Leyla’s Updates
by Leyla Najma · 2 Comments
Hip Mastery 6 Video Series
This morning I was thinking about what I would write in my blog and I thought I would bring the subject up of my Hip Mastery videos only because I haven’t really mentioned them much. I tend to create videos and edit them, give them to Daniel and then move on to the next project. The funny thing is that if Daniel asks me a question regarding a video I usually have to go back and look at it because I have made so many besides my curriculum classes that I am not sure how to answer him sometimes.
There are 6 videos in the Hip Mastery series that focus just on the hips. But the best part is that each video connects to the next one. So I didn’t want students trying to figure out how to work in movement and combinations without a guide. It just seemed to me that most women who are passionate about this dance want instruction that will help them get results.
I realized that living the life style of a belly dancer day in and day out means that there is no rest for the choreographer. I constantly think of combinations and different choreographies to share with dancers, it’s almost like a calling. I would rather make videos for dancers or teach workshops then perform because seeing women in the glory of their movement is where the spirit of belly dance lives for me. It’s in the learning process of moving within our bodies where I see the epiphanies come alive for women. To me the stage is the end result of a beautiful journey but it is so much fun watching women learn and grow along their path before they achieve their goals.
Hip Mastery is my answer to the questions that women have asked me about thrusts, mayas and shimmies. Add in soft moves, traveling steps and you can see why this is a 6 video series. To me they make “Belly Dance sense”.
Here’s the website in case you want to check them out. www.hipmastery.com
Drum Solo Choreography”Jibber Jam”
The drum solo choreography “Jibber Jam” is coming along and I am almost finished with it. My daughters first day of school is coming up so I will be able to finish the choreography and get it videotaped. I have to laugh though because I put together what I thought was a simple drum solo choreography and it’s not as simple as I thought. I am excited to offer music never heard before, text and a step by step choreographed video in a way that will make it easy to learn. This will be so cool once I get it done but as with all my projects it is taking a little longer then I thought. Hopefully within the next two weeks it will be done and I can blare my bugle and sing a song but only in the shower!
Sphere: Related ContentThe Heart of Selena
Where do I begin, it’s like this past weekend was a blur; my life passing before my eyes. Life as a belly dancer is really amazing because each workshop presents new adventures, friendships and opportunities. It’s almost like dance is a flower that opens up unfolding her pedals, fragrance and beauty with each of us. The more experiences we have, the more layers are shared becoming visible for the first time. Imagine being with Isis in all her glory and women becoming empowered in their own femininity meaning to remember ourselves and to know what it’s like to be in the company of women! Workshops help us remember what it was like to be amongst our own gender and relish within the synergy we create by only being together; this is unique and rare now, it is called magic.
The Goddess herself was apart of our celebration this my daughter and I experienced on the way to Floralia by way of 70 mile hour gusts of wind while driving there!! The Goddess came riding on Mother Natures winds so she could be apart of Floralia. She made her presence known! Such is the life of a belly dancer and why as dancers we can live no other life.
The weekend started off with the film “Belly” a documentary about belly dancing and being women in an ancient art form. It’s about recovery from illness and reclaiming your own individuality in dance while living in a modern world. I loved the film and highly recommend everyone watch it! The producers are a husband and belly dance wife team, Cecilia and Chad Rinn. On Friday we were able to dance to live music by James Yousif. I have not danced to live music for awhile and I have to tell you that there is nothing like an accomplished musician who knows how to play for dancers. That evening James played for his wife Nadia and I must say her grace to his melody was like seeing the Yin and Yang of belly dance. My surprise of the weekend was being in the company of Helena Vlahos who blew me away not only with her dancing but with her vast knowledge of our dance form. She has the grace, beauty and presence of Isis herself!
Friday, Saturday and Sunday classes were full of dancers bustling around the dance floor learning choreographies and movement and props. There was another evening show on Saturday and it was full of dancers from all walks of life performing one right after another either doing solos or troupe performances. My student Mariposa Azul did her dance début and I was so proud of her. She worked for months on a choreography I created just for her and she shined like the star I knew she was.
Belly dance made a statement that night, she said she is here to stay and she is alive and well in every dancer who graces the dance floors and stages with their artistry and talent. Every step, turn, hip movement tells the story of how old our dance form is. It’s wonderful to see how each dancer individually reminds us that dance is about our life stories and who we are as women, mothers, daughters, wives, sisters and aunts.
In saying all of this I cannot forget to mention the one woman who made it all possible and she is Selena Kareena. To have a vision and desire for something is one thing but to make it into a reality and share it with others is another. This just means one thing, only a Goddess could have made this happen. There was a presence to Floralia from the start and this presence was the heart of Selena. Her heart has no boundaries, conditions, limitations; she loves just for the sake of loving. She is a rare find in a friend and one I will always treasure! So from my heart to yours Selena, thank you so much for inviting me to your vision of the divine!
Sphere: Related ContentWaiting For The Start Of On Line Classes?
When Are The On Line Classes Going To Start…….
This is Dan, Leyla’s husband with an update about the start date of the ‘live’ on line classes.
Just as a summary and review. Last year we did a test and broadcast a live belly dance class across the internet. This class was very well received and we had dancers from Australia to Romania participate. The video quality was great, there weren’t any show stopping technical glitches and dancers liked the idea of having a DVD of the class for reference after the class.
As a result, both Leyla and I then decided that it would be a really good idea to provide these types of classes to dancers who…..
- Didn’t have access to instruction due to their location.
- Couldn’t find instruction that they felt comfortable with.
- Didn’t want to go to the studio for personal, or other reasons.
- Didn’t have the time in their schedule to take the time to travel back and forth
So the live classes initiative was born out of the desire to give dancers the opportunity to learn on “their time”.
