Hi again everyone!  I have another class handout for you from last week’s Tuesday all levels belly dance class covering the large hip circle and box step (aka v step).

LARGE HIP CIRCLE:

Basic Cue: Center, Standard posture, left arm in 1st, right arm in rest, begin w/ hip sliding slowly out to right side.

Variations:

• Turn: cue with head turn – 1/3 turns to right – lead passes around formation for timing and size of move until it returns to original position.

BOX STEP (or V-Step):

Basic Cue: Arms in Second, large step out to right front corner of “box” with large exaggerated hip bump.

Variations:

• Arms: after the initial cue, arms can be moved into an alternate arm position of the ghawazee step arms or low arm if wanted.
• Turn: cue with head turn – ¼ turn – lead passes around formation for timing, etc. until it returns to original position.

REACH FORWARD / ARCH BACK

Basic Cue: Turn to left side – feet in cat/showgirl stance, arms in 5th.  Begin move slowly (right arm to side, left arm forward starts the move).

Variations:

• Stance changes – rather than staying in cat stance the whole time, the move can be enlarged by taking the right leg forward into a lunge during the reach portion of the move and straightening it up into a tendu front during the arch back.
• The movement can be enlarged even further by beginning with the same right leg forward lunge during the reach portion and then bringing the right foot back so the left foot is in a tendu front during the arch back portion.
• For these variations just make sure you are moving slowly and purposefully through the positions so followers can see that where you are going.
• If you are following you should be able to tell quickly if the leader is staying in place, moving forward, or moving backward, and you will – from that – know what position to move to.

ARABIC / HIP TWIST

Basic Cue: body turns 45 degree angle to audience to begin exaggerated beginning Arabic step, arms shoot straight out to sides flat to audience – with palms up.

Variations:

• Arm variation:
• Arms can also be in 1st position – when in this position, the move should generally  be slightly smaller and more contained.  This is also the position that the arms MUST be in for 1/4 turns to be cued.
• Turns:
• 1/4 turns: Begin w/ arm variation in 1st position – then cue w/ head turn (most often to left  – the 1/4 turn to the right is possible, but much less natural feeling) these turns will be (as named) quarter turns – one turn to each side and end back in the starting position.
• 1/2 turns: begin w/ arm variation in 2nd position (standard arms) – then cue with BOTH a ‘yip’ during the Arabic portion of the move and the right arm folding across the body during the Hip Twist portion of the move.  There will be 2 full rotations of ½ turns (to the left) – during the 1/4 turns the arms fold in more than usual like they do for the cue – and then return to the starting position
• Traveling / Circle: This move is frequently used to move into the circle and as a traveling move around the circle.
• To cue into a circle from formation do a half turn to the RIGHT – WITHOUT cueing.  The formation should NOT follow you in the turn, rather, everyone should hold/pause/back up slightly, make eye contact, and then the leader should gesture to begin again in the circle on the next downbeat.
• When traveling, the right foot should cross over farther than usual during the Arabic portion of the move and during the hip twist portion of the move the right foot will either move just right next to the left foot (not going out as far as usual) or if you need further/faster movement, it can actually cross behind much like a grapevine.
• iWhen this step is being used for the circle it signifies that it is ok to cross the circle in pairs w/ Arabic. (while people are crossing, the circle will STOP moving until they rejoin on the opposite sides).

HORIZONTAL FIGURE 8:

Basic Cue: Center, bring arms from rest position to frame right hip, push right hip to front right corner.

Variations:

• Turn:
• Cue (when right hip reaches back right corner) by bringing right arm to head and left arm to hip, shift weight onto left foot and cross right foot over left – this is a slow half turn.
• The turn stops facing the back and continues w/ horizontal figure 8’s until the new leader (in the back) cues to turn back around.
• In Level 1 the leader in back will only continue the move and then turn back around when they are ready … as levels progress, the leader will have the option to cue other moves while the formation is facing backwards before coming back to the figure 8 and cueing to turn back around.

EGYPTIAN:

Basic Cue: Arms come into 5th position, palms facing one another.

