Why belly dance? Classes Private Lessons Workshops Video Critiques
Learn to Belly Dance with Nadira Jamal
Nadira has a brand new website for her class information.
For details and registration, visit BellyDanceSomerville.com.
Private Lessons
Nadira is available for private and semi-private lessons. For details, or to schedule your lesson, visit BellyDanceSomerville.com.
Lesson and Performance packages are also available for Showers and other Private Parties.
Workshops
Nadira teaches workshops on dance composition, based on her podcast, Taktaba, her instructional DVD Series, The Improvisation Toolkit, as well as on Karsilama. If you are interested in hosting one of these workshop, contact Nadira for further information.
Available Topics:
Movement Recall for Improvisation |
Description | Do you have trouble thinking of moves when you improvise? Drawing a blank is the result of having too many choices, not too few! The workshop will help you use your movement vocabulary more effectively when you improvise. You'll learn to:
Note: this workshop includes journaling exercises as well as dancing. Participants will need paper and a pen. |
| Approximate Run Time | 90 minutes May be adapted for 60-120 minute timeslots. |
| Audience | Appropriate for all levels and styles. Participants must know at least 10 belly dance movements. |
Structure and Improvisation |
Description | Do you worry about boring your audience when you improvise, but "scribble" when you try to do more? Most dancers don't realize that interesting dancing doesn't need more "stuff", it needs structure. In this workshop, you'll learn to organize your dance, so your audience can follow your train of thought. You'll learn important structural tools, including:
Note: this workshop includes journaling exercises as well as dancing. Participants will need paper and a pen. |
| Approximate Run Time | 2 hours May be adapted for a 90-minute timeslot, or up to a full day. |
| Audience | Appropriate for all levels and styles. However, for maximum benefit, participants should be comfortable with at least 10 bellydance movements that are appropriate for their skill level. |
Taktaba: An Analytical Approach to Dance Composition |
Description | This workshop presents an analytical approach to dance composition, by exploring the 4 elements of abstract movement: Space, Shape, Time, and Energy. We'll examine these elements in detail, focusing on their many variations, and the audience responses these variations produce. The workshop will include:
Workshop notes will be provided, including a recap of the topics covered, and information on further resources. The goal of this workshop is to present compositional theory. We will be doing a lot more talking and less dancing than in many workshops. The exercises are included to help explore and cement the ideas, not to teach specific technique or combinations. |
| Approximate Run Time | 90 minutes minimum 2 hours recommended May be expanded to up to 2 days. |
| Audience | Appropriate for all levels and styles Exercises will use basic movements, but the concepts can be applied to more advanced material as well. |
Student Feedback on this workshop:
"Fabulous concept - perfectly executed! This is one workshop I will recall for a long time. Usually I come home and forget the combos we went over... but I remember silly things like what the instructor wore. This time I came home with a whole new attitude towards performance" - Nastasia
"There were the actions that I may have known... but the feeling that it could give the audience ... that point of view was something that I had not known before. I think it's good to think of that when you're choreographing." - Baseema
"Great topic. I haven't seen anything like this before. You're a great teacher with lots of energy. Very bubbly." - Baseema
9/8 911: An Emergency Karsilama Kit |
Description | You've never danced to 9/8 music (karsilama) in your life, but the band starts playing Rompi Rompi. You've seen dancers use skirtwork for karsilama, but you're wearing a straight skirt. What do you do? This workshop covers:
Time permitting, it can also include:
Participants will receive a short "phrase book" handout, which will also include resources for further karsilama education. |
| Approximate Run Time | 60-90 minutes May be combined with additional karsilama workshops. |
| Audience | Karsilama-illiterate dancers with at least a beginner-level belly dance movement vocabulary. This material may be too basic for dancers with any previous background in karsilama. |
Transitions |
Description | You probably know that clean transitions add polish to your dance, but most dancers don't realize that they also make improvisation easier. When you make friends with transitions, it's easier to chose the next move, to make clear movement "statements" that make sense to your audience, and to innovate in the moment. The workshop will help you use your movement vocabulary more effectively when you improvise. You'll learn:
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| Approximate Run Time | 180 minutes May be adapted for longer or shorter timeslots. |
| Audience | Appropriate for all levels and styles. Participants must know at least 10 belly dance movements. |
Student Feedback on this workshop:
"It was mind opening for me.I have always had trouble moving around the room and stuggled with 'scribbling'... [I would recommend it to] everyone who wants to achieve her personal best ." - Portia
Future topics:
Nadira plans to develop the following topics. If you're interested in hosting one of these workshops, or if you'd like to suggest an additional topic, contact Nadira. Be sure to allow at least a month for development.
