Belly dance is a wonderful way to get fit, have fun and meet wonderful people. The world of belly dance is very welcoming and you will find fabulous classes available in many cities across the world. Your first step in your belly dance journey is to find a teacher, who can introduce you to the key moves, musicians and dance styles. He or she should inspire you to practice hard, research the history of belly dance outside class time, and make every moment fun.

Step One: What are your Needs?
You have decided to start belly dance classes ! - Congratulations. Now we have to find you the perfect teacher. There are many things to consider such as your fitness level, your determination and your dreams. Some teachers run fitness classes where burning calories is the main aim, and there are never performance opportunities. Others nurture solo performers from the very first class. Some teachers use choreography to teach the basic moves (using moves in set patterns), others encourage improvisation (Using the moves as they suit the music). There are teachers who laugh and joke their way through every lesson, and teachers who expect focus and dedication.

Step Two: Finding Belly Dance Teachers in your Area
Now you know what you want, its time to find your perfect teacher. Start by making a list of teachers in your area, exploring their web sites and finding out about their style of teaching. Here are a few ways to start your search:

• Use a good search engine. Enter your home town plus different spellings of Belly Dance (Bellydance, belly dance, Middle Eastern Dance, M.E.Dance...)
• Contact your local City Park and Recs or Adult Education officer.
• Ask at your local fitness center, sports center, yoga or dance studio.
• Search Facebook for belly dance groups in your city or state.
• Visit on line listings. Currently the largest available is on www.Shira.net

Step Three: Choosing your Belly Dance Teacher
When examining the belly dance teachers web sites look for the following info:

• When do they teach?
• What do they teach?
• What is their style of teaching?
• What performance opportunities do they provide?
• How much are the classes?
• Can you take just one, or do you commit to a semester?

While some teachers focus on the general theme of belly dance, others specialize from the very first class. Here are some common styles of belly dance:

Ethnographic : These are the belly dances of a particular country. You may find a teacher who focuses on Greek, Persian, Turkish or Egyptian dance.
Glam: These are the belly dance styles that are all about performance. The classes may be described as American Cabaret, Raks Sharki or modern Egyptian.
Fusion: These are modern belly dance styles that mix belly dance with other forms of dance. The most common are the Tribal dances, which may be FCBD (Fat Chance Belly Dance), ATS (American Tribal Style), ITS (Improvised Tribal Style) or Tribal Fusion.

Once you know what kind of dance your teacher prefers, you can find video clips to better understand their style.
Contact your favorite teachers and send them a brief message asking if you can join their class. Some classes have waiting lists, or particular start dates for new students.

Step Four: Attending your First Class!

Finally, its time to attend your first class! Here are a few ways to make it a stress free experience:

• Check out your venue ahead of time. You don't want to be lost or looking for parking as the class is starting.
• Arrive five minutes early. You may have to complete paperwork or pack your belongings into a locker.
• Wear comfortable clothing and layers.
• Bring a coin belt or some fabric to tie at your hips.
• Pack water in a no spill container.
• Ask for a list of class rules. While not all teachers have a printed list, many studios do prefer to clarify the rules at the first visit.

Enjoy partying with your new classmates ! | 

Final Thoughts

Belly Dance classes are fun, friendly and a great mood lifter. If you find the right class for you, you will grow as a dancer and discover many new ways of expressing yourself. If you find the wrong teacher, please try again! Just as their are good and bad hairdressers, so their are good and bad belly dance teachers. If you have the passion to dance, keep searching until you find the perfect teacher for you. Happy Belly Dancing !

Studying with a real live bellydance teacher, in a real studio, with real corrections may be the best way to become a better dancer, but this option is not always open to all of us.  With this in mind I wanted to suggest my top ten ways to study from home:

New dancers should focus on the basic moves, but the internet is full of lessons with "not very good dancers" who could do your technique more harm than good.  Zara is an excellent dancer, who is currently employed to dance at all the top venues in Cairo.  Her dance classes are aimed at home dancers and those who are new to belly dance.  However, if you are an intermediate or advanced dancer you will know the importance of drilling your basics.  I love these videos because she teaches in Arabic, with English subtitles, which means i'm picking up key phrases in Arabic as I drill.  Zara is from the UK, so her Arabic has an English accent, which is super cute, and helps me better understand what she is saying.  Learn to dance in Arabic and be ready for a workshop with an Arabic speaking teacher ! 

Zill playing is one of those skills that needs constant practice.  Its also perfect to practice if you ever need a few weeks off from dancing.  Sahira is my favorite on-line teacher and her zill playing is beyond !  She has hundreds of great videos available on line, and I also recommend her technique and choreography videos.  But for todays selection I want to recommend this video on building dexterity.  No matter your level of dance experience, you will find on-line video lessons with Sahira that will meet your needs.  Go ahead and explore her channel to find the perfect lesson that you need to take today !

One thing I never have time enough for is to improve my belly dance make up.  I have a look I love, that I can complete in 10 minutes, and I'm out the door !  Dawn took on the challenge of 31 belly dance make up looks in 31 days, and the results are beyond inspiring !  She filmed up close, so you can see each look as it comes together.  She is also **cough** my age.... I dont know about you, but I find it hard to be inspired by make up looks by teenagers, who have yet to experience age spots or laughter lines.  Her 31 tutorials cover a HUGE range of different make up styles and looks from beginner first performance, to Goth and theatrical.  There will be a look that is perfect for your next performance.  But beyond that, who doesn't want an excuse to do a full on make up look today ?

The Chicago World Fair of 1893 is a pivotal time in the history of Belly Dance in America (and many other parts of the "west").  The world fair was where our dance met promotion, mass media, new audiences and adopted its belly dance name.  Donna Carltons book has long been essential reading for everyone interested in the history of belly dance at the fair.  Its very light reading, so totally suitable for study while sick.  Its such an adventure that I often share my copy with non belly dancers.  I would also like to recommend Kalila Indivar's free lecture on the Belly Dance Business Academy as the perfect companion.  Kalila is an expert in her field, and speaks with knowledge and warmth on this fascinating event.

Excuse me while I do a little bit of self promotion.  But if you want to become a belly dance teacher, I have some amazing resources for you.  I've been a belly dance teacher for 20 years and in that time I have taught well over 5,000 belly dance classes.  I have honestly seen it all !  My first book "Teaching Belly Dance" was published in 2014 and has now become the standard text for those wanting to teach (or those who want to improve their teaching).  Last year I also published the companion booklet "52 Lesson plans and how to write 5,000 more", in response to requests to provide lesson plans that are easy to use for all styles of belly dance.  In addition I proved one on one mentoring and further support via the Belly Dance Business Academy.  Teaching belly dance is the best job in the world and has provided me with an income for the last 20 years.  I want to inspire others to take the same route and set them up for success !  if teaching is in your future, now is a great time to get the foundations in place.

This blog post was hugely inspired by Lisa's blog earlier this week where she shared soooo many resources for FCBD dancers (formerly ATS).  Most of my students have only touched on this style with occasional drills and some group improvisation, but there is so much more to learn.  Check out Lisa's blog post and follow her links to find drills, technique and take the opportunity to learn a new style of belly dance. 

As part of the management team at the Belly Dance Business Academy, I get to take all the workshops, lectures and lessons.  This one has to be my favorite !  No matter where you are in your belly dance career (or in life!), you need to recognize your own dreams, ambitions, abilities and, yes, super powers.  This hour long workshop will shake your perception of yourself as a belly dancer, and give you tools to move forward in your dance in ways you never imagined.  Terri is an amazing mentor, who has taught me so much.  I would like to share a little drop of her inspiration in this $15 workshop.  Take it today, and start working on your superpower.

Do you find yourself limited to  dancing to pop songs ?  Arabic music has depth, meaning and nuances that are hard for the new dancer to interpret in their performances.  Karim is not only knowledgeable but also a world class teacher.  He makes his subjects fun, and enjoyable.  Learn about the key instruments, the rhythms, scales - and how to reflect them in our dancing.  I love the lessons playlist, but also check out his performances and clips from his workshops.  I picked out this video about Taqsim and Maqam because this is a great drill for dancers of all levels and all styles.  

Drilling is essential for all belly dancers, but finding interesting drills can be a struggle.  I try to dance for an hour most days, and its super easy to get into the habit of just reviewing my upcoming performance choreographys and technique that I'm struggling with for them.  I love this video because it pushes me outside my comfort zone and makes me work on the tough stuff !  This video is labelled as "Beginner", and while I think it would be suitable for someone early in their belly dance journey, I would also suggest its a great video for everyone, no matter their level.  Drills we do daily are easy for us - because we do them daily !  Other people's drills are always going to be a challenge.   Victoria also has a great on-line studio, where you can take more of her classes, covering a wide range of topics.  Check them out on her website:

Yes, Dawn Devine (Davina), gets two shout outs - but that is just because she is such a great all round teacher !  If you are stuck at home for an extended period of time, its a great excuse to get your costumes fixed or design a new one.  Dawn has dozens of books available on line that cover the creation of every style of belly dance costume, from the pants, to head wear and everything in between.  I am a very poor seamstress and I have completed projects from her books !  When we were working together on our book "Becoming a Belly Dancer", we put together a dozen or so no sew and low sew projects perfect for troupe costumes.  A couple of weekends ago, my troupe got together to make matching skirts and had so (sew!) much fun.  Have an experiment with making something easy, and then invite your troupe over to make matching sets. 

​Sparkly Belly has a wide range of belly dance costume tutorials on-line.  Aimed at the more advanced seamstress, her creations are exceptional and inspirational !

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Since leaving the UK in 2011, I have made dozens of trips to teach out of state, and around the world.  While I seem to need the whole of my trunk (boot) to transfer sticks, veils, books and costumes to the class I teach ten minutes away, I have perfected packing a week of belly dance adventures into my carry-on hand luggage.  Here are some tips to help you travel light !
 
