January 2013 Beginners' Class

As we count down the final days of 2012, we also draw everyday nearer to an annual tradition:  New Years' Resolution time.  If it's always on your list, why not make this the new year you take the plunge and give belly dance a try?

Through February 13, I'm teaching Wednesday nights at 8:30 at Ral'eau Salsa, 300 W, 43rd St. (corner of 8th Ave.), 6th floor.  This is a session-format course where each lesson builds on previously-taught material, and although drop-ins are permitted at any time during the session, the course is designed for students who start together and continue together every week.  I recommend that new beginners start this week, January 2, or if you are not able to make this date, start no later than January 9. 

For more information, see RSalsa.net.

I look forward to dancing with you in 2013!

What You'll Learn (or Miss) on June 23 and 24

I'll be teaching the choreography in the clip below, along with technique and other material, in my upcoming NYC workshops.



To learn more about the dance in this video, see my blog entry on my sister site, autumnward.blogspot.com. Workshop information here.

Upcoming NYC Workshops

Complete info here.

This Saturday, May 12: Egyptian Alignment and Hipwork Technique Intensive

On the agenda for this Saturday, in the third of five sessions in my "Oriental Dance Deconstructed" workshop series:

We’ll begin with a comprehensive overview of the kinesthetic anatomy of the core, individually locating the psoas, quadratus, oblique abdominal, rectus abdominal, and transverse abdominal muscles, then recruit these muscles into action to initiate Egyptian isolations:

•    Up-and-down hips (in the manner of Soheir Zaki) with travel variations
•    Lumbar contract-and-release accents with weighted, unweighted, and travel variations
•    Weighted down "internal" styling for small hip circles
•    Weighted hip articulations to the front, with Fellahi, Oriental, and Social dance variations
•    Weighted and unweighted twists
•    Several step-touch variations
•    3 Egyptian Double Drop variations
•    Egyptian styling for horizontal-plane figures of 8
•    Several "jewel" movements (compound twisting-and-shifting vocabulary), travel and pivot variations, and jewel transitions
•    Large hip circles
•    Hagallah shimmy
•    Straight-leg Egyptian shimmy

If time permits, we'll also revisit some of last session's undulation vocabulary, and look at compound Egyptian movements with undulation elements.

Depending on the headcount, I'm considering a venue change, so if you're coming please either pay in advance to confirm your spot, or contact me personally with a definite commitment to pay at the door.

The prepay discount is officially gone, but if you're able to pay in advance this week for the last three sessions of the series (Egyptian hipwork this Saturday;  Arms, Shoulders, Hands, and Head Isolations on 5/19; and Footwork and Turns on June 16), I can offer you a slightly reduced rate.  (Single sessions are $30 each).  Call or email.

Paypal link:
http://naturalbeautybellydance.blogspot.com/p/pay-for-class-in-advance-to-confirm.html

Contact me at:  AutumnWard@gmail.com, 917-686-1622, or if we're "friends" you may send me a message via Facebook.

Coming Up: “Undulations, Vertical 8s, and Ribcage Isolations” on April 21

Undulations, Vertical 8s, and Ribcage Isolations is the second of a five-part workshop series, Oriental Dance Deconstructed.  This week's syllabus includes:

• Pelvic Undulations
over a basic stance 
over a staggered stance 
walking forward and back 
turning and traveling sideways 
with level-change variations 
over one foot, with 2 variations (lyrical and Saidi) for following through with the free leg 
over one foot with 3 twisting variations and modern Egyptian variation 
undulation stylization for hip drops and double drops 
undulation stylization for horizontal-plane figures of 8 

• Reverse pelvic undulations with travel variations
• Horizontal-plane ribcage circles
• Vertical ribcage circles, “U”s, and “n”s
• Chest lifts and drops
• Sagittal ribcage circles and reverse sagittal ribcage circles
• Beledi step-touch and other accenting with sagittal ribcage circles
• Full-torso undulations
• Upper body figures of 8 up, down, and twisting 
• Lower body figure of 8 up and down ("maya") with American, Egyptian, and Turkish variations for flat feet and lifting heels
• Single-hip vertical circles with travel variations
• Full torso figure of 8 up and down with American, Egyptian, and Turkish variations for flat feet and lifting heels
• Egyptian "up and over" 8
• Lower body or full torso 8s as a stylization for shimmies and hip drops
• Full-torso undulation accents
up to the front
up to the back
down to the back
up to the side
down to the side 

If time permits, we'll also look at some techniques for safe backbends, and incorporating backbends into undulations and upper body circles.

