Homework for week one
Topic: Arms Take some time to watch video of your favorite professional belly dancers and watch specifically for how they use their arms to frame their body or to dance with. Choose a favorite arm...
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Topic: Feet Watch this video clip of the famous Egyptian Oriental dancer Mona al Said. Pay close attention to her foot work. Look how delicately she places her feet and how she points her toes. Watch...
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Topic: Hips Close your eyes during this weeks practice and internally identify what muscles you are using to move your hips. Touch your thighs and sides with your hands and feel the muscles working as...
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Topic: Torso, Head & Focus Think of your rib cage being attached to a rope. Imagine that rope pulling you up, down, forward, back, side to side and diagonal to diagonal. Start small, just moving...
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Topic: Lines & Transitions Find three poses online from photos of Oriental dancers that you feel have beautiful lines you’d like to emulate. Practice those poses. (If you want you can email them to...
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Topic: Patterns, Repetition & Variety Choose a piece of music to analyze. Write down on a piece of paper labeling each section, how many counts there are in it, where the melodic phrases begin and...
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Topic: Middle Eastern Instruments and their Interpretation Learn to identify and recognize by sound and sight several different musical instruments used commonly in the Middle East: kanun –...
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Topic: Middle Eastern Musical Structure: Rhythms Every good belly dancer must understand her Middle Eastern Rhythms and know how to dance to them. I break down an understanding of rhythms into two...
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Topic: Middle Eastern Musical Structure: Maqam & More Learn about some of the things that make Middle Eastern music distinct from Western music by reading "Part 1: Near Eastern Music Theory for...
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