We are specifically looking at the Egyptian shimmy as well as the differences between a three-quarter and a triplet shimmy, all of which are foundation movements in our belly dance vocabulary.
I am going to give you some crucial tips that helped me transform my shimmy into something reliable, comfortable and much easier to do!
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This clip is taken from a live shimmy class given in my Teachable Tribe Facebook group – a totally FREE group for anyone who is a member of my online belly dance studio at SahiraBellyDances.Teachable.com. Membership there is totally free as well!
Want in on the next class and access to the entire 45-minute replay of this class?
Head on over first to:
SahiraBellyDances.Teachable.com and get a free membership! While you are there grab your free online class sampler: “Belly Dance Bites”
and then join me on Facebook at:
SahiraBellyDances.com/TeachableTribe to get access to the entire 45 minute shimmy workshop!
Sure you love to play those beautiful shiny instruments at the end of your fingertips, but have you ever wondered exactly how they are made?
I recently sat down with the owners of Saroyan Mastercrafts (my all-time favorite zill manufacturer) and asked them to give us the scoop on how they make the instruments that we use to make the music.
In this interview they will give us an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at their workshop in California and walk us step by step through the process of creating their famous finger cymbals. We will also talk about their plans for Saroyan’s 50 year anniversary (wow!) and how they’ve been taking their magical musical instruments into brand new and exciting realms.
So join me for this incredibly special interview, and let’s learn how some of the best finger cymbals on the planet are made.
And if you are inspired to pick up a set (or two) of these amazing instruments after learning all about the manufacturing process, you can do that right here: SahiraBellyDances.com/SaroyanCymbals Tell them I sent you! 🙂
And if you liked this interview you will LOVE the Q&A session I had with one of the owners in my Facebook group “Zillicious” – a community dedicated to sharing the love of all things finger cymbals! She spent some time with us there to answer questions about caring for your zills, the environmental ins and outs of the manufacturing process and more! Join us there at : SahiraBellyDances.com/Zillicious
Today I’d like to share with you a zill lesson aimed to help you understand the beauty that is opened to us when we begin to use more than one sound with our zilling.
We’re diving into one of our most popular Arab rhythms used in belly dance, the Beladi. Literally meaning “of my country” it is more accurately named the Masmoudi Saghir (or small Masmoudi), especially when speaking to musicians of Arab descent.
While this was one of the first rhythms I was ever introduced to as a baby belly dancer two decades ago, I was not shown how to play it like a drummer until I started studying with musicians in the community, most notably Karim Nagi and Lauren Checchio. They taught me the importance of using a variety of sounds in my cymbals to create rhythms in order to actually be able to differentiate between rhythms in the dance.
So let’s learn to play the “Open Beladi” – this is the essential framework that makes the Beladi what it is and what is retained no matter how we move on to embellish it.
We’ll be using two zill strokes – The Basic and the Clack and working ambidextrously! ?
Are you ready? Let’s do it!
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Ready to dive in and learn to really rock your zills! I invite you to check out my FREE zill jump start course to get the foundations you need for great zill playing.
SahiraBellyDances.com/ZillStar
And if you’ve nailed the basics and are looking for the next part of your adventure, you’ll definitely want to join my signature zill course “More Zillicious Zills” an in-depth exploration of finger cymbals, advanced sounds, patterns, and musicality with zills!
In our quest for most robust and delicious zilling, we are always looking for new and unique sounds to add to our arsenal. Whether you are in the earlier stages of your zill adventure, or are a long-time player looking to expand your tool belt, using more than one sound on your cymbals is a huge ingredient to more expressive and satisfying zill work.
Within my practice, I have four core sounds:
The Basic – A hard attack of finger down to thumb zill that opens into a ring.
The Clack – A muffled chomp of both zills together.
The Ring – An edge to edge connection of the zillls that results in a clear ring.
The Tick – A muffled stroke using one zill perpendicular to the other.
You can learn them here: https://youtu.be/5blbtE5VVAI
(There are lots more great sounds where these came from… I consider these four to be the foundation of my zill toolkit.)
For years I have been teaching that fourth sound – the Tick – in a specific way : with the middle finger cymbal creating a little “hat” for the thumb cymbal and the two striking perfectly perpendicularly, with the rim of the thumb cymbal aiming towards the center of the other cymbals’ inner bell. This worked well for me.
Until it didn’t.
I recently bought a fabulous set of zills (the large Saroyan Grecians in silver) and discovered to my surprise that more than half of all my attempted Ticks came out more like Thuds.
What the heck?
This led me to do some investigation and this is what I discovered. If you’ve ever found yourself in a thuddy rut while trying to create a clean Tick sound, or are looking to find a way to create the Tick more quickly for complex zill patterns, you will definitely want to check this out.
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Are you able to create the Tick sounds with your finger cymbals both ways described in this video? Or does one work better for you?