1, Double check your bag size and weight limit.  Every airline has a slightly different policy and the fees for packing a bag that is just an inch too big, can wreck your budget.  Some airlines will allow you a small bag plus a “personal” item, which may be a small handbag or as big as a lap top bag.  Others will only allow you one piece of “carry on”. Read the small print and check if your handbag/purse counts as a second bag.   If so, consider downsizing your handbag/purse to something that can slip into a side pocket of a bag that is the maximum size for your one carry on.  Other airlines will allow you a personal bag and a small suitcase, or backpack as your hand luggage.  Make sure you put everything that is essential to your trip into this one bag – checked in suitcases do go missing, and its hard to perform without your costume or teach without your music.  Finally, check you can carry your own bags easily.  Even if you prefer a bag on wheels, there will always be staircases and taxis to test your weight lifting skills.
2, Invest in a lightweight costume.  Coins, fringe and gems look amazing, but the weight soon adds up.  Invest in a good quality costume that adds almost nothing to your weight limit.  Modern Assuit is always a good choice, or a bra and belt in a fashion fabric. Rather than tassels and beads, find fabrics that will catch the light, or give movement under stage lights like sequins and lace.  I always pack a second costume, of a tiny, lightweight, saiidi dress.  I can’t remember how many times I have been asked for a second number in a show and been thankful for my back up costume.  Once you have checked the weight of your costume, do the same with your shoes, jewelry and props.
3, Make a skirt sausage.  Skirts, pants, trousers, veils and wigs can take up lots of room in a suitcase.  Pick out fabrics that don’t need the attention of an iron, or that look best a little creased and store them in the cut off leg of an old pair of tights.  Simply cut open each end of the leg and thread it onto your arm.  Hold the waist band of your skirt and pull the tights down your arm and over the skirt.  You now have all that fabric under control and perfectly flexible to fit in your suitcase.
4, Purchase some wooden zills.  Good quality, metal zills are heavy!  They also show up on x-ray machines, and increase your chances of having your bags searched.  Wooden zills have a beautiful tone, are unusual and much more lightweight.  I also prefer to use them while teaching, as they are kinder to the ears and help students pick my zill playing out from the crowd of metal zills in a workshop.
5, Pack only “two fors”.  Because you are travelling light, work out how to mix and match your costume pieces and workshop clothing to maximize your looks.  Rather than packing black yoga pants, put in a pair in a bright color or fun pattern that match your bra and belt.  They work as a backup plan to your costume, but add a t-shirt and they also work for attending or teaching a workshop.  Use your cover up on the beach or as a dressing gown.  Find a statement piece of jewelry that will work on stage, but also dress up a day dress for attending the evening gala show.  Everything you pack should be essential and ready to work overtime!
6, Color code your cables.  When travelling with an Ipod, laptop, phone and speakers it is easy to get confused about which cable works with which hardware and in each different country.  Investigate how your hardware, chargers and cables will work in every place you are visiting and come prepared.  Buy a backup set of each cable in a bright color or funky pattern.  If possible, co-ordinate your cables to match your lap top cover or phone screen.  Purchase a set of address labels and stick them to all your cables and hardware.  They may never come back to you if they get lost, but at least you can be quick to reclaim them at belly dance events.
7, Pack into packing cubes.  If you really want to pack light, there is no better tip than to pack each day’s clothes into a small packing cube, pillowcase or even a sandwich bag.  It takes some pre-planning, but saves taking unwanted clothes around the world.  Write each day on the outside of the bags and consider what activities you will be doing on those days: travelling, teaching, performing, resting or enjoying the area.  Lay out each day’s clothes and try them on.  Make sure it is an outfit that fits your plans.  Take a moment to check the obvious: Does your bra show through your t-shirt? Is there a button that needs fixing?  Pack everything for that day, including underwear and sleep clothes, into that day’s bag.  Once you have packed for each day, limit your “extra” packing to some underwear and one lightweight jumper/sweater.
8, Preprint everything.  In these days of instant internet access, it’s easy to assume that you will be able to google directions, download tickets, or check an email for your workshop schedule.  If you are travelling outside the reach of your internet provider, it is best to assume nothing!  Most hotels and hostesses will be happy to receive an email ahead of time with all your plans attached.  Some will even print out your handouts, directions and flyers for you.  If weight is limited, you can consider posting your paperwork on to your destination a few weeks before you intend to travel.  However, always travel with the first few days itinerary printed and in your hand luggage.
9, Find a lightweight, yet powerful speaker.  As I said before, never assume that your hardware or cables will be compatible with those of your venue.  Dance is nothing without music, so prepare all your musical needs onto CD, Ipod, or phone and forward it to your hostess.  As a last resort, always travel with your own speaker and charge it up before you leave home.  These days you can purchase speakers that fit into hand luggage but still fill a room with music.  It’s also nice to have your own speakers for last minute practice or simply as entertainment when spending a long week in a dull hotel, between belly dance events.
10, Buy when you arrive.  Most bulky toiletries are budget friendly and available everywhere in the world.  Plan a short shopping trip when you first arrive to buy snacks, tissues, make up wipes, a disposable razor, toothpaste, shampoo and other hygiene products.  Unless you are travelling to the wilds, minimize your toiletry and medical packing.  Consider what you really need and what you may only purchase if needed.  For example, do you always get a poorly tummy on when travelling, or can you assume that you could buy an over the counter remedy if needed?  The atmosphere in your destination may mess with your hair, or dry your skin, but it is likely that the local shops have products to help.  However, do not assume that your favorite brand will be available.  If you have sensitive skin, or products you love, purchase sample sized bottles before you board the plane.  Otherwise, enjoy trying out new products !
11, Plan for purchases.  No matter how cautious of weight you try to be, you will still want to purchase a memento of your travels, or a new costume at the belly dance event.  Before you travel, and before you return, look at the items in your suitcase and make a mental note of their real value to you.  If you have read your book, are you simply returning it home to donate to a charity shop?  Why head home with socks with holes, or shoes with a broken strap, or a lipstick with two more uses.  There is nothing wrong with emptying out a few items into the trash while you are travelling, to make room for the new.  I pack tired shoes, old t-shirts for underwear and tired PJs with the intention of leaving them behind and returning home with a treasure or two from my travels in their place.
12, Plan time for non-belly dance adventures.  Belly dance events are amazing, but if you are travelling to teach or perform, add in a few days for site-seeing and to enjoy your visit.  While it is not always possible, try to plan time to rest, relax and enjoy the opportunities to see the world that belly dance has made available for us.
Belly dance has opened the door for me to see more of both Europe and America and dance with people from around the world.  Having my packing planning in place means I can travel light, quickly and efficiently, with out the weight of too much “stuff” holding me down.   I love getting invited to travel to teach and I  hope dance with you soon!
 
Sara Shrapnell is a belly dance writer, teacher and performer, originally from the UK but now living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Her two books “Teaching Belly Dance” and “Becoming a Belly Dancer” are available on Amazon.  Sara travels back to the UK each year to teach workshops and visit family, and visits Hong Kong regularly.  Find out more about Sara, her workshops and travel plans on her web site: www.LetsBellyDanceUSA.com

Take time to learn how to evaluate your sources.  Historians will always put their name to their research and add footnotes so others can evaluate their sources.  Here are a couple of links that will help you evaluate your sources:

We are very lucky to have historians who have focused a lifetime of work on our dance.  Search out features, books and articles by those with history degrees and an interest in belly dance, and you can be sure they have be thoughtfully researched.  Here are a few of my favorites:

• Andrea Deagon - University of North Carolina, Wilmington - many articles on line and books available through Amazon.
• Dawn Devine - B.A in Art History - Many on-line courses, articles and books available through her web site.
• Shelley Muzzy (Yasmela) - was the staff writer for Habibi magzine and held a B.A. in History and Research.
• Renee Rothman PHD - Publishes  to respected dance journals and maintains a very informative web site.
• Sahra Kent has a long list of qualification and research, but is perhaps best known for her "Journey through Egypt" course that makes belly dance history accessible for all.
• Catherine Scheelar - M.A. Cultural Anthrophogy - Author of "The Use of Nostalgia in Tribal Fusion Dance"
• Barbara Sellers-Young - Dean, York University - Writer of "Belly Dance, Pilgrimage and Identity" and "Belly Dance Around the World "
• Beatrive Parvin - B.A. History of Art - Writer for many belly dance journals.

Image from Dawn Devine's lecture "The Birth of Bedlah"  

The list of people above is limited to those with academic qualifications in history, but there are many others who have enjoyed a long and successful career in historical research of belly dance.  (Not all belly dancers list their qualifications, my apologies if I failed to credit anyone properly).  Here are some other names you might consider:

• Morocco of New York - Aunty Rocky to many - Her lifetime of research has been poured into the book "Ask Aunty Rocky", which covers everything belly dance not just belly dance history.  As a pioneer of American belly dance, her book may be considered a primary source.
• Shira - of www.Shira.net, the go to web site for all things belly dance. Shira has spent a lifetime collecting and publishing the work of belly dance historians.
• Artimis Mourat - Lecture, researcher and published author. Her credentials are unrivaled.  
• Lynette Harris - One of the founding editors of Gilded Serpent and a curator of belly dance history.
• Abigail Keyes - With an M.A in Dance and a B.A. in near Eastern studies, Abigail is highly respected for her research and writing.  I hightly recommend her book "Belly Dance Textbook: Salimpour School of Belly Dance Compendium Vol. 1"

In addition to Gilded Serpent, you would do well to look out old copies of Habibi magzine, which is no longer available but issues do turn up on ebay and other web sites from time to time.  Zaghareet magazine sadly ended publication in 2017, but back issues are still available here: 

One thing to remember is that pre-movies, (that is before we had moving images), dance could only be recorded through the written word or photography.  If you have ever learnt a belly dance move from a book you will know how difficult that can be !  While a dancer may have been described as "moving like the murky pools along the Nile"... we have no idea if she was layering a shimmy on a figure 8 or doing a pivot turn with outstretched arms.  Before moving images all dance is left to our imagination.  We know there were dancers, and we can put together a list of things we know they did, but we can not see their dance and how it relates to our dance today. 

A fabulous performance picture can do wonders for a belly dancer's career.  Put it on a business card, or add it to your web site, to get more high quality bookings or new students.  Add it to social media, and get invites to top class events.  Even though its just a moment in time, it shows off your dancing, performing and entertainment abilities.... or does it?

Just like every entertainer, we excel at the art of illusion.  We ask the viewer to see what we want them to see....Only we know the diamonds are paste..... our shimmies are not an expression of our emotions, so much as a reflection of the hours we drilled them infront of the mirror... And our photo was not actually caught mid performance...

For years I wanted an amazing on-stage, performance picture.  Yet all I got was photos like the one above on the left.  I look like a six eyed monster trying to lasso the audience.  Then I found out the secret - those performance photos of the stars.... all is not what it seems.

Because I am all about sharing the good news, here are four ways to get a fabulous performance photo ! (clue - they are all cheats!)

Tiny Tips:

• Find your light - not all areas of the stage are lit equally.  Check out the light pattern on the floor to work out where to stand to get the best light.  You are most likely to be lit from above on a stage, so be aware that your nose, chest and tummy may cause shadow.  "Bathe" in your light, so all your best parts catch the glow!
• Never ask your photographer to use flash photography during a performance.  The flash can blind you.  Equally don't use a flash at the side of the stage.  The audience will be able to see it.
• "Behind the scenes" photos should always be done with the permission of everyone in the room.  Just as you shouldn't take photos in the restroom, don't take photos in changing rooms or any area that people may be changing.  Be aware of mirrors and accidentally including others in your backstage photos.
• Check out the background before you plan your photos.  A rip in the backdrop, or fire exit can spoil the shot.  Take a minute to look around and check for minor problems that you can fix before the photo is taken.
• Use Photoshop wisely !  Editing software is great for adjusting the light, picking out the colors in your costume, and removing the gum from the floor..... however, performance shots can loose their appeal if you brush up everything.  Softening your skin, enhancing your curves, and elongating your lines are all great in more glamorous stills, where you are aiming for a dream like quality.
• In performance you will naturally pull faces,  your hair will fall out of place and your costume will create creases.  All of these can add character to your photos.  When picking out your top five, keep one or two that are not traditionally perfect, but that reflect who you really are.

