Remember we only have one more session left, before the Easter break. If there's anything you want to go over, let me know and I'll plan it in for next week.
I started with some shimmy practice, including an exercise in varying your shimmy to suit your music. I used the start of this piece of music, by Hossam Ramzy:
The point of the exercise was to listen to the rise and fall of the music, and adapt our shimmy intensity accordingly. If the music was high-pitched or quick, the shimmy was smaller and tighter. If it was slower, deeper, then the shimmy was slower and looser. Try it! Nothing fancy, just listening to the music and trying to respond to what you're hearing. This exercise works with the first 3m 25 seconds of the piece, before the other instruments and the beat come in.
By the way, this musical instrument is called an Oud and it's basically a lute. Fun fact - the word "lute" comes from the arabic, el oud.
This week we did a bit of technique work on Hip Twists - not too much because twists can lead very easily to getting a stitch! We did some twists on the spot, briefly, mainly for practice, and then used them as an accent, with a shimmy or with a walk. Then we used the twist as a travelling movement.
We also worked on a movement combination that I call a 1-2-3-Ee-Ee(!) This isn't a move I use very often in itself, but I really should, because it's nice and swingy. We did this on the spot and travelling.
Edited, at long last, to add the video clips...
I said the videos would be coming, but I was rather late with them, so my apologies about that. Here they are now. First the Hip Twists:
And now the 123-Ee-Ee
The lesson observation last week went very well and my manager was very impressed with how you are all progressing and how much you have gained from your studies. Well done, and thank you for shining right when I needed you to shine!
Tonight we did a bit of recap work on the Camels and Shimmy Layering from last week, as part of the warm up.
The new technique we covered were Hip Lifts and Shoulder shimmies (not together!)
Hip Lifts are part of the Sharp Family of Moves, but it can be hard, sometimes, to get that sharpness, because they aren't quite as punchy as other Sharp moves. They are closely connected with the Hip Drop (remember when you have to do your prep for the drop by lifting the hip), and also the Hip Push (because it's another way of making the "empty" hip move upwards for the accent). The Hip Lift is more muscular and intense. It's not a move we use very often on its own, but it works really well as a travelling move.
Shoulder shimmies are lovely addition to your upper body repertoire. Remember the movement is rotational, so your shoulders are moving forward and back. Try to keep your shoulders open, by focusing on the backward part of the move. Otherwise you can get quite hunched up. Don't worry about the speed so much - this is a much harder move to speed up than our hip shimmies. Shoulder shimmies are usually used as an embellishment, or an accent in most bellydance, but it is used quite a lot in Saudi (Khaligi) and Iraqi dance.
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.
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.
This week we worked on more technique:
HOME PRACTICE
Practise the Hip Shimmy, see how long you can keep it going. Aim for a couple of minutes, but you might surprise yourself!
Remember, keep the movement small so that you can build up speed more easily, and keep breathing!
There is a shimmy practice video in the Practice Youtube Playlist.
You can use this music playlist to shimmy along to:
