Thread: Mayte Garcia on Exercise TV

I have a new student who has no belly dance background. She has been practicing with Mayte Garcia's instructional videos on Exercise TV. (We have Comcast On Demand in our area, which is showing several of Mayte's clips.)

I've watched a couple of these, to see what my student is doing, and the very first thing I noticed is that she teaches a stance with the feet shoulder width apart. I teach hip-width apart, and I have told my student that this is one obvious difference in style and that it may be a difficult habit for her to break if she becomes accustomed to the wider stance.

Mayte also teaches "hip lifts" in a way that I've never seen before, with the wide stance and the knees alternately bending and straightening.

I believe that Mayte is a beautiful and accomplished dancer, based on a few clips I've seen on YouTube. I think the demands of a short exercise segment for a general TV audience probably led to making these choices about posture and technique. She also doesn't use Middle Eastern music in these segments.

I don't want to discourage my student from practicing but I also don't teach a style anything like what Mayte is teadhing on these videos. I believe some of what she is showing comes from salsa dancing and jazz dancing, not belly dancing. But I can see how the steps could work for belly dancing, too.

Have any other teachers encountered this situation? How did you handle it.

Originally Posted by dunyah

I've watched a couple of these, to see what my student is doing, and the very first thing I noticed is that she teaches a stance with the feet shoulder width apart. I teach hip-width apart, and I have told my student that this is one obvious difference in style and that it may be a difficult habit for her to break if she becomes accustomed to the wider stance.

This isn't really any different than, say, learning Turkish-influenced AmCab style and changing to Egyptian. I suspect all of us had at least one thing an early teacher was justified in teaching that a later teacher wanted to undo for stylistic reasons.

Mayte also teaches "hip lifts" in a way that I've never seen before, with the wide stance and the knees alternately bending and straightening.

I can't tell if she's doing a hip lift in addition to her knee movements, which is a possible stylization (sort of like doing a maya and lifting the heel off the floor--you can maya with feet flat or lift the heel, but just lifting the heel isn't the full movement). Either way, her explanation wasn't really sufficient for a beginner to learn a traditional hip lift from.

She also doesn't use Middle Eastern music in these segments.

I think this is an issue with music licensing, not something that is indicative of her failure to sufficiently appreciate the culture behind the dance. If you look at her bio, there's no way she couldn't know better. BELLYDANCE - MAYTE.COM

I don't want to discourage my student from practicing but I also don't teach a style anything like what Mayte is teadhing on these videos.

Then say the same thing you'd tell a student who was doing videos from Rachel Brice or Suhaila or somebody else who doesn't dance like you: "I use a different stylization. In my class, we do things my way. If you want to learn this other dancer's system, too, it's your responsibility to keep it separate." From the EOD clips I've seen, Mayte may not be giving complete information for a beginner to learn moves from, but I wouldn't say she's giving wrong or dangerous instruction. The zaar head rolls on Fit TV's "Shimmy," OTOH, could actually injure your neck.

I believe some of what she is showing comes from salsa dancing and jazz dancing, not belly dancing. But I can see how the steps could work for belly dancing, too.

I don't own her videos, but I've seen either natives or well regarded Western teachers doing the same moves as she does in the EOD clips. I think it's just a very contemporary flavor of AmCab.

I had a student who was practicing to an "On Demand" belly dance instruction. I personally did not like how these clips were being presented either, but I too did not want to discourage my student from practicing at home. I made some notes for her to take home and read over before she did her routine to the "On Demand" instruction. I also listed a few of the terms I use for the moves being presented such as a "twisty cone" or something kinda cutesy like that I called a "Turkish Twist" so she would not be confused when she came to class. I explained to my student that I personally did not like the dance style, but if she was having fun and kept a SAFE body posture, it was a good practice tool.

**If you are totally against her practicing to this set of instruction, you may want to recommend an instructional DVD.**

I feel the best thing to do is make sure your student understands that this is a "fusion" of belly dance and something else and not a pure style of belly dance. I would ask that she still use a smaller stance than the one being presented because a smaller stance allows for a more free range of movement throughout her body. After that, make sure you reinforce the good behavior or practicing at home. Maybe after a few weeks she wont need the "On Demand" instruction and will be looking to you for a good DVD to move on to

I started belly dancing with less-than-stellar youtube mini-instructionals. Then I moved on to Rachel Brice's drills and yoga DVD, which I used regularly for a few months before I started to get other DVDs. By the time I finally found classes, I had been learning independently for a few months.

Yet, I turned out just fine... probably because I watched a lot of videos of other dancers and developed a critical eye and a good sense of how I wanted to dance. Even though I practiced to Rachel Brice's DVD, I dance nothing like Rachel Brice. Yet to this date I think her DVDs are invaluable, and would recommend them to beginners in any style. They made my isolations very strong, crisp, and clear. Now that her Serpentine DVD is out I've made that into my regular practice companion, and I can already see the quality of my movements improving.

However, I have to pick and choose, and ignore a few things. For example, I won't keep my elbows as lifted as she does, because I would pretty much never use that position in my style, so it makes little sense to practice holding it. I also don't bend my knees as much in basic posture, I prefer a straight-legged position with soft knees. When I was first starting, I followed her instructions exactly, but since I've gained exposure to other styles and developed my preferences I've been able to choose what to follow and what to ignore.

So if your student really likes Mayte's instruction, she can keep following it and as long as she is using other sources she will be able to pick and choose what style to go with at a given time. In your class, she must do things your way, but it's great that she is practicing at home and using other sources as well, this will help her acquire some versatility in the future. You can always recommend other sources for home practice, as well.