Friday, October 15, 2010

Bellydance Homework

Here are a few drills and combinations I wrote on my Bellydance Willow Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/bellydancewillow). All notation is written out and abbreviated in SS Format.

All Students - Work on isolating the upper and lower abdominal muscles separately. Just the upper - contract and release. Just the lower - contract and release. Then work on alternating the contractions between the upper and lower abdominal muscles, eventually smoothing it out into a belly roll.

B1 Students - Begin walking quarter time (1/4t) downbeat Right. Add alternating glute squeezes half time (1/2t) downbeat Right (DbR). You will do two glute squeezes (R L) for every step. When you are ready, increase the walking tempo to half time (1/2t) and the glute squeezes to full time (1/1t).

B2 Students - Walk 3 counts, Low Jazz Passe' on 4 (Walk23 Passe') Half Time (1/2t) downbeat right (DbR). Alternating glute squeezes full time (1/1t) downbeat right (DbR). Finger Cymbals 3's. When you feel comfortable with the alternating glute squeezes, change the bellydance move to twists. Everything else stays the same.

Layer Drill - Pas de Bourre' full time (1/1t) downbeat right (DbR). Twists full time (1/1t) downbeat left (DbL). Undulation Up to Down (UtD) half time (1/2t) downbeat upper back (DbUB). Finger Cymbals - 4 5 5.

Interval training is more effective than steady state aerobic activity. Short bursts of high intensity activity followed by short intervals of low intensity activity/recovery, rinse, repeat. Start incorporating bursts of Double Time Glute Squeezes with Double Time Footwork aka Running Shimmies, into your daily routine. You will develop your shimmies, glute and leg strength and increase your cardiovascular health!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Bellydance video tapes and DVD's for sale

I have dozens of bellydance VHS tapes and DVD's for sale. Tapes $5 each - DVD's $10 each. Shipping $5 per order, for as many titles as you want.

I have been collecting these titles for almost 20 years and have been influenced by all of these beautiful dancers in some way.

I would love to share these videos with others so they can benefit from these amazing dancers as I have.

Please see available titles in my Facebook Photo Album - Videos and DVD's Available.

Please contact me at "bellydancewillow (at) gmail (dot) com" if you are interested in purchasing any of these titles.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

September 2010 Newsletter

View this newsletter as a web page.


It's been some time since I sent out a newsletter. I hope you have been enjoying this beautiful summer as much as I have. I've been very busy with many dance and non-dance related activities.

On the dance front…

The Ranya Renee workshop in June was very well attended and fantastic as always. Ranya has such a fun way of teaching and explaining thing. She brought in Egyptian bellydance technique and combinations that were interesting and challenging, and everyone who attended enjoyed the workshop immensely! I hope to *possibly* be bringing Ranya with another amazing teacher, Roula Said, to Kingston for workshops sometime later this fall.

I had the pleasure of attending the Theatrical Bellydance Conference in New York City in July, hosted by Ranya Renee and Anasma. The two of them organized an amazing 3 days of workshops and shows with fantastic instructors from around from around the country, as well as Canada. The workshops not only complemented and built upon each other throughout each day, but each workshop was another puzzle piece in my ever expanding knowledge of bellydance and how to incorporate theatricality into performance, class and personal dance practice. The workshops were very well presented and touched on deep subjects that left the attendees inspired and emotionally charged. For weeks after the Conference, I felt the effects of having my mind and heart opened by the unique content and generosity of the instructors.

In addition to the workshops, I attended several of the shows in conjunction with the Conference. The dinner shows at Je'Bon were full of fantastic music played by Scott Wilson and friends on Friday night and Beatbox Guitar on Saturday night. The calibre of dancing by the performers from around the world was very high and I enjoyed every minute of every performance! The curated theatrical shows at the DNA Theater were exceptional and awe-inspiring. Each performance captured the audience with deeply portrayed emotions and story line that I've not seen much elsewhere within the bellydance community.

I am already looking forward to the 2011 Theatrical Bellydance Conference. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in going deeper into dance beyond just the study and practice of technique and choreography. All of the instructors at the conference have either a strong background in theater arts or a lifetime of practice and refinement of their art, as well as a strong professional bellydance career.

I also had the privilege of attending a couple of intensive workshops with Donna Mejia of Smith College over the Summer. Jenny Cohen hosted her in a hafla and workshop in late June and I attended an intensive workshop with her in Massachusetts this past weekend.

