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How to Practice Dance: A Review of ‘Effortless Mastery’ by Kenny Werner
Effortless Mastery is a book written by Kenny Werner, an American jazz pianist and educator. It’s about overcoming dysfunctional fear-based practising and playing to achieve effortless mastery. So what can a book about music teach us about dance? In this blog post, you will learn practical strategies from Warner’s book to build your personal dance… Continue reading
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A Guide to Musical Instruments in Middle Eastern Belly Dance Music
What instruments are commonly used in belly dance music? There are lots of them! In this post, I give common Middle Eastern examples of each of the three types of instruments (winds, strings, and percussion). Plus a sample video clip so you can hear what it sounds like and see how it’s played. I hope… Continue reading
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What is Belly Dance? A Guide to Key Characteristics
In this post, I explore the key characteristics of belly dance across its different styles. I hope that this can help you as a student to chose which characteristics are important to you. And this can inform which styles of belly dance you would like to learn. Continue reading
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The Simsimiyya Music of Port Said: Evoking a Sense of Place
In this post, I explore the sense of place that music can evoke. When I listen to Middle Eastern belly dance music, I don’t usually think too hard about the locality it comes from. But in this YouTube video of musicians from Port Said playing on the beach, I feel a strong sense of place. Continue reading
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How to Apply Laban’s Planes of Movement to Improve Belly Dance Movement Isolation
What do Laban’s planes of movement have to do with belly dance? Let’s start with the general (Cartesian co-ordinates) and then make it more specific to the human body (anatomical planes). And then apply it to dance (Laban’s planes of movement). By applying these concepts to your belly dance practice, you can improve your movement… Continue reading
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How to Use a Ritual to Anchor Your Dance Practice
How do you make time for your personal dance practice? Do you have a daily or weekly creative routine that enables you to practice regularly? One of the most powerful ways to build a practice is through ritual: a “ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order” (Oxford English Dictionary).… Continue reading
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How to Give Feedback in Dance
Instruction in dance and sport often consists of a teacher imparting correct technique to achieve an end result. There’s a much broader spectrum of feedback techniques beyond this out there. I’d like to explore a few of them in this blog. I hope you can apply this in your own practice giving and receiving feedback… Continue reading
Belly dance enthusiast in Belfast, Northern Ireland