BellyDance Essentials Technique series now also available on DVD!

Hello dear all,

I have just now finished transferring the technique portion of my downloadable online class series 'BellyDance Essentials - A 10-week technique class series' to DVD format, especially for those of you who have asked about a physical version of my technique-focused classes and/or workshops in the past few years.

The Full 10-part BellyDance Essentials Series -woo!

It contains tons of material to kick-start your BD technique practice for the new year, plus ideas for drills, stretches, layering combos and technique explanations as inspiration for fellow teachers.

This DVD series is now available as a set of 10 discs (with +- 45-75 minutes of material per DVD/class) via the DVD store on www.khalidadance.com/DVDs

Shipping for this series is free when you order the complete set (all orders over 50,- Euros are shipped free of charge worldwide), but you can also buy each BellyDance Essentials technique DVD separately.

Each BellyDance Essentials DVD/downloadable class contains a posture section, a dance warmup, an upper- and/or lower body technique portion, a section on arms and hands technique, a shimmy drill, a traveling step combo, and a cooldown/stretch.

For a content overview per BDEssentials DVD check out the following list:

• DVD1: Belly Dance Basics, Hip slides, circles and twists, Shimmies: basic hip shimmy technique and drill, dance walk and transitions, walking with hip circles
• DVD2: Wrist circles, Hip figure eights and variations, Shimmy: Egyptian shimmy, Traveling step: arabesques, Combination: traveling figure 8s, Bonus: shimmy drill with layering.
• DVD3: Working the shoulders, Hip drop variations and one-hip accents, Shimmies: shoulder shimmy technique and drill, Traveling step: Step-hip, hip-step and variations, Bonus drill: Shoulder shimmies and traveling hip accents.
• DVD4: Hands & arms: one-sided arm pathways, Technique: double hip accents and variations, Shimmies: choochoo/traveling shimmy, Traveling step: Grapevine and basic front/back step, Bonus drill: Layering accents.
• DVD5: Hands & arms: Basic arm pathways, Technique: All about the abs - core muscles, belly rolls and camels/undulations, Shimmies: freeze/shiver, Traveling step: Chassé and 3-step turn. 
• DVD6: Hands & arms: Snake arm variations, Technique: Upper body isolations and accents, Shimmies: 3/4 shimmy down, Traveling step: Hip down travels.
• DVD7: Hands & arms: Framing, Technique: Pelvic locks, squares and omis, Shimmies: 3/4 shimmy up, Traveling step: Step-cross and variations.
• DVD8: Hands & arms: Natural arm pathways, Technique: 1-sided hip accents, Traveling step: Smooth transitions, Shimmies: bounce/earthquake.
• DVD9: Hands & arms: Hand undulations Technique: One-sided sharp hip accents, Traveling step: Traveling with hip and pelvic accents, Shimmies: Layering traveling steps with shimmies.
• DVD10: Warmup, 1-hour of Dance Jam (a mix of all technique sessions, traveling steps and shimmies to music), Cooldown.

I'm excited to finally share these DVDs with you all, it has taken me a while to get around to transferring them to DVD format, but I think it is nice to have this content available in physical form.

Even though the recording quality of these classes is a bit more basic than the newer DVDs it has a special value, as my future technique-focused DVDs will contain different topics than these.

You can order them now at www.khalidadance.com/DVDs and www.khalidadance.com/online-classes!

Wishing you a lovely week/weekend,

xx Khalida
www.khalidadance.com
www.inspirationnation.de


PS: In an attempt to optimize my dance-notes administration for the future, and as a special bonus for everyone who has ever taken a workshop/class with me - or even just anyone looking for some new class/workshop content inspiration - I have started transferring my workshop notes from the past year to downloadable .pdf format documents, and I am sharing them for free on my 'other' site, over at www.inspirationnation.de/notes

www.inspirationnation.de/notes - Workshop Notes as .pdf

Feel free to check them out and/or share the link, more notes will be added soon!

x K.
www.khalidadance.com
www.inspirationnation.de

Tips for shimmy practice

This is a blog post inspired by a question by Laura of UK/Ireland after working with the Shimmy Sessions DVD's, as well as by an amazing 'deep' 3/4 shimmy technique practice breakdown shared by Boženka during her Training Weekend in Würselen, DE last weekend.

Enjoy!


Tips for practising your shimmies at different speeds 

• It depends a bit on the specific kind of shimmy you are practising, but in general doing the movements at a slower speed and focusing on evenness in tempo and range of movement (left and right leg) helps to make your body (and mind!) feel more comfortable with the movement. Practising it faster every now and then is definitely also helpful to challenge shimmy dexterity, but if you notice that the shimmy goes 'rogue' then slowing the pace down until you 'refind' it during practise makes the training session most efficient.

