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March 2013
1 post
February 2013
4 posts
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This is the second set of fun tips to pack even more dance into your day, some are more challenging than before and there’s some tips for including stretching and strengthening too.
Click here to see the first edition.
On to the tips!
- Every time you have to pick something up from the floor, maya on the way down and taxim on the way up ( keep your back straight!)
- Practice your flutters All. The. Time. At work, on the commute, in the shower, out shopping, stirring the soup, waiting in line at the coffee shop..
- Can’t sleep at night? Lay on your back with your arms stretched out above your head, practise undulations up to down and down to up.
- Do some hip opening stretches when on the phone to a friend.
- Practise the corkscrew when heating something up in the microwave.
- Engage your abs when walking, everywhere.
- Choo choo shimmy around the house.
- Instead of your normal shimmy try throwing in a twist shimmy, oumi shimmy or pelvic shimmy throughout the day.
- Practise a hair flip when turning to look at a friend.
- Try some rib squares and circles at your desk at work.
How do you fit more dance into your day?
Mercedes Nieto Oriental Inspiration of the week:
Mercedes Nieto dancing to an oriental song
We hope these tips have inspired you in your belly dance practice, have fun!
Until next time,
Sign up for Undulate Updates here
If you liked this then you’ll love:
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We love our slow and sinuous movements like mayas and undulations in belly dance. However when the beat picks up, we want to be able to keep up with it! Being able to execute fast movements like choo choo shimmies and sharp hip and rib locks allows for greater choreographic freedom, adds excitement to your dancing and is a real test of strength and endurance.
Challenge yourself with a need for speed! Once you’re comfortable with a movement, whether that be undulations, oumis, figure-eights or any belly dance movement- try speeding it up.
Without going into a detailed explanation of counting out beats and timing in music, lets keep it simple:
· Either practise to faster songs or
· If you practise the movement for example rib slides from right to left counting from one to four, sliding to the right on the one, two, three and four, try speeding it up so the ribs slide right on the one and the ‘and’ in between, so the ribs slide to the right on one and two and three and four.
Make it happen (faster!):
Train your brain: Muscles move when the brain commands them to. So when building up speed, it’s not just the muscles that have to adjust to contracting and releasing faster but your brain also has to be trained to send signals faster too. With repetition the brain to muscle connection is strengthened.
Four counts slow, four counts fast: Drill a movement you want to speed up, for example hip singles for four counts at the speed you’re comfortable with, then for four counts at the next speed up. Then repeat and repeat. This is a great way of training both your brain and body to acclimatise to the faster speeds.
Make it smaller: a faster movement has to be a smaller movement as there simply isn’t enough time to cover the space you would when doing it slower and it’ll take more energy to try and do that. For example when you have eight counts to do an oumi you can make the circle much larger than you could in say two counts. Keeping it small helps the faster movements look neat and tight!
Keep your timing: when building speed it’s easy to fall into the trap of losing control and getting sloppy. When this happens go back to drilling four counts slow then four counts fast to build speed sustainably. It’s all about maintaining control! Also keep an eye on your posture.
Relax! Breathe! Try to relax your muscles as opposed to tensing them which will stifle movement. Remember the ‘release’ or pause in the movement even when its fast that will keep it looking sharp rather than sloppy
Once you become accustomed to faster speeds it can actually feel slow! You shouldn’t feel like you’re trying to keep up with the beat or that you’re ahead of it. Rather it’s that perfect feeling of being ‘one’ with the beat.
Be patient when it comes to building speed as it takes a combination of brain and muscle memory, strength, stamina and technique to nail it. Soon your shimmies will be supersonic!
Cello Improv Fusion Inspiration of the week:
Mira Betz & Djordje Stijepovic
We hope these tips have inspired you in your belly dance practice!
Until next time,
If you liked this then you’ll love:
Ladies!
Undulate has been nominated for the Best Bellydance Blog in the Daily Bellydance Quickies Compeition!!! :D
So please visit www.undulateshop.com and vote for Undulate here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/89RM8ZT
A vote for me is a vote for more shimmies!!! ;)
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration! And for posts not on Tumblr- visit www.undulateshop.com
Many dancers supplement their practice with strength building and conditioning exercises. You know the drill- situps, crunches, Pilates exercises. This week we have some rapid fire tips to help you push through the burn and have a better (and dare I say more enjoyable) workout!