If you have not yet confirmed your spot, please pre-pay or RSVP.  Please note, registration is closed for the Foundations session at 2:00, but spots remain for the Master class from 3:00 -5:00.

Last Call for Registrations: "Precision Hipwork" on March 31

If you have not yet confirmed your spot, please pre-pay or RSVP before noon on Thursday 3/29.

Precision Hipwork is the first of a five-part workshop series, Oriental Dance Deconstructed. 

This week we'll examine leg-driven movements that give you the greatest degree of isolation in the lower body.  This is the vocabulary you need for balancing, for the greatest range of layering options, and for poised, elegant, "crystal-clean" hipwork for theatrical Oriental dance.  We will dissect:

• Side-to-Side Tilts, Double Side-to-Side Tilts, and Lifted-Heel Side-to-Side Tilts
• Walking and Turning with Side-to-Side Tilts
• Push and Pull Travel Steps for Side-to-Side Tilts
• Soft-knee Shimmy  (A useful counterpart to the straight-leg Egyptian shimmy, which we'll cover May 12.) 
• Unweighted Hip Drops, "n"s, "m"s, and Traveling "n"s.
• Basic Double Drop
• Two Types of Triplet ("3/4") Shimmy
• Upward-Tilting Small Hip Circle

I'll be presenting this material twice:  Foundations from 2:00-3:00 for continuing beginners, and a Master Class from 3:00-5:00 for more advanced students.   For this Saturday only, the cost is $18 for the Foundations hour, or $25 for the Master Class.  Pay in advance for all five workshops at a discounted rate of $75 (Foundations) or $125 (Master Classes).

What You Learned (or Missed) at Melissa's March 24 "Effortless Expression" Workshop

Not even your toughest questions stump Melissa V.

Thanks to Melissa Voodoo for an enlightening afternoon of somatically-informed dance inspiration at 440 Studios.  We started the workshop with matwork, moving through mobility and coordination sequences to connect to our shoulders, hips, and core, then melted away remaining blockages with an intensive session of self-care trigger-point myofascial release using pinkie balls.

Fluid, open, and energized, we moved on to a series of poetic visualization exercises, exploring a part of the "core" that's rarely discussed in dance class -- the internal organs.  While I routinely connect to the physical (and emotional) sensations of belly dance movements rippling through the general visceral area of the "belly," the idea of integrating awareness of specific organs was brand new to me.  Focusing on the liver, spleen, and reproductive organs, Melissa led a short passage of dance movement to massage these areas, then opened the floor to experimentation with the highly metaphoric idea of organ-initiated movement.  I loved the feeling of leading with my liver!  I was surprised, too, at the range and ease of movement I uncovered in my spine and abdomen.  I've never felt constricted in my waist (I am naturally flexible, and one of my early training challenges was actually to make my movements smaller), but I was amazed to see my undulations—which I've long considered to be "done," and as perfect as I can make them—become even more deeply articulated.

Intentionality, language, and the poetic aspect of belly dance have always informed my dancing and teaching, so I really appreciated Melissa's use of imagery and her more esoteric appreciation of movement and sensation.  Her teaching, however, was balanced by plenty of straight-up anatomy, so that even those dancers who aren't instinctively wired to "go deep" could use her techniques to unlock freer and more precise dance articulation.  I came away from the workshop feeling tall, tranquil, and excited about using and sharing Melissa's material.  Thank you Melissa V!

What You Learned (or Missed) This Winter

This is a cameraphone clip of "Halcyon," (the choreography I taught as "Dryad Dance") earlier this year.  The music is "Keridwen and Gwion" from the German ensemble Faun.

Join NBBD's Meetup Group

If you'd like to hear about class offerings via Meetup.com, here's the link to join Natural Beauty Belly Dance's Meetup group:

http://www.meetup.com/NaturalBeautyBellyDanceNYC/

From Thursday Night's Class

"If you take my joy away from me, you destroy the beauty of yourself."