Pls help! How to do this travelling step?

[Sharee]

belly dance beginner choreography - YouTube
Hi everybody!!
I'm thinking of dancing to Drama Queen by Sahar and I think her movement from 0:11-0:26 is just the perfect movement for that tune. But I'm quite worried about not executing it correctly. Pls help me on how to do that travelling step correctly. If you can share an instructional video for it, that'd be great!
Thanks in advance!!

 

[DYinn Maciel]

Hehe, I'm doing an entrance tomorrow in an coreography with this move. If I can make a suggestion I'm sure about, is that when you move your hands, you can refine them by moving them with the stub (The lowest part of your palm) and letting your fingers just flow, putting no force in them.

 

[Kashmir]

Looks like a very small chasse on demi with the hip being twisted into the leading leg. That is, right foot steps, left foot closes, transfer weight onto the right (with the right hip leading), then repeat on the left.

 

[Jane]

Step together- step- change- step together- step
R L R L R L

good dance posture
your arms are engaged
glide don't bounce

 

[Shanazel]

Sort of a belly dancer's version of the Texas two step. I use it a lot.

 

[SeeJaneDance]

That's really cute! I hate to hijack the thread, but what is she doing at 2:40? It's like a slow figure 8 with a release? Or something similar? It's something I've seen a lot of dancers do, but not locally. It's not something that's come up in any of my classes or the choreographies I've learned.

 

[Darshiva]

Looks like she's using her abs for precision controlled upward 8s, the heel lift is for height but the work is being done by her abs and to a lesser extent her obliques.

 

[Sharee]

Thank you for replying!! I really appreciate it.

Hmm... At first I thought it was an upward figure 8-release, now I'm thinking that it's belly roll-release. I don't really know. Lol

 

[Darshiva]

I'ts both actually. It's upward 8 right hip left hip right hip, downward undulation, release. Think of it as a sequence of moves and it makes sense.

 

[Sharee]

I'ts both actually. It's upward 8 right hip left hip right hip, downward undulation, release. Think of it as a sequence of moves and it makes sense.

Oh, you're right! Thanks!

 

[Aniseteph]

... but what is she doing at 2:40? It's like a slow figure 8 with a release? Or something similar? It's something I've seen a lot of dancers do, but not locally. It's not something that's come up in any of my classes or the choreographies I've learned.

I'm seeing what we call kenyas (LOL terminology , don't ask).

Step onto your right facing towards the right diagional with an undulation down - not much chest, most of it from diaphragm level down - then repeat to your left. The steps are on the spot so you don't travel. If you recognise a travelling camel step as a step-together-step with an undulation, it's like doing half a camel on the spot then changing direction.

The unweighted leg can stay close to the floor, or be released up, which is what she is doing in the clip, picking up the accent in the music before she steps onto it.

YMMV but I get a horizontal 8 effect at the hips from the alternating direction, and I think a vertical one from the combination of changing weighted leg, a slight dip from stepping onto a more bent knee, and the undulation, but it's not from actively layering any hip movement in.

 

[gisela]

Yes to Kenyas I think of it as a diagonal camel with a foot release and the camel kind of travels all the way down through the non weighted hip, but I like Aniseteph's expalanation.

 

[Darshiva]

Interesting. I hear several people use the term Kenya around here & wondered about that.

To me the move looks like a combination rather than a sequencial layered move. (okay, I realise I'm starting to have my own brand of descriptions here, so bear with me!) I wouldn't call it a move because the sequence appears to be altered to fit the music, which is what makes it a combination to me. For me, I'd have to see the same pattern (r/l/r/downund/rel) regardless of what the music said to do before I'd call it a move. Then again I call a lot of "moves" combinations.

 

[AyaKara]

She's chasse-ing! ray: my teacher taught us this move in mid-October and I am absolutely in LOVE with it! I wish it was considered an 'official' move (like the Egyptian or others), because it suits the style & flow of BD so well!

 

[Kashmir]

She's chasse-ing! ray: my teacher taught us this move in mid-October and I am absolutely in LOVE with it! I wish it was considered an 'official' move (like the Egyptian or others), because it suits the style & flow of BD so well!

Official if you do Reda styling

 

[gisela]

What do you mean official? I see this step ALL the time. I guess I don't do it much as the music I choose never seem to fit with chasse but I wouldn't hesitate to use the step if it fit.

 

[AyaKara]

Official if you do Reda styling

Educate me, Kashmir -- what's Reda?

What do you mean official? I see this step ALL the time. I guess I don't do it much as the music I choose never seem to fit with chasse but I wouldn't hesitate to use the step if it fit.

Not official in that it doesn't have a formal name in BD (but it does in other dance styles). When learning about traveling steps (on websites, on this forum, in practice videos, etc.) you never hear 'now let's chasse!' But, you still see it everywhere

 

[Kashmir]

Educate me, Kashmir -- what's Reda?

From Egyptian's Reda Troupe - an Egyptian style of folkloric dance developed from the 1960s onwards. Based on folk dances as observed by Mahmoud Reda et al but “modernized”. Characterised by use of tableaux and clean living – dancers portray naïve village girls and boys and men never shimmy! Ironically, most Egyptians today consider this style as “authentic” Egyptian folk dance.

After the 1952 Egyptian Revolution, there was a push for a redefinition of Egyptian art and culture. Mahmoud Reda was urban, well educated and in his twenties. He, together with his brother, Ali, and their wives (Farida Fahmy and Nadeeda) formed the core of the Reda Troupe in 1959 (one of my teacher Dr Mo Geddawi was also involved then)

They did a lot of field work but basically invented traditions (such as the Fellahin dances) which fitted with the new Egypt as the educated elite wanted it to be. Reda was a great fan of western musicals such as West Side Story and that, more than “ballet” per se is a strong influence in his choreography. (Although there are also influences from the Moiseyev Dance Company)

Reda deliberately sanitised the dance removing strong movement of the belly and the hips; the tableaux include lots of footwork with low arabesques. To further distance it from “belly dance” they used groups rather than soloists and choreography rather than improvisation (as improvised solos were considered the hallmark of orientale). It was many years before Reda Troupe included any Orientale items.

Not official in that it doesn't have a formal name in BD (but it does in other dance styles). When learning about traveling steps (on websites, on this forum, in practice videos, etc.) you never hear 'now let's chasse!' But, you still see it everywhere

Says who? If you mean did Jamila Salimpour include it in her vocab possibly not. But dancers from the Reda Troupe and Firqa Qawmiyya often use it (along with the misleading "arabesque"). My favourite is chasse, chasse, haggala, haggala.

Actually there is no "official" belly dance naming - but if anyone should be able to coin names it should be the Egyptians! That said, few if any, Egyptian teachers use many "named" moves. You just do them.

 

[Yame]

She's chasse-ing! ray: my teacher taught us this move in mid-October and I am absolutely in LOVE with it! I wish it was considered an 'official' move (like the Egyptian or others), because it suits the style & flow of BD so well!

I'm not sure if it can be any more "official" than it already is. This is the most basic of the basic belly dance traveling moves. It's one of the most common ways to get around the stage, especially for an entrance. There are tons of ways to spruce it up with accents to make it more exciting, and it's also often used before/between arabesque-type movements in Egyptian style.

 

[Jane]

I consider it a basic "official" step. It's the second traveling step I teach after a basic dance walk; it's included in my eight week beginner syllabus. I thought it was standard across the board. Who doesn't teach this one as a basic? :think: