Tribal fusion belly dance class 8 - final one of the series

Hi ladies,

Thanks for a great final class of the series. Here is a recap of what we did:

1. Quick stretch, minus the toning exercises (sorry Caitlin! ). We'll get to do more of that in the next series!)

2. Review of all the movements we've covered in class and explore ways of modifying:

• Egyptian Basic: Arms are straight up, twisting at the hip, slightly lower the same elbow as that side hip twists up.


• Egyptian half-turn: Start with regular Basic Egyptian, the right hip is forward on count 1, right foot steps back on count 2, then left hip is forward on count 3; then turn by stepping back with the left foot on 4 and pivoting to the left, ending with the right foot ready for 1. Continue the movement facing back, then turning back to the front.
  
• Basic Arabic: Technically, this movement is a shifting of your weight forward and back. Make comes from your legs, the pelvis/hips following along swaying back and forth.
  
• Arabic hip-twist: 4-count step. 1-2 is an Arabic basic; on 3-4, step on the right and twist the hips to the right and back to the left. Arms are curved out slightly front. On 1-2, add hand floreos, turning into the center. On 3-4, the arms should stay in place, framing the torso, as the hips twist.
• Choo Choo: Continuing from the "Hip Bump" position and traveling to the right, 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.
  
• Choo choo arc turn: Choo-choo to the front 2 counts, bring left arm down to meet right arm in front 2 counts. Slightly raising both wrists, then 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.
• Taxeem: It's a vertical figure 8 without any horizontal twist at all. Drop the hip down first, then push it out and draw it up using your obliques, before switching to the other side. The movement is based on the natural movement of the hips as you walk.
  
• Torso rotation: imagine a heart shape on the floor. Starting center with arms out, upper body leans forward and to the left, round out to the back, then to the right and rounds out leaning forward and to the right, finally pull back to center. Arms remain in classic tribal position, elbows up and pointing out. There is a gentle bend/flex in the arms as your torso moves around.
  
• Snake arms or arm undulations: Arms at classic tribal position, gently push the right hand away and the head tils left, eyes looking to the right hand, left forearm slowly pulls in. Then left hand pushes away towards left side, head tils right, eyes looking to the left hand, right forearm slowly pulls in towards body. As you get comfortable, incorporate a subtle chest fig-8. In tribal fusion style, these arms are done slowly and controlled, incorporating shoulder rolls and extention of the finger tips. Try to keep the height of which your elbow moves at a minimum.


• Piston Hips: start with legs hip width apart. Hips, alternating, move directly up and down.
• Pelvic Locks: pelvis tilting back and forward. By contracting the lower abdominal, the pelvis tilts back. By contracting the lower back, the pelvis tilts forward.
• Reverse Taxeem (a.k.a. up-to-down figure 8) or "Maya": starting with the right hip pushing up, to the far right, bringing it down and moving the weight from the right foot to the left as you bring the left hip up, to the far left, bringing it down and back to center.
• Box: combining the Piston Hips with Pelvic Locks. In the clockwise direction: lower ab contraction, right hip up, lower back contracting, left hip up.
• Interior Hip Circle (or "Omi"): Smoothing out the sides of the Box into one continuous motion; we get a circular motion similar to that of water swishing around in a bowl.


• Chest:
  locks up and down
  slides side to side
  tilts side to side
  exterior circle
  interior circle, chest omi or "chomi"
• Shoulder locks:
  forward and back
  shoulder shimmy
  up and down
  box
  
• Body wave: Start by pushing the chest up and forward, then lean back and roll the movement down the spine. There are varying degrees of body waves. Start small and work towards a bigger movement. Be sure to keep the tailbone tucked and engage your abdominal muscles. Knees are bent. Arms should frame the upper body and face. The arms can accentuate the movement. At start, arms are extended forward, as chest lifts up and forward, draw hands inwards towards the body. As you lean back, push arms away from body. Cycle through as continuous movement.


• (ATS) Camel Walk: Step with the right foot onto the balls of the feet as you press down with the right hand and raise the left hand overhead. Keeping all your weight on the right foot, bend your right knee and extend the left foot to the side. Right arm goes up and left hand reaches toward extended left foot. Straighten your right leg as you draw the left foot in, and layer an arm undulation over a small torso rotation to bring you back to center. For long lengths of time, manage your arm movement so that the hands flow gradually to their full extension.


• Torso turn: Using the torso rotation starting right, with the initial momentum of the rotation, turn (we will use quarter turns in class) to the right by putting all your weight on the right foot and let the left foot drag behind then placed next to the right foot.


• Level chages: Many steps can be combined with a level change, which simply means you bend your knees to lower yourself and then come back up. The slower and smoother you go, the better! For the choreography, we are pairing snake arms with a level change.


• Lale (a.k.a. "swimmer". Pronounced "lah-lay"): Starting with a stance slightly wider than hip width apart, left toes point forward, right toes point right, reach with the right arm slowly and gracefully towards the right, keeping your hips in the same place, chest faces forward, top of head reaches to the right. 4 counts. Pivot the hips and torso so that the chest faces the floor as the left arm sweeps in a straight line along side the body towards the right wall. 2 counts. Dragging the left foot towards the right foot (weight on right), lift the torso to vertical, pushing the arms down so that hands are next to hips. 2 counts. Repeat the left side.

3. Review the "Heretic" choreography.

4. Explore ways of adapting the choreography to your liking.

Thank you for a great 8 weeks!

Next series start next Thursday. See you there!

lily