Thread: Turkish drop: how to start?

I want to accomplish the Turkish drop, but what baby steps do I need to start with to get there? Obviously flexibility. Probably a good solid and safe backbend first. What after that? I know eden_eyes on here is doing it but I don't see much other mentions of it.


Of course after I post that, the "similar threads" below showed a discussion in another forum:
http://www.bhuz.com/student-center/5...kish-drop.html

Also if it is safer, I can use that softer drop from a spin for what I have in mind. I'm not set on a drop from a standing still position.

Originally Posted by Darbla

I want to accomplish the Turkish drop, but what baby steps do I need to start with to get there? Obviously flexibility. Probably a good solid and safe backbend first. What after that?

Warning: Turkish drops can cause injury. I haven't done floor work since 2002 due to a Turkish drop gone bad that injured both my knees. Still, I'd heard that warning many times during my years as a student dancer and wanted to learn Turkish drops anyway, so I did, and I wouldn't be surprised if you (and others reading this thread) feel the same way.

Step #1: Learn how to do a strong, flexible, confident kneeling backbend. This page on my web site may help: Dear Shira: Please Help Me Learn to Do Backbends!

Step #2: Find a martial arts studio that teaches a form that involves falling (such as judo) and take classes to learn how to fall safely.

Step #3: Be very aware of when NOT to do a Turkish drop. Do NOT do one if you're feeling tired/fatigued - that was MY downfall. Do it only when your alertness, body awareness, concentration, and focus are at peak performance. If you do it when impaired, as I did, you'll regret it. This should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway: Don't do them when under the influence of drugs or alcohol - even just ONE glass of wine can impair your reflexes / coordination.

There's a video called 'Floorwork with Anaheed' that covers Turkish Drops very well. Anaheed gives you exercises to do to build the necessary strength in your legs (don't just do them once with the video obviously -- make a daily practice of them for a while until they become easy).

She also breaks down *exactly* how to get safely to the floor once you've built up that strength, how to protect your head, etc. (similar to what I learned in Judo class, as Shira said).

And she teaches you what to do while you're on the floor and how to get back up.

Far more important than flexibility is strong quads and abs to enable you to do it safely.

I initially learnt from my previous dance classes (a mix of jazz, contemporary and modern). Then years later, Hadia added belly dance styling. If you can find a dance school of that teaches floor work it may be worth joining a class - or doing private classes with the Turkish drop in mind.

Ditto what Shira said - it is a dangerous and potentially career shortening move and has little to recommend it in terms of impact versus costs. The time you put into this you could learn something more relevant to belly dance.

When I used to do a lot of floor work, including a Turkish drop, I religiously did a yoga workout by Raquel Welch. It really helped strengthen and stretch the all the muscles necessary to do floor work. Sadly it is out of print but you can still find VHS copies out there.

And oh my! I guess it's true, you can find anything on youtube! Someone uploaded the entire video!

Raquel's teacher was Bikram Choudhury.

There's no denying that the Turkish drop is an impressive move, but there's also an issue of stylistic relevance. If you're not doing a retro style, the risks of doing it mostly outweigh the need for it. It's a good idea to ask yourself exactly why you need to add this move to your repertoire, because you're betting the long-term health of your body on it. (Even if you're lucky enough not to sustain a serious injury, dancers who do a lot of Turkish drops often accrue nagging injuries of lesser severity from imperfect landings.) One of the reasons so few dancers do or teach Turkish drops anymore is it's so easy to hurt yourself.

Seriously, if you just want to impress people with a showy move that most dancers can't do, it's a lot safer to learn to flip quarters. Nobody blows out an abdominal muscle when a quarter lands wrong.

The Turkish drop was one of the first moves I taught myself when I discovered Belly Dance via Delilahs Workshop Series Vol 3. I was 17 and had a background in gymnastics and shodokan so to be honest it was not difficult for me to learn. I started out on a mat and mastered the move in slow mode. That it to say slowly moving through from a standing position to back bend to the floor than up to the knees by pulling up from the abs and hip flexors in a reverse back bend. If one can't do this slowly it wont be a good idea to do it fast because making micro corrections in body alignment to prevent injury will be next to impossible due to lack of strength and awareness in an altered upside down perception. In my experience with floor work in general and the Turkish drop in particular being able to apply the brakes and slow descent is a must.

I agree with some of the above suggestions in seeking out a martial arts or gymnastics studio to assist you. I don't know about yoga because it's not really the same kind of fast powerful energy if that makes any sense although it is a good foundation to have in general.

I like this thread below, it goes in to detail about types of pain and red flags

Any advice on the turkish drop?

Originally Posted by Ahmber

The Turkish drop was one of the first moves I taught myself when I discovered Belly Dance via Delilahs Workshop Series Vol 3. I was 17 and had a background in gymnastics and shodokan so to be honest it was not difficult for me to learn. I started out on a mat and mastered the move in slow mode. That it to say slowly moving through from a standing position to back bend to the floor than up to the knees by pulling up from the abs and hip flexors in a reverse back bend. If one can't do this slowly it wont be a good idea to do it fast because making micro corrections in body alignment to prevent injury will be next to impossible due to lack of strength and awareness in an altered upside down perception. In my experience with floor work in general and the Turkish drop in particular being able to apply the brakes and slow descent is a must.