My dear friends Dawn Devine and Alisha Westerfeld are starting to build a reputation for sneaking a selfie onto the stage.  This performance was a comedy number at a light-hearted event.  It was the perfect punchline for this occasion.  Usually, selfies are not a suitable way to get get an on stage performance photo......

I hope you enjoyed a look behind the scenes of some of our performance photo shoots ! - feel free to add your own "Performance" photos to the comments and let us know how you got the shot !

If you like this blog, go back to the blog page, for others you might like including:
Holiday Music for Class
Dealing with Difficult StudentsTeacher Knows Best
Are you Ready Teach Belly Dance ?
Or check out these Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"
​

Congratulations on booking to see your first belly dance show ! Maybe you are going to a restaurant, or a stage show a dinner venue or a community event, no matter where your belly dance show is being held there are few things you can expect:

• Fabulous dancing - belly dancers train hard to put together an entertaining show.
• Stunning costumes - belly dance costumes can cost hundreds of dollars.
• Beautiful music - belly dance performers are constantly looking for music to suit every venue.
• Lots of entertainment - belly dancers know how to work the crowd and get the party started
• A few tricks and jokes - belly dance is lots of fun. The dancers love to balance objects on their head as they dance, to shimmy faster than the speed of sound and to get an audience to clap along. Don't be afraid to interact and enjoy the show.

What you wont see is more flesh than you can expect to see on any beach. Belly dancers may choose a bra and belt "bedlah" which gets worn over a skirt or trousers, or a more traditional dress. Very few belly dancers are trying to be seductive - they are in the middle of a serious work out! A twenty minute belly dance performance is like running a marathon, in stage make up, while carrying a pound of rhinestones. They may smile and flutter their eyelashes, but they are focused on staying in time with the music.
If you see a belly dance show in a restaurant, the dancer will probably enter the stage area with a veil, dance to three or four pieces of music, including a drum solo, tour the room asking for tips and then exit.
If you go to a stage production, the dancer will have been allocated a shorter amount of time and may only dance to one piece of music. They will probably not be expecting tips.
Belly dance teachers often send their student troupes to perform at community events. These are a wonderful opportunity for student dancers to show off the skills they have been learning in class and to encourage others to sign up for the new semester.

Tipping etiquette worries many people who are seeing their first belly dance show. They don't want to tip too much or too little or to present that tip in an uncomfortable way. Luckily belly dancers understand and do their best to make things easy for the audience.
Firstly, look out to see if the belly dancer has left out a bowl, basket or jug for the tips. This is the most common way to tip belly dancers at community events. Belly dancers in restaurants may leave a container by the stage or by the door marked with "dancer's tips". Some belly dancers will leave an envelope on each table, so that patrons can tip when they pay for their meal.

If you don't see an obvious way to pay the dancer, they may be expecting to accept tips during the performance. Many belly dancers enjoy the part of the show when they collect tips and build it into their performance. They may want tips to be handed over, or showered overhead, or tucked into their costumes, or placed in a basket or tambourine they are going to pass around. You may be worried that you won't know what to do. The good news is that the dancer will normally ask a friend or a member of the wait staff to start off the tipping and demo how they like to take their tips. Follow their lead and you can't go wrong!

If the dancer is accepting tips onto her costume, fold your note longwise, so that it is easier to place. Hold your note towards the dancer, but do not wave it at her. The belly dancer will usually tell you where they would like you to place it. That may be a shoulder strap, wrist band or into the side of a sparklie belt. If you are uncomfortable about where the dancer is asking you to place your tip, you can simply hand it to them and the dancer will place it for you. Do not rush the dancer, or try to place the note in an inappropriate place. They may just walk away !
Some belly dancers like you to throw money over their head. You can do this with style, or just throw a handful up into the air. The dancer really doesn't mind. The money will stay on the floor until after the show, when a member of staff will usually come around to collect it. If you feel uncomfortable about throwing money at the dancer, you can simply drop it on the dancefloor, or wait until it is being collected and pass your cash to the person cleaning it up.

​Tip the belly dancer the price of a fancy coffee, or a glass of wine or a bottle of beer. If your dancer is particularly good, you may want to double that amount. If you see a show with three or more dancers, you are not expected to tip them all. You can choose to divide your tip money between each dancer, or just tip your favorite. The belly dancer is unlikely to see what size notes you are tipping, so don't expect her to spend more time at your table if you are super generous.

Most people are worried that the belly dancer will "pick on them" and get them up to dance. Most performing belly dancers are very good at working out who wants to join in and who would rather sit back and watch the show. While the dancer may pick out one or two people to "star" in their act, they will have often been asked by the restaurant owner or event organizer to start a party at the end of the performance, so performers will be looking to fill the dance floor. If the belly dancer is pulling up lots of audience members, stand up and join in - you wont regret it!

A belly dance show is a great way to top off a fancy meal or an evening out. Don't be afraid to clap, cheer and join in the dancing. The dancer will value your enthusiasm just as much as your tip!

​If you like this blog, go back to my blog page and check out some others like:

Teacher Knows Best
Dealing with Difficult Students
I'm Perfect for Belly Dance (and so are you)
Why Belly Dancers need to Walk the Line
Teaching Belly Dance: Making Corrections
Being Part of the Solution

Or check out my Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"

​Sara Shrapnell is a belly dance writer, teacher and performer.

She has taught more than 4,000 belly dance classes, both in the UK and US.  She now teaches in Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore in the SF bay area, as well as workshops world wide.  Her classes are known for their humor, detailed breakdowns and cultural context.    Students who have studied with Sara have gone on to teach and perform in all styles of belly dance and many have made their living through performance or teaching.

Sara’s first book “Teaching Belly Dance” was published in 2014.  Her second "Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage", co- written with Dawn Devine, Alisha Westerfeld and Poppy Maya, is a stagecraft handbook for belly dancers of all styles and levels.  Both are available on Amazon.

​There is nothing quite so exciting as creating your own choreography to a piece of music that you love.  Taking the sound of an instrument and turning it into movement - making sound visual!  For some of us the process is almost as exciting as performing our creations in front of an audience.  Here is how you can get from a blank sheet of paper, to a dynamic dance in ten simple steps.... 

​

• Jot down a few ideas, key words, maybe an image or two -  like creating an inspiration board.  Nothing is out of bounds at this point.  Some dancers pick just one word, others make up a full length movie script to give themselves a deep and interesting story to portray.  Look at pintrest boards, color palettes, textures, sounds, smells and random objects.  Go with what inspires you!

• ​Split the music into timed sections (I call this a time plan) - that might be :

0.00 - intro, 
0.30 - chorus, 
1.00 - verse, 
1.27 - chorus, 
1.57 - verse plus lalalala
2.24 - chorus, 
2.54 - chorus, 
3.24 - exit. 

Or it might be :
0.00 Dumdum, 
0.03 shuffleshuffleshuffle, 
0.07 dumdumdaha 
0.10 - fluffy bit
0.13 - squeak, Dum, Dum
(onwards)

- this stage very much depends on how detailed my choreo is going to be.

• ​Look for the repeats and fill those. If I have a chorus planned, it makes sense to repeat the same moves to the same music when they reoccur. If possible I want to make a slight change - maybe facing a different direction or changing the arm positions, just to keep things interesting.  Repeating the same dance moves to the same music makes an audience feel clever.  They get a moment of "I knew they were going to do that !".  However, there is a fine line between being predictable and being boring.  If you are repeating the same moves to the same music more than twice, end your combo with a surprise - a fast turn, a cheeky wink or an extra bum wiggle.

• Take on the "holes" - the parts of the choreo that are harder to fill. I keep a short check list to make sure my choreos are dynamic.  Now is a good time to check the list to make sure my choreo is interesting and try to add in what is missing. If my first draft of the choreo is very planted in one spot, then I know I need to add more travelling steps - sometimes a simple cue like that is all I need to know how to fill the next section of music.  .  Here is my list: 

​

Levels (up on toes, bended knee...)

directions, (Facing front, back, side and diagonals)

emotions, (cute, angry, teasing....)

attitude, (Interesting faces, body posture)

travelling/stillness, (Fast travelling, slow travelling, standing in one place)

upper body/ lower, (using all my body parts)

volume (projection, internal and external moves, eye lines)

size (small, medium, large and super large)​

​If you like this blog, go back to the blog page, for others you might like including:
​
HOW TO GET AMAZING PERFORMANCE PHOTOS - CHEAT !
Dealing with Difficult StudentsTeacher Knows Best
Are you Ready Teach Belly Dance ?
​
Or check out these Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"

​I love teaching private lessons.  In these days of instant technology I can connect with dancers all around the world, for a quick assessment, to polish up a choreography or to help with teaching issues.  However, I still enjoy an afternoon in my tiny dance studio/office/dinning room where I can share the joy of movement with a local dancer.  Sometimes the best private lessons are just two people and a lap top in a coffee shop.  

No matter how we meet up, or what you want to cover, a little bit of preparation work on your part can make my job so much easier.

Lets start with why you want a private lesson?
Here are some of the most common reasons dancers book a private lesson:

Technique - You find a move really hard and your regular lessons are not focused enough on your problem area.  Maybe its some layering or transitions that you are struggling with, or it might be a group of moves that are not as strong as your others.  Sometimes we need to break down and drill a single movement, while other times we have to work through the building blocks.  For most competent dancers, an hour on this kind of problem can be hugely beneficial.

​Choreography - Often my regular students will book a private lesson when they have missed a few weeks of class and know they are behind with their group choreography.  Other times they want to work on a short combo or section that they know they are struggling to learn.  Private lessons are also the perfect time to learn a new choreography for an upcoming event, or to ask for help with a choreography you are writing.

Stagecraft - We all know that great performers are not always the best teachers, and similarly, not all teachers can help improve your performance.  When you book a private lesson focused on stagecraft you can work through the 
"tricks of the trade", or you can focus on an upcoming performance and how you can improve your dance to better suit your audience.

Goal setting - Most professional dancers set themselves a short list of goals and a time frame to complete them.  If you struggle with goal setting, a private lesson is the perfect time to talk through your issues.  Bring a long list of goals, previous goals and be prepared to talk honestly about what you are able to do in the short and long term to improve your dancing.  Some dancers find that a regular check in with their mentor also helps them keep on schedule with achieving their goals.

Intensive training - Do you want to learn how to write your own choreography?  Are you preparing to start teaching lessons?  Do you have a competition coming up ? A private lesson with your teacher, or an expert is the time to stretch your skills or focus on new ones.  

Performance critique - Every performance should be an improvement on your last.  One of the most constructive ways to keep improving is to do a though critique of your performances.  While its ideal if your private teacher can be in the audience to watch you live, a good quality video can also be used.  If you want a performance critique, make sure you book your teacher before your performance, so they have the chance to see you live, or allocate time to watch your video.  

If you are thinking about booking a private lesson - be that with me, or someone else, start by clarifying the reason for the lesson.  Make a few notes and send a detailed request to your teacher.  Make sure to give them all the info and tools they need to prepare for your lesson.  