Important! If exercise feels bad or painful stop immediately. The burn referred to here is the burning sensation felt in muscles when exercising.
Tips for beating the burn:
Breathe! Just breathe a lot!
Make breaths longer than reps. If you can inhale on one rep and exhale on the next it will feel much easier. Doing this during abdominal exercises will help you maintain breath control when belly dancing so you won’t be coordinating your inhales and exhales with your undulations and belly rolls.
I love this song! Play music you love when exercising and it will take your mind off the burn. I find this very helpful for getting though Suhaila squats!
Smile! Trick your body by smiling during the exercise or think to yourself ‘This is easy!’ It will become so!
Remember! As Tara Stiles says the burn fades quickly after you finish the exercise so keep going because it won’t last forever!
Also
If you’re doing ab exercises just think how much your belly dance ab movements will benefit. The same goes for working out the whole body!
Inspiration from the gorgeous Alla Kushnir
We hope these tips have inspired you in your practice!
Until next time,
If you like this then you’ll love:
- Combination Station: A winning sequence from Maria
- Give it Ten Hours
- Even MORE fun ways to pack more belly dance into your day!
January 2013
3 posts
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration! And for posts not on Tumblr- visit www.undulateshop.com
The world of belly dance can be veiled in mystery at times. So we’ve compiled some RAQ-ing facts and figures to make things clearer and impress your dance friends with!
Here we go..
- The term ‘Maya’ was coined by Jamila Salimpour when she saw a dancer called Maya Medwar performing the figure 8 up to down movement.
- The Belly Dancer of the Universe 2012 is Ashmina, from Mexico.
- International World Belly Dance Day is the second Saturday of May.
- The original members of The Indigo were: Rachel Brice, Michelle Campbell, Ariellah Aflalo and Janice Solimeno.
- Tito Seif is one of the most famous male belly dancers from Egypt.
- Kajira and Chuck Djoumahna are the founders of the famous Tribal fest belly dance event in Sebastopol, California.
- John Compton of Hahbi’Ru was taught by Jamila Salimpour. He was the first man to be admitted into her women-only classes.
- Men were not allowed in harems and bath houses in the Middle East so vintage orientalist paintings of belly dancers were drawn from the imagination of the painter rather than historical reality.
- Samia Gamal and Tahia Carioca were protégés of Badia Masabni.
- Pops and locks are recent additions to belly dance movement vocabulary, even travelling steps and spins were brought into the dance to adapt it to stage.
- The long shimmy recorded is three hours!
This week’s drum solo & belly flutter inspiration from Sadie:
Sadie Marquardt Belly Dance
Until next time,
If you liked this then you’ll love:
- Hitting your belly dance goals! ( part 1)
- Combination Station: Sharon Kihara drum solo Sign up to get the latest belly dance inspiration first!
Hey Ladies!
We are now sharing the love on Twitter! So shimmy along with with us there!
Tweet us at @Undulateshop
Love and Shimmies!!!
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration! And for posts not on Tumblr- visit www.undulateshop.com
This weeks update is a quickie on the corkscrew move in belly dance. It’s a combo most likely to be found in a tribal fusion dancers repertoire. Have a look at Zoe Jakes drilling the corkscrew. It’s a great way to practise rib and hip circles and is sure to add a little somethin’ somethin’ to your combinations!
The corkscrew:
Standing in dance posture, do a head circle, rib circle, then oumi ( interior hip circle.) That’s it!
Drill it nice and slow at first to makes the transitions looks seamless, drawing a spiral of energy down and up your body.
When you’ve got the hang of it try doing all the circles in the opposite direction
(clockwise or anti-clockwise) to what you did before.
Then try starting the corkscrew from the hips: so oumi, rib circle, head circle.
Then put the two together!
-Head circle, rib circle, oumi, oumi, rib circle, head circle. Woohoo!
Want more?
Try alternating the direction of the circles on the up or down so:
Clockwise head circle, rib circle, oumi, anti-clockwise oumi, rib circle, head circle.
And try this: Clockwise oumi, rib circle, head circle, anti-clockwise head circle, rib circle, oumi.
