Star bellydancer interview: Princess Farhana

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If you’re looking for the mother of all pre-show pep talks, this is it.

Despite enjoying huge success as an international superstar on the bellydance scene, Princess Farhana was still happy to sit down with me over coffee and share her experiences and struggles – good and bad – during her career as a bellydancer. How lucky are we?!

You are in for a treat as this interview is packed with hilarious anecdotes and oodles of tips and advice for us, including a surprisingly practical approach to costume construction.

Some of the really juicy bits include:

  • How to handle dance disaster – including what NOT to do!
  • The one thing you can do to help calm nerves
  • What’s Princess Fahana’s practice reigime?
  • Amazing costume hacks (we’re talking detailed instructions) to make your ill-fitting online order look custom made
  • What to do when you get dissed online
  • What are Princess Farhana’s “Desert Island Discs”?

So grab a cuppa, get comfy and enjoy this gem of an interview:

 

 

I’d love to know, what resonated most with you during this interview? Be sure to leave a comment on the blog or in the youtube comments. And of course give us a thumbs up to let me know that you dig this kind of thing!

A big thank you to Princess Farhana for being so generous with her answers and also to to my dear friend Louise Brooks for having the interview at her beautiful home!

And, of course, thanks to YOU for reading and watching.

Until next time, love and shimmies,
Helen xx

Ps. Early bird bookings for next term are open! Click here to see what you’ll be learning and who will be coaching you!

Pps. Subscribe for blog updates with bellydance tips to get on track and stay inspired. Plus receive my free online class! Go here to get yours.

Bellydance exams

Daily Practice Drill 2 – A Foundation for Layering

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When it comes to bellydance technique, one thing that separates the women from the girls is their ability to layer moves effortlessly.

Layering is when a dancer layers two different moves together and often involves traveling whilst doing a move that you wouldn’t normally travel with.

So for this week’s blog episode, I’ve devised a drill to help you get control of your hips and feet so that you have a solid technical foundation to help you when it comes to layering. In particular I want to help you understand and master being in control of your weight transference, i.e. how and when to transfer your weight from foot to foot. Or, rather, being in control of how and when you transfer your weight.

So, enough technical talk and let’s get on with the drill! “See” you there …

  • Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to do the drill every day for 30 days – it will only take 4 and a half minutes a day!

Before I go, one more thing, if you’re local to Reading or Thatcham, UK, then you might want to take a peek at our Spring 2016 timetable which kicks off in January. Take a look here and book your place!

If you’re just starting out on your bellydance journey, then one of our new beginner courses in January could be for you. Take a look here at our Reading and Thatcham Bellydance Essentials courses – we LOVE new beginners!

And if you really want to up your game and set yourself a fun and exciting challenge in 2016, keep an eye out for upcoming info taking an IDTA bellydance exam (you only need a minimum of 3 months experience). More on that soon …

Thanks you for reading and remember to share with your bellydance friends, I’d be so grateful 🙂

Til next time – happy dancing!

Love and shimmies,

Helen
xx

Ps. Subscribe for blog updates with bellydance tips to get on track and stay inspired. Plus receive my free online class! Go here to get yours.

Serena Ramzy interview part II: how to get over choreographer’s block (and lots more)

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Welcome to part 2 of my interview with Serena Ramzy – and it’s a corker!

(did you miss part one? click here to catch up)

Dive in to the video below to hear us talking about:

  • pre-performance rituals (including what NOT to do)
  • how to prepare to dance with a live band
  • how to get over choreographer’s block
  • how to make each of your own routines unique (brilliant advice if you worry about your choreography being boring or “same-y”)
  • how to be a top bellydancer whilst also a dedicated mum

I also got a surprise when Serena revealed her most memorable performance – it totally wasn’t what I expected!

Grab a cuppa, join us here and get the juice:

 

As you know by now, my aim is to bring spirit, soul and sparkle to your life by teaching you you how to bellydance, so I’d love to know your take aways from the interview. Did it help you think through any issues you’ve been struggling with? Be sure to leave a comment here on the blog or on youtube. And of course give us a thumbs up if you enjoyed it!

If you have bellydance friends who would enjoy this, I’ be so grateful if you were to share it with them too.

