Thread: Fun quote from a student

I started a new beginner session Tuesday night. I tend to vary the themes of my beginner classes - this time, because it's a shorter-than-usual session, my theme is "using belly dance as social dance when you go out partying". After I taught some hip lifts and drops and other basics, I put some Egyptian pop music on for them to improvise to, just playing around.

When I stopped the music, one of them asked me to dance around a little for them, so they could see how the moves looked on me and know what they were aiming for. So I did. Of course, I hammed it up a bit with a little eyebrow lift here, a knowing smile there, etc. I only went for about 15-20 seconds.

When I was done, the one who asked me to do it said, "Now I get it! You can almost do anything you want, even stand still, as long as you do it with a cute expression on your face!"

I thought that was a fun comment! ..g.:

I remember the first week I started going to class I couldn't get enough of watching our teacher dance. I remember the feeling of "gee, will I be able to do that one day".. Yes, I can.

Ha, your student is right. Let me state it here on bhuz first, she'll be a good dancer.

That is sooooo cute.....!!!

lol, she is very observent!

My favourite comment from a beginner student was: I can't believe I've spent an hour & a half watching another woman's bum.

You all have no idea how much this thread made me giggle which I badly needed.
I don't have a cute quote, but a funny incident in one of my classes. Last summer I had my first male student come to classes with his wife. They were competitive fitness/body builders and were looking for some moves they could use for their competions. Well as I'm doing my usual explaination about shoulder shimmies I make the joke about how "everything else up front goes along for the ride, this is where you find out if you wore the right bra to class." At that point I had turned full circle and was facing said gentleman who started snickering, along with the rest of the class as I backpedaled with a hasty "well almost everyone." Keep in mind he is a body builder with fairly heavy upper body and shoulder muscles. He could barely move the shoulder muscles forward, so he starts flexing his pec muscles. I promptly lost it as I turned around quickly with a squeak into the microphone since I was trying not to laugh. Every time after that if I looked directly at him during shoulder shimmy drills he'd start that pec flex and crack everyone up.
I love students with a sense of humor..l;,

Originally Posted by *Shira*

When I was done, the one who asked me to do it said, "Now I get it! You can almost do anything you want, even stand still, as long as you do it with a cute expression on your face!"

she will go far!

That's too cute! I can't wait to start teaching!

My all-time favorite moment teaching a mixed level class 3/4 down shimmies and I stopped class, stopped drummers and demonstrated it very slowly telling them "if you cannot see this move on MY 1X HIPS, you are just not looking at me! They all said, in unision: OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! And when the drumming started again, every student got it, REALLY GOT IT.

Another cute comment was during veil clinic when a student told me: "But your veils are TRAINED and know what to do"! So, I handed my trusty nightclub red/silver veil to her and told her, you are right, it does know what to do but the dancer has to meet the veil halfway with posture, arms and above all, moving with the music. And you know what, she was more confident in her spins, *just because* she felt the veil "knew what to do".

David taught Bhangra at Tribal Fusion Fair, SLO CA and after it a student came up and said "David, you are the NEW thigh master"
Referring to the workout your thighs get in Bhangra! (being correctly done of course..teasing)

Great Thread - I needed a laf as well - this really helped!
Ta girls

I put on some music and was dancing to Luxor Baladna and my daughter was watching me and she said, "Mom, it looks like that music is coming right out of your butt!"

WHA!? I think it was a compliment...

I love this thread too, and what a great one to start my Monday off with!
It's new students like these that make teaching worth it. Seeing their expressions, joy, and when they "get" something, that's what it's all about. And their comments are just an added bonus.

Mish Mish, your daughter's comment was the best. May I tell that to some of my students?

Originally Posted by mish_mish

I put on some music and was dancing to Luxor Baladna and my daughter was watching me and she said, "Mom, it looks like that music is coming right out of your butt!"

WHA!? I think it was a compliment...

..l;, ..l;, ..l;, ..l;,

Originally Posted by amirahdancer

Mish Mish, your daughter's comment was the best. May I tell that to some of my students?

Of course! It made me laugh and it made me feel so happy!

Originally Posted by mish_mish

I put on some music and was dancing to Luxor Baladna and my daughter was watching me and she said, "Mom, it looks like that music is coming right out of your butt!"

WHA!? I think it was a compliment...

where's that pinnacle of the dance thread? This is going to be my new goal in life. :) so cute

Originally Posted by mish_mish

I put on some music and was dancing to Luxor Baladna and my daughter was watching me and she said, "Mom, it looks like that music is coming right out of your butt!"

WHA!? I think it was a compliment...

..l;,..l;,..l;,..l;, Now that is a classic!

Originally Posted by mish_mish

I put on some music and was dancing to Luxor Baladna and my daughter was watching me and she said, "Mom, it looks like that music is coming right out of your butt!"

WHA!? I think it was a compliment...

Oh, I think that totally was! From the mouths of babes...

i love that. that's my new goal too. i used to say that I wanted to be the physical embodiment of the music but your baby girl said it in a much better way.

I have always felt that a really good performance happens when the dancer becomes the music...I think that was the 6-year old way of saying that! :) The next day she wanted me to dance for her again. It made my heart very happy, since I've been feeling very ambivalent about my ability and my place in the dance world (not sure why I keep coming back). I needed to hear that! My kids aren't free with the compliments, either.

I recently had a similar experience with my 10 daughter that made me smile for hours.

She and my husband had watched me do the final costume run-through of my new Meleya Leff, mostly to make sure my dress wasn't riding up with all the meleya manipulation. Now, she's 10 and she knows a little about what a Meleya Leff is - she gets that there's a special costume and that you're acting as a character, but that's about the extent of her knowledge. I asked her later what she thought the story was I was trying to tell; the way I put it to her was, "If this were a book you were reading, what would the character's personality be, and what would she be doing in that scene?" Her response was *just* what I had hoped for - she said I seemed like "a cute girl who want lots of attention, but pretends to be shy. She also said it looked like I was "giving my boyfriend a hard time about something" but "not trying to make him mad".

She totally got it! That's so cool!