Shipwreck-fusion inspiration of the week:
«Antares» ⊰⊱ Gala show Antares B’Day ‘12.
Have fun with the corkscrew!
Until next time,
If you liked this then you’ll love:
December 2012
2 posts
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration! And for posts not on Tumblr- visit www.undulateshop.com
We’re so excited about this week’s oriental combination from Samia. This combo includes layering over footwork and some glamourous turns and backbends.
Level: Adventurous beginner
The combination begins at 2.19
samia belly dance - Raqia Hassan technique DVD
Combination:
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Step-together-step (chasse) starting on left foot with ¾ hips on the down starting left ( L,R, L)
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Step-together-step starting on right foot with ¾ hips on the down starting right ( R,L,R)
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Step-together-step with pelvic lock back
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Touch right foot in front with rib lock back
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Cross right foot over left and unwind spin and step back with small back bend
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Starting on left foot step-forward-side-back-side in place with shimmy
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Step left foot back on a diagonal with undulation and point right foot in the air
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Placc right foot behind and small back bend
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Pivot to face front and maya
She repeats the combination at 3.50
Enjoy!
Until next time,
N.B. Choreographies transcribed for Combination Station are meant purely as learning tools for home practise. Credit should always be given to the original choreographers when performing their routines.
If you like this then you’ll love:
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration! And for posts not on Tumblr- visitwww.undulateshop.com
Today we ask, why tuck?
Tucking the pelvis is an element of modern dance posture that’s seen as imperative to good technique and an attractive aesthetic. Often in dance class we learn how to stand or move in a certain way, but aren’t always told why, and what the benefits of doing it that way are. So here’s a list of reasons why you should tuck your pelvis when belly dancing.
- To eliminate belly dance back ache by taking the strain away from your back.
- To strengthen your abs & stabilise your core.
- To better isolate hipwork and make movements like figure 8s look ‘cleaner.’
- To protect your knees.
- To transition smoothly between movements as tucking helps to control your weight placement.
- Along with other elements of good posture tucking the pelvis helps to create a poised silhouette.
How to tuck:
Think less of actually tucking the pelvis under and more of engaging the lower abdominal muscles so that your tailbone points to the floor creating a flatter plane. It’s a controlled tilt of the pelvis rather than a forced uncomfortable tuck. Keeping the knees relaxed and bent will help.
Tip: Place your fingertips inside of your hipbones on both sides at the front to feel your psoas muscle engage when tucking.
Bonus tip! If visualisation helps then imagine that your pelvis is a bowl of water and you need to hold it so that no water splashes out in any direction. Some experimentation in front of the mirror will help.
Inspiration of the week:
Maria - Belly Dancer of the Year 2009 - BDOY’09 - 3
We hope these tips have helped you in your belly dance practice!
Until next time,
http://www.undulateshop.com
November 2012
3 posts
If you could ask your favourite belly dancer any question(s)-
- Who would it be?
- And what would you ask them?
Thanks Ladies!
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration! And for posts not on Tumblr- visit www.undulateshop.com
We’re so excited about this sparkly new bellyllist with an assortment of songs to soundtrack all your wildest fantasy belly dance dreams!
Sounds of the circus and faire like the accordion, violin, flute and chimes abound in this mix with a touch of the theatrical.
So shimmy along to the tracks on Undulate Bellylist 2: Dream time fantasy fusion!
Here’s a sampling of the tunes:
Ophelia’s Dance ఈ Solace (Tribal)
Dirtwire- Amphibian Circuits
Here’s the link again: Undulate Bellylist 2: Dreamtime fantasy fusion.
Enjoy!
Until next time,
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration!
If only there were more hours in the day! It seems that after all the hours spent at work, school keeping on top of laundry and fitting in a social life there’s no time let alone energy left to practise bellydancing! Oh no!Here are some fun tips to pack more dance into your day:
- The famous shimmy while you brush your teeth makes great start to the day.
- Dance parties can hit anytime, anywhere.
- Try some undulations and rib circles whilst in the car and at your desk.
- Shoulder shimmy whilst watching tv.
- Practise glute squeezes on the commute to work (just wear a flowy skirt or a long coat that day.)
- Walk in releve, everywhere.
- Contract your upper abs and lower abs alternately in line at the shops.
- Practise snake arms when waving to a friend.