• It is also good to keep in mind that while doing the movement slowly you can go for maximum range of movement, but when speeding up the movement becomes smaller. So for the faster practice try to focus on precision and tempo, but with a smaller range, rather than compromising the movement quality in order to keep the movement 'big'.

• To practise shimmies at different speeds you can try them without music from super slow to gradually faster and faster, then slower again, trying to keep the rhythm 'even' at different speeds. Then you might find that some 'speeds' (fast or slow!) might be easier than others, which is good to know for 'target practice'.

• When I train and/or teach 3/4 shimmies (up or down) myself, I practise slow first, then medium speed, then faster movements with breaks in between sets/steps. After a while, if the shimmy technique/sequence starts to feel easier and 'controlled' in tempo, we go for faster movements without breaks, like the build-up in the shimmysessions and shimmies DVDs/ Online Classes

• If the faster speed of a DVD/Online class/practice session is a bit too much right now you can always go for half that speed for instance, while still following the musics general down beat, this way you can follow along with me/the instructor/yourself to the music, but at a more comfortable tempo until the shimmy becomes easier (which it will, eventually! it just takes time, patience and conscious practice) 

• When I practise the 'regular' shimmies (eg egyptian shimmies and hip shimmies) I usually combine it with other tasks around the house eg folding laundry, ironing, making breakfast, brushing teeth.. that are not too mentally demanding and can be done 'upright'  This way I get some bonus practice in, which is always beneficial.

• Focusing on engaging your glutes slightly and lifting the back of your ribs to free up movement also helps to relax the hips and legs, which makes the shimmy feel less like 'work', which is the ultimate goal.

• Also remember that medium speed shimmies are usually fast enough to match most music, so having an 'even' shimmy will give you more than being able to 'warp speed' it.

• Keeping your core engaged deeply (pelvic floor, glutes, lower belly) while shimmying helps to concentrate the movement and conserve 'shimmy energy'. Deep breathing, focusing extra on the exhalation also helps to keep the shimmy relaxed even at higher speeds.

• Making sure to warmup well, and to stretch and relax your musles (and mind) before and after the training session helps tons towards having a 'high quality' shimmy practice session.

• In very short my answer would be: Yes, definitely keep practising at slower speed, but also try to go even slower, AND speed it up to beyond your comfortable speed every now and then to challenge yourself and to see if the shimmy is becoming easier/more comfortable over time.

Bonus tip: Sometimes, when a practice session feels especially uncomfortable, it can be a sign that you are learning/improving/changing your movement, even though you don't have the 'benefits' of it yet right away. I've noticed at times that about 2 days after a 'difficult' practice session my movements have made a 'quality jump' - so this is something to experiment with as well.


Good luck and happy shimmying!!

xxx K.
www.khalidadance.com 


PS: For those interested in shimmy-specific online classes and DVDs, check out the respective links!


ETA: You can download this Shimmy Tips blog post in handy .pfd format via this link.

‘Practice Plan’ examples

These are a few tips for using your DVD collection most effectively, and examples of how you could plan your home/studio practice sessions using your DVDs and/or Online Classes over the course of a month (or several months), depending on how much time you have  each week :)

Get a printable (.pdf) version of this blog post here.

General Tips:

• Think of what your ‘main focus’ will be for your practice month (or season) - then you can substitute those for the topics I use in the examples.
• In this particular example I reckon with 3 practice sessions per week, of about 1-2 hours each. If you have more DVDs than I mention in the example, or less time, you can spread out the contents of each week over a couple of weeks instead, thus ‘stretching’ the Practice Plan a bit.
• If you have more days where you can practice in a week than 3, but shorter time for sessions than 1-2 hours, you can tease apart the sessions from the example and split them up in shorter bouts.
• Do make sure you do a warmup - practice - cooldown ‘sandwich’ each time your do a session - it will make your practice much more effective than trying to do as much ‘material ‘ as possible in one week/month.
• You can mix the examples with other DVDs you own that cover similar topics (for instance other shimmy/arms DVDs, or certain props)
  
  

The Actual Practice Plan

Note: This practice structure is inspired by Monika Volkmar’s ‘Dance Stronger’ program, which I was lucky enough to be part of last year.
 It employs repeating blocks of material in a week while interleaving the contents 2 by 2, which maximises efficiency of practice.   

I highly recommend the DS program for anyone interested in learning to ‘move well’, getting to know their body a bit better, and becoming stronger in a safe way while practicing movement to boot! See www.dancestronger.com for more info.