Well, I’m happy to announce that all of the things that had been keeping these classes under wraps have pretty much been overcome and we’ll be starting these classes really, really, really, really soon. All the technical issues have been overcome, the curriculum is in place with only one thing left to do.
A Dancer Referral Program – The Last Ingredient
See, one of the things that I really have wanted to be a part of the live classes program is an opportunity for dancers to share the opportunity with some of their dance friends and earn a referral from doing so. This obviously helps us and gives you a way to share the joy and at the same time put some hard cold cash in your pocket. I know that dancers often refer different things to each other and this will allow anyone who wants to participate, do so and make some mad money at the same time.
Managing a program like this is a lot of work because it is important to have all the business systems in place that can support getting checks out to dancers on time and in the right amount. I’m a stickler for this kind of detail, so I guess I’m the hold up at this point.
I”m a stickler for detail and getting it as close to right the first time out of the gate and the last thing I want to have happen is for there to be a glitch of some sort that introduces inaccuracy or delays in the process, so before we put the seal of approval on anything we do, we test and then test again. We don’t always get it perfect right out of the shoot, but we like to test to know that at least we know of any bugs and have a work around.
The other thing is that Leyla is “Hip Scarf” deep in preparing for workshop later in April called Floralia, Belly Dance Festival For The Goddess. I can tell you that for every minute of what you see Leyla do, there are hours of behind the scenes preparation. She’s every bit (if not more) a stickler for detail then I am. The workshop will conclude the first week in May.
Early Sign Up
The start of the classes will be in early May. We’ll open up signup’s for the live classes in the next 7 to 10 days.
We have a special page on Leyla’s main website that you can go to and learn more. It’s a pre-enrollment page so to speak. It’s good to go there if you are interested in live classes and do the pre-enrollment because the first time out of the gate, we’ll probably want to keep the class size small.
So here’s the link to pre-enroll. Live Belly Dance Lessons Pre-Enrollment. If you pre-enroll, you’ll guarantee your place in the classes but you’ll also qualify for a special offer that we’re going to make available just for those that took the time to pre-enroll.
If you’ve already added your name and expressed your interest there’s no need to do anything. Just be on the lookout for the next message which will be all about how to register.
Hope his helps and if you have any questions feel free to send email, or reply to this post.
Both Leyla and I are always here for you.
So go check it out if you’re interested. It’s going to be a great, great, great program and is going to be so much more then just live broadcasting. Here’s the link again for pre-enrollment. Live Belly Dance Lessons Pre-Enrollment.
Dan
The Belly Dance Husband
Sphere: Related ContentPractice Tip 1. For the Serious Student
Recently Daniel came to me and asked me if there were any tips I could share with dancers not only for their dancing but also for their practicing and drilling. So I thought about it and decided I would give tips that will help make a difference in the training aspect of dancing. It’s really in our preparation of dance that we start to understand ourselves so we can then go out and dance for the masses with confidence.
The tip that I am going to share with you is broad but it came to me because it is a common problem that we all have when we first start out dancing. How we focus and work within our body starts out the habitual way we train. Most of my students won’t look at the whole enchilada (body) only a specific part of the body depending on what I am showing them. After you get the move down into your body then look at your image in the mirror and see how the rest of your body looks while you are working the combination or movement. When my students can’t see the whole body they have what I call “blinder” focus. It’s almost as if they are afraid to see how it looks in the totality of the body.
Practice for ten to fifteen minutes on a particular combination or traveling step. Then practice for ten to fifteen minutes looking at your whole body while doing the combination which includes, posture, arms, head positioning, legs, feet, lifted chest etc.
The purpose of this is to help you see what the audience is going to see once you are up on stage. It will also get the eyes up away from the floor which is another common problem beginner dancers have. But interestingly enough I found that some of my students didn’t want to see what they were doing and I had one student tell me it made her uncomfortable. I started to think about this and realized that as women sometimes we don’t look at ourselves because all we see is what we lack. Remember that this can affect your confidence and the success you have with your dance.
It’s obvious that women don’t want to see what they don’t like about themselves. Practice time is about healing and feeling good about yourself. So within the hour or two hours of practice look at your full image in the mirror and relax. All you have to do is relax; that’s easy and once you take you in with no judgement then you will start to see a new you emerge that feels better not just about dance but life in general.
You can’t practice and feel bad about yourself. All you will do is feel bad about practice. So change your mindset and go for your dream or goal. If you are able to stand in front of a mirror and dance, you already have something to be grateful for which is your two legs to stand on.
Remember your four cornerstones; emotions, mind, body and spirit have to be fed equally. So look at practice time as a way of feeding yourself a gigantic spoon full of confidence, acceptance, and forgiveness. Once you let go of what you don’t like, then what you do like will start to emerge and there is nothing more beautiful on stage then a confident, happy, in the moment dancer. So I’m going to end with my favorite saying which says it all; when life gives you lemons make orange juice and make the world wonder how the hell you did it!
Sphere: Related ContentBelly Dance Video Playback Help – New Player Version
Today I received an email message from Maxcast about recent video player issues. Apparently a recent browser upgrade to Firefox caused some conflicts which has caused playback issues.
To resolve these issues they have issued a new version of the player. Everyone should install this new version. Here’s the exact instructions
2. After the above uninstall of the player, install MoveMediaPlayerWin_071701000002.exe.
Here’s the link to the download of the new media player—New Media Player
Browse to the saved download and double click to Run. Go back to Firefox and navigate to a Maxcast channel to confirm it worked.
Please post any questions you may have in the post and I’ll respond promptly.
Dan
The Belly Dance Husband
Sphere: Related Content
