lily

Bellydance Basics Class 6 Notes

Our second to last class of the year!!! Thanks for spending your time with me!

Here are some new basic movements:
1. Figure 8's down to up (a.k.a. "maya") - This is the reverse of the previous figure 8 that we've done. So, the hip starts up, slides out, drops down, then pulls in back to center. Do this on both sides continuously for that "infinity sign".
2. Forward and back step with hip singles - this is also known as the "basic step".
3. 3-step turn - Add your arms where they are open to the sides on 1, then close on 2, then open again on 3.

Here's the new steps we added to the choreography:

Figure 8 UD RL
Twists RLR (cts 5+6)
¼ pivot turn (cts 78)
Repeat this 4 times.

Arms at 5th (straight up over head)
Right Hip FBFB (cts 1-4)
Turn over right shoulder (cts 5-8)
Left Hip FBFB (cts 1-4)
Turn over left shoulder (cts 5-8)
Repeat R, L again.

I'll have the DVD's at the next week's class. Hope to see you soon!
Lily

Tribal Fusion Bellydance Fall Class 5

Sorry for the late post...

Quick recap of Class 5:

For Combination A, we're repeating it but on the opposite side!
Combo A - mirrored:
(36 counts) Start facing left diagonal
• Int Chest circle dbR (4 cts)
• Undulation u2d (4 cts)
• Fig 8 dbR (4 cts)
• R Hip hook to right diagonal (2 cts), weight on right, left extended.
• Undulation d2u (2cts)
• With left hip ups, head circle (4 cts)
• With left hip ups, chest circle (4 cts)
• With left hip ups, undulation u2d (4 cts)
• Lateral body wave left (4 cts)
• Drop R hip on count 1.
• Undulation d2u. (3 cts)

See you Thursday!
Lily

Bellydance Basics Class 5 Notes

In this fifth class of the 7-week series, we worked on speed! So, we increased the speed of our hip squares (or broken interior hip circles), interior hip circles, and timed the hip singles.

Here's the overview:
1. Hip squares - fast 8th notes.
2. Interior hip circles (omi) - faster 16th notes to where you hit front on every beat.
3. Hip twist into hip half circles.
4. 3/4 shimmy.

The toughest is that 3/4 shimmy. There are a couple of ways to think about it.
- Step right foot with hips RLR (hold), then step left foot wit hips LRL (hold); repeat
- Step right foot with 2 hip ups on the right, then step left foot with 2 hip ups on the left; repeat
- emphasize the first hip up as you step on that foot.

Start slow, then speed it up so where you are walking "normally" and the hips float on top.

Happy practicing!
lily