Benefits of Belly Dancing Proper Posture is Everything Proper Arms Zil Patterns Mejanoona (Crazy) ZIL Pattern

Benefits of Belly Dancing   Exercising without impact; You will use your quadriceps, hamstrings and glut’s to hold steady as you perform hip movements and travel smoothly across the flow.   You will build the back muscles evenly; Belly dancing use's the torso (even more than ballet). These movements, coupled with shoulder movements, exercise the back muscles, and they exercise the muscles evenly.   Exercising the arms; In Belly dancing you have to hold your arms for long periods of time and it takes strength to perform the movements slowly and gracefully.   Improved Posture and muscle toning; Belly dancing tones and strengthens your back muscles in a safe manor with a full range of gentle but repetitive motions.   Weight Loss; Weight loss will vary depending on the intensity of your dancing combined with a healthy diet.   Stress reduction; It can be a creative outlet that conditions, tones and allows you to use your natural body movement. It can refresh and relax   Good for the Joints and Bones; Belly Dancing is a great form of low-impact exercise without putting heavy stress on the joints. It tones every major muscle group from the feet up to the neck. It improves coordination, flexibility and posture. Belly Dancing is a great way to meet new people with similar interests! Come and have fun with us.   Proper Posture is Everything   Good posture is imperative for any form of dance.  Tips for improving your posture are: ·        Imagine your feet are sticking to the floor with your weight shifted to your heals. Center yourself over the balls of your feet if on your toes ·        Imagine a piece of string is attached to and pulling at the crown of your head. ·        Shoulders up, back, and down, with shoulder blades back but do not squeeze them together ·        Lift your abdominal wall ·        Lift your chest as though a string was pulling it up to the sky ·        Relax your shoulders ·        Relax your jaw ·        Drop your tailbone toward the floor, rather than tucking your tail. Use your abdominal muscles Proper Arms Arms are often a neglected part of the human body with regard to dance. Unless classically trained, the arms often refuse to obey commands and conspire to be independent from both brain and music! To train the arms one must understand a little about arm carriage, how and where arm movements originate, and how to discipline the arms within the dance. Being 'arm aware' is often a stumbling block for beginners If you think of the arm as being attached to the shoulder, and the shoulder being attached to the breastbone, then you are on the way to discovering where arm movements originate. The breastbone in turn is connected to the ribcage, and the control and lifting of this area of the body is where your arm control begins. Confused? Don't be. Try standing relaxed, with your arms loose at your sides. Breathe in and relax. Breathe in again and lift your rib cage. As the rib cage rises, so your arms will move slightly backwards and up. As this happens, keep the movement going, follow it through until your arms are lifted to shoulder level. By engaging the chest in this way, all your arms movements will be more controlled and fluid, rising, as they should, from the centre of your body rather than being dragged clumsily upwards via the hands. The arm is divided into three main areas of movement control. From shoulder to elbow is firm and strong. From elbow to wrist is soft and flowing. From wrist to fingers is fluid and melting. Zil Patterns Zils (Turkish)– (finger cymbals) are Brass Discs which come from the evolution of related percussion instruments dating back to 3000bc. They come in a variety of sizes. They range in size from 1" to 2.5 inches across. Brass or silver tone. There is no set rule what size you must have. Find a pair that is easy for you to work, and have fun. The military beat, and the beledi, and triples are the most commonly used zil patterns to play.   Place Zils below the nail bed or on knuckle of the middle finger and thumb Use your whole hand They can be tied, placed in a knot, or pinned. Longa – 3 stroke pattern starting on the right   3 ways to play the zils, Ring Tap Clap (full on) *can be used to emphasize a down beat   Zil Practice Exercises: Play palms up for first 4 bullets Play the rhythm with your hands Tap your foot with the down beat, half time and full time Bring them together – Tap your foot on the 3rd stroke (Playing the with the down beat) Walk in circle (capture the down beat with your walk) Start with half time and then work up to full time. While standing, bring arms up, and alternate moving them in a circle Dance while playing   Patterns; L= left hand, R = Right Hand T= Together Pattern #1 - Standard 3  1,2,3 R,L,R,   Pattern #2 - Military 3-3-7  1,2,3 – 1,2,3 - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 RLR – RLR -  RLRLRLR   Pattern #3 3-7-3 1,2,3 – 1,2,3, 4,5,6,7 – 1,2,3 RLR – RLRLRLR -  RLR   Pattern #4 3 – 1- 3 -1-3 1,2,3 – 1 -1,2,3, 1, 123 RLR – R - RLR - R – RLR     Pattern #5 3 – 5- 5 1,2,3 – 1,2,3, 4,5 – 1,2,3,4,5 RLR – RLRLR – RLRLR   Pattern Baladi RR -RLR – R  RL – RRL   Pattern Moroccan 6 - This pattern is easy, try not to over complicate it. It's just an alternating R-L-R-L-R with the emphasis on ever third strike RLR – LRL -RLR – LRL     Mejanoona (Crazy) ZIL Pattern Mejanoona is not the correct spelling but it sounds like it's spelled. This was taught at a class given by Jamila, Suhaila's mom. We had so much fun learning this with Jamilia, she is a wonderful woman and made this look like a walk in the park. http://www.balanat.com/Jamila/index.htm Pattern #1 RLR RLLR R RLR Pattern #2 RLR RLLR RLRLR Pattern #3 RLR RLLR RLLR RLLR RLL RLRLR