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HOW TO BE A GOOD BELLY DANCE STUDENT
Belly dance takes lots of time, energy, practice, and most of all, commitment. Belly dance is a dance form like any other and thus, takes years of dedication to perfect. Have you recently started belly dancing classes and want to improve? Here are 5 great tips that are sure to help you on your way to belly dance success:
- Take as many classes/ workshops as possible: Taking lots of classes is so important to achieving your bellydance goals. One class a week is good, but to really gain a greater understanding of the movements and to constantly drill it into your muscle memory, it is useful to take 2 or more classes per week.
- Practice, Practice, Practice: This one is near and dear to my heart. As a beginner student of bellydance, I loved the classes, the music, and the movements. I did the above advice, taking every single class that I possibly could, but then I would go home, be content with my classes, and never practice! It took a long time to finally instill a practice ethic in me, but because of it, my dancing has improved exponentially in a much shorter period of time. After each class, practice your new movements right away to instill it into your movement vocabulary; otherwise, you might forget and have to start all over again the following class!
- Take Notes: Note-taking after your belly dance class will speed up your learning process and help you tremendously. As a beginner, I became obsessed with this dance form and took as many classes per week as I could. This was fantastic, except that I seldom took notes. This is my biggest regret as a student. Now, whenever I am taking dance classes or workshops, I always carry a notebook and pen with me to jot down new ideas, movements, and combinations that I found interesting.
Remember, these classes are for you so make the best of them! Also, at the end of class, feel free to ask your instructor to clarify important ideas that you want to jot down; your teachers are your best source to enhance your bellydance knowledge. - Try Out Other Dance Styles: Classes in ballet, jazz, modern, Classical Indian, Bollywood, and even hip-hop can be immensely useful for belly dancers. All of these dance forms teach us different ways to utilize our arms, carriage, and legs that can add a lot to belly dance technique. Also, audiences love fusion performances of Belly dance and other dance styles.
- Take Your Time and Be Humble: Once we fall in love in bellydance, we sometimes tend to fall hard. I fell in love very quickly and thought that I had become a professional dancer, knowing everything I could possibly need to know about belly dance, after only one year of study!
Sometimes the movements may come easy to us at first and this may make us feel as though we should be dancing at weddings, gala shows, and theatres in no time; however belly dance is a lifelong learning experience. To truly start the process of becoming a professional dancer, we need at least two years of intense bellydance movement training, as well as learning to use props, understanding Arabic music, rhythms, musicality, and stage presence. Take your time, practice, practice, practice, and don’t rush. Remember that you will never know everything about this dance form, but the wonderful thing is that you can keep on learning for the rest of your life!
QUESTIONS FROM STUDENTS
I recently took up belly dancing and it is a lot harder than it looks by the way. I just have a quick question for you; I find it really hard to maintain the posture (tucked hips, back straight). I always end up losing that tuck, so I was wondering if you have any tips.
Thank you so much
Agnes
Hi Agnes,
I'm glad to hear you're taking up belly dance classes! It is quite a challenge. With regards to your question, I would suggest really focusing on engaging your stomach muscles; for now, that might mean just sucking in your lower stomach slightly so that it is constantly active when you are executing your movements. This does not mean that your tuck has to be very big; the goal here is that your spine should be straight in order to prevent injury and look esthetically pleasing.
I would suggest that when practicing your movements, drill them as you're thinking about engaging your lower stomach muscles and having active muscles. This may take some time (especially when you're learning new movements and focused entirely on doing the movement and not on your posture), but keep practicing and it will eventually happen. Don't forget that good belly dance posture also includes slightly bent knees, a lifted chest, dropped shoulders, a long neck, and your head lifted. Good luck!
Teressa