Variations:

• Arms:
• Arms can also be brought into 1st or 2nd position for variety.
• 1st position is the arm position you would cue 1/4 turns from.
• 2nd position will also have an alternate zilling pattern in level 2.
• Turns:
• 1/4 Turns:
• Begin w/ arm variation in 1st position – then cue w/ head turn (most often to left – the 1/4 turn to the right is possible, but much less natural to the right)
• Leader may add optional double yip – especially for cases where the leader and their cues may not be easily seen)
• These turns will be (as named) quarter turns – one turn to each side and end back in the starting position
• 1/2 Turns:
• Begin w/ standard arms (5th, palms facing one another) – cue by making standard arm movement bigger and to the side some as opposed to just forward and back, also cross right foot slightly over left all during the first beat of the Egyptian
• Leader may add optional yip – especially for cases where the leader / cues may not be easily seen
• There will be 2 full rotations of the half turns (4 half turns to the left) returning back to starting position
• Traveling:
• As with other movements, make first step larger and slightly angle body into traveling direction to cue
• Look down and back to go backwards (always lead w/ right side)
• This move can be done to get in the circle (and around the circle) and will usually signify that you will be doing moves as a group in the circle

Tonight’s post is the week 4 handout from the level 1 tribal class (part 1).

Basic Arms

Basic Cue: Center, begin with slow, big right arm (exaggerate it a bit to make sure it’s visible and distinctive as a cue to the other dancers).

Variations:

• Poses
  • Various body/leg poses and angles should be led into slowly and purposefully.
  • Each pose should be completed before moving into another.
  • In this case there is not a distinct cue for each pose, which makes moving slowly very important as it allows the others to follow effectively without those cues.
• Travel
  • Cue by leading with upper body and stepping out slowly.
  • Always start with the right leg.
• Turns
  • Cue with head turn.
  • This is a gradual turn – the lead passes around the formation for timing of the movement and the rotation, until the group returns to the starting point.
  • If turning in close quarters, watch out for each others’ arms and work on passing them around each other gracefully without collisions.  This is easier if you are going slowly.
• Levels
  • Cue to lower by briefly raising on toes just before starting to sink.
  • Cue to rise by briefly lowering just slightly farther before starting to rise.
  • Keep levels slow.

3/4 Shimmy/Shimmy Walk

Basic Cue: Arms in low hipwork position (arms down to side and wrists bent, palms to floor) to signal to watch for hipwork. Light right foot. Begin slightly exaggerated 3/4 shimmy (with march) on the right side.

Variations:

• Travel
  • Cue by lifting first (right) foot more exaggerated than otherwise – you can also add a slight lift of the arms to go along with this for more visibility.
  • Look slightly over your shoulder to go back (not a full head turn as for a turn cue).
• Arms
  • After the initial hipwork cue, the standard position is a low arm, but you can change the arms to other positions as desired.
  • When moving between arm positions, move the arms slowly and with purpose, allowing the other dancers to follow your transitions.
• Turn
  • Cue with head turn.
  • This is a gradual turn with the lead shifting as the group rotates.

Hello again everyone!  Here’s the handout from the 3rd session in the first part of the level 1 tribal format belly dance class.

Reach and Lean Combo

Basic Cue: Center, plunge left arm straight down, palm flat down, bring right arm straight up palm flat down while rising onto toes. Strive to hit the full pose with the 1, which means that the cue should be given a bit before the end of a measure.

Variations:

• Live music – This movement also cues musicians familiar in the format to switch to slow music.
• The downbeat of the first measure of the new tempo should ideally time w/ or immediately after the right arm reaching its top pose.

Hip Drop with Kick

Basic Cue: Body turns right side towards audience. Left arm in 5th position, right arm down and behind hip.

Variations:

• Hip Drop / Kick: Cue to add the kick w/ a yip. Yip again to go back to just the hip drop.
• Turning (with the hip drop / kick): Cue w/ a head turn.  This is a gradual turn – lead passes around formation for timing.

Zill Pattern:

R(1) L(2) R(3)

Placement:

The 3 of the pattern falls on the downbeat. (In other words, the emphasis of the pattern is on the 3, the last strike of the pattern.)

Full Time:

In 4/4 time played at full-time this rhythm is &-a-1 rest &-a-2 rest &-a-3 rest &-a-4 rest.

Half Time:

In 4/4 time played at half-time the rhythm is 4-&-1 rest 2-&-3 test 4-&-1 rest 2-&-3 rest.

Quarter Time:

In 4/4 time played at quarter-time the rhythm is 3-4-1 rest 3-4-1 rest 3-4-1 rest 3-4-1 rest.

Variations:

This pattern can also be played w/ the left hand dominant (LRL) or alternating (RLR LRL) – and it is not a bad idea to practice them these ways to keep both hands even in ability, but in formation they will be played right hand dominant (RLR) unless otherwise noted for both uniformity and ease of building upon the patterns in the future.

The pattern can also be played with the 1 on the downbeat (or ending on the upbeat, depending on how you look at it).  This creates a very different sound and feel.  It is something to experiment with, especially so you can easily identify the difference in sound.  In the tribal format at this level, at least, we will be only using the variation shown here for the gallop pattern.