Practicing and rehearsing.

stepbystep

New member
I have a silly question:)

How much do you have to practice before you become more or less fluent in the moves? I know the common answer "practice until you get it right", but I am asking more about how much is "enough"? I don't want my dancing to be a workout, but slacking off for a hour a week is not for me either. How much time normally passes before you grasp a shimmy for example? Or simple layers?

All dances have their own standards for progress, some demand a lot of time and sweat. I wonder about belly dancing....:think:
 

Mosaic

Super Moderator
I have a silly question:)

How much do you have to practice before you become more or less fluent in the moves? I know the common answer "practice until you get it right", but I am asking more about how much is "enough"? I don't want my dancing to be a workout, but slacking off for a hour a week is not for me either. How much time normally passes before you grasp a shimmy for example? Or simple layers?

All dances have their own standards for progress, some demand a lot of time and sweat. I wonder about belly dancing....:think:

Becoming fluent as you said in any step/movement is an individual thing. Some people pick things up quickly others don't. Then there are the steps you get quite quickly and others that seem to take an age. So it is quite difficult to say after X amount of hours you will have mastered the shimmy or whatever. I've seen dancers after even after a year still struggling with some things. I have been dancing 5 +years and belly rolls are still difficult even with enough practice to fill a candy store or even 3 of them :lol: It took me a good 2 years to master zills (meaning good enough to dance and play and I am still learning the zills). I picked up the movements like the jewel, oomi's, ribcage slides very quickly and perfected that over time ( and continue to do so) Shimmies took a while to learn control, especially the fast ones, I can't remember how long, probably months. Hip drops were Ok it was the release that stumped me as a beginner, I thought that someone had glued my foot to the floor:lol: But with determination, persistence and time it all came together. The things I struggled with took several months to be at a point where I felt that I had got it, but still needed practice, Things that I picked up quickly also needed continual improvement. It is stamping all these new things deeply into muscle memory correctly that is the key, then building on that base. Do so incorrectly and you have to undo the incorrect and start again.

Some people can hit the belly roll or several different shimmies on the head in a few short months, but may struggle with hipdrops or something, so I can't really give you an answer to that question:D
~Mosaic
 

Kashmir

New member
It depends on so many factors - how co-ordinated and aware of your body you were before you started, injuries (physical and mental), quality of teaching, etc. As a rough rule of thumb students can usually not make a fool of themselves in front of a tame audience after 12-18months - doing a pre-prepared choroegraphy. Some will pick it up faster some slower.

Individual moves again depend on your physical makeup as well as practice habits, teaching methods, etc etc. If you want to get ahead, I'd say practice (correctly) about 2-3 times a week for no more than 30 minutes. Better a short focussed session than drilling bad habits ;)
 

Ruby~<3

New member
I don't know how far you want to take belly dance but my dance teacher says a lot of pros practice almost 4 hours a day... fo course they have the skills down. but she it will take 3-6 weeks to get it and its different for everyone.

I actually started practicing about 3-4 hours a day because I missed almost half of my college belly dance course and I REALLY wanted to get it down right and make it up and I ended up learning it faster and m y teacher was quite impressed. Like I said every one is different. I dont know what your goals are... Mine after a while have changed to really wanting to be an instructor and performer.. but its just a LOT of practice..but it should also be a lot of fun...if it helps I tend to do drills on moves maybe drill for one song on a moove then pick a nother song and a nother move..so on. then just a dance and have fun. pick a few moves to rreally work on for a bit and then just have fun and dance! then the next day pick another few moves..and repeat!:dance:

good luck!:D

Ruby
 

Kashmir

New member
I don't know how far you want to take belly dance but my dance teacher says a lot of pros practice almost 4 hours a day... fo course they have the skills down. but she it will take 3-6 weeks to get it and its different for everyone.

I actually started practicing about 3-4 hours a day because I missed almost half of my college belly dance course and I REALLY wanted to get it down right and make it up and I ended up learning it faster
Problem for most beginners though is they don't know enough to be able to practice for long stretches. If you practice something for hours and are not doing it correctly you are drilling to the wrong thing and it'll take at least twice as long to get it right. (I saw this happen to a past beginner student who had to miss classes for while and mis-drilled at home until her hip drop went!)

Pros - yes, many do several hours a day 6-7 days a week - plus performances to keep on top. But they have good body awareness and theyhave lots of different things to work on.
 

teela

New member
I think there are two answers to your question. First of all, after many years of dancing, I am still working on getting the nuances of the moves down, such as where does my weight actually go, how do I shift it, what muscles should I be using. The second is stringing moves together so I can dance. When I started learning, I would do moves with my weight equally distributed between my feet and that made it hard to string the moves together. I did that because my instructors never discussed where the weight should be. I've had to relearn so I can shift my weight and slide from one move to another without getting stuck.
 

stepbystep

New member
I did that because my instructors never discussed where the weight should be. I've had to relearn so I can shift my weight and slide from one move to another without getting stuck.

I have a similar problem now, although it's more from the lack of coordination.
 

gypsy

New member
I'm just starting myself, but thought I'd chime in!
My class is only an hour and a half a week, but I do the Aziza DVD a couple times a week, and it was easier the second time than the first.
I just wanted to tell you this because it showed me even very difficult moves can be better absorbed from one practice to the next.
 

Kira_Majeric

New member
I also work with musicians who always ask the same questions. Listen to your body, start basic, and practice as long as you can. I always recomend new player or dancer to practice something simple for a least 20 min. Then add on fun stuff. For dancers the basics are timing and the correct moves (whereas musicians it the scales). Worry about layering after you have that down.
 

adiemus

New member
No, her hip drop 'went' because she forgot to do a hip drop and ended up doing a knee bend. Silly me! Use a mirror, or video yourself if you have to take time away from class or a teacher to make sure you're doing the movement correctly. Also make sure if you do video yourself to video yourself from more than one angle (front and back, and side as well!).
I do practice 30 minutes or so each day, and throughout the day I do bits and pieces of drills.
 

Shanazel

Moderator
Bits and pieces of drills, indeed. Sounds innocuous, BUT:

You Morroccan walk down the hall at work when you think no one is looking, right, Bronnie? Hip drops at the water fountain, camels on the way to an appointment, shimmies in your chair while using the computer, subtle mayas while talking on the phone, finger ripples when waving good-bye at the end of the day.

You, my dear, are obsessed, addicted, and compulsively devoted to BD. In other words: one of US. :lol:
 

Lydia

New member
its realy important that you have a good teacher to explain good how it all works and break down the movements, if you practise wrong it can take you forever...it is differant for every person,depend on your body aswell if you did any sport or exercise before ? is you body used to ,,moving,,? is your body ,,tensed?,, are you in good contact with your body? that sound weird but it is treu.....sometimes i have new students and on the first hour they can shymmy,but travel steps can take them weeks to master...and vice versa....you must understand when to relax the body for some things and when not....leave layering and things like that for later for later...dont worry about complicated things in the beginning it can be realy putting you off....go slow and then you get rewarded if you body can do it ,then you will be encouraged to do more difficult things......you have to be focussed and you have to be the boss ,not your body has to be the boss!!...you will get there i promise!!!! i was wondering perhaps a helpline where people can videochat and practise together ? yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in!!!!!!!
 
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