Alright, I am officially hooked on Tribal Fusion Belllydance (TFB). I've spent 4.5 hours today practicing at home. With the guidance my class notes and a couple of Rachel Brice dvds, and the tunes of Beats Antique, I am now feeling quite comfortable with the progress of my snake arms, Sidewinder, shimmies, and undulations. I'm really surprised and quite delighted with how I feel after practicing so long. My movements feel really fluid, as contrasted with how I felt when I started: a little stiff with an achy knee, and should muscle tightness. The key to today's practice has been focused self-observation, excellent alignment (to protect my joints and spine), AND lots of breaks. I worked on my arm undulations for about 45 minutes, and was able to do so because I took frequent very short breaks. The other important elements of today's practice were: a thorough yoga and pilates warm up, lots of water, and a good stretching cool down. I am really excited to see the progress I will be making over the next few weeks, which will culminate with my first real hoop/TFB performance. Beyond technique, my next practice steps are to start choreographing to my performance song. Given the slow and inconsistent rhythm of my chosen song, this is a challenging opportunity for me to push my edges with my hoop creativity. Woohoo!
Rosie's bellydance practice tools: A huge jar of water, class/dvd notes notebook, laptop computer (to watch dvds if needed), iTunes playlist with mellow yoga music and lots of Beats Antique, a space with enough space to move arms and walk forward and back (you need surprisingly little space to practice basic technique), a mirror, a belt with a long fringe scarf attached to emphasize and adorn hip movements.
