REVIEW OF THE COLLEGE CLASS!
So this is a little stick on for the free BD college class I tried! Overall I thought it was pretty good for what it was worth (free; hour and a half of one's time). The girl's were pretty experienced (nothing like Amy though) and were excited to teach.
I really wish they had a better curriculum, better organization, and better teamwork. No student wants their teachers to be discussing how to break down a move, it makes the teacher look amateurish... Which they were clearly not.
A couple of the moves they did were for probably more advanced students and not for beginners. Something that bothered me more and more as the class progressed. I did however like how they came to each person and asked if they needed help and to show them the moves to make sure they were doing it properly.
Another thing I found to my distaste was how every girl seemed to idolize Shakira. I asked a girl near me who her favorite bellydancer was and she was like "Shakira! Who else? What about you?" I told her, "Rachel Brice, Sharon Kihara are among my favorite tribal dancers. Fifi Abdou, Aziza, Ansuya, (etc.)
are more of the Cabaret Style that I like."
She looked at me like I had 5 heads.
Don't get me wrong I love Shakira. She's cool and modern and uses bellydancing in her act.... But she's not a bellydancer. I also wasn't a fan of the teachers promoting it either: "You all are gonna dance like Shakira!"
They did however win me back over when I looked at their facebook page and they did have videos of cabaret dancers (legit) and tribal dancers.
Maybe that whole review was just my bellydance diva coming out?? : /
I also made a friend, who I'm currently spamming her Youtube videos of my favorite dancers in hopes that she finds a style and dancer that she likes!
Which leads me to my next point. I was looking at Bellydance Forums and came across the Inspiration thread. Someone said that Sadie inspired them (no surprise there). I also sent a video to my friend also with 3 others and she immediately loved Sadie as well because of her technical ability.
I admit I was the same way when I first fell in love with Bellydance, but as I watched more videos, I was less and less inspired by Sadie's videos. Her videos, honestly, were a downer because I was so convinced that I'd never be that good and could never perform.
I also noticed that while her body was full of expression, her face lacked a lot, as a Forum user said (Aw I love Sadie - But she's so expressionless in the face :/)
So this is a little stick on for the free BD college class I tried! Overall I thought it was pretty good for what it was worth (free; hour and a half of one's time). The girl's were pretty experienced (nothing like Amy though) and were excited to teach.
I really wish they had a better curriculum, better organization, and better teamwork. No student wants their teachers to be discussing how to break down a move, it makes the teacher look amateurish... Which they were clearly not.
A couple of the moves they did were for probably more advanced students and not for beginners. Something that bothered me more and more as the class progressed. I did however like how they came to each person and asked if they needed help and to show them the moves to make sure they were doing it properly.
Another thing I found to my distaste was how every girl seemed to idolize Shakira. I asked a girl near me who her favorite bellydancer was and she was like "Shakira! Who else? What about you?" I told her, "Rachel Brice, Sharon Kihara are among my favorite tribal dancers. Fifi Abdou, Aziza, Ansuya, (etc.)
are more of the Cabaret Style that I like."
She looked at me like I had 5 heads.
Don't get me wrong I love Shakira. She's cool and modern and uses bellydancing in her act.... But she's not a bellydancer. I also wasn't a fan of the teachers promoting it either: "You all are gonna dance like Shakira!"
They did however win me back over when I looked at their facebook page and they did have videos of cabaret dancers (legit) and tribal dancers.
Maybe that whole review was just my bellydance diva coming out?? : /
I also made a friend, who I'm currently spamming her Youtube videos of my favorite dancers in hopes that she finds a style and dancer that she likes!
Which leads me to my next point. I was looking at Bellydance Forums and came across the Inspiration thread. Someone said that Sadie inspired them (no surprise there). I also sent a video to my friend also with 3 others and she immediately loved Sadie as well because of her technical ability.
I admit I was the same way when I first fell in love with Bellydance, but as I watched more videos, I was less and less inspired by Sadie's videos. Her videos, honestly, were a downer because I was so convinced that I'd never be that good and could never perform.
I also noticed that while her body was full of expression, her face lacked a lot, as a Forum user said (Aw I love Sadie - But she's so expressionless in the face :/)
A face, I realized, can make or break a dance.
Example:
Zoe Jakes dance at Tribal Fest 8. You can skip to 1:13 if you don't want to see the "Animal Trouble" part... though it is quite funny. She lifts her eyes at 1:47 (ish) and that's her move and I got chills. She's so focused and has this energy about her, but she's such a comedian. I never got that from Sadie, I don't know what she's like: She's neither playful nor serious.
I also look note from the forum user and checked out her current inspiration, Alla Kushnir, and might I say she is INSPIRATIONAL!
While she may not be as technically great as Sadie, her passion far outweighs that and makes me want to emulate her.
She inspires me to move!
Enjoy this beautiful choreography from a passionate dancer!
-Kestrel
