Style

[jethrien]

ivy03 and another friend and I are taking belly dancing lessons. (It's quite a lot of fun, even if the shimmies make me want to die.) It's a drop-in class that meets several times a week--you just show up at the class you feel like taking. We've had slightly different schedules each week, so we've bounced around a lot.

We've ended up having four different teachers (I think we've hit just about everyone who teaches beginner lessons at this point.) It's interesting to switch classes because, while they're all teaching the same set of moves, they all have very different personal styles, not just of teaching but of dancing.

Friday's teacher, for example, has sort of a goth-punk edge. She breaks every move down to its most basic components, is funny and a little vulgar, and dances with a certain amount of aggressive exoticism. Thursday's teacher was the first one we had--honestly, I was sufficiently confused that the class was kind of a blur and I don't remember her all that well. Tuesday has two teachers. One is kind of a hippie-hipster-yoga instructor type. She has basically 0% body fat, which is actually quite strange on a belly dancer. It's kind of useful in a creepy sort of way--you can see every sinew and bone shifting under her skin, so it's very educational--you can see exactly which muscle you want to be engaging for a particular move. She's sort of a technicalist, but sort of a tribalist feel.

The one we had last night has a tendency to go into free-flowing routines that can be a little confusing but is really fun. But instead of exotic or sexy or spunky, she seems to be the personification of sweet longing as soon as she starts to move. I wouldn't be surprised if men fall in love with her, watching her dance. She just has this incredibly yearning, adorable, "I'm the nicest person in the world and I completely love you" persona that flips on. (She's very nice regardless, but we're talking full wattage, blinding niceness.)

The best I seem to be able to do is imperious. That's when I'm not projecting "hopelessly confused". Sigh. Long way to go.

Comments

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I mostly look at the instructor not just to follow her but so I can imagine that's what I look like when I'm doing it. I think I might have some idea of how to do the undulation with my stomach, but I don't think I could do it more than once... I think this engages me in part because it is a mental challenge--trying to figure out what muscles you need to use to do a move and then BEATING THOSE MUSCLES INTO SUBMISSION BY FORCE OF WILL.

I quite like Ayana, but last night was the first time where I really felt like I wasn't going to make it. My thighs just aren't strong enough yet. I think it's good to get a variety of teachers, so you don't get stuck with one routine over and over, and so you can approach the moves different ways mentally. (The way she was teaching hip drops yesterday? SO INTERESTING.)

I am sore today.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I still think I'm using the wrong muscles to shimmy. I feel like I'm cheating somehow and so it's not coming out right.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I HATE THE RUNNING SHIMMY WITH A FIERY PASSION. DIE, RUNNING SHIMMY, DIE!

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I can see when they do it, how it could look awesome, but when I do it, it looks ridiculous. Also, makes my legs burn with the fire of a thousand fiery suns.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

I wanna take lessons, and there's even a group around here, but they've apparently stopped offering classes. *grump* I have a DVD, but it's not the same.

Trying out the different styles seems like it'd be really fun, and allow you to figure out which you like best and which suits you...

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

That's the interesting thing--it's not technically different styles. It's all Egyptian cabaret, specifically in the style of the school's founder. It's the same move set each time. (And they'll occasionally make a comment about how if you drop your arms here or move your hips that way, it would be Arabic or tribal, but that's not the way we do things here.) But each teacher does the same move with different emotion. Just they way they extend an arm--to the same bend at the same angle--is individually different in feel.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Huh. Now that's ESPECIALLY interesting...

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

I took a few lessons in Atlanta. It's *hard*!