I teach privates or small group sessions in the studio for $100 an hour and I need a deposit a month in advance to book the space.  On-line lessons, coffee shop chats and home studio visits are $50.  Home studio visits are only open to regular students.

​Sara’s first book “Teaching Belly Dance” was published in 2014.  Her second "Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage", co- written with Dawn Devine, Alisha Westerfeld and Poppy Maya, is a stagecraft handbook for belly dancers of all styles and levels.  Both are available on Amazon.

​If you like this blog, go back to the blog page, for others you might like including:

You never get a second chance at a first impression, and the MC just blew that for you.  What you needed was a postcard with your bio, ready and prepared ahead of time.  Here is my advice : Every time you burn a CD or set up a play list, add your bio to your bag or the CD case.  Write it today, and update it annually, but keep it in your kit bag, ready for every performance.

What should you write ?
There are two essentials that you must add to every bio:

• Who are you?
• Why are you here?

The answer to these questions should be easy - "Sara Shrapnell is a belly dancer"

(You may prefer "Turkish belly dancer" or "Fusion belly dancer".  If your audience is the general public, belly dancer will do.  If your audience are mostly other belly dancers, add more details to your description such as "Sara Shrapnell is inspired by belly dancers of the golden age of Egyptian belly dance.")

"Sara Shrapnell is a belly dancer" is a little on the simple side.  Yep, they got my name and why I am entering the stage, but I don't sound very exciting...  As we have time right now, lets try and turn that intro into three or four fascinating sentences.

This is a good moment to focus on perfecting the "elevator pitch".  Its a couple of sentences that tell others all about you or your project.  Do you teach, love to perform, are you the youngest, oldest, world record holding, award winning or new in town?  What makes you memorable or stand out from the crowd?  

I like to use the triple threat "Writer, Teacher, Performer."
 
"Award winning" is always good, but remember, you should be able to back up all your claims.  If you are "award winning", what is your award?  Do you have the award at home? Can they google the competition ? If you hold a record, be prepared to share a link to the web site.  Much better to pick a phrase that doesn't need proof, like "Enchanting", "Captivating" or "Beautiful".  From a marketing point of view alliteration is always appealing (wink) - "Bella the Beautiful Belly Dancer!"  Have a try and see what works best with your name.  

Its always hard to write nice things about yourself.  If you are having a problem with finding the right words, ask your teacher, classmates or fans for feedback.  Do they think you are the queen of shimmies, or are they amazed by your back bends.  Ask others to point out your strengths and see how you can work them into your bio.

Ask yourself what you want the audience to do, now they know who you are.  Perhaps you want them to sign up to your classes, or come back to the venue next week.  If you are at a belly dance event, do you want the audience to buy your book, visit you at your booth, attend your workshop....

 "Sara Shrapnell is a belly dance writer, teacher and performer.  She is inspired by belly dancers of the golden age of Egyptian belly dance.  Find her books on belly dance at her booth by the rest rooms."

 "Sara Shrapnell is a belly dance writer, teacher and performer.  She is teaching a workshop later this afternoon on improvisation and adding emotion to your dance.  You can sign up on the door for just $15."

​"Sara Shrapnell is a belly dance writer, teacher and performer.  She has taught over 5,000 belly dance classes, and her new beginner course starts next Wednesday."

If you are in the business of belly dance, don't be afraid of a little self promotion!

​If you like this blog, go back to my blog page and check out some others like:

I'm Perfect for Belly Dance (and so are you)
Why Belly Dancers need to Walk the Line
Teaching Belly Dance: Making Corrections
Being Part of the Solution

Or these Hubposts:
​"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"

If you regularly read my blog, you will know I have a love/hate relationship with publishing my work.  I would much rather dance infront of 1,000 people, or teach a room full of strangers than share my writing.  I mean, you have read my novel, right?  Oh no, only about 20 people have ever read my novel, because I'm terrified of sharing it !! (It has rude bits!)  

However, I do love writing.  That feeling of loosing yourself for 5,6,7 hours as the words come tumbling out and the pages grow like knitting, forming themselves into ideas, concepts and dreams.  Its addictive.  For the last five years I have mostly written about belly dance, and so my two passions have collided.  But the problem with writing all day, every day, is that at some point you have to share your words with the world.  I am hugely blessed to have lots of great people in my life who can read and assess my writing.  Poppy Maya (The Awesome Poppy Maya as she is known), is always ready to review the quality of my work.  I can turn to Dawn Devine for resources, research and validation, plus she understands sentance structure and can turn my words from a C minus to an A plus.  Alisha Westerfeld thinks in images, and helps bring my ideas to life, and I have a team of pro and not so pro editors who tidy up the chaos I produce.

Excuse me if I blush and hide for a couple of days.  I'll just be here, at the computer, for the next five hours.... writing something that people might someday read !

 If you like this blog, go back to my blog page and check out some others like:

I'm Perfect for Belly Dance (and so are you)
Why Belly Dancers need to Walk the Line
Teaching Belly Dance: Making Corrections
Being Part of the Solution

Or these Hubposts:
​"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"

At this time of year I take a short break from belly dance.  Its been two weeks since my last class, three since I performed, and I'm starting to miss my true dance love.  I have been belly dancing for 25 years, full time for the last 17.  I write about belly dance every day.  I teach three times a week, and practice each week day.  Most weekends I attend or perform at events.  If you are reading this, you are probably the same.  Belly dance is addictive and it attracts the most wonderful, caring, loving and interesting people to its world.

You may have noticed a little wave of negativity washing through these last few weeks. You can blame the stars, or the internet, Gen X or boredom, but its not how I see belly dance.  Belly dance has been a huge blessing in my life and I would like to take a moment to count them.  Feel free to join me, either in the comments below, or in your own blog or posting.  Lets make the last few days of 2016 a wonderful moment of giving thanks to the dance that brought us together.  In no particular order....

1, - Friends.  I have thousands of "Friends" on FB, and many of them have turned into real friends.  Every time I attend an event, I look out for people I know through FB and connect with them, so I can meet them in person.  I never walk into a workshop without a familiar face, even if its on the other side of the world.  I can have coffee, or a meal, with fascinating people, no matter where I am in the world.  We always have something to talk about.  Belly dance has also introduced me to people that I consider family.  Half of my Christmas cards were sent, with love, to families that I would never have met if not for belly dance.  As someone who lost her mother way too young, I am lucky to have a place to spend time with older ladies.  I love to chat and spend time with ladies of my Mum's generation.  Without belly dance I wouldn't have so many wise women in my life.  Finally, having a wide range of friends has made me open to new ides and taught me about the world.  Belly dancers cover the whole range of political views, the gender spectrum, all ages, classes, ethnicity and religions.  I have belly dance friends who can share incites into their lives, and others who are simply happy to dance by my side.  thank you belly dance friends, you are a blessing.

3, - Income.  It might be taboo, but I am hugely grateful that belly dance has been my main form of income for 17 years.  At first I taught multiple classes, and more recently, I make a living through selling my belly dance books.  I feel hugely blessed that so many people value my time, energy and thoughts enough to spend their hard earned cash.  Perhaps their class time is the best hour of their week, or snuggling up with one of my books is the highlight of their day.  People also pay me for the on line lessons, workshops and mentoring.  If you ever paid me for anything, I am truely thankful, and I hope you felt it was worth every penny!

4, - Family.  Not many people know, but my Mum used to belly dance.  Unfortunately she was very ill for a long time, but it gave us a common topic to discuss.  When she could no longer dance she acted at MC at my events.  My daughter is also a professional belly dance performer.  When my children were younger, they attended lots of events, helped out with loading and unloading the venue, lighting, sound and hosting.  I think it has influenced them all in different ways.  Now they are older they help with tech support and marketing advice.  I am very thankful that my job is a family business and that they can all get involved.

5, - Performances.  I am not one of those people who only goes to shows if I have a performance slot.  I love to see belly dance performances of all levels at any venue.  If I have an evening at home you may well find me surfing YouTube to feed my addiction.  I dont care what your style is, I just want to see good dancing, a pretty costume, some stage craft and an interpretation of the music.  I flip between the golden age classics to art that scares or upsets me, I enjoy the folk dances, Tribal Fusion, and glamorous theater productions.  I am lucky enough to live in the SF bay area, which means I can see a show (or five) every Saturday night.  I am lucky that I get to pick and choose, dress up, meet friends, and see wonderful performances whenever I want.

6, - Music.  Just as I love every kind of belly dance, so I love all the music that comes with it.  I enjoy a great live band, or a single drummer.  I am lucky enough that my music collection is now so big that I can play anything, anytime, to suit my mood, my dancing or my surounding.  I would like to take a moment to thank those of you who have taken the time to record music for belly dancers, or to play at an event, or to teach a workshop about the depths and meanings of the classic tunes.  Belly dance has given me the soundtrack to my life.

7, Confidence.  For me, this goes beyond the confidence to walk onto a stage and present a dance that I have spent 10 months working on.  There is a confidence that comes from being surounded by brave, bold, beautiful, strong and intelligent people.  When you take part in a show and see others project the pain and upset of a recent break up into a performance, or see the lady who just lost her job suck it up and spread joy to the very back row, it emboldens you to put your shoulders back and believe that anything is possible.  Knowing that others may like your work, also gives you the confidence to truely assess the critisims that always come with presenting art.  When I see one of my books in the hands of a new reader, I still hope that they like it - we all want to be liked.  But belly dance gave me the confidence to write those books, because I love it so much that I have studied it in depth, talked to experts and drawn my own conclusions.  I am an expert.  How is that for confidence !!

8, - Beauty.  Without belly dance I would never had said that I was beautiful. That is really sad.  I still have days when I dont like parts of my body, but they are very few and far between.  When did it become acceptable for woman to be modest about their beauty?  Belly dance has given me a body with lots of curves.  It can shimmy and strut, slide and glide and sometimes it can even do some really complex foot patterns !  I have also learnt what colors suit me, how to wear my hair, I have some pro make up technique and, just in the last few years, I have learnt how to pose for the camera.  I can turn heads just from excellent posture.  Surrounding yourself with beautiful people, not only gives you the tools, it also helps you to see your inner beauty.  The belly dance world is full of people who give unconditionally, love and share without expectation.  Every week we set up in the changing room and see a dozen "normal" people blossom into stunningly beautiful creatures.  Knowing you are beautiful is a powerful thing.  

9, - Knowledge.  I am lucky that I have had the time, energy and money to travel in order to take workshops from some of the greatest minds in belly dance.  I am also very privileged to have met many wonderful belly dancers who have taken the time to talk to me, share their ideas, send me books, write me essays or simply ask me questions.  I am not the scholarly type.  I struggle to take notes and to find my references.  Dance is a physical medium, we share our history, stories, hopes and desires through movement.  I have collected that knowledge too.

