Thread: Combination ideas...

Just thought I would start this thread to see what your favorite combos are. Things you like to use in class or at performances. I have a hard time putting combos together and am looking for some inspiration. There are not too many workshops going on here and I am trying to reinspire myself. I am alright with my improv but when I am trying to put together choreographies that is a different story. I just put together my first choreography for my class. I hope it gets easier from this. So if anyone wants to share some combo ideas or had to get inspired for choreo fire away. Thanks

Hi Katina! You might want to try working with Keti Sharif's A-Z Bellydance. I don't know what level of belly dance skill you're at - if you're at lower- to mid-intermediate, you might like her original A-Z Bellydance, but if you're more advanced you might prefer Advanced A-Z Bellydance. Each one has 26 step combinations to keep you busy.

As a beginner: I've used some of the combo's on Ultimate combinations 1 and 2 (mostly from Sadie, Aziza, and one other I am forgetting right now).

I personally am a big fan of the chest figure 8, undulation, hip figure 8, reverse undulation.

I've got a couple on my site:
http://www.beatricecurtis.co.uk/pages/comb.html
http://www.beatricecurtis.co.uk/pages/wale.html

Your links didn't work for me Bea, I got "This page cannot be found"

Originally Posted by jahbie

Your links didn't work for me Bea, I got "This page cannot be found"

Fooey! I'll let you know as soon as it's up & running again. If anyone's desperate, they can PM me & I'll send a copy.

I always do moves I think sound good with the music, I just don't put a random combos into music.
One thing I like to use, I learned from an instructor from Lebanon, she said to do 3 cnts of a move then a change on the 4th count. Example do 3 drops and the on the 4th count do a half a hip circle on one side of the hip then move on to another combo then a third and add a quick turn or a drop on the 4th count. She said it gave an element of surprise that she called it "The Secret of 3".
Sometimes I do two of the same and change the 3rd and 4th count to a different move in the combo, besides level changes and turns for the surprise, do a dramatic pose/pause. Of course it all depends on the music.

I have been dancing a few years, but I just have a hard time putting combos together for my dances for class. Maybe I am making it harder than it is. Shira that sounds like a good one I am going to look into that. I like to challenge myself, so that might be useful.

In combos are we talking about doing multiple movements at once or going from one move to another?

~*Genisis*~

Originally Posted by Genisis

In combos are we talking about doing multiple movements at once or going from one move to another?

~*Genisis*~

Personally, I see a Combination as being a sequence of moves/steps that flow together. Whereas a set of moves all done at the same time would be Layering.

PS those links should be perfectly accessible now.

Yes I agree with bearfana. Just combo ideas. Steps that you use together. Things that are interesting and nice. I am tired of doing the same movements. I can never seem to come up with new ways to put things together. just wanted to see what your favorite combos were.

My last workshop with Kami Liddle, she gave the following advice for coming upw ith interesting layers and practicing - could work for combos too.

take all the moves you know and write them down on individual pieces of paper and put them in a jar, take out two or three and try to put them together.

She was teaching some really unique layers so it's proof that it can work - you can layer almost anything. So I suppose it would be even easier to try to make things into a combo. Of course you'd have to evaluate it.

combo dvds are good - I have three of them (ultimate 1 & 2 and Ansuyas), but I agree with the person who said that they just dance to the music. I find it hard to put someone else's combos to music that it wasn't taught to. Aziza and Fahtiem have good ones though that seem to work with many things, and I like Sadie's veil combo. But if you're teaching a beginner class, you are probably using pretty straightforward 4x4 music so you could probably use any combination designed for 4/4.