Insights from Our Teachers About Dance and Dance Making

The Process: #9 5/23/13

Q: Do you make your own costuming, if so what are your favorite aspects of the process? If not, where do you like to shop / who are your favorite designers?

Rachel Brice: I love to make my own costumes. For me, belly dance is also a way for me to be able to show what I've made, it's at least 1/2 of the fun, as is digging through junk piles to find amazing, broken, rusty treasures. I'm also a huge fan of Mardi Love and Foolproof.

Sedona Soulfire: No I do not make my own costumes. I do have grand visions of costuming in my head but have not cultivated any sewing or crafting skills. For most of my costumes I usually begin with a particular theme/style/idea/design in my head, I draw it or gather pictures of certain elements and then pass this along to a costumer. Bella of Istanbul has done an amazing job of making many of my visions come to life. I am also currently working with Dark Fusion Boutique, Poison Babe, and NagaSita. I truly admire the multifaceted visionaries who create their own costumes and dance in ...

New Workshop: 5/16/13

A new workshop from Rachel Brice detailing some of her favorite movements - the Layabck, Drops and Zipper, with Floorwork. Yoga, drill, detail and dance it with a combo. What could be better?

Laybacks, Drops, Zippers & Floorwork with Rachel Brice

This intermediate to advanced level workshop will help those already proficent in deep bodywaves to achieve the coveted layback-drop-zipper combination. We begin with a yoga practice to strengthen the large muscles of the back, and to lengthen the hip flexors. Rachel then breaks down The Layback, The Cobra Basket turn, and drills The Zipper. Then you’ll move on to learning a challenging combination that includes laybacks, drops, berber walks, the Zipper, the Cobra Basket Turn, the Camel Walk Plunge and others. The combo can be used for group improvisation or choreography. Please proceed carefully, as this workshop is filled with movements that take time to master.

New Class: 5/10/13

Your heart will be racing with Ashley's new cardio conditioning and belly dance drills class, Heart Throb. Gorgeous photo by Dark Fusion Boutique / Lucretia*Renee Rathmann.

 Heart Throb: Cardio Conditioning and Belly Dance Drills

Get ready to get your heart rate up and have some fun in this challenging cardio class. Class is divided into two parts, beginning to intermediate dance drills with mini combos, sandwiched between short bursts of more traditional fitness conditioning.

New Workshop: 4/26/13

Get ready to be shaken up! Sedona details, drills and dances four different classic shimmies in this new worksop. Shimmy on!

Shimmy Quartet

This workshop covers 4 different types of shimmies: the choo choo, the waggle shimmy, the Turkish front back shimmy, and the freeze. It includes a warm up with a very unique seated shimmy drill that will help you gain the muscle memory needed to execute stellar shimmies. Each shimmy is broken down, drilled and then finally put into one extended drill based combination.

New Workshop: 4/19/13

New meditative and powerful Tribal Style Sword Choreography from Colette Todorov to a song by SF bay area band, MWE's. Enjoy! 

Tribal Style Sword Choreography

In this Intermediate level class, a choreography featuring the Sword is presented to MWE's song, "Los Biblicos". Beginning with an entrance, the piece starts with the presentation of the Sword and dramatic Sword handling. The tension increases as the Sword is balanced and Tribal Style movements and variations are executed. This choreography is applicable to all styles of belly dance and may be utilized by ATS® or ITS groups.

To brush up on Tribal Style Sword Fundamentals, check out Colette's Slow and Fast Tribal Style Sword Classes.

*Note: This choreography uses an edited version of the MWE song, "Los Biblicos". The choreography is from 00:47 to 4:06 of the track. You can find the track here: http://mwemusic.bandcamp.com/