#belly dance practice

[wherespockcosplay]

not a costume, just playing with my fan veils

all fun and games until your arms fall off

[dailydosebellydance]

Belly roll layer drill

Part 1: Do a big exterior hip circle. Stop at four points: front, side, back, side. Make sure in the front you are bending your knees and not stressing your lower back. Pelvis is still tucked. In the back of your hip circle make sure pelvis is till tucked and rib cage is lifted.

Smooth out your circle again but keep those four points in mind. During a slow, big hip circle, add a rib cage lift at each of those four points. Relax after the lift so you're ready to lift again when you get to the next point.

Make sure this rib cage lift is not affecting your hip circle - posture is still consistent, and you're isolated.

Part 2: Up to down belly rolls, initiated with rib cage lift. So, upper back contraction to lift rib cage, then upper ab contraction to bring rib cage back to center and continue your ab contraction down to finish the roll. 

Make sure your pelvis is tucked and not affected by your belly roll. It can be helpful to think of your pelvic tuck as being created by lower back muscles elongating. That way your lower abs are free to engage in belly roll.

Put it together!

During a slow, big hip circle, add a rib cage lift at each of those four points. But this time the rib cage lift is followed by that belly roll.

One of the tricks to this is not letting the bottom of the belly roll translate into any extra pelvic movement. Since you're already moving your pelvis around in a circle it can be difficult to keep the belly roll and hip circle seperate.

You might also benefit from drilling rib cage lift + belly rolls while your hips are stationary in any of the four positions of your hip circle. So, move to the back of the hip circle and stay there, drilling 8 or 16 rib cage lift + belly rolls. Then move on.

[dailydosebellydance]

Up to down undulation variety

Imagine your center line - a vertical line where your weight is centered up through the crown of your head. Undulate up to down moving only in front of that line: rib cage push forward, lift, roll back and down but do not allow your body to move into space behind where your center line was.

Now try to undulate up to down moving only behind your center line. Rib cage lift, lean back, roll through coming forward and back to center. 

These undulations can look very different depending on the part of the muscle movements your emphasize and where your weight is. What other small variations can you add to this movement family?

[dailydosebellydance]

Entrance/Intro practice

Various research shows that people form a fairly strong first impression during the first 5-7 seconds of seeing a new person.

Watch the first 10 seconds of a variety of performances on Youtube. A few to start you off:

Sadie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YamDoDK71Ds

Zoe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB6j0H3GEQc

Jillina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLeipzCbIRY

Rachel Brice and Datura: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIi9cSldNKY

Take note of what you like and what doesn't work for you. Take the first 10 seconds of a song and choreograph it a few different ways. Video your ideas on your phone or tablet if you can. How can you make those first seconds work for you? 

[dailydosebellydance]

Dance Goals

Set a goal for yourself for the end of today, the end of the week, and for a month from now. Write them somewhere or put them online where you'll see them often.

Make all of these short-term goals process-specific, as in, not "I'm going to write a choreography", but rather, "I will work on writing combos to my song for at least 30 minutes, three times a week" and not "I will practice more" but "I will make sure to log 4 dance practices of at least 10 minutes each."

[dailydosebellydance]

Spinning Drill

Pick one kind of turn/spin that you'd like to be able to sustain for longer than you can currently. Feel your core muscles engage and hold your center, bend your knees a little extra, and perform that spin as many times as you feel you are still using good form. Note how many times you were able to do it.

Before you're done practicing for the day, do that same exercise, trying to get the same number of spins in. If you have an attempt where you don't make it to your target number, stop and do a different drill for a few moments, and then try again.

Next day, your target number is one spin more than the previous day. Keep track on a post-it note stuck to your mirror, or wherever is convenient. 

Remember to engage your core and give yourself a strong center before you spin. Practicing spotting can help - although some turns and styles might ask you to spin with no spotting.

[dailydosebellydance]

16 Count Core Drill 3.0

Vertical rib cage box: rib cage slide R, rib cage lift, rib cage slide L, rib cage drop.

Double the timing of rib cage box (8 moves, takes four counts.)

(Belly roll up to down, belly roll down to up) x 2

(Rib cage loop-the-loop: rib cage circle goes R, back, L, forward, R, back, L, stop and reverse course to go: L, back, R, forward, L, back, R) x 2

[dailydosebellydance]

16 Count Core Drill 2.0

Rib cage lift, drop, lift, drop

(from the upper ab contraction in the last rib cage drop) belly roll up to down x 2, then down to up x 2 (or you could just do one of each if you want half time belly rolls)

Pelvic drop, tuck, drop, tuck

Omis on the down x 4 - starting with the tuck from your last pelvic tuck.

An omi on the down focuses on moving out of your center, so if you were in a you-sized closet you should be able to perform a regular omi without hitting the walls, but in an omi on the down you are moving your pelvis out from under your rib cage and thus would hit the walls of your you-sized closet.

I.E. 

1) Pelvic tuck while shifting pelvis backward - weight in heels. Make sure not to collapse upper body! 

2) R hip drop while shifting weight to the right - like a hip on the down.

3) Pelvic drop while shifting pelvis forward - weight in balls of feet. 

4) L hip drop while shifting weight to the left