I hope you enjoyed this extended interview with Serena. A huge THANK YOU again to Serena for being so generous with her time and also to you for watching 🙂

“See” you next time,

Love and shimmies,
Helen xx

Pps. Subscribe for blog updates with bellydance tips to get on track and stay inspired. Plus receive my free online class! Go here to get yours.

Pps. How’s the daily practice going? I know, it’s tough to be consistent, here’s my daily drill to help keep you on track (only 3.30min!)

OCT-2

Interview With Serena Ramzy Part 1: Costuming Philosophy & Practice Routines

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Raise your hand if you’re interested in costuming and make up tips from a global superstar.

I’m literally waving both hands in the air and if you are too then you’re going to love this week’s blog post.

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I had the pleasure of chatting to Serena Ramzy last week about costumes, make up, practice routines, motherhood, overcoming choreographer’s block, her most treasured dance memories, how to prepare to dance to a live band and a whole load more.

I knew Serena was generous with her knowledge but I was still delighted when she opened up about her life as a top international performer and teacher.

We talked about so much that it turned out to be too much to put in one video!

So here is part one: costuming philosophy and practice routines. Now grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy!

Thank you to everyone who sent in their questions for Serena, I did my best to get through as many as I could in the time we had.

I’d love to know, in particular, what you took away from Serena’s personal approach to costuming. Do you struggle to find the right costume? How do go about choosing what to wear to perform? Be sure to comment on the blog below (we should have the security issue fixed now!) or on youtube.

Stay tuned as next time we’ll be talking about more hot topics, including how Serena manages to balance motherhood with her dance career as well as how to prepare to dance with a live band – you don’t want to miss it so be sure you’re signed up to my mailing list!

Thanks for reading and watching,

Hugs and hipdrops,
Helen xx

Ps. Our new Beginner Bellydance Essentials course is starting in just a few weeks in central Reading. Want in? Click here to get the full details, we’d love to have you on board.

Pps. Subscribe for blog updates with bellydance tips to get on track and stay inspired. Plus receive my free online class! Go here to get yours.

 

 

What does Serena Ramzy do before every performance?

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I feel supremely lucky to be able to count the sheer dance royalty that is Serena Ramzy as one of my dear friends.

Over the years she has coached me, given me make up and costume advice and we’ve had plenty of adventures and girly giggles too (check out the photo of us above with two amazing dancers in Beijing).

One thing I really admire about Serena is that, despite being a global superstar, she is incredibly open and generous with her knowledge and stories of her dance experiences.

So when we decided to arrange a long overdue coffee and catch up at the end of this week I took the opportunity to (rather cheekily!) ask if she would be willing for me to literally film us supping on a latte and chatting about bellydance. I’m stoked to say that she agreed – yahoo!

We’ll be nattering about all sorts of juicy topics from advice on costuming (who designs hers?), performance preparation (how does she prepare?) to the trials and tribulations of being a top bellydancer and a dedicated mum.

I’d love to know: what would you like to ask Serena Ramzy? Leave a message in the comments below with your question before this Friday 16th October. Or email me at mail@helenbellydance.com.

* Yikes – looks like the security in the comments section is rather overzealous. Sorry to everyone who’s had problems logging in and commenting. In the meantime, drop me an email at mail@helenbellydance.com with your burning Qs *

“See ” you soon and in the meantime, I’d be so grateful if you were to share this with all your BFFS so they can chime in with their questions.

Thank you, as always, for reading 🙂

Hugs and shimmies,
Helen xx

Ps. Ps. Our new Beginner Bellydance Essentials course is starting in just a few weeks in central Reading. Want in? Click here to get the full details, we’d love to have you on board.

Pps. Subscribe for blog updates with bellydance tips to get on track and stay inspired. Plus receive my free online class! Go here to get yours.

 

 

Daily bellydance drill for those with no time or space to practice

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daily bellydance drill

Practice guilt: that feeling when days, weeks (even months) go by and, besides your regular class, your hips don’t see the inside of a hip belt.

The thing is, we know that the only way to stay on track with our bellydance dreams is to be consistent with our practice. Today I want to kick our practice guilt to the kerb so it can never haunt us again.

