Once you’ve reached an advanced level, you have a good technical command of most belly dance vocabulary, but is your instinct for transitions equally developed? In this class, we’ll learn and practice an intricate sequence of detailed isolations, finding new pathways between moves, and putting those pathways into your muscle memory. And because our steps are carefully mapped to melody, our sequence today also acts as an exercise in music interpretation. We begin with a short warmup and long technique flow, then learn and practice a choreography excerpt set to Beata and Horacio Cifentes’ Oriental dance arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherezade.” Today’s class is the second of two classes using this music. While both classes are designed to stand on their own, for those who are taking these classes in order, we’ll conclude by briefly revisiting the sequence we learned in part one and running it together with the sequence we’re practicing today.

Bookmarks for Intricate Isolations:

0:00 Warmup
5:06 Technique Flow
25:28 Demo with back to camera
28:12 Count the Music
29:53 Step-by-Step 2nd half
38:21 Step-by-Step 2nd half other side
42:33 Slow Speed Practice 2nd half
43:48 Regular Speed practice 2nd half
47:19 Step-by-Step 1st half
54:31 Slow Practice 1st half
55:37 Regular Speed practice 1st half
56:40 Full Choreography excerpt practice
57:50 Full Choreography Excerpt Practice Other Side
59:32 Step-by-Step Review from Class 1
1:01:02 Step-by-Step Class 1 Other Side
1:02:14 Class 1 + 2 Practice
1:04:11 Class 1 + 2 Practice Other Side

Other music used in this program:

2:25 “Azzuri” from the album Lavender by Middle Earth Ensemble
16:13 “Inta Omri” from the album Oriental Fantasy Vol. 2 – Inta Omri by Beata and Horacio Cifuentes
20:44 “Enta Wa Bass Instrumental” from the album Oriental Fantasy 08 – Ahabek Ya Amar by Beata and Horacio Cifuentes