• Week 1: Focus on 1 or 2 Topics/DVDs, with an emphasis on the first Topic/DVD
• Week 2: Same Topics/DVDs as in week 1, with an emphasis on the second Topic/DVD
• Week 3: Focus on 1 or 2 new Topics/DVDs, with an emphasis on the first Topic/DVD
• Week 4: Same Topics/DVDs as in week 3, with an emphasis on the second Topic/DVD

Examples

Example 1: If you have all 4 ShimmySessionDVDs/Online Classes (4 videos, 1-1,25 hours each), and the full AllAbout Arms DVD/Online Class series (4 videos of 30-45 minutes in total) you could structure your ‘Practice Month’ like this, with each week having 3 separate 1,5-2 hour practice sessions:

• Week 1: Arms1 +ShimmySession1; Arms2 + ShimmySession2; Arms1 + ShimmySession1
• Week 2: Arms2 +ShimmySession2; Arms1 + ShimmySession1; Arms2 + ShimmySession2
• Week 3: Arms3 +ShimmySession3; Arms4 + ShimmySession4; Arms3 + ShimmySession3
• Week 4: Arms4 +ShimmySession4; Arms3 + ShimmySession3; Arms4 + ShimmySession4

(You can swap ShimmySession 4 with the 20-minute Shimmy Drill from the Shimmies with Khalida DVD optionally if you own it, and you can substitute any of the AllAboutArms classes with different Arms DVDs you own)

Example 2: If you have less time per session, would like to focus mostly on Arms yet still do some Shimmies, and/or if you’d like to sneak in a different DVD/Class/Prop here and there:

• Week 1: Arms1 ; ShimmySession1; Arms2 (+ optional bonus DVD)
• Week 2: Arms2; ShimmySession2; Arms1+2
• Week 3: Arms3 ; ShimmySession3; Arms4 (+ optional bonus DVD)
• Week 4: Arms4; ShimmySession4; Arms3+4

OR

• Week 1: Arms1 ; ShimmySession1; Arms1
• Week 2: Arms2 (+ optional bonus DVD); ShimmySession2; Arms2
• Week 3: Arms3; ShimmySession3; Arms3
• Week 4: Arms4 (+ optional bonus DVD); ShimmySession4; Arms4

Example 3: If you have the Props DVDs/OnlineClasses, with contain 3 x 30 minutes of class (beginner - intermediate - advanced) for each prop, then focus on one prop per month (veil, fanveils, zills or isis wings) , and fill in the weeks of that month like so:

• Week 1: Beginner prop class (30 min) - 1-3 times that week
• Week 2: Intermediate prop class (30 min) - 1-3 times that week
• Week 3: Advanced prop class (30 min) - 1-3 times that week
• Week 4: All 3 prop classes (beginner - intermediate - advanced) - each class at least once that week

Example 4: If you have the BellydanceEssentials Online series (or some of the BDEssentialsOnline classes) you can use them as designed (one class per week) - either mixed in with your regular practice schedule/DVDs or on their own.

• Week 1: BDE1 (without props part); optional other DVD/Online class; BDE1 complete
• Week 2: BDE2 (without props part); optional other DVD/Online class; BDE2 complete
• Week 3: BDE3 (without props part); optional other DVD/Online class; BDE3 complete
• Week 4: BDE4 (without props part); optional other DVD/Online class; BDE4 complete
• Etc.. (adding more weeks depending on which BDE videos of the 10-week series you own)

Variation notes:

• If you have less time than 1,5 hour per session you can also just focus on one topic (eg Arms, Shimmies or Props) per month and then switch, using slightly shorter sessions each week than in example 1.
• You can mix any of the topics (Arms with Props, Props with Shimmies, or Arms, Props and Shimmies together, BDEssentials, other DVDs you own), but it is most effective to pick and focus on max 1-2 topics per month.

Warmup-Cooldown tips:

• If you have a foam roller at home you can use the warmup/cooldown bonus videos as a pre-warmup and post-cooldown respectively: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4N-Oew36J5GV7g5QowD8RK9vmIZ4Zqhs
• The ‘shimmies with Khalida’ DVD/download has 2 separate warmup and 2 cooldown sessions, a ‘moving’ and a ‘stretching’ one each, focusing mostly on the legs
• The ‘Isis Wings with Khalida DVD’/Download focuses the warmups and cooldowns mostly on the upper body
• Same goes for the ShimmySession series (mostly lower body focus) and All About Arms series (mostly upper body focus)
• The ‘BDEssentialsOnline’ classes have a built-in short warmup and cooldown session per class video, and so do the Props videos.
• Overtime you can mix and match the exercises that help you most to create your own warmup/cooldown routine(s)

Note: As you might have noticed, preparing your body for (and helping it recover from) practice and structuring practice sessions for optimal efficiency are topics that are very dear to me :) 

As I have mentioned before I will be recording a brand new DVD/Online Class mini series very soon (this summer) called ‘Dance Conditioning and Drills’, focusing on exercises that help increase effectiveness of your practice sessions, ways to structure your own movement preparations and warmups, and strategies for more mindfulness in movement, and then applying these to dance drills. 