- Shimmy for as long as it takes for the kettle to boil.
- Try belly rolls when you lie down to sleep at night.
- Good posture can be practised 24/7.
- Do wrist circles or floreos whilst waiting for the train or bus.
- Practise finger cymbal patterns whilst listening to your iPod, with or without zills.
How do you manage to to fit more dance into your day?
Video of the week:
Zoe Jakes Beats Antique pt 2 For Vanessa Feb 5 2010
We hope you’ve enjoyed these tips!
Until next time,
http://www.undulateshop.com
October 2012
5 posts
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration!
Combination station is a new segment on Undulate Updates where we transcribe the choreography from our favourite belly dance performances. We choose the snazziest combinations from top dancers for you to try at home.
This week’s drum solo combo comes from the brilliant Sharon Kihara in an early performance with the Bellydance Superstars.
Level: Beginner
The combination starts at 0.32
Combination:
Jump to the right. Hip locks right and left.
Step to face right. Pelvic lock back and front.
Step to face back. Hip locks right and left.
One and a half spin left to face front. Weight on left foot and right foot in releve. Lift hands in the air. Right hip lift.
Extend Right arm to side. Right hip drop and lift.
Repeat on left and right side.
Arms extended to the sides. Oumi (interior hip circle) then reverse undulation, locking the ribs up.
Let us know how you get on and Enjoy!
Until next time,
N.B. Choreographies transcribed for Combination Station are meant purely as learning tools for home practise. Credit should always be given to the original choreographers when performing their routines.
What is the biggest belly dance question or mystery for you that remains unanswered?
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration!
We go to belly dance class with the intention of learning, working hard and being open to every lesson we can learn- whether that be a new move or combination, or how to work well with others, how to really listen to the teacher or to respect the space of other students.
When we practice at home our goal is to maintain, strengthen and surpass our current skills safely.
And when we perform we set out to entertain the audience, create an atmosphere and express ourselves truly whether through emotion, a story, a message, costuming, music or a mixture of all of the above and more.
But when do we just let go and dance?
You may argue that all the while during class, practice and performance you’re dancing, and yes of course you’re right.
But behind all this the real motivation to dance is just, to dance.
I could go on about letting the music flow through you/expressing with your body what words cannot/ it being about the journey not the destination but you know all of that.
As Samuel Beckett Said:
‘Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order.’
And so it should be. In between and during class, drilling and performing make space for just dancing.
Dance is for expression whilst thought is for reflection. Let dance take precedence and think about it after.
This weeks video is just music for you to DANCE to!
1001 Nights (Alf leila w leila) HQ
Until next time,
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration!
As much as we love watching our favourite belly dancers on Youtube, we are still left wanting more. We want to learn about the dancer’s background, their inspirations, and more about their lives as a belly dance artists.
So here we have found a range of interviews that provide a glimpse of the realities of current belly dance professionals. So relax with a cup of tea and read over the words of some top dancers.
‘Dance is dance; it grabs us, infects us, inhabits our bodies and then influences our response to music both consciously and unconsciously.’
- Mira Betz describes her influences and creative process.
‘I don’t want us to forget that we are performance artists and we want to take the audience on a roller coaster, take them out of their seats and bring them on a crazy journey’
-Ariellah on performance art and her journey in belly dance (scroll down to read interview)
‘My mother Bellydanced while she was pregnant with me, so I believe it was one of the first ways I sensed the Earth.’
-Ansuya on her life in belly dance, her journey, inspirations and thought process.
‘I think it is important to create emotion by understanding the music a little bit better.’
-Jillina muses on her dance background and the americanisation of belly dance.
’Also, there’s this Roman tradition; they put cymbals under a newborn daughter’s pillow so she becomes a belly dancer when she grows up. ‘
-An insight into the mysterious life of Didem
Ariellah at Lumen Obscura
We hope these interviews have inspired you!
Until next time,
Sign up to get the latest belly dance inspiration first!
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September 2012
4 posts
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration!
In our belly dance journeys we all at one time reach a stumbling point, where we feel we aren’t getting any better and can’t reach the next level.
This could be as a result of having few or no teachers in your area, having mastered the beginners class without an intermediate/advanced level class to go to, or not being able to fit in the amount of practice that we’d like.