It sounds so easy: “being consistent with your practice”. But the truth is that life gets in the way and we don’t have the time, space, or head-space to whip through even a short practice session on a regular basis at home or on our travels.

This week my aim is to help you see how easy it is to elegantly squeeze even a short, yet effective, practice sesh into your day. I’m giving you a neat lil  practice drill (like under 4 mins) that you can do when you have virtually zero time and zip space.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to do the drill every day for 30 days – it will only take 3 and a half minutes a day! Then see how your legs, arms and hips feel. Good luck!

(if you feel like you want to do it twice a day – that’s cool too!)

This week I hope that I can help you say bye bye to “practice guilt” and  hello to your bellydance-ready mind and body.

As usual, I’d love to know what you think so do leave a comment below. And of course I’d be uber appreciative if you were to share this with your BFFs (that’s bellydance friend for life ;))

Thanks for reading, I really do feel lucky to have your attention on my little blog right now.

Hugs and hipdrops,
Helen x

Ps. Subscribe for blog updates with bellydance tips to get on track and stay inspired. Plus receive my free online class! Go here to get yours.

Pps. Did you catch last week’s post all about how to create a duet that smashes it out of the park? Here it is again.

 

How to choreograph a bellydance duet that ROCKS

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What could be better than rocking your own bellydance performance? Rocking that performance alongside one of your best bellydance buddies of course!

We all love the idea of teaming up with our bff for double the sparkly fun, but what does it take to actually create a bellydance duet that smashes it out of the park?

In this week’s blog, I’ll give you the low-down on

  • how to get your duet off to the best start as well as make sure you get it finished
  • teaming up with the right duet partner in the first place
  • how to make sure you’ll both pull your weight as a team (so you don’t end up getting p’d off with each other!)
  • how to get off the ground with your own choreography
  • 4 choreographic concepts that you can use in your duet (plus I’ll show you real examples of dancers doing them)
  • how NOT to go about choreographing your duet

So go ahead, dive in and get the scoop …

For many of us it’s back to school time which means taking on new projects. Will a duet be one of yours this term? If so, I hope that this week’s vlog helps you get off to the best possible start 🙂

And of course I’d be so grateful if you were to share it with all your friends.

Once you’ve had a look at the tutorial, I’d love to know: what are your tips on creating a duet? What were the struggles you came across and how did you overcome them? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

Love and shimmies,
Helen
xx
Ps. Subscribe for blog updates with bellydance tips to get on track and stay inspired. Plus receive my free online class! Go here to get yours.

How to take the stress out of turns

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Picture this:

The routine is all going swimmingly, your timing is perfect, you’ve remembered the choreography, you’re exuding expression through your face, things couldn’t be going any better. Until … your body tenses, your shoulders rise up to your ears and you can’t breathe.

Yep, it’s the part of the routine with turns.

Can you relate? If so then this week’s blog post is definitely for you.

Turns can turn the joy of bellydance into a pit of tension and stress, taking us from the pleasure of a well honed and cultivated hip drop to feeling like we’re still beginners.

In this week’s video tutorial I’m going to share a concept that gave my turns a complete transformation. Once I started implementing this idea regularly into my dancing I found that my turns became balanced and even a source of pleasure when I danced (rather than the part of the routine I dreaded). And that’s what I want for you too.

So go ahead and dive into the class right now!

 

Once you’ve taken the class I’d love to know: what’s your secret tip for nailing turns? Be sure to tell us in the comments below, it might be just what somebody needs.

One last thing, have you ever wondered how to become a bellydance teacher? Have you considered teaching but no idea where to start? Perhaps you’ve already been approached by friends or an organization to teach a class and weren’t sure where to start, or maybe you already teach but you’re finding it tough going (how do you find the students?!) Then, if you’re local to Berkshire, UK, you might be a suitable candidate to undertake my SMBA Apprenticeship.

If you would like coaching and mentoring from me on everything from how to set up your first website, find your first students and create sell out classes, then I’d love to invite you to apply for an SMBA Apprenticeship place starting in September. Email mail@helenbellydance.com for full details.

