Thread: What were/are the 3 most difficult...

What were/are the 3 most difficult concepts in dance for you to learn?
Please state dance style and then your 3 concepts.

I'll start it up :)

Egyptian Raqs Sharki
1. Consistency in posture (incl. arms, hands, legs and feet)
2. Grounding
3. Consistency in flow & range of movement

Originally Posted by david

What were/are the 3 most difficult concepts in dance for you to learn?
Please state dance style and then your 3 concepts.

I'll start it up :)

Egyptian Raqs Sharki
1. Consistency in posture (incl. arms, hands, legs and feet)
2. Grounding
3. Consistency in flow & range of movement

For me the same three exact things.

Pretty similar for me:

Egyptian raqs sharqi
1. Posture
2. Weight shifts as part of movement transitions (maybe what you, DaVid, might partly mean by consistency in flow)
3. Footwork, I can't tell my right from my left, and my right foot magically transforms into my left once it's placed to the outside of my actual left foot. Because my dyslexic brain is only awesome at remembering which is right and which is left when the other foot is in that location ;-)

not really concepts, but my "last pieces of the puzzle",

Oriental/raqs sharki

1. doing something else with my arms than hillal style pose
2. facial expressions
3. turning

Can I add a fourth? When I was in college, I got my concentration face and I carried it over to dance. Like this: ,m::

Thank God I got rid of it!!

yueah I would agree with what you have already DAvid. For me personally I woud have to elaborate on the arms/posture thing. I feel like my arms are too busy. Taking up less with them is a goal for me.
I am also working on my "swayback" problem! Thats a tough one to fix!
xoxo,
-NJ

Originally Posted by david

What were/are the 3 most difficult concepts in dance for you to learn?
Please state dance style and then your 3 concepts.

I'll start it up :)

Egyptian Raqs Sharki
1. Consistency in posture (incl. arms, hands, legs and feet)
2. Grounding
3. Consistency in flow & range of movement

style, I'm not sure Im kind of all over the place with style

1, turns and spins
2. posture
3. turns and spins lol

Egyptian Raqs Sharki

1: Keeping my arms/hands graceful, or remembering to actually move them
2: fast shimmies ( they always end up being spastic -so that the shimmy flows only through one side)
3: Timing on turns - I often, either end up too fast or too slow

Egyptian Oriental
1. Posture
2. Feeling and expressing the music
3. Not moving so big. Since I attend a group class somewhat regularly, we sometimes travel in circles. I'm still inclined to make my moves huge, as to keep up with people.

Tribal/fusion
1. Posture
2. Moving really, really slow. I know that Oriental does have slow stuff, but my tribal teacher emphasizing moving exceptionally slow.
3. Watching the cues without making it obvious. Although most of my training in the tribal stuff has been a more "tribal fusion" look (though I do learn the ATS moves, I don't entirely know the cuing), I did take some class ATS a while ago. Even though it wasn't performance based, I always tried to make it not obvious I wasn't watching for the cue.

This is just a so far, I've only been dancing for four years.

American Cabaret
1. Rhythm. Anyone who tells you that it can't be learned is lying. I spent a good 6 months being so off the beat I was on the next beat.
2. Facial expressions. I make a concentrating face that involves squinting my eyes and catching my tongue between my teeth so it sticks out of my mouth a tiny bit. Exceptionally hot.
I am also applying this to remembering to smile on-stage.
3.Slowing everything down, sometimes I just want to hit EVERY SINGLE BEAT and end up moving in a way that is impossible to follow or enjoy watching.

Raqs Sharki -
1) breathing and use of breath while dancing
2) internalizing movement without losing power, range of motion & energy
3) musicality - learning to listen between the notes and spend time dancing there, rather than dancing literally

ETA: these are things I'm still struggling with. I think they will always be an eternal challenge.

AmCab:

1) Arms.
2) Slowing down and not being so frenetic (partially due to having a frenetic teacher for several years - had to un-learn).
3) Posture and "overall packaging".

3. Footwork, I can't tell my right from my left, and my right foot magically transforms into my left once it's placed to the outside of my actual left foot. Because my dyslexic brain is only awesome at remembering which is right and which is left when the other foot is in that location ;-)

Oh. My. God...my problem...I never heard it put that way before!!! WOW!