10, - Students.  I have been abundantly blessed with students.  Back when I lived in the UK, I had a different class on every day of the week, and each of them had a totally different vibe.  They were all filled with wonderful people, who chose to spend their precious spare time with me.  Even when I had to move away, many of them chose to keep in touch, and they still share their videos, photos and dance journey with me.  Now I live in the US, I have less classes, but more time to spend in preparing each of them. My US students have taught me all about America, and never laugh at my funny accent.  I have been blessed with a troupe of ridiculously talented dancers, who let me challenge them with choreography that is way beyond my ability.  They are committed, engaged and ambitious - which means they drive me to be the same.  

When we love something as much as we all love belly dance, its easy to get passionate.  Passion can build bridges, or it can tear them down.  The world of belly dance is very small.  We are not a rich, sucessful and popular industry.  I think we are in a growing stage, and most of us would agree that we have to build our student bases, or audiences and our standards in order to make belly dance accessable to more people and keep dancers and teachers employed.  We do that best by being welcoming, sharing knowledge, sharing students, sharing performance opportunties and praising the skills we see in others.  I contributed to our last book "Becoming a Belly Dancer" for a very selfish reason - I want to see great belly dance in my retirement!

If you would like to add to my list of belly dance blessings, please feel free to add to the comments below, post on FB or write a blog of your own.  - Sara x

 If you like this blog, go back to my blog page and check out some others like:

Teacher Knows Best
Dealing with Difficult Students
I'm Perfect for Belly Dance (and so are you)
Why Belly Dancers need to Walk the Line
Teaching Belly Dance: Making Corrections
Being Part of the Solution

Or check out my Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"

If you like this blog, go back to my blog page and check out some others like:

Teacher Knows Best
Dealing with Difficult Students
I'm Perfect for Belly Dance (and so are you)
Why Belly Dancers need to Walk the Line
Teaching Belly Dance: Making Corrections
Being Part of the Solution

Or check out my Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"

Dawn Devine has a huge range of wonderful books available on Amazon.  Check out the full range here:

There are three big on-line belly dance stores that I regularly shop,  Dahlal, Miss BellyDance and BellyDance.com.  Between them they cover almost all a belly dancer could desire !

DVDs and videos ! - There are way too many to mention, but these are the ones that I have LOVED this year :

• Full on with 3/4 shimmies by Mahin
• Delicious Pauses by Rosa Noreen
• Belly Dance Travel Steps by Autumn Ward
• BellyDance Artistry by Tempest

While I might not be performing as much as I once did, I am still in the habit of keeping a case packed and ready to go at a moments notice.  Partly its a storage solution - why unpack and store my performance kit,when I can store it in the suitcase?  But it is also a matter of being ready to perform should the need arise.

So what is packed in my bag?  I start out by dividing it into two shoe boxes.  The first one will hold whatever costume I am planning to wear, and the second holds my "kits".  I use small purses, draw-string bags and even zip lock plastic bags to hold my kits - I have a small sewing kit, a "touch up" make up kit, a cords and chargers kit, a back up jewelry kit, a hair care kit and a toiletries kit.  By storing them all in a shoe box I can find them quickly, but also throw the odd item into the box as I am packing up and know I will be able to find it again later.

Where possible I try to put together my kits with spares and sample sizes.  My make up kit is really only for last minute touch ups, as I prefer to put on full stage make up at home.  As I run short of a product in my "at home" make up kit, I purchase a new one, move the almost empty one into my performance kit bag, and bin its predecessor, which is probably ready to expire. I keep jewelry that matches my costume in the box with that costume, but I also keep a back up set in my suitcase.  My back up jewelry kits are light weight, cheap and a mix of gold and silver.  Sometimes the jewelry that matches my costumes looks a little sparse, or a clasp might go as I am walking onto the stage.  This back up jewelry kit is there to fill in the gaps.

In addition I always have a neutral veil - that is, one that goes with all of my costumes.  In the world of belly dance we can count rainbows and animal prints as neutrals in addition to white,black, gold and silver.  I also pack a cover up, shoes and a second costume.  My second costume is usually a dress in a fabulous fabric - I want something that will pack up small and goes with my dance style, just in case someone else arrives with a similar costume to my favorite, I spill food down myself or bust a seam.  

I use the front pocket of my suitcase to store business cards, flyers, copies of my bio and spare CDs.  Those are all things that organizers ask for as you walk in the door, and I don't want to have to open up my suitcase in the lobby to find them !

After an event I remove my costume from the suitcase to air and refresh in the sunshine.  I might replace it with a different costume, or pack it back into the suitcase at the end of the day.  I open up my kit box, make sure everything is put away, and make a list to replace or repair.  Finally I label the music CDs so that I know what is on them, should I want to use them for an impromptu performance in the future.  While "Rakkasah 2016" might make sense to me now, in the future "Raks Musri, veil, opening 2.30 - Tabla solo, long shimmy, 3.30 - Sunshine, upbeat fun to join in, 3.30 - total 9.30 burnt as one track" is a gift to the future me, who is rushing to find a fun set under ten minutes.

Finally, one golden rule for me is that my suitcase should always be light enough for me to carry.  At my age, I can't afford to hurt myself taking my suitcase in and out of a venue.

I recently applied to perform at an all day event, but I missed out on getting a performances slot.  As I left the house to go and see the show I put my kit bag in the trunk "just in case".  Mid morning one of the performers rang the hostess to say she couldn't make it, and suddenly I had a performance slot !  I sat in the car and topped up my make up from my make up kit bag, added my "back up" jewelry, selected a CD from the pocket and got my chance to shine on stage.  Last minute performances like that have the added bonus of no pre-gig nerves!

So next time you are unpacking your bags after a gig, ask yourself, could you be using the opportunity to set up your bag for your next performance?

​Sara Shrapnell is a belly dance writer, teacher and performer.

She has taught more than 4,000 belly dance classes, both in the UK and US.  She now teaches in Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore in the SF bay area, as well as workshops world wide and on-line via the Belly Dance Business Academy.  Her classes are known for their humor, detailed breakdowns and cultural context.    Students who have studied with Sara have gone on to teach and perform in all styles of belly dance and many have made their living through performance or teaching.

Sara’s first book “Teaching Belly Dance” is available on Amazon.  Her second "Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage", co- written with Dawn Devine, Alisha Westerfeld and Poppy Maya, is available in 2016 .
 

Updated 12/13/16

​First lets start with a little truth: a correction is only worth mentioning, if the improvement can be made.  When faced with a total beginner, who has been asked to perform a figure 8, the teacher will see dozens of problems:

This list could go on and on, but if the teacher points each of these issues out to the beginner student, he or she will become overwhelmed and unable to make any improvements.  Instead the teacher must take her time and improve the dancers movements one step at a time.

Where to start ?  Firstly, make sure you have talked to each student about their existing fitness and injuries.  If they have a problem with any part of their body, be sure to encourage safe posture in that area first.  Cover posture at the start of every lesson, and focus your initial corrections on postural problems.  If their whole posture is off, and they don't complain of a particular issue, I tend to start with hips, back and shoulders.

Make it your mission in life to observe posture.  Watch people walk, stand, sit and dance.  Look for clues to pain, such as favoring one leg, or a dip of the shoulders.  Understand how our muscles and skeleton work together to make belly dance movements.  When observing your students, first look at them from a distance, watch their whole body movements.  Then walk closer to them, so you can see the mechanics in action and observe the root of problems.

I like to offer up personal corrections only when I am standing close enough that the other students can not hear.  Usually I will set up an exercise and then walk the room, observing and critiquing each dancer in turn. One correction per exercise is usually enough, unless their posture is particularly bad. I use the "critique sandwich" technique: that is I place my correction between two positive statements, such as:
"I see you have been practicing!  Watch that you don't roll onto the outside of your right foot, keep your weight centered and strong.  Your arms are looking much better this week."

This kind of correction is easy for the dancer to focus on and usually the correction can be made within a few moments. If you feel that your whole group has a problem, or that an issue needs to be addressed, wait until after the exercise and aim your critique at the whole group, like this:
"I noticed that lots of you were having trouble with the weight shift.  Make sure that you are passing your weight through your center, and only pushing out as far as you are comfortable.  If you feel like your weight is on the outer edge of your foot, or if you start to feel pressure in your ankles, shrink your hip move, so that it is putting less strain on your lower body."

​While you shouldn't under estimate your students, it is also worth remembering that some of them will be unable to perform some moves that you can do. Give your students achievable goals and cheer them on to the finish line.  Most belly dance students come to class for fun, and while corrections are not a whole lot of fun, improving is the best feeling in the world.  Make sure every correction is a step forward that they can take towards being a better dancer.

​Gradual, achievable corrections, given regularly and mixed in with praise, will help your students improve their dance skills and make your job as a belly dance teacher so much easie

​If you like this blog, go back to the blog page, for others you might like including:

Or check out these Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"
​

This weekend, many of the big belly dance stores have a sale on.  Here is my round up of what is available, the discount codes and some of their best buys. I have only included companies that I have used and would use again.  These are my personal opinions, and discounts were available as of the time that this blog was posted. We all shop on an understanding of "buyer beware'.  If you know of another sale happening, then please feel free to share in the comments below:

ISIS EXCHANGE - Isis is a costume company from Florida.  They cover the full range of costuming from $10 coin belts to custom sets of bra, belt, skirt and veil.  I particularly like their entry level bras, which are around $50, come in a range of sizes and suit both Tribal and Glam dancers.  They are one of the best places to get the lacy look that is so hot just now.  Of course I am in love with the bright pink lace, but they have something for everything.  In addition to their 20% off deal for this weekend they have free shipping to the US and Canada on orders over $99.  Check out their web site here:

DAHLAL INTERNATIONALE - Dahlal is one of my personal favorite places to shop.  We found our last troupe costume through Dahlal and get so many compliments!  They specialize in the very top end designer costumes like Eman Zaki, but also stock the full range of separated, sets and belts.  Their look is Glam, but there is something for everyone.  I am a huge fan of their "Off The Nile" range, which covers top end class wear and comfortable performance pieces.  Its perfect for those of us who travel a lot to dance, because you can create a mix and match wardrobe that will take you from teaching a workshop to performing on the stage, with pieces that will pack into hand luggage.  They have a $5 off code (spend over $25) : MYWAY5 - and a $20 off code (spend over $100): MYWAY20

MISS BELLY DANCE - Missbellydance.com is the top shopping stop for us "plus" belly dancers.  Their range of plus sized costumes is second to none and covers the range from classwear to troupe costumes.  I like to send my beginner dancers to Miss Belly Dance, as its the perfect place to create a belly dance wardrobe on a budget.  Check out their stunning 25 yard skirts in cool spring colors and a wide range of patterns.  Our troupe invested in one of their fabulous trouser suits a couple of years ago.  Miss Belly Dance has a code for 12% when you spend $75 or more : memorial2016 

TEACHING BELLY DANCE - Of course I should add my own products... If you go to the store page of this web site you will see my book "Teaching Belly Dance' for just $24.50.  That is a saving of over 15%!  Amazon sales fluctuate through the weekend but they currently have it for $26.74.  Check in over the weekend to see if they drop the price further.  If you already have my book, why not add a review or pass on the link to a teacher or talented dancer that may start teaching in the next few months.

