Thread: Questions, questions...

I've been asked by someone who is from Kuwait to teach her to dance. I asked her to come to my regular class as a drop to make sure that she was interested in what I was teaching and wouldn't feel as if my dancing was... whatever.

She seemed to love it and wants to take private lessons twice per week until her return home in late October for her wedding.

her goals are to dance at her wedding and to dance at parties back home. She has never danced. Ever. until tonight!

I have multiple questions about his:

1. What do I teach her? I dance belly dance, more American Nightclub than anything else. I can't teach her that, she won't be able to dance the way that she wants when she goes home.

2. What are typical movements? i know that khaleegy is to that region, but there must be more.

3. Anything to avoid? She is Muslima, in hijab.

If I were in your shoes, I think I'd get a Soheir Zaki performance video, dissect it & teach her all the Soheir moves I could. You can't go wrong with Soheir, as dancers go she's the sweetheart of the Arab world.

Take this opportunity to learn some Khaleegy from her if she's been to women's parties over there! ..g.: Take it with a pinch of salt and all, but hey - rare chance! What Khaleegy style movements do you know that you can go over with her - limpy step variations, shoulder roll with shimmy overlay, hand and arm movements, head slides?

Can't really teach big Oriental style replete with arm movements or she'll stand out way too much when she's dancing at the wedding. Hmmmm... I'm much more familiar with Egyptian style social dancing, although I've bopped around with a fair amount of Gulf folks and the movement repertiore can be pretty similar. I'd probably be tempted to concentrate on small, tidy hip movements - tight hip drops (as well of course as loose, twisty Sha'abi style ones for when the party gets going!), small undulations and delicate ommis. I'd keep everything small and delicate so that she can stay refined-looking when she's dancing with her family. I second Lauren's suggestion of Soheir Zaki - I think that's the kind of understated grace you'd be going for.
With the Gulf influence I'd probably also do some debke style footwork and stepping patterns.

To be honest, you're probably fine with teaching everything and anything you normally would - SHE can adapt and self-censor anything she feels is too "dancery" when she's with her family, and will clearly understand all those cultural/social issues far better than us!

It sounds to me like she wants to learn to belly dance. It might be fun for her to bring back some of the new moves you could give her. I'd talk to her about it. Explain to her about the style you do and ask what it is exactly she's looking for. You might want to do some Khaliji or more Egyptian style dancing, but if that's not what you do...really I think you can only teach well what you know.

Well, have fun whatever you do.

Thanks ladies,

I can do the limpy step (hey! isn't that from the 70's? :-) head slides, hair tosses, hand shimmies, shoulder shimmies, etc.

I think the Soheir Zaki suggestion is great, thanks.

Well, she's coming to see me dance on Sunday, so if I horrify her, she probably won't be back! :-)

Originally Posted by kina

Well, she's coming to see me dance on Sunday, so if I horrify her, she probably won't be back! :-)

That was going to be my advice--have her come to a show, and see if what you do is what she wants to learn. It's entirely possible she wants to learn belly dance to be different from all the other women doing their khaleegi

we teach a lot of "brides".we keep it to steps more on the folksy side, like we see when performing at "their" parties.i find they know hip lifts, step together step (step ball change),shimmys,they just do not have names for things, so we "formalize" them. just think back to watching the guests dance while waiting to perform at an ethnic party, wedding etc.

the point is, she says that she has NEVER danced. It's not like she dances socially and came to learn some new moves. She has never learned these steps. I had her come to a beginner class to let her see what she was getting into, and she couldn't do a hip lift, or down or shimmy.

So I want to do her justice and teach her something she can take home, but I dunno if I can do that in 6 weeks and not have her regret her time with me.

perhaps ask her what dancer or type of dance she most admires, and then you can get a feel for what she has in mind? then teach her the basic moves and how to string combinations together, so she can get her groove on back home...

maybe she can send you some links to youtube videos of dancers she likes ? then you can get a better idea of the style she is looking for.

Originally Posted by kina

the point is, she says that she has NEVER danced. It's not like she dances socially and came to learn some new moves. She has never learned these steps. I had her come to a beginner class to let her see what she was getting into, and she couldn't do a hip lift, or down or shimmy.

So I want to do her justice and teach her something she can take home, but I dunno if I can do that in 6 weeks and not have her regret her time with me.

But you can send her home with something worthwhile in 6 weeks, because she's not looking to be 'performance ready.' She just wants to social dance. If she can't do a hip lift, down or shimmy, then just teaching her those three moves will be worthwhile for her!!

This is common sense & I'm sure you've already thought of it, but for the sake of articulating, here goes. Since she's looking for social dance, not performance, you needn't worry about arms or a strong, lifted posture. Shimmies, lifts, drops, little one-hip circles, camel walks, figure 8s, walking sideways with a hip circle or half-figure-8, and shoulder shimmies should give her a social dance vocabulary. Khaleegy limpy-step and 'water in my ear' hair toss moves if she hasn't done those before.

When I've seen women dance socially (and they've been Egyptian and Lebanese women, not Kuwaiti, so what do I know?) their moves have been very small, on-the-spot, not a lot of traveling -- like how we would dance in a clubAny traveling steps are tiny, mincing steps to one side or the other with hipwork. Arms stay pretty close to the body, unless they're reaching up.

So I guess I'd focus on hipwork, not traveling steps or arms. And help her learn to get relaxed with improv -- maybe some 'oh crap' combinations would be a good idea.