Taktaba workshops on dance composition
Taktaba workshops take an analytical approach to dance composition by exploring the elements of abstract movement: space, shape, time, and energy. Not only do we explore what we can do, and how to do it, but we examine why it's effective, and how it makes your audience feel.
- Repetition & Alternation
- Directing Focus
- Using your Floor Space
- Pace yourself!
- Timing Patterns
Learn simple "plug and play" repetition patterns that you can use to generate lots of new combinations. Learn how to use Theme & Variation to get the most variety out of your repetition. Most importantly, learn how these methods make your audiences feel.
Just as a magician uses misdirection to hide what he's doing, a dancer can use direction to control the audience's focus. We'll explore several ways of directing focus through continuous flow vs. discontinuous jumps, framing, gaze, and externalized lines of energy.
Traveling patterns is one of the first techniques dancers learn, but very few of us think about why they are effective. Using simple traveling movements, we'll examine several different floor patterns and their emotional effect on your audience. We'll explore ways to make effective use of advancing and retreating, and to milk the drama in the contrast between movement and stillness.
Controlling how your dance unfolds enhances its beauty and maximizes its effect on your audience. Learn handy pacing tools like the "one minute rule", the "one verse rule", and the "peaks and troughs" rule. We'll also touch on pacing and endurance. Veils required for all participants.
Varying the timing of your movements is one of the simplest ways to turn boring repetition into mesmerizing, musical combinations. We'll cover several different timing patterns, which rhythms they complement, and how to adapt them to playing zils. You'll also learn combinations to help you practice and internalize those patterns.
Other topics
- American-style Karsilama
- Emotional Honesty: Acting for Belly Dancers
- Song Mapping
- Rhythmic structure
- Number of measures
- Phrasing
- Accents
Karsilama is an exciting way to end your show, and Nadira's favorite part of a routine! This workshop covers the 9/8 rhythm, movements and combinations, skirt manipulation, gestures, finger cymbals, and mood. Historical and cultural context will also be covered, demystifying what comes from the Turkish Romani ("gypsy") tradition vs. the American Cabaret repertoire. Full skirts and an under layer (harem pants, stretch pants, or shorts) are recommended.
Have you ever tried to express intense feelings, but instead looked like you were in pain? How many times have you seen a dancer "do her sultry face"?
When trying to express strong emotion, it's all too easy to focus on showing them, rather than on feeling them. When you lose touch with your honest, authentic motivations, you also lose the audience's trust. If they don't believe that what's on your face is in your heart, you break that critical connection.
Drawing on Nadira's professional acting experience, we'll explore simple ways to use motivation, character, and intention to bring emotional honesty back to your dance. When you lead with the heart, the face and body will follow!
Understanding the structure of a song is an important first step when creating a choreography. If you prefer to improvise your dance, it will help you make your performance more logical and accessible to your audience.
In this workshop, we will map out and analyze a song, including its:
Note: this workshop is done primarily on paper, and includes little or no dancing. However, if sufficient time si available, it can be adapted to include sample combinations or a full choreography.
Video Critiques
Can't get to Boston? I also offer video critiques.
Rates start at $295 for a one song critique (up to 5 minutes). Multi-critique packages are available upon request.
After reviewing your video, I'll send you an initial critique by email. Then we'll follow up by email, phone, or skype and discuss any questions you may have, and make a plan of attack.
We can focus on a specific topic (improv, posture, karsilama), or you can leave it to me to suggest areas for development.
Have any questions? Want to schedule an appointment?
Contact me to discuss your needs.