Time to get your Saidi on! Saidi dance is a folkloric style from upper Egypt that is energetic and grounded. It has a very different feel from classical raqs sharqui and is one of the most important Arab folkloric dance styles to be familiar with, as the rhythm and the music is often used in belly dance.
In this tutorial I will take you through the basics of this earthy style and show you some tips and pointers so you can really dive into the feel of the dance, which is something that many dancers struggle with.
So grab your hip scarf and let’s Saidi!
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If you enjoyed this tutorial and are looking to get a solid foundation for an amazing belly dance journey of your own, sign up now for the FREE 7-Day Beginner Belly Dance Jumpstart program online.
Dust off the old and dive into the new! Get your body ready for the new year with this fabulous drill that will help you hone all the important foundational belly dance isolations.
In this video I will take you through the isolations your body needs to internalize in order to master more complex belly dance movements and combinations.
Use this drill weekly to create the muscle memory you need to propel your belly dance practice into an incredible year!
Inside the course are four dynamic one-hour recorded sessions, meticulously designed to breathe new life into your belly dance practice. Each class is a treasure trove of insider tips, expert guidance, and refreshing drills that will leave you with a solid foundation for the year ahead.
Say goodbye to dance plateaus and hello to a year filled with vibrant, confident, and captivating belly dance. Don’t miss the chance to refresh your technique and set the stage for an extraordinary dance journey in 2024.
It’s the end of the year and I’ve been making time to reminisce about all of the great experiences from 2023. Sometimes I find myself wandering deep down the rabbit hole of memory lane…and that’s exactly what brought me to this gem of a music video that I had the extreme pleasure of participating in a few years back with fellow creator, DJ Ashar.
I have to admit that participating was a leap of faith. I didn’t know the song, most of the folks involved, or even what the filming would entail… but I said yes anyway because I’m often game for an on-camera adventure and I liked Ashar’s energy and enthusiasm.
If that thought induces even the slightest bit of panic… I totally understand. The holiday season can easily be one of the most stressful times of year.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
The secret to avoiding holiday burnout is to make sure you take time for yourself when the hustle and bustle of the season threatens to sweep you away.
I created the 12 Days of Belly Dance Christmas to help you do just that.
This annual event (now in its fifth year) is designed to give you a place of joy, learning and support during one of the busiest times of the year. It’s a safe harbor in the storm of the holiday season, a belly dance learning adventure, and a place to connect with other fabulous dancers from around the world!
Don’t give up your sanity this holiday season!
Join me for this incredible event designed to keep you joyfully moving through what might otherwise be the craziest time of the year.
❃ Free live classes and on-demand tutorials
❃ Dance goal-setting resources and downloadables
❃ Dance community gatherings, connection and challenges
❃ And festive events and prizes all with a belly dance theme
12 Days of fun, dance and community to keep you moving and grooving through the holidays.
I have been performing at various Renaissance Festivals since the early days of my belly dance career – over 22 years now!
While my home fair is currently the Texas Renaissance Festival, I also love traveling to perform at other festivals around the US. In fact, when I first started belly dancing full-time about 22 years ago, I didn’t know any other way to make consistent money in the art form other than at Renaissance Festivals. (Though if you’ve ever performed at one, you know the money is nothing to write home about!)
So when the opportunity arose, I put all of my belongings into storage and packed my costumes in the car and begin traveling to various faires across the US. I would pick a fair that was not too far from family and connect with a local dance group there.
I performed at the Arizona Renaissance Festival with DOMBA for a few years and at the Michigan Renaissance Festival with Nommobungunte, as well as my home faire near Houston, where I sing, dance and play flute with an incredible early music ensemble, Istanpitta. I would live in my tent on the weekends and then drive anywhere from 1 to 6 hours to be with family during the week. It didn’t pay much, but all I had at the time was my car in my costumes so I didn’t need much spending money!
I did the traveling Renaissance festival thing for about three years before I became more established as a performer in Houston, but to this day I still enjoy performing at faires! After two decades, I think it’s just part of who I am.
Enjoy this clip of a performance with my favorite medieval ensemble – Istanpitta – at the Sherwood forest fair in Texas.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