I highly recommend this new DVD/Online class series if you are looking for ways to be more ‘present’ in your body in daily life as well. 

I will be posting more information on this in the blog at www.khalidadance.blogspot.com, in the KDanceOnline FB group and in my newsletter (signup form:http://eepurl.com/tu4H1) soon.


That’s it, I think. If you have any questions, let me know :)


xx Khalida Bech
www.khalidadance.com

PS: I've added this blog post as a document to the KDanceOnline FB group for easier reference. Feel free to share!

Arms, Shimmies and Props on DVD

The All About Arms, ShimmySessions and JustTheProps downloadable class series are now also available in DVD-format via info@khalidadance.com or www.khalidadance.com/DVD

A preview of the 'All About Arms' DVD/online class series:

All available Khalida DVDs:

To order please email me at info@khalidadance.com with which DVD(s) you’d like, your preferred payment method (Paypal or bank transfer) and your shipping address.


All About Arms (2 DVDs – 1,5 hours each)

• DVD 1: Arms, Wrists and Hands techniques
• DVD 2: Combinations, Variations and Expression

Price: 10 Euro per DVD, 20 Euros for the set (2 DVDs)

Shimmy Sessions (4 DVDs – 1-1,25 hours each)

• DVD1 – Basic Shimmies (Egyptian and Hip Shimmy, African Shimmy)
• DVD2 – 3/4 Shimmy ‘up’ (plus Choochoo, Twist- and Shoulder Shimmy)
• DVD3 – 3/4 Shimmy ‘down’ (plus ‘Freeze’, ‘Earthquake’ and Belly Flutter)
• DVD4 – ShimmyJam! (Mix of all Shimmies plus extra layering drills)

Just the Props DVDs (3 DVDs – 1,5 hours each)

• DVD1 – Silk Veil (Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Veil class)
• DVD2 – Fanveils (Basic, Intermediate and advanced Fanveil class)
• DVD3 – Zills/Finger Cymbals (Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Zills class)

Price: 8 Euro per DVD, 15 Euros for 2 DVDs, and 5 Euro extra for each additional DVD of these 2 series (The ShimmySessions and Just the Props DVDs can be mixed and matched individually as you wish)

Shimmies and Isis Wings with Khalida (2 DVDs – 1,5-2 hours each plus bonus material)

• DVD 1 Shimmies with Khalida
• DVD 2 Isis Wings with Khalida

Price: 16 Euro per DVD, 26 Euro for both DVDs

Shipping costs for all DVDs are 1,45 Euros for Germany and 3,70 Euro for EU/Worldwide per padded envelope (each holds about 7 DVDs) – I will send you a shipping estimate per email before your order is final

Payments can be done via Paypal (info@khalidadance.com) or Bank Transfer (IBAN/BIC-SWIFT)

To order any DVDs simply email me at info@khalidadance.com


Happy dancing!

xx Khalida
www.khalidadance.com

PS: You can also get these DVDs 'live' from me at any of the upcoming events at www.khalidadance.com/schedule or get the downloadable/streamable version of these DVDs on the Online Classes page.

New foam rolling video: Cooldown/upper body relaxation routine

Hello hello :)

I'm happy to report I've just uploaded a free 6-minute foam rolling bonus video cooldown as an addition to the ShimmySessions and Shimmypack downloadable classes from the Online classes with Khalida page.

The video below is part of my personal post-dance training routine, which I've created in the process of finding ways to become, dance (and stay!) pain-free during the past few years.

Here it is:

Cooldown Foam Roller Routine - Khalida 

This video features some my favorite foam rolling cooldown exercises, including a combination of 3-D breathing inspired by the Dance Stronger program and a few simple but effective exercises to relax your upper back, gently release your hip flexors and reset your posture, all at once.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Foam rolling cool down/upper body release

Filmed at Sandra van Frankfoort-Mamentus beautifully 'zen' home studio <3

ETA: For a bit of extra zen-ness, complement this routine with practising the art of.. Letting go.

Happy rolling,

xx Khalida
www.khalidadance.com


PS: Also check out the pre-warmup video mini-series using basic foam rolling techniques at http://khalidadance.blogspot.de/2015/08/how-i-roll-khalidas-pre-warmup-rolling.html