ITS and Cabaret (Egyptian Raqs Sharqi based I think)

1. Not dancing ahead of the music/anticipating what's coming next
2. Transitions, especially connected to weight shifts
3. I'm having fun, d@mmit!

Choreography
Choreography
Choreography

Oh, did I say Choreography?

{{{HUGS}}}

Egyptian Oriental

1) Deciding when to follow the melody vs. rhythm, or when to dance to both at the same time
2) Arms
3) Finding Tarab

Originally Posted by elljay

Raqs Sharki -
1) breathing and use of breath while dancing
2) internalizing movement without losing power, range of motion & energy
3) musicality - learning to listen between the notes and spend time dancing there, rather than dancing literally

ETA: these are things I'm still struggling with. I think they will always be an eternal challenge.

I relate 100%

1.soheir zaki hips-took me ages to get it so it looked right.
2. A beautiful oriental style-I shall always struggle with this one because i'm a baladi/shaabi girl through and through.
3. The words-its not enough for me to dance to music only I have to convey mood and meaning. I don't speak Arabic so every song takes work.

1. Smiling -As I dance improv I tend to put all my attention on the music and have to remember to smile
2. Slowing down -the fault of so many years dancing to Greek/Turkish music
3. Arms-I have short stubby arms so I'll never achieve that long graceful ballerina arm.

Egyptian Style

1. Making my knowledge explicit, finding out what exactly I do and why. I have no musical training so that may have something to do with it.
2. Footwork, becoming more conscious of what I do with my feet and beautifying it.
3. Recruiting my not-preferred muscles. I noticed that after dancing for hours at a hafla, I started doing new things, or old things in a new way. I think because my fave moves had worn out my preferred muscles, which made others more available.

1. Slowing down
2. Shimmies (I got some bad coaching that hurt me for years)
3. Debke footwork (I just got the fast hop/kick step I've been trying to figure out for YEARS)

Style: Classical Oriental


1.Trying to hear the tiny accents and nuances in the music and not just the most obvious ones, and learning to acknowledge them in my dancing.

2.Slowing down and not thinking that every move has to be a "bellydance'" move. This comes from years of classes with teachers who they themselves felt that if you weren't doing constant shimmies or hip lifts or pops throughout the whole song, then the audience would become bored.

3.Related to #2...transitional moves that aren't undulations, walking 3/4 shimmies or travelling hip lifts.

Emoting - I don't know how to emote, I either smile like a maniac or look like I'm smelling something stinky.

OOps just read the rules:
Raqs Sharki
1. Emoting (see above)
2. Balance - I'm naturally clumsy
3. Flexibility

3 most difficult concepts...

1. Musicality, Timing & Technique... Today's example is zilling 3-7-3, pada bourre half time, alternating chest & hip squares in quarter time downbeat on the right while adding in a bellyroll every other time.

2. Relaxing my arms, shoulders neck and breating through all of my movements in order to stay relaxed and not look tense or too intense.

3. Slowing down and taking my time with each movement. Being lyrically slow.

FYI... I STILL struggle with these things.

Originally Posted by gretchendances

Today's example is zilling 3-7-3, pada bourre half time, alternating chest & hip squares in quarter time downbeat on the right while adding in a bellyroll every other time.

Hmmmm....

Sounds like my Monday nite class! ..l;, Except my teacher reminds us to SMILE! while we're doing something incredibly impossible like this...

1. Posture. I have a sway in my back that makes my posture look bad, plus I was a former ballet dancer..yeah. That hurt.
2. Slow movements. I wasn't fluid enough. Sometimes, I still feel like I'm a bit too fast or rigid.
3. Turns. As a kid, I tripped on my feet. As a ballet dancer, I tripped on my feet. As a belly dancer...you guess it!

Egyptian Raqs Sharqi

1. Maintaining posture (both upper carriage and proper lower ab/back tilt)
2. Fluidity and extention in arms
3. Connecting breath with movement

1. Achieving a dancer's grace, looking polished.
2. What the heck is the style on which I really want to focus?
3. Zills. OY...zills. How they hate me...

Originally Posted by zorba

Hmmmm....

Sounds like my Monday nite class! ..l;, Except my teacher reminds us to SMILE! while we're doing something incredibly impossible like this...

And smiling on top of all of it is just the icing on the cake! ,r:;

Oriental:

1. Turns
2. Zills
3. Footwork

Ballet:

1. Rhythm
2. First position/I have a hyperextension
3. Turns yet again.