Beginners - Week 9

Today we added some vertical undulation to our horizontal figure 8, with an added heel lift on the "outside" of the move. The video for that is right here as well as in the Youtube Practice Videos playlist:

We also did some more work on getting our Abs to do clever stuff. This time it was about controlling the pull-ins and the releases, not only as to their speed, but also being able to stop the pull-in or release half-way.

And today we officially completed the choreography to Hayatak Fi Soura!!!

(I know we did it unofficially last week, but that was just messing about, I didn't actually teach it). So from here on in, it's about troubleshooting and getting it to look good! 

Here's the practice video, that takes you all the way through. I messed up a little bit in the second half, but hey, nobody's perfect.

Happy practising!

Beginners - Week 7

Welcome back! In this second half of the term we'll be working on more new techniques and more variations on those techniques we know. We'll also be able to finish learning the choreography and hopefully we'll be able to troubleshoot any problems you're having, and see how far you can remember sections for yourself.

This week we were focussing the Technique on Walking Like A Dancer, thinking about how to make the stepping look light and add accents to make a plain walk more interesting. Possible accents include - pause, chin lift, shoulder roll, shoulder hit, chest lift, abdominal pull-in, hip push, hip twist, hip drop (needs a lift on count 3, to prep for the drop on 4), knee lift, heel drop... so many options!!!). We also looked at using floor patterns for our walking, thinking about straight lines and curves.

We also worked on the Hip Push - a close cousin of the hip drop. This video covers the basic hip drop with the twisting forwards or backwards variations.

For the choreography, we didn't proceed any further than the Instrumental section, where we're walking in a figure 8 (or two circles, if that's how you see it). This week was more about refreshing your memories after a week off, and consolidating what we know already.

I'm planning on recording the full choreography practice video after class, either this week or next week, so you'll have the full version available soon.

Home practice suggestion: Shimmy!

If you've got no time, just do 30 second bursts of shimmy, plain or weighted, no music, just the knee action. If you do two bursts per day, that gives you 7 minutes of practice in a week, without really thinking about it.

If you've got 5 minutes, use the follow-along from the Weighted shimmy video from Week 6

If you've got more time than that, use my Shimmy Music Playlist, and try combining shimmies with different arm positions. 

EDITED TO ADD the music from the Walking Like a Dancer section. Its Manbaa Innar by Hossam Ramzy & Samy el Bably

 

If you use Spotify it's here. 

Beginners - Week 6

 Don't forget, it's half term next week (27th October). I'll be away on holiday, the centre will be shut, so there's no point turning up!

This week was for Learner Requests. This meant going over the Hip Drop.

The new technique (in the absence of further requests) was the Weighted Shimmy, where we allow the basic hip shimmy to move from one side to another. We also practised using the Arms drill from last week with the warm up dance.

We also consolidated the first half of the Choreography, introducing the short Bridge bit, that ends the first half of the routine, and the transition into the next section of the music.

Home practice suggestion: Shimmies!
Here's a shimmies video, that you can follow along with.

Or of course you can practise the Choreography.

Have an excellent break, and see you on 3rd November.

Beginners - Week 5

This week we continued to expand our technique, with new Forward Back step changeover variations, using the Take a Step Out option, and also the Add an Extra Step option.

We also worked on Arms. It's important to practise armwork with some hip or stepping action, so you get used to arms being part of your wider dance. Also remember to keep your back engaged and your shoulders down, so that your arms don't get tired.

Home practice suggestions. Either keep working on the choreography, or try some Arms practice.

Choreo: use this practice video (I've included it on the YouTube playlist). Watch it, so you can see how the music and the moves connect. Use the video to dance along with it. If you're feeling super-confident, try dancing it without looking!

Arms: use this practice video (I'll include it on the YouTube playlist). You can just watch it, to get a feel for arm shapes you can use, or better still practise along, copying what I'm doing. Even better, try finding your own arm shapes and patterns.

There's a talky bit at the start, for those that want a recap, or those that missed this session. If you want to go straight to the drill, it starts around 3m45s.

The music is "Adaptation" by House of Tarab.

Beginners - Week 4

 This week we used our existing technique:

• Circles, Figure 8s, side hits, hip drops, shimmy

And we covered new technique:

• Forward Back Step changeovers
• Grapevines, long with 7 steps, short with 3 steps

We used our basic techniques from the previous weeks to do a warm up dance, and we have started the Choreography to Hayatak Fi Soura

The music video is in the YouTube playlist.

If you're more into Spotify, the music is here.

I've updated the Youtube playlist with the Forward Back and Grapevine videos.

I'm leaving the choreography video for next week, but if you want to practice it before then, here are some notes:

Intro - start by standing with R foot posed, hands crossed at heart level

Cross step (R foot in front of L), hip drop L x 2, repeat to other side, cross step R foot hip drop L x 3 (different speed).

Grapevine x 4, travelling to R, stepping L foot in front of R first.

Repeat cross-step-drop & grapevines other way.

Verse 1

Hip drop R x 3, hip drop L x 3, hip drop R x 3 (different speed), figure 8 to RLR

Repeat Hip drops & figure 8 the other way.

The grapevines video includes a bit at the end about how they fit into the start of the choreo.

HOME PRACTICE

Bronze level - read the choreography notes above & use that to remember what we did

Silver level - read the choreography notes WHILE PLAYING the music video, so you can connect the music and the moves more firmly in your brain.

Gold level - practice the choreography with the music from the video. 

Platinum level - write about the choreography in your dance journal (or make some notes on your phone, or in your diary!). When you write about it, you think about it, which helps you to remember what you have done. You can say which bits you like, which bits are more of a challenge for you, how you like the music...