Down to Earth: Fluid Floor Work
Embrace the ground beneath you and take an adventure into floorwork land with Heather! Learn to create a multi-dimensional performance by using the floor to your advantage. We will focus on a multitude of ways to get on and off the floor, as well as approaching different ways to hit poses and shapes through dance flow. A strong warm-up will be lead to prepare us for dynamic strength-driven movement. Be prepared to fuse yoga, Pilates, and contemporary concepts with belly dance. Please bring knee pads!
Lyrical Belly Dance Fusion
A window into Heather's world, Rhapsodic Discourse: "the illegible condition of its own legibility" (Butler, Judith). She'll share her personal stylization of belly dance mixed with freestyle hip hop flavor & contemporary flair through a sampling of an original choreography. Concepts of musicality and expression will be introduced and used as vehicle to enhance and nurture your own self-exploration in dance.
That Lateral Life
Explore how side body movement exists in your belly dance and how to tap into it even more. Specifically incorporating a variety of lateral movements, we will warm up and condition to safely prepare your body. Using dance drills and combinations, we will further explore lateral movements that will culminate in a short snippet of choreography. Immersing our focus in one aspect of movement will help us better delve into deeper awareness in our strength and execution.
Let’s step away from technique training of micro movements, and push ourselves out of the everyday stance and into exploring our kinesphere. Our focus will be on angular relationships in space. Simple shapes will be highlighted that create a dynamic visual experience. A short combination will be introduced utilizing the presented principles and then the group will be guided through an improvisational piece to let people find their own approach to artistic extension. All levels of dance are welcomed!
Artistic Extension
Remarkable magic happens when a performer slows it down to the point where it looks like they are dragging through the mud. We will work on digging deep to get those strong yet fluid motions that mesmerize viewers. The focus will be on intentional movement through a fully committed approach that oozes hypnotic qualities with a full range of movements in the arms, hips, and upper body while learning to freeze movements and push through with integrity. Movements will be broken down into their muscular parts and we will push ourselves beyond our own understanding of our dance vocabulary.
Quicksand - Magnetizing Movements
Contemporary For Belly Dancers
Join Heather for a class highlighting her signature style combining Belly Dance with Modern, Ballet & Hip Hop. Class will focus on posture, technique, developing lines, body awareness, fluidity, balance, and strength. Combinations and choreography will be used to more deeply connect with expression in dance. Elements of improvisation will also be incorporated to explore our voices as dancers. 1-2 years of dance experience is recommended.
Ballet For Belly Dancers
An introduction to the fundamentals of ballet for Belly Dancers! Learn the basics and how they might be incorporated into your belly dancing. Overall, expect a focus on posture, grace, and technique. This workshop is perfect for anyone who loves codified dance styles!
CORE Values: Pilates for Belly Dancers
Boost your belly dance technique and posture by cross-training in Pilates. Develop a core connection that can help improve balance, articulation, and range of motion influencing moves like belly rolls, undulations, and posture. As belly dancers, it is so important to strengthen the front body to protect and support the back body after many repetitions of moves such as hip movements (shimmies, figure 8's) or back extensions (body wave, backbends). Pilates is a great tool to be integrated into any dancer’s personal conditioning practice. Please bring a mat, water, and have a notebook handy for notes.
Bend Over Backwards (recommended 3 hr workshop)
The workshop will begin with a heavy dose of Pilates and yoga to prepare our bodies for healthy and safe backward bending. We will go over what parts need to be strengthened and stretched to achieve and sustain the ability to backbend. Once thoroughly warmed up and stretched, we will incorporate back bending into a combination that can be done from multiple levels. Please bring a yoga mat, yoga blocks (optional).
Rev up your Motor Skills: Practical Anatomy for Dancers!
Calling all movers and shakers! This workshop goes over the basics of how the human movement system works. Topics introduced will be, muscular development, body maintenance to prevent muscle imbalances, range of motion awareness, and how this exploration can help inform your belly dancing. Anatomy and range of motion handouts will be supplied. Please bring a notebook and a writing utensil!
Sinuous Grooves
Unlock your upper body in this workshop where we will work on expanding our flexibility and increasing our isolation and strength. We carry a lot of weight and pressure onto our heart center and my goal is for us to find a way to release that and really sink into the sinuous snake-like movements we can tap into as belly dancers.
Axis Revolution
Delve into the ever-elusive spiraling world of turns and spins! Turns are one of the most dynamic and graceful ways that we as dancers can travel. The goal is to learn to gain confidence and trust in your turning skills. Technique training will include core strengthening and a heavy focus on balance. We will highlight different types of turns and spins while incorporating them into mini combinations to practice.
Pure Elegance
There is magnetism in a dancer who can ooze elegance in their dance. I hope to impart a better hold on your inner grace and bring it forward in a combination geared toward making an emotional connection that the viewer can't take their eyes off. This workshop will start with a warm-up that will prepare us for strong posture and fluidity in the arms. We will focus on a deeper awareness of the lines and shapes our bodies make in our movement.
Polished Alignment
As dancers, we are always trying to achieve the “perfect” posture. The foundation of all movement IS posture and without this foundation, the polished look of any move can be obscured. This workshop focuses on how to cultivate alignment by discovering areas that need work. Each body is unique from one another and by utilizing yoga poses and Pilates exercises we will explore how to analyze where some imbalances may be present. The goal is to develop a practice that will continuously and consciously work towards proper alignment. This process is meant to help and inform each dancer beyond this workshop and into their daily practice.
Modern Fusion Belly Dance
Join Heather for a workshop highlighting her signature style combining Belly Dance with Modern & Ballet.
We will begin with an extensive warm up focusing on posture, technique, developing lines, body awareness, fluidity, balance and strength. Combinations and choreography will be used to more deeply connect with expression in dance. 1-2 years of dance experience recommended but not required!
