About Props: Sword
This week, it's time to talk about "s" words-- I mean, swords. While there are Middle Eastern dance traditions that use a sword, they are...
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Student Resources
Here, you will find student reading, including links to other resources, material written by our teachers, and links to lots of video clips!
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Lisa Lumina
Dec 15, 20231 min
About Props: Fan Veil
Fan veils come from Asian dance, they were added into bellydance in the late 90s/2000s and the best dances usually have some grounding in...
120
Lisa Lumina
Dec 15, 20231 min
About Props: Wings
On the "history of props" front, this week it's wings! There's an element of imitating ancient Egyptian temple art, and the real start of...
80
Lisa Lumina
Dec 15, 20231 min
About Props: Shamadan
The prop to introduce this week is the shamadan. I enjoy dancing with this one, because of its connection to the awalim and Egyptian...
90
Lisa Lumina
Dec 15, 20233 min
About Props: Veil
Prop of the Week If you're in this class, you've been doing raks sharki/dans oryantal for over a year. So it's time to deepen your...
180
Lisa Lumina
Dec 15, 20231 min
About Props: Tray
This week, let's learn about tray as a bellydance prop. (btw, props are part of level 3 dance classes. Something to think about when...
50
Lisa Lumina
Mar 7, 20233 min
Music Mapping Crash Course
A good map makes exploring more fun, you can strike out confident that you'll be able to find your way back. In dance, mapping the music...
380
Lisa Lumina
Feb 23, 20232 min
Level One: Undulations Unit, Class 5
Articles For the last class of each unit, we cover a different music genre. Today, it's a two-for! Egyptian Shaabi and Marhagan. Shaabi...
260
Lisa Lumina
Feb 23, 20232 min
Level One: Infinities Unit, Class 5
Articles The topic for this unit’s Music genre was going to be folkloric songs, but that is such a broad topic that I think we are better...
220
Lisa Lumina
Feb 22, 20232 min
Level One: Figure 8 Unit, Class 5
Articles Although both "Arabic Classics" and "raqs sharki entrance numbers" use the sound of an orchestra, and many of the classics can...
240
Lisa Lumina
Feb 22, 20232 min
Level One: Circle Unit, Class 5
Articles When I first started, the line between pop music and shaabi music was more clear. Today, many shaabi artists are very popular....
180
Lisa Lumina
Jan 16, 20233 min
Evolution in Dance
We need to talk about "evolution" Did you know that the line up drawing of increasingly more upright apes is called the "march of...
230
Lisa Lumina
Jan 16, 20233 min
L2 music mapping and song structures
When working on mapping out a song's verses/section, what I like to call paragraphs, there are some common pattens they can take. You can...
90
Lisa Lumina
Jan 16, 20232 min
L2: Phrasing and Transition Cues
A musical phrase is a bit like a sentence in a conversation. You will notice there are some places that you naturally try to fit in a...
190
Lisa Lumina
Jan 15, 20233 min
L2: Call & Response
I like to start teaching phrasing with call and response because I think the change between the call and the response helps to draw...
30
Lisa Lumina
Jan 13, 20232 min
L2: Taxeem, Mawal, and Tarab
Takeem (also spelled taqasim, taqsim, takseem, taxim, etc, etc) is a solo melodic improvisation. There is a structure to it that explores...
120
Lisa Lumina
Jan 13, 20233 min
L2: Bands and Orchestras
Part 1: This semester, we've worked on musical phrasing and learning to identify different instruments. All of that comes together when a...
60
Lisa Lumina
Jan 13, 20233 min
L2: Percussion Instruments
This is intended as a source of review for students, or as an orientation. It is by no means an exhaustive list of all MENAHT...
200
Lisa Lumina
Jan 13, 20233 min
L2: Blown instruments
This is intended as a source of review for students, or as an orientation. It is by no means an exhaustive list of all MENAHT...
270
Lisa Lumina
Jan 13, 20234 min
L2: String Instruments
This is intended as a source of review for students, or as an orientation. It is by no means an exhaustive list of all MENAHT...
190
Lisa Lumina
Apr 30, 20223 min