If you like this blog, go back to the blog page, for others you might like including: 

Being Part of the Solution
Dealing with Difficult Students
I'm Perfect for Belly Dance (and so are you)

Or check out these Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"
​
​Sara Shrapnell is a belly dance writer, teacher and performer.

She has taught more than 4,000 belly dance classes, both in the UK and US.  She now teaches in Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore in the SF bay area, as well as workshops world wide and on-line via the Belly Dance Business Academy.  Her classes are known for their humor, detailed breakdowns and cultural context.    Students who have studied with Sara have gone on to teach and perform in all styles of belly dance and many have made their living through performance or teaching.

Sara’s first book “Teaching Belly Dance” is available on Amazon.  Her second "Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage", co- written with Dawn Devine, Alisha Westerfeld and Poppy Maya, is available in 2016 .

Sara's Mailing List

Updated 4/22/19

Lets start with a little bit of negativity for a change : belly dancers moan.  They moan about the lack of good teachers, the lack of good students, about gigs, no gigs, cheap gigs, they moan about changing rooms, running orders, costume prices, musicians and dirty floors.  I am pretty sure its not a belly dancer thing - everyone moans.  I bet the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker all do just as much moaning.  Belly dancers want to see better belly dance, done to a professional level at professional venues for professional pay - but most don't know how to make that dream a reality.

We have some other issues in the belly dance "industry" that we struggle to deal with that increase the problem:

• We have the "nice factor", where most of us believe that everyone should be allowed to belly dance and that all art is valuable.  No one wants the be the one who spoils the enjoyment of the majority of belly dancers who are hobbyists looking for something fun to do at the weekend.
• We have a respect for our elders, even when they are not our betters.  In fact we tend to have a seesaw of skills in our industry - young dancers have the energy, then they develop skills..... as they hit their 30's and 40's their stagecraft improves but their energy drops.... and then the 50's and 60's is a time when the passion, storytelling and emotion is growing, but the technique and skills are fading.... Of course not everyone follows this seesaw, but many of us wish we could have the energy of a 19 year old and the wisdom of someone in their 70's.  Every "age" of belly dancer values a slightly different set of skills, and can become jealous of the skills they see in others. Older dancers, and those who have been in the industry for many years, set the tone and expected norms for younger dancers coming in.  If they have always eaten fried chicken in the changing rooms, new dancers are expected to accept grease stains on their costumes as a badge of honor.
• We are a young industry.  While there have been belly dancers in the USA since the days of Vaudeville, it is still a "Clan" society.  Many dancers only mix with dancers within their own city or dance style and will exclude and undervalue "outsiders" from discussions.  If we want to raise the standards within the belly dance world, we have to pull everyone together and learn to work towards common aims.
• We have a money loop.  There is very little money coming into our industry, but plenty moving around in the loop.  What is the money loop ? - Dancer A buys a lesson from Dancer B, who buys a costume from Dancer C, who pays to see a show by Dancer D, who goes to a workshop by Dancer E, who buys a CD from Dancer A - and so the same $20 travels around the business of belly dance and everyone gets what they want, as long as they don't want to get rich.

​When I first heard about the Belly Dance Business Academy I saw a parallel in our aims.  The BDBA wants to provide tools for those in the business of belly dance to help them make the most of their skills and talents.  They want to take the best practice and share it with others, provide motivation, support and practical advice to help teachers, event organizers and touring artists.  I was hugely honored to be asked to join their teaching team.

The first class I produced for them is already live ' Event Hosts: Setting up expectations of changing room ethics" - its a free class and includes the flyer that I put up at events to explain the "rules" that I expect.  Something as simple as putting up changing room rules can help prevent event drama and elevate the standards of expected behavior in a community.

I see The Belly Dance Business Academy as the perfect way for me to reach a wider world of belly dancers and continue with my passion - helping others to enjoy belly dance !

​Finally, here are a few ideas on how to be a positive force in the belly dance industry:

• Be upbeat, friendly and positive in all that you do.  Smile at everyone, thank everyone, support everyone. Remember that there is a difference between being a nice person and being part of the "nice factor" problem. If you build a reputation as a person who is invested in the business of belly dance, others will take your suggestions about improvements as helpful hints.
• When you wear a "leader" badge, do so with pride.  If you are a teacher, event host, blogger or touring artist, step up to that leadership role and don't be afraid to set up expectations and boundaries.
• Mix with dancers who are outside your "clan".  Even if you can't attend the big events, follow the blogs, webinars, podcasts, buy books and magazines.  Make friends with strangers and be open to new ideas.
• Promote others to help them make money.  Even if you can't go to an event or afford the class/DVD/book... promote it to your class mates and social media contacts.  If there is a fun show happening, ask around to see if any of your friends and family would like to join you.  You don't have to be a full time sales person for belly dance Inc - but be aware of the money loop and help support your local and not so local community.
• Finally, every time you feel that moan coming on, be that in person or on social media, think about how you can turn it around into a positive call to action.  Not enough students in your class? - Can you do a promotion, post a cool photo, ask your students to hand out flyers ?   Whatever your problem, there is always a solution, we just have to look for them.

Thank you for listening to my "moan".  With a little positivity and a whole lot of working together we can enjoy watching our industry continue to go from strength to strength.

If you like this blog, go back to the blog page, for others you might like including: 

• 10 Simple Steps to Writing a Choreography
  
  
• The History of Belly Dance - Where to Start


• Preparing a Bio Ahead of Time​

​​Being Part of the Solution

I'm Perfect for Belly Dance (and so are you)

​
​Sara Shrapnell is a belly dance writer, teacher and performer.

She has taught more than 5,000 belly dance classes, both in the UK and US.  She now teaches in Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore in the SF bay area, as well as workshops world wide and on-line via the Belly Dance Business Academy.  Her classes are known for their humor, detailed breakdowns and cultural context.    Students who have studied with Sara have gone on to teach and perform in all styles of belly dance and many have made their living through performance or teaching.

Sara has written two books:  “Teaching Belly Dance” "Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage", co- written with Dawn Devine, Alisha Westerfeld and Poppy Maya.  Both are available through Amazon.

Hello -

So hopefully that got your attention !

I've had this site for a few years now, but I have been finding it hard to write about writing.  Four or five times I have logged on, stated typing and then my post has turned into a dance post.  Somehow I think its easier to talk about my dance rather than my writing.  Maybe cos I have been dancing for 24 years or maybe its because my mission in life is to share dance with others.  

I know some of you have been following the course of my third book for the last two years...random Tweets and FB posts with number counts and other frustrations.   

Writing is actually hard.  No one tells you that.  People say "I'd like to write a book" and now I look at those people just the same as the people who say "I have a belly" when you tell them you belly dance.  There is only one way to write a book.  You have to sit in front of the keyboard and write stuff.  Lots of stuff.  Almost every day.  And spend every other hour thinking of stuff to write.  Then you get to read your stuff and its rubbish so you bin it and start again.  Every month you have to spell check. You may notice spelling is not my thing - oh and I grew up spelling in English and now write in American (You don't think its a big deal until you try and translate).   And spell checking and formatting is boring.  And you discover you start every sentence with And.  And you get to the point where you cant spell.  Or construct a sentence. Or anything.

So, what many people don't know is that I have a novel that I am sitting on.  Every year I read it, make some changes and then put it away to work on more dance writing.  My first few readers (friends and family) have told me to keep on it, that it is nearly ready, that it could be good.  But I'm not ready to share with the wider world.  Its not perfect.  It is too raw and too close to me.

When I first started dancing I was very self conscious.  I couldn't stand dancing in front of others, their eyes on me, watching the bounce of fat or the ugly dance moves.  I took a course in "Stripping without the stripping" from the famous Jo King.  It changed my life.  I understood what others see when they look at me.  How I move and flow.  I also saw how lucky I was to get to wear a costume, no matter how tiny.  Jo can ( and does) control a whole room of drunken men even when naked, she reads who is getting out of hand and who to focus on to get the others on her side.  And if she can do it, so can I.  When I dance I know that I own the room, that my movements are beautiful and that I am elegant and sensual and admired.

People who have read my books say that they hear it with my voice.  I guess that is no surprise.  While my novel is a work of fiction it is also a glance into my inner dreams, hopes and fantasies.  And yes it has rude bits.  I didn't write it for others to read.  I wrote it because the story kept getting bigger and bigger and I wanted to know the end.  I fell in love with the characters and I wanted to know more about them.  I wanted to follow them down the street and ask them why they did what they did, why they loved the unlovable or slept with the wrong people.  I wanted to watch them drink coffee.  But its not a book unless others read it.  Its not a story unless its told.  Just in the same way as I put a lot of emotion into my dancing, but its not a performance unless someone is watching.  And so at some point other people will have to read my novel.  Every now and then I remember this, pull my jumper up over my head and blush.

In my  book “Teaching Belly Dance” I gathered a huge selection of advice for the new belly dance teacher.  The first question for the advanced student, the team leader, or budding workshop host who wants to move into teaching is "am I ready".  Many of us fall into teaching - perhaps when our own teacher moves away or needs someone to cover her classes during a vacation.  Maybe you have moved to a new area where no one teaches your style of belly dance, or maybe you want to make enough money to cover your own belly dance expenses.  Whatever your motivation, here is a check list to help you make sure that you are ready to teach belly dance.

How good are your basic skills ? Its time to take a critical look at your own skill set and abilities.  Often in our rush to learn “new” moves we forget to focus on our basics.  Assess your hip rotations, hip lifts and drops and your shimmies.  Are they perfect every single time?  or have you developed bad habits?  Take a private lesson with a teacher you respect and work on the moves you plan to teach, to make sure that you don’t pass on any bad technique to your new students.

Can you teach to all the learning styles?  Teachers often teach towards the learning style that suits them best, after all that is how they learn.  Your students will have a mix of learning styles, and each individual deserves the same opportunity to learn.  Make sure you can teach the basic moves to the visual learner, the audio learner, the verbal learner, the logical learner, the physical learner and the emotional learner.  Remember that most of us learn with a mix of styles and those styles can change week to week and depending on the move we are being taught.  Teach to all learning styles, even if you are sure that your students favor one or two.

Do you understand the importance of a good warm up and cool down?  Don’t just repeat the warm up that your teacher does, but take time to understand its role in a class and how to for-fill the needs of your students.  Put your students safety first and learn good practice, so that you can adapt your warm up and cool down to suit your dancers, the room temperature and the content of the class.

Do you have enough material to teach a semester (term)?  Think about how you can make the 12th class just as much fun as the first by allocating your material throughout the semester.  Start by making a list of all the moves, concepts and ideas you want to teach and splitting them between the number of lessons you plan to teach.  This will form the basis of your semester plan.  Your lesson plans will develop out of your semester plan.

Do you have a good selection of music to keep the students interested?  Its time to catalog your music collection and purchase new music to fill any gaps.

How is your fitness?  Talking and dancing may be a new skill for you.  Make sure you can complete your own warm up and still talk immediately afterwards.