If you are ready to take your zilling to the next level I invite you to join me for my online course: “More Zillicious Zills” – designed to take your zilling from basic to scintillating with interesting sounds, riffs, patterns, combinations and more. Become the confident zill star you were meant to be and join me here!
Dawn literally wrote the book on finger cymbals and is a vertiable treasure chest of finger cymbal knowlegde.
In this conversation she shares some amazing information about this history of zills, the oldest connection we have to our ancestors in dance. She will take you on a deep dive into how finger cymbals have been made throughout history and what comprises the most popular styles we see today. We talk about how to chose your first (or next) set of zills and how to care for them so they last you a lifetime.
So please enjoy this special Zill Hero interview!
And then let me know – are you feeling inspired?
Connect with and learn more from Dawn online here:
One of the most beloved of all belly dance zill patterns, the Gallop gets a lot of playtime. But what I want to know right now is – how many different ways can you play it?
If you want to really up your zill game and be able to master more rapid and complex patterns, having dexterity in BOTH hands is really key. Learning to play your favorite patterns in more than one manner will free up your hands to play and your head to focus on other things while you are doing it.
In this video you will learn how to play and drill this simple pattern in the following 5 ways:
Right hand lead
Left hand lead
Continuously alternating
Cross-handed right lead
Cross-handed left lead
Say what?!?
If this doesn’t make sense don’t panic! Just dive into the video to get the basic scoop.
To really dive deep and get the complete breakdown as well as pro tips and tricks to make this pattern sound smooth and clean, check out the full class at
Welcome to another installment in my “Zill Heroes” Series!
This month I am interviewing the amazing women of Baksana Ensemble from Portland, Oregon. This incredible group caught my eye online a few years ago with this mad zill skills and incredible “Finger Cymbal February” challenge on Instagram. I started following them and finally had the chance to connect and take a class with them at JamBallah Northwest in 2019. I am a total fan!
So today I would like to share a conversation I had with these zillstars.
We talked about how each of them came to their finger cymbal practice (spoiler alert – almost none of them were complete fans of the instrument in the beginning!), the formation of Baksana and how their zill style has evolved over time.
We also take a moment to explore a bit about their amazing zill notation book that was released a few years ago and will give you the inside scoop on Finger Cymbal February and how YOU can get involved.
I can’t wait to share this conversation with you.
Be sure to check out their performance that starts around 43:00 to see exactly how amazing their zilliciousnes is!
Check it out here, and then follow Baksana at the links below. I will be there every day for the February Finger Cymbal Awareness Month challenge. I hope to see you too!
Today I’d like to share with you a posture primer that will help you hone your stance on the dance floor. Our posture is the foundation for everything we do as belly dancers, and because our dance incorporates such detailed articulations of the hips and torso, posture is key to attaining great precision in a safe manner.
I invite you to take a few minutes to work through the video and pay particular attention to how this posture feels in your body.
Then, when you walk into your next dance class, find this posture again before you begin to move.
I encourage you to incorporate elements of your beautiful belly dance posture into you daily life even when off the dance floor. The more aware of our body and our alignment that we are, the better dancers we become.
Arguably one of the most iconic of belly dance movements, learning to shimmy is quintessential for anyone wanting to study the beautiful art of belly dance.
Mastering the shimmy can be a lot more challenging than you might expect.
And to add to that fabulous challenge is the fact that there are dozens of different shimmies to be learned.
So today I’d like to offer you an easy way to begin your journey towards a huge repertoire of strong, beautiful shimmies.
Introducing “5 Fabulous Shimmies that Every Dancer Should Know” – a free class designed to get you up and moving with some of the belly dance world’s most popular shimmies.
In it, I will share with you my technique and secrets to creating big beautiful shimmies that will become an integral part of your belly dance movement arsenal.
Whether you are brand new to the dance, or have begun taking classes but struggle with some of your shimmies, I invite you to join me as a break down the process step by step so you can create better shimmies with confidence and joy.
Join me now and start your collection of fabulous shimmies today!
I am thrilled to bring to you today and interview with Alyssum Pohl. She is an authenticy coach and the founder of “Awaken Authenticity”, a business she created to help others show up in the world “unfettered and fulfilled.” She also happens to be a belly dance performer, instructor and… a clown!
In this interview she explains how the art of clowning works (spoiler – there are A LOT of similarities to belly dance!) as well as how you can begin to uncover your authentic self in your life and in your dance. We touch on some heavier topics including perfectionism and stage fright, and Alyssum has some fantastic advice and tips for dancers of all levels who are looking to freely express who they are on stage.
What is the message you wish to spread with your dance?
When do you feel most alive and free?
The idea of authenticity and an exploration of what that means to you is a valuable pursuit no matter where you are in your dance journey, and I think you will discover some intriguing and actionable ideas that can help you find a new way to approach your dance.
So please join me for this special interview! Be sure to stick around until the end to see exactly how Alyssum combines her dance with her clowning experience in a way that is truly authentic for her.