Donna teaches more than just bellydance technique. Her workshops begin with an intensely muscular yoga and stretching warm-up, followed by dance combinations and technique drills that take you into a level of dance and movement we rarely enter within the confines of bellydance. She is truly a fusion teacher who has decades of dance training and a deep sensitivity to the subtle nuances of body movement and kinesthetics. I have included a video of Donna Mejia in performance for your viewing pleasure.

Other than dance, I've been spending the summer swimming in beautiful Catskill Mountain swimming holes, bicycling, motorcycling, camping, attending festivals and just spending quality time with family and friends.

Whew, the hardest part of writing this newsletter for me is the editorial. It's what takes me so long to get them out. I never know what to write. But it's done! Now on to the shameless promotion, without which no one would know what was going on or how to find out… ;)~

Much Love,
Willow

_______________________________________________________

RAKKASAH - The biggest bellydance festival on the East Coast - is almost here! Running from October 4-10, Rakkasah host many top-notch instructors from across the country in a week of workshops followed by 3 days of performances by bellydancers of all levels and styles!

There are vendors selling everything from practice clothing to costumes, jewelry, accessories, CD's, DVD's, and musical instruments. Anything and everything relating to bellydance can be found at Rakkasah.

Crimson Gypsy Designs is pleased to announce we will be vending our line of BDYWear at Rakkasah! We have a vending space in the SIDE VENDING ROOM, which is down the hallway on the right if you are facing the stage. We will be selling all of our popular styles of tops and pants, as well as a couple of new styles of shrugs and cute skirts to wear over your pants! Come check out our booth and make sure you bring lots of $$$, because you won't be able to resist our clothes!

If there is something you would like to have made for you to be picked up at Rakkasah, please contact us ASAP, as we are in heavy production at this very moment!

While I did not get a specific performance spot in the initial call-in, I will be putting my name on the stand-by list if a performance spot opens up. Hopefully I will get to perform at Rakkasah and share the love I have for this dance with all of you once again!

_______________________________________________________

My bellydance classes have been going strong all summer and I am very blessed to have such a loyal following of beautiful and inspiring women who study bellydance with me.

This week, September 1, we will begin another 8-week series from the basic moves through more complex compound moves. We will incorporate foot patterns that we will drill in our warm-up, as well as beautiful arm patterns and expression. As always, the B2/Intermediate class will continue to work on finger cymbal patterns in conjunction with bellydance moves and footwork.

At the end of the 8-week series, new students will have a good foundation of the basic and beyond-basic moves that are applicable to any style of bellydance. Continuing students will delve deeper into the moves they've been working on, and will be able to use them with more depth of creativity and expression in their own dance.

Please see my class schedule on the side bar or visit my website for more information about my classes.

_______________________________________________________

Effective September 1, class fees will increase slightly. Here is the new schedule of fees for Bellydance Classes with Willow in Kingston, NY:

Drop-In - $15
Drop-In Two Classes/OneNight - $25
Monthly Card - $50
Monthly Two Classes/One Night - $90
Please note that if you pay the monthly rate, this is for the full month of classes whether you are able to attend every class or not.

These increases are slight and I feel they are reasonable. However, if you wish to attend bellydance class and there is a financial difficulty, please contact me to see if we can work something out. I'd rather have you in class than not due to financial problems.

_______________________________________________________

As promised, here is a performance video by the wonderful Donna Mejia. I hope you enjoy it!


You can find more performance videos by searching for Donna Mejia on Youtube.

_______________________________________________________

Word of mouth is the best advertising in these tough economic times.

If you know anyone who might like the contents of this newsletter, please forward it to them using the links at the top or bottom of this page!

And remember, I never want to be anyone's spam. If you are not interested in receiving this newsletter, please use one of the unsubscribe links at the top or bottom of this page.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

2010 - My Year in Dance Thus Far

What a year in dance this has been for me so far. I certainly can't blog about the whole past 6 months, but here are some of the highlights from the first part of 2010 in dance for me.