So how can we improve? Here are some suggestions:
- Use this time to build a strong foundation- don’t underestimate the value of practicing basic moves again and again. Drilling movements you already know serves to strengthen your skills and develop muscle memory. As Zoe Jakes said we can trick ourselves into thinking that practicing simple movements isn’t helping to make progress, when the reality is the opposite.
- Think of how well you can do basic moves like hip drops now compared to when you first began, and think of how much better they will look with consistent practice.
You can make progress with movements you already know well by:
- Focusing on technique, maintaining posture, and expressing feeling.
- Speeding up the move or slowing it down, whilst maintaining technique.
- If you’ve been practicing movements like mayas or hip singles always starting on the same side, try them on the opposite side to balance it out. Similarly with rib circles if you always start them in the front, try starting them from the low point of the circle and practice going both clockwise and anti-clockwise.
- Layering movements on top of a shimmy or travelling.
- Experiment with levels by performing moves in releve ( on your tip toes) or with demi plie all the while with good posture.
Get to the next level:
- Work on fitness and flexibility and see how that affects your dancing.
- Develop a good warm up and cool down routine to improve performance and prevent injury.
- Watch YouTube videos, go to belly dance performances and let it all sink in; Studies show that when we watch other people dance, the parts of the brain that control our movements become activated.
- Take online classes or get an instructional DVD.
- Keep a dance journal to measure your progress. As they say, what get’s measured gets improved and you are probably doing much better than you think!
- Teach your friends.
- Take another dance class in another form, cross training can inspire new moves and new combinations and fusions so see what a ballet, flamenco, Zumba, street dance or whatever class offered near you could add to your belly dance.
- Ask your teacher for guidance or take a private class.
- Start your own practice group with other dance in your class or area. You can all learn from each other and maybe even form a troupe!
- Remember why you belly dance: because you love it, or how it makes you feel, what it enables you to do and express. It’s the journey that matters not the goal. Top dancers continually practice to maintain and improve their level. So enjoy the moment where you are right now and continue as you mean to go on!
We hope this post has inspired you!
Until next time,
Sign up to get the latest belly dance inspiration first!
This post is from a recent Undulate Update, if you want more sign up here for weekly belly dance inspiration!
Everyone loves a good quote and here are a few of our favourites to keep in mind when dancing, or thinking about dancing, which is all the time.
Belly dance makes women feel good about themselves, when women feel good, the world feels better!
-Undulate
I used to think that I lived for belly dance. Now I know it’s when I’m belly dancing that I am truly alive.
-Lorna Gow
“When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way.”—Wayne Dyer
“I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.”— Mikhail Baryshnikov
“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche”
It takes an athlete to dance, but an artist to be a dancer.”
-Shanna La Fleur
While I dance I can not judge, I can not hate,
I can not separate myself from life.
I can only be joyful and whole. This is why I dance.
—Hans Bos
If to dance is to dream, then you make dreams come true.—Anonymous
“Dancing should look easy; like an optical illusion. It should seem effortless. When you do a difficult variation, the audience is aware that it is demanding and that you have the power and strength to do it. But in the end, when you take your bow, you should look as if you were saying, ‘Oh, it was nothing. I could do it again.’”
—Bruce Marks
Do it big, do it right and do it with style.
—Fred Astaire
Is it possible that the first dance ever done by a woman was the belly dance? If we could peer back through the haze of time and secretly watch our cave sister, what kind of a dance do you think she would be doing? The belly dance, of course!
-Serena Wilson, excerpt from The History of Belly Dance
I get up. I walk. I fall down. Meanwhile, I keep dancing.
- Hillel
Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.
-Martha Graham
There are likewise three kinds of dancers: first, those who consider dancing as a sort of gymnastic drill, made up of impersonal and graceful arabesques; second, those who, by concentrating their minds, lead the body into the rhythm of a desired emotion, expressing a remembered feeling or experience. And finally, there are those who convert the body into a luminous fluidity, surrendering it to the inspiration of the soul.
-Isadora Duncan
I do everything I know how in a dance.-Twyla Tharp
Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.
-Alvin Ailey
Keeping these quotes in mind here’s a gorgeous performance of Ana Bastanek by Aida:
We hope these quotes have inspired you!
Until next time,
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