Yallah Raqs

Learning through Choreography with Jillina

Do you love learning choreographies? How do you translate them back into your personal dance?

This year we’ve talked quite a bit about how we can see improvements in our dance and that a LOT of us rely on choreographies to see progress in the short term. And while that’s awesome it’s often harder to see those skills translate into other dances and become part of our general repertoire.

So today we’ve invited Jillina onto the podcast to give us some insights on how we can take the choreographies we learn and use them to our learning advantage.

Choreographies can be an amazing tool for growth, but you’ve got to get a bit creative with them. Check out today’s episode for some great tips on how to make a piece your own and make sure you’re taking the key parts back with you into your dance.

Shownotes: www.thebellydancebundle.com/80

Zills with Sahira

Did you start playing zills when you were a baby bellydancer? Or did you start later in your dance journey?

Or maybe you haven’t picked them up yet!

Join Sahira and myself today as we chat all things Zills.

Sahira has had a passion for these beautiful little instruments since the beginning and is determined to get everyone else as in love with them as she is.

A worthy goal, to make everyone as much of a zill nerd as her!

Whether you’re comfortable with zills already or just starting your journey Sahira has some awesome tips, tricks, and insights here that can help take your playing to the next level.

Sahira is SUPER generous with her knowledge, and if you’ve ever been curious about zills, definitely check out this episode to see what’s possible if you just get a little nerdy!

Shownotes at www.thebellydancebundle.com/79

Combo Creation with Ebony Qualls

So, I don’t know about you, but there was QUITE a while where I struggled to come up with combos. How to attach moves together, putting them to music, ugh, it felt like some magical skill that other people seemed to have in droves, but that I was holding the book upside down and backwards on.

 

Ebony is one of those amazing people. With her Urban Fusion Technique & Choreography class, which you’ll get to try in the 2021 Bundle, she is constantly coming up with new combos and dances to challenge both herself and her students, so I wanted to dig in today and see what tips and tricks we could get on how she creates her combos to see if it could work for some of us.

 

From how she creates combos to the differences in creating something for practice vs the stage, Ebony takes us through her process of creating combos and choreographies in today’s episode.

 

Check out her combo for today’s challenge as well as all her socials on the podcast page: thebellydancebundle.com/78

Sa‘idi with Diana Soto

Innovation is rooted in tradition.

Today’s podcast Guest Diana holds that idea to heart as she talks to us about Sa’idi dance, particularly using an assaya.

From the common struggles she sees when it comes to dancing with assaya or canes to how we can work through those moments to create something amazing, Diana walks us through her stylings of Sa’idi dance in today’s episode.

When it comes to props you don’t want to hide behind them, you want to make them dance alongside you and we dive into just that. Because anyone can do tricks, but can you make the stick dance?

Have a listen to get a great tip on a way to give a nod to tradition before jumping into innovation, it’s something that I’ll be applying to my choreographies from now on!

Check out this episode and many more over on the site thebellydancebundle.com/77

Endurance with Oreet of Sharqui

Have you ever been dancing at a restaurant or just noodling about in your dance space and been surprised how after just a short period of time you’re exhausted?

 

That’s what we’re here to talk about today.

 

Endurance.

 

Today we’re talking to Oreet from Sharqi about adding this element to our practices. What’s going on, the different types of endurance and what we can work on to increase the amount of time we spend dancing!

 

Shownotes: www.thebellydancebundle.com/76

Improv As Play - Heather Henna Louise

Improvisation is tricky. And oftentimes scary. It’s a skill in and of itself that we grow as dancers.  But it’s one that as we start often fills us with a bit of dread.

 

Heather Henna Louise joins me today to talk about Improvisation and turning it into PLAY. We talk mindset, and how the story we tell ourselves? It matters! 

 

We answer questions like:

Where do we start with improv? What do we do when we lock up in fear during a song? What do we do with the worries about the audience judging us? 

 

All of that and more, in today’s episode….

 

Shownotes: www.thebellydancebundle.com/75

Mejance Magic - Melissa Gamal

Let’s take it back today to define some terms.

What is a mejance?

What does one sound like?

How can you tell if this piece in your music library is one?!

Melissa Gamal joins us today to talk about Mejances, the subject of her course in the 2021 Bundle. And she’s not the only one.

Mejances have been becoming more and more popular over the past couple of decades and this year we’ve got two in the Bundle!

Melissa share her knowledge around Mejances with us today including what they are, finding the song in your music library, and some general guidelines that dancers tend to follow when performing to one.

We also get a bit into styling and that ever present moment where time slows to a crawl when you’re the one performing and how that can affect how we dance to our music.

Come and learn with us!

 

Shownotes: www.thebellydancebundle.com/74

Stage Presence with Sadie

Sadie joins us today to talk about Stage Presence.

Her workshop in the 2021 Bundle, Purpose, presence, and power centers around the concept of Stage Presence and HOW we show up. Not necessarily what we do when we get there.

Dance relies  a lot on technique, and that part of your journey is always getting honed and focused on, but what about the other big thing that plays into your dance? From your practice to performances there’s another piece that carries just as much weight.

Your mindset.

Today we talk mindset, confidence, self-compassion and so much more as they relate to your Stage Presence. How you can show up for yourself no matter where you’re about to start dancing.

Shownotes at www.thebellydancebundle.com/73

Mapping the Music w/ Alia Thabit

How well do you know your music?

Alia joins us today to talk about mapping our music. When it works, what it helps with, and how to use it to create art with our performances.

From helping improv be a little bit less scary to telling entire stories with our dance, music mapping is a tool that you can use to help your dance become what you envision.

Finding the confidence when you’re dancing can be hard, and finding that confidence in improv? Even harder for some of us.

Have a listen to this episode and see what tips & tricks Alia has for YOU to get to know your music, and your dance, a bit better.

 

Shownotes: www.thebellydancebundle.com/72

Anatomy for Bellydancers with Prue

Do you want to have a better understanding of how the body works so that you can reach a new level of dance?

 

With a classical background in ballet & a lifelong advocate for dance, Prue's mission is for the joy of dance to be accessible to everyone. Having had struggles with injury throughout her career, she is a firm believer that injury prevention is key to ensuring longevity in dance for professionals, teachers, and students alike.

 

Prue draws on her 20 + years of experience in dance teaching, rehabilitation, & Pilates Movement Therapy, to bring a unique and safe dance practice resource for the Bellydance community.

 

Come learn a little about the importance of anatomy with us today!

 

Shownotes: www.thebellydancebundle.com/71