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Don’t settle for just a basic ring sound when there is a world of noises these things can make!

In this video I am going to teach you a fabulous and funky zill drill to help you use three of the foundational finger cymbal sounds (and feel like a total rockstar too)!

Want to learn how to make the four foundational cymbal sounds? Check out my Zill Sounds Primer here: Zills: Four Basic Sounds

And learn how to count zills like a real musician here: Zills: Counting 

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Get your very own pair of Saroyan Ghawazee in Bronze (my most favorite zills ever!) here: Saroyan Cymbals

Want to become a total zill rockstar and learn more awesome acapella riffs with me? Check out my signature online course – Acapella Finger Cymbal Foundations and level up your zilling today!

Acapella Finger Cymbal Foundations

Welcome back to another installment in the Top 10 Moves Every Belly Dancer MUST Know Series.

In this video, we will be diving into one of the most iconic movements in the belly dance vocabulary – the Egyptian Shimmy.

This is an absolute must have for your belly dance tool kit. And while it is a seemingly simple concept, it is quite difficult to execute cleanly. (In fact, this move took me about 12 years to get truly comfortable with, and I continue to work to improve it in my practice all the time!)

You could simply describe this shimmy as an alternating knee bend with the accent to the back, causing a vibration in the body – but in this video, I will give you a much more thorough explanation that will help you accurately create the movement in a way that is safe for your body

Practicing this movement slowly and diligently is the fastest way to find success.

So let’s dive in and practice The Egyptian Shimmy!

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Check out all of the videos in the top 10 moves playlist to collect them all! Top 10 Moves Every Belly Dancer Must Know

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If you enjoyed this tutorial and are ready to dive deeper into the basics of belly dance, sign up now for the FREE 7-Day Beginner Belly Dance Jumpstart program online.

http://SahiraBellyDances.com/jumpstart

Get 7 days of free belly dance tutorial videos emailed directly to you today!

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The music used in this video is Dreams Of Egypt by the fabulous Miss Thea. Support her online at: https://missthea.bandcamp.com/track/electroshimmy

After a year-long hiatus ​The Belly Dance Bundle​ is BACK and on sale now.

SahiraBellyDances.com/Bundle

I’ve been a contributor to the Bundle for four years now, and have watched this program grow and change as it expands.

Let me just say – I am definitely a fan of the Bundle… but that’s a bit besides the point. I am here to help you make sure the Bundle is right for YOU and your practice.

So let’s talk about it in all seriousness, shall we?

The Bundle is a compilation of over 60 belly dance classes from more than 50 top belly dance instructors. It’s an incredible way to create a well-rounded belly dance practice and be exposed to dance instructors, styles and ideas that you might not be exposed to otherwise. That being said, it’s an investment of time and money, and is not for everyone.

So… is it for you?

Here are my thoughts to help you decide.

#1. Head on over to ​the Bundle webpage​ and check out the class list. Or better yet, check it out with me here in this video SahiraBellyDances.com/Bundle

#2. After checking out the courses included, decide how many of them you are excited about or would sign up for on their own. The website gives you how much each class is valued when it sells on it’s own. Add up the total of your favorite classes. If the Bundle cost is less than that, it’s most likely a good deal for you!

#3. Know that almost no one takes ALL of the classes inside the Bundle. It’s a LOT of information – and if you are the type of person who likes to check all the boxes (like me 🙋🏽‍♀️) please know that taking all of the classes is not really feasible. Most dancers pick and choose between classes to dive into. I personally do a combination of those I am most excited about plus are few that are really outside my usual box – this way I expand my abilities and also broaden my horizons.

#4. The Bundle is a monetary investment. But when you put it in perspective it’s a really incredible deal. If there was a festival large enough to contain all this goodness (and there isn’t) you would pay far more money to attend between airfare, hotel, food, and classes. The folks over at the Bundle know the fee can be a stretch for many dancers and have set up a really great ​payment plan option​ if money is an issue.

SahiraBellyDances.com/Bundle

When it is all said and done, the Belly Dance Bundle is how I fuel my dance practice for the entire year, and I am diving in now! ​I invite you to check out what’s on offer​ and put it to the test I suggest above to decide if it’s a good fit for you.

If I can answer any questions you have about the Bundle, please let me know! I want to help you make the best choice for you and your practice.

Hope to see you in the Bundle!

When I taught at the 2023 Migrations Dance Festival in Austin, Texas, the organizers asked me to do something I had never done before. They wanted me to teach students an entire choreography with finger cymbals and get them ready to perform in a single four-hour class.

Now, you know I love me some finger cymbals… so I would never dream of saying no. But I will admit that I hesitated a bit.

