BeginnerClassOutline

For beginners I like to start out with real basic moves. There's not much focus on layering in the beginners class and more time is spent on learning new moves then in Intermedate and Advanced classes. This plan is based on a 10 week session with classes meeting once a week for 1 1/2 hours each lesson.

I start with 30 minutes of warm-up's I follow basically the same warm-up as what's listed on the warm-up's page of this site. I don't do all of them all of the time and depending on which moves will be learned I may use warm-up's that focus on the muscles we will be using. I also do a 5 minute cool-down at the end of the lesson.

Durring the practice time individual attention is given after showing and explaining the move. The students are told to continue and watch themselves in the mirror. I walk around and give help to those who are not yet getting it or are not positioned properly (poor posture). If everyone is getting it there is no need to walk around and I will move on to the next part of the lesson.

Week 1

Hand-Out's

If I can I do this before the class starts so that there is no time

taken away from learning. If it is not possible to do this before

class then it is the first thing I do. I hand out the class syllybus

along with a list of items that I reccomend they have and bring to

class (zills, veil, etc...). I briefly explain the syllybus and then

begin the warm-up. Students who arrive late are given the hand-

outs at the end of the class.

Intro

Durring the warm-up's of week 1 I talk about how the class will

be structured, rules, and other relavent information about the

class in general.

Posture

Students are introduced to basic position and are looked at

individually to ensure proper positioning. Tips and repositioning

are given for those who need it.

Arms

I start by teaching the hand undulation and then move into

broken twig arms which we smooth out into snake arms both

singles (1) and side (2). The hand undulation is then

incorporated into the snake arms to complete the flow of the

ripple all the way down the arm.

Torso

I start them off with simple shoulder thrusts and then combine

them into a slow shoulder shimmy and very briefly take it into a

faster shoulder shimmy just to see how well they manage. Next

we start with with sliding the rib cage from side to side and

forward and back then lifting and dropping. After they have this

down we combine them into a staccatto version of a rib circle

both the horizontal and vertical then we smooth them out

Hips

I like to start by doing hip slides and then moving on to hip drops

and then into hip lifts.

Other

I then move into basic egyptian and then walking with it.

Week 2

Arms

We briefly review broken twigs and then smooth it out into snake

arms 2 (side). After seeing that students are doing well enough

with this we explore the other variations on snake arms.

Torso

We briefly review the shoulder shimmy starting slow and then

speeding it up.Next we briefly review the rib lifts, drops, and

slides. Then we briefly review the staccatto versions of the

horizontal and vertical Rib circles before smoothing them out. I

specifically end with the vertical rib circle.

Hips

I teach the pelvic tuck and release.

Other

Students are introduced to the undulation. I start by briefly

reviewing the vertical rib circle again and then the pelvic tuck and

release. The moves are combined together in a staccatto

version of the undulation which is then smoothed out. We briefly

explore walking with the undulation. We then review walking

with basic egyptian.

Week 3

Arms

We review snake arms and variations. We learn the waterfall

and falling leaf arms.

Torso

We briefly review the shoulder shimmy and the horizontal and

vertical rib circles. We learn shoulder lifts and drops.

Hips

I briefly review the lifts and drops and their variations (front, side,

and back). We then learn the 4/4 Shimmy starting very slowly

and building up speed. We review the pelvic tuck and release.

Other

We review the undulation and walking with the undulation. By

now, I expect students to have obtained their own finger

cymbals. We learn the 3's pattern on the zills and then practice

it walking and then while walking with basic egyptian.

Week 4

Arms

We review all arm movements learned. We learn different Arm

Poses for framing the head.

Head

We learn 4/4 and 3/4 Head slides and use the arm poses we

just learned to frame them..

Torso

We Review the Shoulder Shimmy and Rib Circles.

Hips

We review lifts, drops, slides. We learn Horizontal (both

variations) and Reverse Horizontal Figure Eights. We learn the

hip twist and tunisian.

Other

We learn to walk with tunisian. After students have this down

we play the 3's pattern on the zills while doing a walking

tunisian. We then learn the 3-3-7's pattern on the zills and then

practice it with basic egyptian.

Week 5

Torso

We review the shoulder shimmy and practice it changing levels

and position.

Hips

We review the 4/4 Hip Shimmy and the Horizontal Figure Eights

and then the learn Vertical Figure Eights.

Other

We practice walking with the Horizontal Figure Eights walking

both forwards and backwards. We then parctice it with 3's and

3-3-7's. We then learn the 3-7-3's zill pattern and then practice it

while walking with tunisian.

Week 6

Arms

We practice snake arms while using a step-ball-change/three

count walk and then as an accent with a three-count-turn.

Torso

We review the shoulder shimmy and rib circles.

Hips

We briefly review the 4/4 shimmy, tuck, release, all figure eights

and slide. We then learn large and small hip circles, 3 count,

and 5 count

Other

We practice undulations, walking with undulations, and tunisian

walk. We play 3's, 3-3-7's, and 3-7-3's with the walking

exercises. We then learn 3-5-5's

Week 7

Hips

This lesson is all about shimmies. We review the 4/4 shimmy. I

teach the 3/4 Shimmy and 3/4 shimmy with a hitch. Then I

teach the Flamenco shimmies (1 & 2). Finally we learn the choo

choo shimmies (1 & 2). Arms are used to highlight movements.

Other

We move with the choo-choo shimmies and learn 4's on the

zills. We play 4's(singles) while moving with the choo-choo's.

Arm's are used to highlight movements.

Week 8

Hips

First we review the vertical figure eights and then we learn the

Gush. We then learn the Vertical and Reverse Vertical Figure

Eight Gushes.

Other

We learn 3-5-5's and 3-5-1-3's on the zills and practice them

while moving with a gush.

Week 9

Other

This week we do something completely different and learn about

a specialty or prop. It may be an entire lesson devoted to veil,

cane, baskets, scimitars, floorwork, debke, etc... Best choices

are usually veil or cane since it's easier for students to aquire

these items. More often then not it will be a veil that I choose

simply because it is the easiest item for students to obtain or

make and if nothing else I have many veils of my own which I

can then loan out for the class. Floorwork is also sometimes a

good option but most people don't have the muscle strength in

their legs for a whole lesson on floorwork so it is often combined

with something else.

Week 10

Hips

We review the 3/4 Shimmy and the Gush. We learn the

following: Hip Sway, Hip Sway with a soft kick, Pelvic Scoop,

Pelvic Roll, Forward Crescent, Backward Crescent, Bouncing

Hip Circle, Inner Hip Cicle, Outer Hip Circle. Arms are used to

accent movements.

Other

We move with several of the moves listed above and learn

3-1-3-1-3's on the zills. We also learn the Queen Sheeba Walk.