Things successful belly dance students do
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Things successful belly dance students do
- Just like sticking to a workout and diet regimen, great dancers never make excuses about why they can’t practice. The key to becoming a great dancer is first and foremost PRACTICE! No matter how advanced you are, there is always room for improvement in dance
- Listen to the music. The music dictates every single move your body does. Stop focusing on the moves and focus on the music!
- Know what you look like when you dance: use a mirror or better yet, record a video of your practice sessions, watch them and analyze them!
- Focus only on your dancing when you practice and ignore everyone in the room (unless of course you are practicing for a troupe dance). Your presence should be felt by you and everyone watching you. Focus on the experience creating by the music and the movement and stop looking around.
- Create your own moves. No one says you have only the moves that have names. No matter how new to the art, you can always create your own moves. They are you own expression of how you feel about the music. This is not required of course when you are new to belly dancing but be open to it and it will happen naturally when you are ready.
- Learn from anyone and everyone. You can learn from you fellow students in your class as much as you could from the teacher. Always ask and be open to learning from different sources.
- No one is an authority in the belly dance world. I hear people all the time say “well Suhaila does not do this and Rachel Brice said to always do this … “ Those people were students too at some point and what they said could work for them but not necessarily for everyone. Also, those statements are suggestions and not laws! Make your own rules and guidelines that work for you.
- Don’t doubt yourself: you will doubt yourself sometimes and you will be criticized by others but disregard that inner critic trying to distract you. Hit the ignore button. Believe you can and you will.
- Take your injuries seriously. If you don’t, you won’t be enjoying this dance long enough. Always wait to heal before your next practice and if the pain persists, go see your doctor.
- Know why you dance and remind yourself of it continuously. You must know what this dance thing mean to you. Otherwise, you will become a robot going through the steps without passion.
- Work on the hard moves. Stop practicing what you already do well. This might be good for your ego but not for your performance or your dance workout. Always seek the next challenge, this will keep you motivated and not bored and it will work different sets of muscles and activate your brain.
- If your goal is performance, then perform! Start with small shows, choreograph and be on stage. Don’t wait until you are a pro but of course don’t step on stage with pros because that is not good for your ego when you just start. Find venues to perform with beginners. Your teacher should share these with you if they are happening in your community. If not, start something.
- Always work on your fitness. Fit belly dancers perform better, do challenging moves and reduce their chance for injury not to mention they will good in a costume too.
- Avoid negativity: bad mouthing other students and dancers, complaining about your teacher and making excuses. This type of negativity just holds you back. Jealousy and self-sabotage don’t do good to anyone. Stop being judgemental and dance! Also, make sure you surround yourself with positive supportive dancers.
- Get feedback. Ask your teacher how you are doing and ask for accurate feedback and positive constructive criticism during your practice. Make sure you do this consistently in your practice. Remember videotaping yourself is also a helpful trick. You can review these videos yourself or have your teacher and friends review them as well.
- Commit: Before you get deep into it, know that the learning process will take sometime and you need to commit now before you start because when things get tough and they will get though, you know you got this because you are committed!
