What are the toughest moves?

[Zorba]

I find layering shimmies on other stuff so difficult - I get all confused and start jerking body parts around that have got absolutely nothing to do with it!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! This SO sounds EXACTLY like me!

 

[Mosaic]

Dear Kel,
I find that with beginners, the movements that tend to be the hardest to understand and execute are fundamental undulation and fundamental sway. For some reason these two consistently give trouble to at least a third of my beginners.
Among continuing students, I find that maintaining a big blurbly shimmy while layering it with other pelvis generated stuff tends to be the biggest challenge for the longest time.
Regards,
A'isha

A big yes! to the shimmies and layering for me, also those 'dang' headslides, I don't think i will ever master those so they look smooth and uncontrived.

When I first started I had immense trouble with hip flicks with foot release, I thought I would never get it! then one day the body and mind connected LOL!

~Mosaic

 

[Aniseteph]

I got better at headslides after my teacher said you have to have some tension in your shoulders to do them. <sound of penny dropping> Maybe tension isn't quite the right word, just not all relaxed.

 

[maria_harlequin]

Learning choreography in class as well as steps and turns is really hard for me. I'm usually a super klutz in class and have to polish everything when I get home before the next class or I wouldn't be able to learn anything! And turns...I am so bad at turns. I'm not sure whether it's an imbalance of fluid in my ears or something but no matter how much I practice or spot, I still get dizzy. No endless spinning for me...

 

[Aisha Azar]

K;utz in class

Learning choreography in class as well as steps and turns is really hard for me. I'm usually a super klutz in class and have to polish everything when I get home before the next class or I wouldn't be able to learn anything! And turns...I am so bad at turns. I'm not sure whether it's an imbalance of fluid in my ears or something but no matter how much I practice or spot, I still get dizzy. No endless spinning for me...

Dear Maria,
I am also a klutz in class and a slow learner. I attend workshops and try to concentrate on learning two or three new concepts, and try to understand them like the back of my hand before I leave. The rest of it goes out the window. I have found, however, when I study with someone who really resonates with me, the experience is very different. When I have studied with Shareen El Safy, it's like I so related to her teaching style that I was able to learn like a sponge soaking up water. I think other people have had this experience with one teacher or another, too. I know that as an instructor, it make me feel really validated when someone tells me that I have opened up new concepts in the dance for them. I LOVE teaching, and in class and workshop situations, my mission is for everyone in the room to leave with something of value to them.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[maria_harlequin]

Dear Maria,
I am also a klutz in class and a slow learner. I attend workshops and try to concentrate on learning two or three new concepts, and try to understand them like the back of my hand before I leave. The rest of it goes out the window. I have found, however, when I study with someone who really resonates with me, the experience is very different. When I have studied with Shareen El Safy, it's like I so related to her teaching style that I was able to learn like a sponge soaking up water. I think other people have had this experience with one teacher or another, too. I know that as an instructor, it make me feel really validated when someone tells me that I have opened up new concepts in the dance for them. I LOVE teaching, and in class and workshop situations, my mission is for everyone in the room to leave with something of value to them.
Regards,
A'isha

I totally understand finding someone that resonates with your learning style. I've recently purchased a DVD of Neon's for a choreography that I liked and I found that the way she teaches (lots of repetition, doing the most basic move first then teaching the arms that goes along with the moves and then teaching both of them together...) clicks with me. Breaking every single little thing down works for me...usually I have to run home after a class and analyze what the heck is going on before I start practicing.

I've just had my first Egyptian class with Samy Abdo last night and I was a pure mess! It was more of following what he was doing and then he'd stop and look at me in the eye to make sure I was doing the right thing and then I'd fall apart. But I guess in two months time I'll have some time to get used to his teaching style and hopefully emerge with a few new concepts.

 

[Marietta]

One move that a lot of people in my classes (including me! lol) have had trouble with is Egyptian Walks. I find them easier to do when I do them slowly but when I start to speed up I lose it.

 

[fatimadelcorazon]

To me, I have a difficulty when I practice doing the shimmy. It's really hard to control my knee and legs.

 

[Alison]

I've found that beginners struggle with upper body movements at first as for the most part people sit slumped at desks so their upper body muscles are weak. Second in line is isolation and posture for beginners.

As a student progresses - layering, transitions and musial awareness offer challenges.

Alison