10 Tips on teaching belly dance
Generally speaking, teaching belly dance is not
very different from teaching other types of dance.
Below I list just a few tips for belly dance teachers.
1. Warm up and cool down - provide warm up at the
beginning of each session and cool down at the
end. Warming up, at the beginning of a dance class,
not only is important to avoid injuries, but also
prepares the students mentally. By warming up your
students will start leaving their daily worries
behind and get in the mood for dancing. For a belly
dance class,  you can include dance movements that
remind of belly dance moves, such as hip circles
o stretching the hips from side to side. Cooling
down and stretching at the end of the dance class
is equally important to avoid injuries.
2. Organise the space wisely – the
way you use space in a dance class reflects the
mood you want to give to your class. For example,
you may want your students to stand in a circle
for an inclusive atmosphere while warming up, or
improvising some belly dance moves. For choreographies,
it is better for the students to stand in rows
in front of you. However, if there are many students,
every now and then make the rows that are in front
go to the back and vice versa, so that everybody
can see you.
3. If you are teaching a travelling step,
you may want to make the students move diagonally
from one corner of the room to another, in small
groups of, for example 4, at a time so that everyone
has enough space to move properly.
4. Give structure to your belly dance
class. For example: start with warming up, then
move on to do some revision of old moves, then
introduce new movements, then do some practice
(drills, choreography or improvisation) and then
cool down.
5. Use different types of stimuli
for explaining new belly dance moves. Many educators
agree that people learn mainly through three different
types of stimuli: visual, audio and kinaesthetic
(through movement and body perception). Every person
has one or more favourite channel of learning and,
by using all stimuli, you will be able to reach
more people. For example, you can show the movement,
explain it out loud or, if a student is mainly
kinaesthetic, she can touch the part of your body
that is moving.
6. Listen to your students and pay
attention to their expressions.
7. Project your voice properly, especially in big
classes, so that every student can hear you.
8. Even if you love dancing, during
a class do not forget that your main aim is to
teach. So, if you are teaching, do not just starting
dancing away without caring if the students are
following, but pay attention to them and explain
clearly what they are supposed to do.
9. Teach a piece of choreography.
Even though the beauty of belly dancing is ultimately
being able to improvise, learning a piece of choreography
will help your students understand how to put the
movements together in a sequence that looks nice.
10. Be aware that every student may
learn at different speeds, so make sure you give
them more than one options (more difficult and
easier) for movements you want them to perform.
In this way, the ones who learn quicker will not
get bored, while the others will not struggle.
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