I agree with some of the above suggestions in seeking out a martial arts or gymnastics studio to assist you. I don't know about yoga because it's not really the same kind of fast powerful energy if that makes any sense although it is a good foundation to have in general.

I like this thread below, it goes in to detail about types of pain and red flags

Any advice on the turkish drop?

I too taught myself how do the turkish drop but I already had the yoga background. Not any yoga, but the Raquel tape. The floor work poses specifically deal with poses needed in turkish drop just as kneeling pose and camel pose. And against all advice, I taught myself how to drop while fortified with a couple glasses of wine to relax me!

Originally Posted by norma

When I used to do a lot of floor work, including a Turkish drop, I religiously did a yoga workout by Raquel Welch. It really helped strengthen and stretch the all the muscles necessary to do floor work. Sadly it is out of print but you can still find VHS copies out there.

And oh my! I guess it's true, you can find anything on youtube! Someone uploaded the entire video!

Wow, Raquel is so beautiful. This is definitely Bikram Yoga, you might check around to see if there's a studio near you. Traditionally done in hot room, temp at 105.

I'm also a self-taught Turkish dropper. I had gymnastics background as well. Flexibility is key, but but so is core and thigh strength to be able to support the movment.

I also second what Shira said, don't do this exhausted or after any alcohol. I also think Sandra's advanced dvd covers a Turkish drop, she calls it a Turkish fold. But same idea.

Oops! I didn't mean to poopoo yoga as a training aid that's where I would start as well I jumped ahead a bit, I was thinking more about the instructors being able to teach how to fall properly and about those nice cushy blue mats to fall on.
Norma, I just did that Raquel Welch you posted, that would definitely get a body ready for a Turkish drop.

Originally Posted by Ahmber

Oops! I didn't mean to poopoo yoga as a training aid that's where I would start as well I jumped ahead a bit, I was thinking more about the instructors being able to teach how to fall properly and about those nice cushy blue mats to fall on.
Norma, I just did that Raquel Welch you posted, that would definitely get a body ready for a Turkish drop.

I'm impressed you got through the whole thing! I just gave it my first attempt in years. Didn't make it past pose #4, LOL! Man am I out of shape! Well, as Raquel says, "Little by little, does it everytime. My summer fitness goal will be to master this tape once again!

This is an "outsider's view" as I don't, won't, and most especially can't:

The danger cannot be overemphasized. One of my teachers, like Shira, blew both of her knees on a 'drop gone bad. She was hauled off by ambulance. What went wrong? She didn't commit 100%. She says doing the drop requires a 100% commitment - in other words, don't do it until you're 100% sure you're ready, and then commit to doing it 100%. She knew in mid-air that "this is gonna hurt" as she didn't commit fully.

With this said, it sure is spectacular! I once saw Karri Duke do one, she was still spinning when she landed, and slid around about a 1/4 turn on her back on the stage at the end of it. I was about 3 feet away. Like: "WOWOWOWOWOWOW"! Keep in mind that this dancer is nicknamed "The Little Package of Dynamite" for a reason!

Speaking as someone who can't do these ... all this advice is great. If you're going to do these, learn to do them safely. Build up the strength, flexibility, and technique, and then do what you need to to MAINTAIN it.

Unlike some other dance forms, most Middle Eastern dance moves don't take a great deal of overall body strength to do in quite the same way; yes, one has to learn to do them properly, and it can take years to refine, but it won't take the amount of time to learn to do a decent undulation as it will to do a decent tour jete, for example. We know that MED is plenty demanding, sure, but it's a quite different kind of strength. And yes, while you can get hurt in plenty of ways bellydancing, for the most part those injuries aren't of the traumatic kind. You're not doing multiple turns on one foot, or leaping into the air, falling repeatedly to the floor backwards, etc.

It's not part of the MED "scene" to take 2 or 3 classes five days a week on the bellydance equivalent of a high advanced or professional level, so systematic conditioning, warm-up, and drill is just not part of most bellydancer's everyday consciousness. This situation can drastically up your chances of injury. Also, most situations in which one performs frankly don't favor warming up either; no time, no space, etc. Managers/owners at clubs tend to look at you like you're from outer space if you show up more than five minutes before show time and take a couple of minutes to try and be inconspicuous while you do a few stretches or plies.

Good luck!

Yoga and pilates all the way! Cobra, hero, camel, wheel are all great asanas for this. If I can't easily get into hero then I won't do a Turkish drop. And by easily I mean fall into it with no pressure in the legs, knees or back and my pelvis tucked in and back flat on the floor. You need a strong core and quads, if you notice when you do regular floorwork you are bruising the tops of your arches then you probably aren't strong enough yet for a drop. Also touchbacks are helpful. Go on demi relevee bend your knees and hinge back as far as you can while maintaining balance, when you are strong enough, touch back one hand and come back up. All the other exercises mentioned here are great too!

Also I would start with drops standing still, not spinning, spinning I would say if the more dangerous version. Stand still and drop, but you should be in control the whole time till maybe the last few inches, you shouldn't crash, it should be relatively quiet. Never be out of control of your body. Trust me on that, I have been in dance almost as long as I could walk and was born with club feet and which later became tiny feet with overdeveloped arches and went on to spend my whole life in either ballet or bellydance and have never had a serious injury beyond broken toes here and there when on pointe. Always, always be in control throwing yourself into any move will only injure you.