Thank you for reading,

Hugs and hipdrops,

Helen xx

Ps. Do you live local to Reading, UK? If so, check out our Autumn term timetable with courses from Beginner to advanced troupe work. Early bird prices are up for grabs so take a look now!

Pps. Subscribe for blog updates with bellydance tips to get on track and stay inspired. Plus receive my free online class!

Is this the most iconic bellydance move of all time? How to dance like Soheir Zaki

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Is this the most iconic move of

“Omg her hips are on fire!”

That’s what I thought when I first saw Soheir Zaki dancing in old Egyptian films and it’s pretty much still my reaction when I watch her now.

Soheir was an Egyptian bellydance superstar during the 1960s and 70s. She had a very natural, girlie style of dancing which, for me, gives her dance a real sense of freedom and fun.

However, don’t be fooled by the “cute” quality of her dance, she meant business when it came to hipwork.

So for this week’s blog tutorial I’m going to teach you what is known to most bellydancers as the “Soheir Zaki step”. Plus I’ll give you some tips on how to give it some Soheir characterisation, so be sure to watch til the end.

Dive into this week’s tutorial to see your hips hit the proverbial road.

 

And if you want some Soheir-fuelled inspiration then here’s one of my fave clips. (Look out for that iconic move at 1.36)

 

 

Thanks, as always, for reading. And if you think your other bellydance friends might enjoy this, please share it with them, I’d be so grateful 🙂

Do you live local to Reading, UK? If so, check out our Autumn term timetable with courses from Beginner to advanced troupe work. Early bird prices are up for grabs so take a look now!

If you’re further afield you can still join in with my free classes on my youtube channel (there are over 37 classes!)

Now I’d love to know: who stands out as an iconic bellydancer for you? and how would you characterise her or his style? Let us know in the comments below!

Hugs and shimmies,
Helen xx

Ps. If you like this tutorial, why not check out my previous class on Samya Gamal?

Pps. Subscribe for blog updates with bellydance tips to get on track and stay inspired. Plus receive my free online class!

 

How to shimmy like a pro – 3 tips

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Helen Tummy

It still gets my goat that we’ve been conditioned to think that our bodies shouldn’t wobble and, if they do, that we should cover it up.

As bellydancers, we say different.

In this post I want to talk to you about how to make your tummy wobble in the most beautiful and enchanting way possible. Or, as we belly babes call it: shimmy.

The funny thing with shimmies is that they are different every day because our bodies are different every day. It might depend on what time of the year it is, what time of the month it is or how much our body is ever so slightly bigger or smaller than the day before.

There is no “correct” body type  for shimmying, but you might get a sense that on some days your body tunes in and you get an even, effortless shimmy; other days it feels totally forced, like your doing battle with yourself.

The good news is that there are 3 things you can do to crack this beast. It is possible for you to get a comfortable, relaxed, consistent Egyptian shimmy.

Here’s what to do:

1. Fully understand the mechanics and technique beneath the move

2. Get the technique down pat slowly

3. Repeat the technique on a regular basis and increase speed. I’m talking every day or at least every other day for a period of 2 – 3 months to master the technique (you may take longer, you may master it quicker. Just don’t give up – you will get there!)

To help get you started with 1 and 2, I’ve put together  a video tutorial to guide you through so you’re not alone.

However, I can’t help you with 3, that’s all down to you. Remember, watching or thinking about shimmying is not enough, you have to join in (and join in on a regular basis).

My hope for you is that you work towards gaining a strong, consistent and confident shimmy so you can enjoy the feeling of a gloriously wobbly tummy. Not only do shimmies look stunning but they should feel amazing too.

So go ahead and dive into this week’s tutorial …

Once you’ve had a go at the tutorial, I’d love to know: how do you feel about your shimmy? What helpful hint did you hear that helped you to “get it”? Post in the comments below!

If you liked this tutorial then I’d be so grateful if you were to share it with all your friends 🙂

Thanks for reading and watching, see you next time,

Helen
xx

Ps. Places are now open on our brand new Beginner Bellydance Essentials course for September 2015. Early bird prices last until the end of July, click here to book your spot.

Pps. Subscribe for blog updates with bellydance tips to get on track and stay inspired. Plus receive my free online class!