Online Classes; a Work in Progress
by Leyla Najma · 2 Comments
Next week will be the end of our first 4 week “live” online classes and I have to say it has been a wonderful experience to be able to share dance with all of you. For the first time we were able to give class instruction to dancers all over the world many of whom informed us that there were no teachers in their vicinity. For me this was huge because I remember my first couple of years having no one in my area to teach me. It’s hard to keep up the discipline especially when you feel alone in your learning process. I am dedicated to reaching out to as many students and dancers as possible through the online classes so this problem can be alleviated.
I must admit to you all that in the beginning I was really nervous and I felt a huge responsibility to everyone taking my classes. I still feel the same way today except now I feel comfortable with all of you. It also occurred to me that I am in a way at the mercy of Murphy’s Law because anything can happen live. Daniel says it’s a lot like how TV was in the 50’s. This is definitely true because the behind the scenes antics are hysterically funny. I wish I had a camera behind me so you could all see Daniel crawling on the floor under the camera. He crawls towards the door at the start of class and he crawls back in towards the camera at the end of class. I have no clue how I hold a straight face……I think it’s just I’m so tired from all the dancing in class!
I will be starting up new classes that will be 4 weeks long with a short interval in between every month of classes so that I can set up a new curriculum for each of the following month of classes. So you will get an early bird notice of the classes especially those of you who took the 4 week classes prior. The classes will be on-going and the subject matter for each of the month long classes will be spread into many areas of belly dance. We are looking into different days for the next 4 weeks because we are catering to dancers from different time zones and I am thinking of including a belly dance aerobics class into the schedule. So as you can see we have a lot of changes coming up and we are ready to forge ahead with our plans.
A big “Thank You” to the dancers who joined me for class and thanks for supporting not only our business but our family!
Blessings,
Leyla
Leyla’s Commentary for Dancers
Workshop in Sedona Arizona
I am teaching a workshop along with another friend of mine Rozana al Jinan sponsored by Shimmy magazine/Holly Luky Saturday, June 26th with the evening show happening Friday the 25th .
The show will be at: (Reservations only)
Relics Restaurant 3235 West Highway 89A Sedona, Arizona.
Telephone (928) 282-1593 – Online www.relicsrestaurant.
Saturday workshop times:
1) Rozana al Jinan 12:00-2:00: With over 30 years of dance experience, Rozana has chosen one of her sassiest Egyptian Style choreographies. Be prepared for a dynamic, fun and fast paced workshop. Rozana’s Lulu choreography is definitely one of her troupe’s favorites!
2. Leyla Najma 2:30-4:30: As a Master Teacher Leyla Najma focuses on hip articulation, speed and completion of movement. Come and learn Leyla’s unique way of putting together shimmies with sharp and soft hip combinations. Your traveling steps and layering will never be the same! Be prepared to shimmy, maya and roll!
3) $50 for both (early-bird) or $30 for one. At the door: $70/both, $35/one.
For more information:
Contact Holly Luky at shimmy@esedona.net
(928) 282-7755
For Hotel reservations contact Kokopelli Suites at: http://www.kokopellisuites.com/
The group code to use is “Holly” in order to get the discounted price of $99.99.
Phone numbers Toll Free: (800) 789-7393 /Local Number: (928) 204-1146
I will be writing more about this workshop because it looks like we will be broadcasting my class “live”!
Topic of Live On-line Classes
The live classes have been a blast to teach but I must say stressful for Daniel. Not only is he watching the class on his monitor but he is making sure everything technical is working. Can you imagine teaching class with him crawling on the ground and not being able to laugh? Or another scenario which I still crack up about was when Daniel thought we were off line only to find out we weren’t. It must have been funny for everyone watching us talk and I am so glad I didn’t pick my nose or do something silly!
With the classes being live my chances of making booboos is definitely there for everyone to see. The only draw back is laughing by myself but I know if I’m laughing you all must be too…right? Zippy our dog made an appearance in the last minutes of the evening Thursday class. He was pretty cute and class thankfully was coming to a close.
We are excited about the classes this week and I think you will all enjoy the curriculum that I put together for you. So far the feedback has been thumbs up and everyone seemed to love my bloopers! I definitely feel blessed because the women taking my classes have the most beautiful hearts and amazing dedication to their dance. So thank you all for taking the classes and I can’t wait to get started for this week!
Topic of Emails
We know that emails are a very personal matter and that sometimes it may seem like there are a lot of emails from us. So I wanted to let you all know where we stand with the emails we send out. Everything we send out is important at least to us and its all information we feel you need to know. Deep down inside I am a belly dancer first and business owner second and because of this I am dedicated along with Daniel to giving you the best on-line instructional videos I can. It is always at the top of our list.
Sometimes we have a multitude of things going on at the same time and Daniel will send out the technical emails to everyone and then I will send out my Belly Dance blog topics for everyone to read. On a day to day basis we get emails from dancers needing help with instructional videos, asking questions about the online classes etc. So Daniel is constantly making sure everyone is happy even if he goes to bed at midnight. At this point in our business it is all about customer service and we want everyone to know our goal is to make the videos and instruction available to everyone no matter where you live. This means wearing different hats and having to double up on responsibilities. Even our daughter Savanah is working with Daniel with editing and other areas to help him out. We are a family run business which means there are no middle men to deal with, it’s just us. So please know that we have your best interest at heart when we send out emails and that we are a family of three (with a neurotic dog) that are working double time to get dance to not only your door step but into your living room.