  • Learning Angelique's Cheetah choreographies for "The ZOO" show was a crazy experience. We began the choreographies in January and I barely felt ready to perform by the middle of April. "Ampersandstorm" was the fastest and most athletic choreography I'd ever done. Drum solos are always fun and I think the Angelique Bellydance Collective performed the choreographies most excellently. Every new choreography that Angie gives us is a whole new set of challenges and an intense, deeply involved learning experience.
  • Performing in "The ZOO" was quite an experience. Performance here. It was so much fun being included in such a beautifully and professionally produced show in NYC. Performing with the Angelique Bellydance Collective is a privilege and honor. The talent and creativity of everyone involved was absolutely inspiring. I've wanted to be in a Venus Uprising show since the first one I saw a few years ago. So I was thrilled to be involved with a group that was invited to perform in one. At the end, though, we were all so totally wiped out from driving in and out of NYC and the adventures involved in that and performing for three days in a row.
  • Spring Caravan in May is always a lot of fun! It's really my favorite bellydance festival. Vending went very well. I loved performing with Beatbox Guitar. Pete List and Rob Mastrianni are such awesomely talented musicians. The Saturday night afterparty at Spring Caravan was insane! It was Beltane and the fire energy was crazy! The music was incredible, the energy was outrageous and seeing everyone the whole weekend was a blast!
  • In early June I hosted Ranya Renee in a Modern Egyptian-style workshop which was well attended by the local bellydance community. Ranya's teaching is full of feeling, beautiful lines, technique, footwork, choreography and such an innate sense of how to feel and interpret the Egyptian music. She is so full of knowledge, humor and a genuine desire to teach and share what she knows. It's always a pleasure to study with Ranya. I highly recommend her DVD's to everyone interested in Egyptian-style bellydance and am looking forward to the release of her new Taksim DVD! I got to see some sneak-peeks of it while she and I were discussing costume ideas for upcoming DVD's she is planning.
  • Jenny Cohen hosted Donna Mejia in New Windsor June 26-27. Donna is an extremely intelligent, thoughtful, well researched teacher who's style is compassionate, relaxed and very open to sharing her passion and everything she knows. Her performance at the Saturday night hafla was electrifying and inspiring - even though she was suffering from cat allergies! Her lecture on Sunday was eye-opening and informative. She shared very important information that I feel anyone who has a true passion about Middle Eastern or any ethnic dance, and especially teachers, should have. Her dance and movement instruction was full of a lifetime of wisdom and understanding of how the body moves and how to use it thoughtfully and effectively.
  • On-going, I just want to give a shout out to my students and say what a pleasure it is to be their teacher. Teaching bellydance is very rewarding, in that I get to share this dance that I am passionate about and I get to see the progress and share in the enjoyment of it with people who also share my passion. Every week I learn from my students and I love and cherish every one of them. I strive to always be open to learning whether I am in the role of teacher or student.
  • I also spent a lot of time at home with my husband and son in May and June. We didn't go out or do much, but it was a great time to recharge my batteries and reflect, which it seems I really needed. That lull brings me full force into July and August, which are full of activity, energy and exciting prospects!
Whew... Upcoming schedule, events and ramblings in the next post.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Bellydance Homework

Footwork Combinations to practice - Enjoy!

  • Combination 1
  • Starting Right - Step Touch - 4 counts
  • 3-step turn to the Right, starting on Right foot - Twist Left on last count - 4 counts
  • Repeat to other side starting with Left foot.



  • Combination 2
  • Footwork - Front, Middle, Back, Middle on Right foot - 4 counts
  • Push Turn Forward on Right (turning to the left) - 4 counts
  • Repeat



  • Combination 3
  • Chasse' back Full Time (RLR LRL) - 4 counts
  • Cross Touch - 4 counts
  • Chasse' forward Full Time - 4 counts
  • Cross Touch - 4 counts



  • Combination 4
  • Chasse' back Full Time (RLR LRL) - 4 counts
  • Walk forward 3-steps starting on Right foot, Passe' Left on count 4 - 4 counts
  • Chasse' back Full Time (LRL RLR) - 4 counts
  • Walk forward 3-steps starting on Left foot, Passe' Right on count 4 - 4 counts
Repeat entire combination to different types and tempos of music. See how the feel of the music makes your moves feel different. Express the feeling of the music in the moves.

Any questions, e-mail me - bellydancewillow (at) gmail (dot) com

Have fun and don't forget to do your squats and glute squeezes!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Bellydance Homework

From time to time, I will leave homework here for my students. Feel free to use these combinations for your own practice. Remember, it's not just what you do in class that will make you a better dancer, it's what you do OUT of class that matters most!

Walking Half Time - Playing longa (3's) continually. The third beat of every set will be the downbeat.

When you are comfortable playing 3's, intersperse 7's in the 3's evenly spaced. 337 337 or 373 373.

For a challenge, play 3 4 3 4 - R L R RLRL R L R RLRL, while walking.

When you are comfortable, add Pelvic Locks Full Time Downbeat Back.

Don't forget to work these combinations backwards, and to each side.

More in class...