Thread: Hadia's teacher training workshops

Has anyone taken Hadia's teacher training workshops? I was wondering how they were and if they were helpful. Any information about them would be appreciated.

EM

I have taken her level 2 teacher training. I'm not a teacher but it was such a good opportunity when she was in my town and I thought the information would be useful so I took it.

I thought it was quite good. You get a booklet with lots of notes and a certificate at the end.

Off the top of my head, the main focus was on learning how to break down dance movement for your students. She has several techniques for helping you figure out HOW your body is making a movement and which muscles are being used so that you can teach the moves to someone else.

Basic safe exercise technique including safe stretching, warmups and cooldowns were also stressed.

She also goes over creating a good learning environment in a class, how to create lesson plans/session plans, finger cymbals technique, advanced rhythms and musical appreciation, professionalism and ethics - basically all the stuff a good teacher should know.

I can't comment much on Level 1. I understand it has a big focus on Anatomy and Physiology of movement. Because I am a nurse with a solid understanding of this, and with a prior discussion with Hadia by email (with some agreements to pre-study certain material) she agreed to let me go straight to level 2.

I can tell you she really knows her stuff and gives lots of great feedback. She is very no-nonsense but she has an amazing amount of knowledge and is willing to share it generously.

I found it very helpful as a dancer just to understand the movement of my own body and alot about safe dance technique. It was worth it just for that.

Thank you for your comment.

Hello Emuffz!

Here is a review Adishakti posted a few years back on the teacher training course in Montreal: http://www.bhuz.com/forum/belly-danc...ntreal-qc.html

thansjk for the link

EM

Hi there. I did get my certification from Hadia and have to say it was very well worth it. There are a lot of fabulous dancers out there, but unfortunately - very few good teachers.

There's so much imagery going on, that is completely unuseful. It is sooo important that we understand the mechanics of a movement before we attempt to teach it. We often think we know what we are doing... but you may be surprised at exactly how unaware you are. (Speaking in general for us all, here).

This is certainly a certification worth obtaining, and I can say that only about half of our level three class were awarded their certifications on the spot. The rest were given homework to do, and requested to meet with her to demonstrate their abilities before being given their certifications. Thus, it is a certification that must be earned, and in my opinion is well worth the effort and recognition.

However, I recently finished pro course with her this summer and she did mention she was not going to be doing it anymore. So if you want it - you'd better act fast! ;-)

I agree with Asra and Adishakti, I also have level 1 and 2 and find myself using the info in my classes all the time. I used to go to Calgary to train with her every year and knew that her Teacher Training courses would be well worth my time. Having this background gives me confidence too and more importantly, I am able to identify why my students are making a mistake, conversely I can also tell when i see a good dancer why she is a good dancer. I still need to improve on these observation skills I am sure but certainly they would not exist if I hadn't taken Hadia's training. I also have a bit training on Anatomy and Physiology b/c I am an nusing assistant, not to the extent of an actual nurse but do enjoy studying the body.
I am very pleased to say that the last teacher i had was Madame Helena Cremona in Beirut and she was excellent at pointing out how to avoid injury, she knows the body well from years of being a professional dancer in the Middle East where the standards are soooo much higher than in NA, and again I was able to appreciate this from having taken Hadia's training.

Thank you