A typical choreography is taught in my studio in 8-12 weeks. Then we performance prep for a couple weeks before taking the stage. So the usual 14+ hour studio process (plus dozens of hours of at-home practice time) was going to be compressed into one 4-hour block of intensive work.

Ok…

But who’s crazy enough to take on this kind of challenge?

THESE DANCERS ARE! 🤩

Not only did they take on the challenge, but they NAILED IT! I am so freakin’ proud of all of these dancers and the energy, theatricality and enthusiasm they brought to the classroom and the stage.

Enjoy the results of this amazing finger cymbal performance intensive!

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If they can do it, YOU can too!

Get started here for FREE: http://SahiraBellyDances.com/Zillstar

Today I would love to chat with you about a topic that is incredibly important but often under-emphasized in traditional belly dance classes. It’s a concept that can make or break a performance and truly takes the dance from good to potentially transcendent.

I’m talking about EMOTION.

We spend a lot of time working on technique in our practice… and with good reason! A solid handle of our dance technique gives us many of the tools we use to express ourselves on the dance floor.

But I’m here to tell you that technique is only one small piece of the puzzle in a spectacular belly dance performance. Emotion and feeling is the universal language that will truly create an impact.

When you can convey emotions through your dance you create performances that are not just memorable but deeply moving.

Today I’d like to share with you ​a podcast episode from The Belly Dance Bundle’s podcast Yallah Raqs​ where I talk about this very concept. Inside the episode I share my theories about why we tend not to practice this aspect of our dance as often, and give you some concrete steps you can take to add these subjects into your regular practice.

Because if you don’t work on it in practice, it’s not magically come out in performance.

So let’s get emotional, shall we?

And once you’re inspired by what you learn inside the episode, I invite you to head over to the ​#21DaysofBellyDance Challenge on Instagram ​and try it out for yourself!

LISTEN HERE:

Yallah Raqs The Bellydance Practice Podcast

Emotion & Theatricality with Sahira

While it’s not a move I teach early on to my students, I totally put this move into the “top 10 moves that every belly dancer must know” category. It can sometimes be a bit challenging for newer dancers to execute, but I find that once you get it under your hip scarf it quickly becomes a go-to favorite.

I am talking about – THE OMMI.

This deliciously gooey interior hip circle gets your oblique and pelvic muscles moving in some fabulous ways. In this video I will take you through the movement step by step and show you how to make it as graceful and fluid as possible as we drill it to music.

Let’s dive in!

Continue your adventure and learn more moves that every belly dancer must know with my free beginner belly dance program here!

The music used in this video is Electroshimmy from Dreams of Egypt Music for Bellydance by the fabulous Miss Thea. Support her online at: https://missthea.bandcamp.com

The belly roll is a quintessential movement for every belly dancer… BUT it’s much harder to do than it looks.

Luckily, with a detailed step-by-step breakdown, everyone can learn to control their abdominal muscles in amazing ways… and I am here to show you how! The belly roll is created from four basic movement ideas – and two of them you already know how to do.

In this video, I will take you through all the pieces you need create this movement and will have you belly rolling with the best of them!

(Be sure to watch to the end… you’re not going to believe what happens! 🫣)

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And join me for an online class and take your dance to the next level: SahiraBellyDances.com

Thank you for your questions!

Today’s lesson is inspired by YOU: Upward and Downward Ommis – What is the difference exactly?

Both the upward and downward (or reverse) ommi are gooey interior hip circles. In this video, I will take you through the differences between them in an organized, logical fashion!

Don’t know what an ommi is?

Start here!

Ommi

Reverse Ommi 

In an effort to become fantastic zillers, we often find ourselves trying to collect as many rhythms and patterns as possible into our repertoire. And while having a lot of rhythmic inspiration is fabulous and wonderful, I’m here to tell you that you don’t need dozens of rhythms under your hip belt to become a confident cymbalist.

In fact, with just a handful of ideas and a willingness to play and experiment (and count, too!) you can make magic with just a few really great ideas.

And the Masmoudi is one of them. This gem of a pattern is an 8-beat rhythm, so it gives you lots of great ideas to play with as a whole. But in addition to playing it straight through, you can also break it up into smaller pieces to fuel your zill creativity. I do it with this rhythm all the time.

In this video, I will get you started with the basic Masmoudi the way I original learned to play it, so you have a solid understanding of the pattern to be able to experiment with it later.

Enjoy and happy zilling!

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If you are an intermediate to advance level ziller looking to take your skills to the next level, I invite you to join my online course “Acapella Finger Cymbal Foundations” and learn how to create and dance to your own fabulous acapella finger cymbal solo. 

The fabulous music played in this video is: Gravity Egyptian Queen by Miss Thea