Blog

It's tough to keep dancing right now, but in this blog, I present my top 3 reasons you should keep dancing.

Performing is hard at the best of times, but recording yourself on camera, no matter if it’s for a performance or just for tracking your personal development, is tough. We’re going to take a look at what you can do to take away the nerves and film your dance. Why video your dance There are many reasons you might want or need to record a video of your dancing. You might be taking a course and need to submit proof of your work, you might be performing and need to submit a pre-recorded segment (or even performing live on camera),...

When you're starting any dance format, you can find it very difficult to work out what's going on. Find out how you can get on top of things.

There are so many classes happening online these days, that for many of us, our house has become our studio! But, this leads to a difficult question. How safe is your dance space? And, how can you make your dance space safer? Let’s look at a few different ideas below about how you can protect yourself while you dance in your online class. 1. Look around you What do you do before you dance? Do you just launch into your session and deal with any obstacles as you go? While this isn’t a bad approach, the better option would be...

Change your mind Today, I changed my entire brain state from cranky and tired, to relaxed and calm in 5 minutes. What did I do? I turned off the outside world and listened to two songs on my headphones. Two songs that touch deep in my body, my soul and give me a chance to disconnect from the world around me. What songs are they!! I hear you ask. But really, it doesn’t matter. The songs change depending on what is happening around me. What matters is that I’ve set aside 5 minutes of time for me. And with that...

1. Turn up – 5 minutes at a time Practising doesn’t need to happen in a formal situation with a ritual to begin and a long time set aside. It can happen in 5 minutes with little to no setup other than turning on the music! Wait. What? Yes! Turn on the music, dance. Done. I can hear your questions… “But, I need the right music to practise with.” – Isn’t it already on your phone? (Or if you’re like me, any song will do really). “But, what if I don’t have space?” – Any space will do. The kitchen,...

Why do we dance? Why don’t you dance? Why do we wrap ourselves up in tiny little balls at the thought of practising our dance, or if given the freedom to dance our own dance? How is it something as simple as moving to music, in the room or in your head, can hold such significance and at the same time be worth absolutely nothing. When you dance, you can enjoy the luxury of being you. Paulo Coelho It’s undeniable. Music pulls us along a path. It takes our brain on a trip to pleasurable feelings, walks through our memories...

Where do you turn when your mind gets “rough”? When the turbulence gets loud and it gets difficult to think, let alone do anything? What can you do to help you ride out the storm? You don’t have to be into meditation, essential oils or incense to be able to find a way to calm things down. 1. Breathe This may sound very simple, but we know that it’s not in practise. That said, sometimes it’s the simple tasks that can do the most to help lift our spirits, or at least lift enough of the mental fog. There are...

Shut-in? Got nothing to do? Need to dance but don’t have any inspiration? Family/housemates not really into dance but you need someone to do it with? Well, push back the couches, it’s time to dance. Here are some ways to dance through an isolation vacation. Lounge Room Disco The first rule of lounge room disco is; what happens in lounge room disco stays in the disco session. Lounge room disco is the perfect time to bust a move to some music you’d never normally get to dance to. Mix up the music so there’s a little bit of everything in...

With this time of sheltering in our homes, a lot of us, teachers and students alike, are turning to online classes as a way to connect to our community and to continue our education even though we can’t physically attend a class. But with all the distractions at home, how can we really get the most out of an online class when we can barely get through our own practice each week? 1. Turn your camera on Just like your in-person class, the teacher will be guiding you in what movements to do. But unlike when you go to a...

When you are stuck at home, on your own (or even with your family), it can be difficult to stay focused and in touch with your regular daily life. So I thought I would share with you a few ideas about how you can stay strong in your dance and mental health while we are living through these crazy times. “Travel” to the studio Many of us are now utilising spaces within our homes as our dance studio. It could be our lounge room with the chairs pushed back, the kitchen or a bedroom. We are also finding it easier...

As a part of the belly dance hack posts, you’ve seen what’s in my gig bag, but that’s not the only bag that is important to me. Just as important is what is in the bag(s) I take when I teach a class. 1. Dance Props Some things may come and go, but something I will generally always carry is some of my dancing props. Like my finger cymbals (never far from my side ever) and veil. Sometimes fan veils may make an appearance if we’re looking into those during class time. 2. Hip Scarves What belly dance class is...

First Run Stage. All heart. No frills. But what does that mean? Why a blog post on an event? And why should you even care? Well, let me give you some details and see if we can puzzle this out together. What is a “First Run Stage”? At its core, First Run Stage is an opportunity for belly dancers, and dancers from other styles, to have a welcoming, fun, and relaxed stage experience to have their first performances experience in, or to trial a new choreography at, to try improvisation on. The audience is made up of the other performers...

Have you forgiven yourself recently? Don’t look surprised at the question, nor your answer. As women, and as dancers, we rarely give ourselves a break. We sometimes will take some time out, some “me time”, but that’s not the same as forgiving yourself for not being “enough”. What is forgiving? Psychologists generally define forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness. It doesn’t generate good feelings towards the person or group but it does provide an avenue for...

We’ve all seen the clickbait headlines “10 things you need to do to be a great dancer!” and “Top 5 stretching trends you must do now!”. We are already doing so many things, that I think it’s time for a new list. That’s why this blog entry is all about taking a look at what you need to give up to be a successful dancer. 1. Negative Self Talk Starting out with the big guns here! Negative self talk only breeds bad habits. Do you really think Sir Edmund Hillary ever told himself he couldn’t make it to the top...

You may find it hard to believe, but I’m not a dancer who lives to perform. I can and I do, but that’s not where my passion for dance lies. Unbelievable right? A belly dancer whose goal isn’t to perform, who hasn’t retired or disappeared into the miasma where dancers who aren’t performing go to live out their days. There is an asumption I’ve noticed in the belly dance world that if you’re not performing you must not be a good teacher, or you aren’t interested in teaching. Also that the only reason you would want to dance is to...

There’s a particular excitement that happens when performing on a stage. From getting ready, all the rehearsals and planning and selecting your costume, getting nervous. Plus culminating when your music starts and you set foot on the stage. My first solo performance was in 2010. It should have been a fully choreographed drum solo that my teacher taught us all. But nerves took over and part of it “fell” out of my head. And something interesting happened to me… I didn’t freeze. I didn’t stop. I improvised. I still have little recollection of what I actually did in that time....