That's another excellent question. I wonder about that also. I have no instructors within a distance that I can afford the gas to drive to and I was thinking about online classes but it kind of seems like it might not have much of a future. I was just wondering if anyone else had actually gone down that road with any success.Off topic - but how do you know you are ready to perform without an experienced dancer available to give feedback not only on your technique (the easy one) but musical interpretation and stage presence? Once you find that person, ask them where you should start.
That's another excellent question. I wonder about that also. I have no instructors within a distance that I can afford the gas to drive to and I was thinking about online classes but it kind of seems like it might not have much of a future. I was just wondering if anyone else had actually gone down that road with any success.
I did some online learning and a few minor performances as part of a private party and my theatre group - so it was all friends and family and no-one paid any entry fee. This helped me gain in confidence and get feedback on what was good/what people found boring/what was terrible.
I certainly wouldn't say I'm ready to perform where people are actually paying to watch! But that said - my teacher wanted me to join in her show after only being in the class for two weeks, so maybe she's over-optimistic, or her standards aren't as high as mine
For people who take online courses because they have no teachers in their area where do you perform?
If someone is learning from online sources, then I would be surprised if they ever get good enough to perform!
To get to a performance standard in dancing, you really need feedback and correction from a real live teacher. Perhaps you could look for some summer schools or belly dance holidays where you could get some personal tuition, as well as honest feedback on your standard.
Dance teacher or theatre teacher? If it was you dance teacher, I'm appalled. No-one is ready to belly dance in public after a few lessons - unless it acting as background scenery. If it was your drama teacher then the issue is she really has no idea what is involved in belly dance. No surprise there. However, by agreeing to go on stage as a belly dancer you are not doing yourself or the genre any favours. People will assume they saw real belly dance and conclude there isn't much to it.
As far as feedback goes, the General Public is not the answer. You need feedback from an experience belly dancer. How do you expect the GP to know what belly dance actually is? Whether your technique was correct? Whether you interpreted the music correctly? All they can tell you is whether you project and communicate well (important but not the whole of the dance) and if they liked your costume (which they are unlikely to know if it is appropriate).
Maybe I'll ask a LOT more questions on technique when I don't know what we're meant to be doing. Possibly she will then start giving more verbal instructions alongside saying "Just copy me"
I once had this conversation with a Turkish teacher, who told me she didn't start explaining about the correct use of the muscles (especially the abdominal muscles) until the students were in their third year. In the first two years she just wanted to get the students familiar with the movements.
That seemed completely back-to-front to me, because I always feel I do a movement better if I know the explanation beforehand. In fact, I found myself having to "unlearn" some steps where I was using my legs to drive hip movements, when it was finally explained!!
I also suspect this is the reason I see so many belly dancers in Australia with taught legs and saggy tummies - they use their legs. I once asked one Sydney belly dance teacher whether she'd ever been taught how to use the abdominal muscles in belly dance, other than for camels and undulations - and she actually said "you don't".