Do you have insurance?  This is essential.  You will need public liability and to check that your venue has building insurance.  If you intend to host workshops or put on shows then you will need further insurance to cover those activities.  In some areas you also need a business license and to register for tax before you can take any money.  Check with your local small business organization for clarity.

Have you picked the right venue?  is it warm and inviting? Does it have a good floor? is it handy for a car park or public transport?  Can you afford the rent?  is it available at the right time of day to suit your students?

Will you have enough students?  In the early days most businesses struggle and you will probably need another form of income for at least two or three years.  For every person who emails you or signs up on Facebook to your classes, assume that half will attend the first lesson and only 1/4 will still be there at the end of the course.  You can find new students though flyers, postcards in coffee shops and with on line advertising, but your students will be your best promoters, so make them part of your sales team; offer them a free class if they bring a friend and give them flyers to pass out or pin on their fridge. 

​Finally – Do you love belly dance enough to go out every night in the cold and the rain?  Can you teach a figure 8 100 times this year and still make it sound fresh and fun?  Can you stand back and let the dancers repeat a basic move for five more minutes when you really want to move on to something more exciting? Can you spend all your earnings on ten veils you will never use, so that your students can learn a floaty choreography ?  Are you a people person?  Are you the right person to be training the next generation of belly dancers?

If so you have taken the first steps towards a wonderful new career.  I wish you lots of happy years, filled with exciting (and profitable) belly dance classes! 

​Teaching Belly Dance – The book about setting up, planning, teaching and enjoying belly dance classes is available on Amazon

If you need help with lesson planning, Sara has a course through The Belly Dance Business Academy called "52 Lesson Plans and how to write 5,000 more".  It includes a full year of lesson plans that you can teach "as is", and instructions on how to develop your own lesson plans.

Or check out my Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"
​
​Sara Shrapnell is a belly dance writer, teacher and performer.

She has taught more than 4,000 belly dance classes, both in the UK and US.  She now teaches in Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore in the SF bay area, as well as workshops world wide.  Her classes are known for their humor, detailed breakdowns and cultural context.    Students who have studied with Sara have gone on to teach and perform in all styles of belly dance and many have made their living through performance or teaching.

Sara’s first book “Teaching Belly Dance” was published in 2014.   "Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage", the stagecraft handbook co- written with Dawn Devine, Alisha Westerfeld and Poppy Maya, is also available on Amazon.

Recently we have been showing off the first proof of "Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage", at the events we have been attending.  The feedback has been amazing.  People love the way it looks and that it covers EVERYTHING that the student needs to become a belly dancer.  

However one question really surprised me: "Is this for Tribal dancers too?"

Heck, YES !

Tribal dancers need stagecraft skills!  Everyone who steps onto a stage needs to understand the key issues that make a dancer a performer.  They need to have the technical skills, they need to have the mind of a performer, they need to look like a belly dancer, they need to match their dancing to their music and pick music that suits their audience/venue and they need to promote themselves to the wider world.  

Personally, I love to see a dancer of any style, who has thoughtfully put together a performance for my entertainment.  I want to know that they care enough about me (as an audience member), to have connected their music, dance skills and costume to create a cohesive look.

Relaxed, happy and confident performers are more enjoyable to watch - and that is our main aim in writing this book.  We want to give everyone the tools they need to be the very best performer that they can be.

You can dance any style of belly dance - Glam, Fusion or Ethnographic - and stagecraft skills will elevate your performance. Stage Stars come in all shapes, sizes, sexes and styles of belly dance, but they all shine under the spot light. Consider stagecraft as an essential element in elevating your performances!

f you like this blog keep scrolling down, or go back to my blog page, for others you might like including: 

 



Or check out my Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"
​
​Sara Shrapnell is a belly dance writer, teacher and performer.

She has taught more than 4,000 belly dance classes, both in the UK and US.  She now teaches in Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore in the SF bay area, as well as workshops world wide.  Her classes are known for their humor, detailed breakdowns and cultural context.    Students who have studied with Sara have gone on to teach and perform in all styles of belly dance and many have made their living through performance or teaching.

Sara’s first book “Teaching Belly Dance” is available on Amazon.  Her second "Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage", co- written with Dawn Devine, Alisha Westerfeld and Poppy Maya, is available in 2016 .

Let me tell you a little secret about teaching belly dance:  Not everyone learns in the same way, at the same speed or at the same time.  Sometimes I know that one of my students is not going to get a new combo within the lesson time and that is ok.

When I was doing my teacher training. the UK education system was a little bit obsessed with "Equal Opportunities".  My Adult Ed teacher explained that equal opportunities in education doesn't mean what most people think it means.  It doesn't mean that everyone gets the same amount of time, or attention, or must reach the same level.  It means that the teacher should give everyone every opportunity to learn.  

I'll explain this in the context of a belly dance class:  Lets imagine I am teaching a combo that is part of the opening of a new choreography.  Dancer A will need to see it once and be able to perform it at the show in 6 months time.  Dancer B needs me to call out the count seven times.  Dancer C will need to video me dancing the combo from the front and will play the video 100 times before she can perform the combination.  Dancer D will not be able to do the combo until she understands all the weight shifts.  Dancer E has to make up a little song to the music.  Dancer F needs to sleep on it.  Dancer G would like to repeat the combo for the next 45 minutes, while Dancer H would like to move on.....

I'm sure you can see that, no matter how I plan out my lesson, not everyone is going to be happy.  Some will think the lesson moved on to the next topic too quickly, others wish we could have taken more time on that combo. At the end of the lesson some will think they know the combo, and others will think they don't.  My job as a teacher is to have set everyone up so that they have every opportunity to learn the combo.  To that end I will have shown it, counted it, sung it, explained the weight shifts, drilled it, allowed some people to video it.  I also plan time into the next lesson for a refresh and renew.

This is a very long way of getting to my main point, which is about corrections.  Recently someone told me that I dont make enough corrections in class.  My reply was that I dont think a good teacher makes lots of corrections - a good teacher makes the right corrections!

Lets imagine for one moment that I am teaching that combination to a visual learner.  Her mistake is that she is putting the hip lift on the 3rd count and not the 4th.  If I stand at the front and shout 1234567812345678 - she won't understand why I am shouting and will continue to lift on the 3rd.  However, if I move myself so she can see me and make sure to point to the hip lift, or make it super large, then she will quickly adjust her movements to match mine.  Maybe I have a verbal learner who is making the same mistake.  Counting may or may not help her, but singing the music might, particularly if we are lifting to a beat.  Maybe I need to sing "dum,dah, dum, PING, dum, dah, dum, dum" - or "Step, cross, step, LIFT, step, cross, step, step".

These are all corrections!  And thousands of them happen in every lesson.  Hopefully the student doesnt really notice.  Because if the student noticed they were constantly being corrected, dance class might not be as much fun.  And one of our main jobs as a teacher is to make belly dance class fun.

So now let me get to those people I know won't get the combo during the lesson.  I said before that some students need to sleep on a combo, or watch a video, or practice in their own space.  The teachers role is to make sure they have all the tools they need to be able to come back next week with the combo perfected - and that might be a video, a written choreography or a song.

Finally we have people in class who are having an "off day".  These are dancers who would normally be able to learn the combo, but something else is causing a block.  Let us imagine for one moment that the very dear loved one of a student has just been arrested.  They text their teacher during the day to say they might not come to class because their life has just been turned upside down and they dont know what to do.  Its no surprise that they are not getting the new combo. The teacher make the usual corrections, but its not making any difference.  Their head is somewhere else.  The class teacher knows that they will get the combo next week, so moves on to more familiar ground and while keeping everything upbeat and cheerful.  Somethings are more important than a belly dance class !

And here is another secret - if you teach 30 or more students a week, at least one of them will be having major stresses outside the dance studio.  At least one of them will be having job troubles, family strife, illness, bereavement, depression, stalker issues, or one of the thousands of stresses that we all cope with through our lives.

And those issues are far more important than learning a combo.

So the next time you see one of your fellow dancers make mistakes or take a long time to learn, ask yourself what is really going on.  Is your teacher correcting them in a way that you dont even notice?  Or is your teacher giving them space and time away from their life to enjoy dancing ?  Every dancer needs to focus on their own learning.  Judging others doesn't help with that journey.  Forgive your classmates who take longer to learn and dont complain when the class doesnt progress at the perfect speed for you.

Your teacher wants to give everyone the tools they need to learn.  Everyone learns differently.  And sometimes people can't learn at that moment - and that is OK.

​If you like this blog keep scrolling down for others you might like including: 
​"I'm Perfect for Belly Dance, And so are You!"
"Assessing your Performance Videos"
"Picking out a Troupe Costume"
and "Why Travelling is one of the Best Ways to Improve your Belly Dance"

Or check out my Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"
​

Updated 4/18/18

It's the week after Rakkasah, and many of us have a beautiful video to remind us of our performance.  However, it's hard to take a critical look at our art work and use it to improve our dancing.  Some of us have "evil" voices in our heads that will knock out any confidence we might have.  Others have friends, family and mentors who don't understand the use of praise as a learning tool.  Finally, our videos may simply highlight mistakes we made, technique that needs improvements or how badly our nerves showed up on stage.

Here are some of my tips for assessing your performance videos: 

• Don't start the process until you have plenty of time.  You need to watch your video through three or four times.  This probably means allowing an hour or more in one sitting.  If you just watch your video once, you will have a very shallow view of your performance.  This is a learning lesson, so make yourself comfortable, grab some tea, find a notebook and complete the process.


• The performance you are watching was yesterday (or last week...) - IT HAS PASSED - there is no use regretting, or wishing you could go back in time to make changes.  However you can make changes to your future.  Critique for notes you can add to your upcoming practice and studies.  Wish you had rehearsed more ? - put some extra rehearsal time into your diary.  Do your turns look off? - schedule ten minutes of turns into your personal practice time for the next six weeks....


• Watch your video four times:

1. First view - Just for fun.  Was the camera turned on?  Can you hear the music? If its a troupe number, watch the whole picture.
2. Second view - Watch as if you are your teacher.  Disengage from the video being you dancing, and instead consider it as if you were a teacher being asked to assess another belly dancers performace. If the person you are watching was to ask you for a private lesson to improve her performance, what would you say?  The general wisdom in teaching is that people learn best from a "negative sandwich" - that means you construct a sentence with praise, criticism, praise - maybe "Your arms are looking very strong and beautiful, watch out for that wrist twist you tend to do when you are extended, but I love the way your eyes follow your hands and then you extend your view out to the audience."  Be the kind of teacher you wish you had.  Not the mean teacher who hates everything you do and is looking forward to failing you for the whole semester!
3. Third view - Watch as the dancer.  Take on the critique offered by your "teacher voice" and look for ways to make those improvements. Watch your moves, your styling, your technique, your performance skills and your costume.  What works and what doesn't ? 
4. Fourth view - Watch as the audience.  Was that performance entertaining?  Did it have changes in tempo, light and darkness, drama, emotion, fun?  Did you use the whole space?  Did you include travelling, level changes, different angles to the audience?  Were you predictable or unpredictable?  Did your costume, music and dance style all match and compliment each other?  Did your hair and make up work on that stage?  Would you (as the audience member) pay good money to see that show?

• All faces look weird.  When we are on stage we tend to sing along, or smile with too many teeth.  Don't freeze your video and assess that one weird look - instead look to see if you had a nice relaxed smile, or that you looked like you were having fun through the whole performance.  Even if you favor the smoldering darkness in performance, did your face send that message out to the audience?
• Forgive yourself for mistakes that could have happened to anyone.  No amount of practice or rehearsal is going to stop every single mistake.  However, if you know you skipped rehearsal when a move was taught, then that is probably why you couldn't get it.  Remember the 1,000 repeats rule - if you want it in your muscle memory you have to repeat a move 1,000 times.  If your veil fell to the ground during that switch turn, be honest about how many times you have practiced it.  Maybe you were just not ready to do a switch turn on stage.  
• Keep your critique to two or three key points that you can improve over the next few weeks, and two or three you can work on over the next 12 months.  If you list all your mistakes, faults and dislikes, you will be overwhelmed and want to give up.  Only list those that can be improved.  So maybe your next few weeks list is "Practice the opening footwork and smiling through the whole performance" - and your longer term list is "Improve posture and control my arms during turns".  Put your new objectives on a note in your dance space to remind yourself to focus your dance practice on these areas that need improvement.
• Every belly dancer can improve.  You think that "Miss Famous Name Belly Dancer", isn't doing this exact same exercise today?  Maybe some of the critique you have about your performance is more about your level as a dancer than your performance that day.  If you want to be as good as the best, you need to work very hard for the next three or four years.
• Don't critique your fellow troupe mates.  Unless your group does some form of peer assessment, its not your job to point out to others where they went wrong.  Yes, it can be annoying when everyone travels left, when the choreography says right, but this is a moment to clarify with your teacher, not with your troupies.  Do they look like they are having fun? - excellent 10/10!!  If you really can't work with their level of performance, perhaps it is time for you to look elsewhere.
• Book a mentor to assess your performance.  If you struggle with organizing a good assessment of your own performance, ask a teacher or mentor to do it for you.  I charge $100 to review a video (four times!!), assess about a dozen areas of the performance (in a negative sandwich), and set short term and long term aims - all over email.  Your regular teacher will normally be happy to do this for you and may have a "regular student" discount (as I do), big name teachers may also offer this service, but charge more and have a long waiting list.
• Finally - go back and look at last years performance.  Have you improved?  Did you work on the points you found in your assessment?  Can you see improvements in those area?  

Don"t forget, every dancer is on her own journey.  There is no competition.  Others are looking forward to seeing your video, watching your dance, being entertained and perhaps even looking to improve their dancing by watching your skills.  Share and enjoy the results of all your hard work.

If you would like more information about critique, practice and stagecraft, check out "Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage" available now on Amazon:  

​Below you will find both my troupe video and solo video from 2018 Rakkasah.  Feel free to share yours in the comments.  Keep scrolling down for more info :

If you like this blog here are others you might like including: 

​"I'm Perfect for Belly Dance, And so are You!"
"Dealing with Difficult Students"
"Picking out a Troupe Costume"
and "Why Travelling is one of the Best Ways to Improve your Belly Dance"

Or check out my Hub Blogs including:

"Your First Belly Dance Workshop"
The Top Ten Belly Dance Tunes for Performance"
"Finding a Great Belly Dance Teacher"

Updated 4/1/19

Here is a fun post I prepared for my students, but feel free to share with your group.  Plan and prepare early to avoid last minute stresses:

On the First Day of Performance Prep....Put yourself first!  That means commit to drinking lots of water, eating good food, getting to bed a little early and generally taking care of yourself.  Of course you need to practice (about half an hour a day should do it), but also you need to relax.  That might be half an hour with a book, playing a game or going for a walk ?  Promise that you will do all these things every day between now and the performance.  You can get drunk and eat pizza after the show!

On the Second Day of Performance Prep... Fill in your calendar.  Set up reminders in your phone, make appointments and generally get organised.  Do you need a lift or car share?  Should you book a manicure, or an eyebrow shape appointment?  Maybe you want a massage before or a few days after the show ?  Plan a practice session or a coffee meet up with a troupee, Ask a teacher for a private lesson to assess your choreography.  If it needs to be done before the show, allocate the time in the diary now.  And dont forget - you have to put yourself first...
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​On the Third Day of Performance Prep.... Take Stock !  Put together your packing list (Or use the one I prepared for you), check you own everything that you need and that it is in good order.  Is your eyelash glue fresh?  Did you run low on lipstick?  Did you sew up the tear in your skirt?  Then its time to make a shopping list or beg, borrow or steal (please dont steal) everything that you need.  Put yourself first and fill your calendar....

On the Forth Day of Performance Prep.... Shop for your packing list.  If you need to purchase something on line, you may have to pay for speedy shipping.  In addition to the things on your list, you may want to purchase water and snacks to keep your energy up all day.  Make sure you also have materials for tomorrow.  Put yourself first, fill your calendar, take stock...

​​On the Fifth Day of Performance Prep.... Fix it !  Did you mean to turn up the hem on your skirt?  or spray paint your shoes gold?  Does the back keep coming off your earrings?  Today is fix it day.  Put yourself first, fill your calendar, take stock, shop...

On the Sixth Day of Performance Prep.... Book your Video and Photos.  Fill in the forms, write the checks, put them in an envelope in your bag.  Put yourself first, fill your calendar, take stock, shop, fix it....

On the Seventh Day of Performance Prep.... Invite your friends!  Its so much more fun to dance at an event when you have friends and family in the audience.  Plus they can hold your purse, take photos and tell you how amazing you look.  Put yourself first, fill your calendar, take stock, shop, fix it!, book your video and photos....

On the Eight Day of Performance Prep... Minimize your make up.  Pick out the mini bag you are going to use and make sure you just pack your stage make up.  Throw away anything that is out of date or past its best.   Put yourself first, fill your calendar, take stock, shop, fix it!, book your video and photos, invite your friends....

On the Ninth Day of Performance Prep....Mini Bag It! - create mini bags of your dance essentials to make packing easy and organised.  In addition to your make up bag you will need a bag of your jewelry (pack a mini bag of spares too), one for your hair adornments, a hygiene bag (medical supplies, wipes, perfume), an office in a bag, and your music.  Dont forget !!! -  Put yourself first, fill your calendar, take stock, shop, fix it!, book your video and photos, invite your friends, make up....

​On the Tenth Day of Performance Prep....Have a Dress Rehearsal!  Even if your troupe had a dress rehearsal together, take the time to put together your whole look and practice your dance at home.  Do your earrings like your veil?  Can you spin in your shoes?  Does your make up and hair look stage worthy.  Now is the time to make any last minute changes.  Put yourself first, fill your calendar, take stock, shop, fix it!, book your video and photos, invite your friends, make up, bag it...

On the Eleventh Day of Performance Prep....Pack and Pamper  Get everything into a over sized suitcase.  If you are using the mini bag system this should only take 5 minutes.  Double check you have everything against your packing list.  Did you book your pamper sessions for today?  If not then treat yourself to a home pamper - paint your nails, tidy your eyebrows, moisturize all over and condition your hair.  You can even put cucumbers over your eyes.  Everything else on your list should be done, so relax.
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On the Twelfth Day of Perforamcne Prep....Have FUN !!! - This day is all about you, so enjoy the fruits of all your hard work!

Belly dance attracts the most wonderful people.  Our classes are filled with bright, intelligent, funny and committed individuals who work hard in class, and are always polite.  Every teacher will say that they have the best student group in the world, but secretly they will admit to having met one or two who have been a little difficult to deal with.

Belly dance teachers need to build a persona, set limits and communicate their expectations of behavior.  They need to be approachable, yet commanding, friendly, but the group leader - and of course educators!  

In this post I would like to offer other belly dance teachers a few tried and tested ways of dealing with a student who is not fitting in with your class.

• Decide if they are a danger, disruptive or if it is just a personality clash.  Understand what the problem is and how disruptive it is to your classes.  Is the problem student putting themselves or others at risk?  Do they constantly spill food, trip others or get angry?  Perhaps they are just too talkative, find everything funny or bring their bad mood to the sessions.  Or finally, do they get along with others, but not with you, the teacher?  If they are a danger to others, you must solve the problem immediately and if necessary remove them from the teaching space.  If they are disruptive, you may be able to talk to them or present the group with a set of class rules that will help.  If you find that the problem is a personality clash, then you can either moderate your behavior/expectations/mood or simply accept that the two of you will never get on and build a solid teacher/student relationship that you can both respect.
• Be consistent in your behavior.  Create your teacher persona and bring that persona to every lesson.  Inconsistency is a recipe for disaster in class.  If you always start class on time, students cannot complain if you start without them.  If you are always focused during the drills, but have fun with the veil free dancing - students will have expectations and will adapt their behavior to fit in with the tone of each section of the class.  By leading the mood of your classes you give non verbal clues to others on how they should behave.  In the longer term other students will follow your lead, adding to the expected atmosphere.
• Lead with good practice and examples.   Always run through your good practice at the start of a new session (start times, dates, fire exit, expected behavior, other costs, posture, first aid supplies), and do a short update at the beginning of each lesson (fire exits, good posture).  Be aware of all of your students, all of the time.  Correct those who are doing something dangerous immediately.  For example, if you see a dancer trying to do a figure 8 with their knees turned in, move to them quietly, and verbally make the correction.  If all your students know that you are watching and correcting them, then they will support you should a classmate ask for unnecessary corrections, or worse still, accuse you of causing an injury.

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• Accept that some people won’t like you no matter what you do.  Often disruptive students are angry because the class has not turned out to meet their expectations.  Perhaps they wanted to burn calories, while you like to talk about history and culture (or vice versa).  They may find you annoying as you sing along, or count to 8 1,000 times a lesson.  Perhaps they thought it would be more like Zumba, or their kids' ballet class or there would be free parking nearby.  You can not please everyone, so work on being exceptionally good at what you do and accept that some people will not want what you offer.
• Know your boss and contact them first with any problems.  If you are an employee, always approach your direct boss with any problems, no matter how small.  Small problems will either disappear or grow.  Either way, talk to your boss.  If you are self employed, talk to a trusted friend, mentor or partner.  While we all hope for the best, should the worst happen, then someone already knew about the problem.  
• Stay safe.  Disruption comes from boredom, anger or frustration.  If you feel that someone doesn't understand your class rules or respect you as a teacher, it may be time for them to move on.  If you feel unsafe in their company, avoid being on your own with them.  Sometimes you have to ask your boss or a trusted friend to attend a meeting with you, where you explain that their time in your class has come to an end.

In my book "Teaching Belly Dance" I wrote a chapter called "Meet Your Class".  It's a very light-hearted look at the students you will meet during your teaching career, some of the problems they bring and includes suggestions on how to get the very best out of them.  It also includes lots of other information about understanding your student’s aims, organizing your own events and troupe, setting up successful classes, and teaching learning styles, providing useful critique and promoting yourself as a teacher.  Teaching Belly Dance is available on Amazon.