Quote:
Originally Posted by Reiana
Can you tell from the title that I'm a beginner? *grin*
I've been dancing for about nine months now at The Cassandra School. The teachers and environment are amazing, but I'm... impatient. *chuckle* A lot of the instruction has been focused on the lower body, and rightfully so, but I can't help but feel that I'd look a lot better doing the hip moves if I knew a few more arm postures and movements to pair with them!
I watched a copy of Rachel Brice's Arms and Posture video, but it seemed more focused on "Tribal Fusion" style, and what I'm learning is "Cabaret" so it didn't feel completely appropriate. I'm sure it's a great workout, but I don't want to confuse myself with different styles this early into my dancing.
Does anyone have any suggestions of arm postures/movements? I know snake arms, but I can't use that for everything! Any links to photographs showing posture, videos that have great examples, etc. etc. will be appreciated!
(Sorry if this is posted under the wrong forum category, I'm new!) |
If you are getting pretty good with your hips and undulations, just tell your teacher (before class) that you want to work a little more with your arms, so you are looking for corrections and challenges. Usually I find that my teachers are doing subtle things with their arms that they are not really describing or breaking down...watch carefully in drills and short combos how/when they break at the wrist and elbow, and how they hold their hands. Try to move their way in class, and then when you get home, work with a mirror to fine-tune the movement, so it looks best for your body.
Also, go see a lot of performances. Pick one arm move from each show, and work on it for a few weeks, with some basic hip stuff.
I'm surprised that you're not getting a variety of arm postures in class. It may not seem that fancy, but there's a lot involved in making even basic arm positions look graceful, and timing changes correctly. Or maybe it just seems that way to me.
Have you seen the you-tube videos where the dancer gets very "army" (ornate arm/handwork, I think of this as very vintage American Cabaret style)? I have not seen any teachers teach that style as central content in Minneapolis, but if that's what you want, you could work on it with videos and a mirror. I know some of those moves are part of a Margo choreography I learned; if she comes out of retirement, you should try a few classes with her. Bonjoni is a local dancer who does more of this than most, and I know she has a community ed class (I don't know if that's part of her class content, though).
If you like graceful arms, you might want to check out Leili's Persian Dance class. This is not bellydance at all, but Iranian dance, and it is breathtakingly beautiful. It involves a lot of gesture-based movement.