Home ::

Classes

:: Class Schedules & Studios :Registration: About Class Levels :: Class Requirements and Supplies::
:: Nicola's Class Policies and Guidelines ::
:: A note about your health:: Best type of class for you::
:: Private Instruction :: Interested in booking a workshop :: Teaching Rates ::

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

H1N1 Policy :: About my classes :: Class schedules :: Studio Locations :: Recitals

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About My Classes:

Come journey into the wonderful, rich and varied traditions of belly dance and other Middle Eastern dances. 

The art and craft of the dance include technique, cultural and historical understandings, musical interpretation, and joy of life expressed through nuanced, sensuous, playful movement. Middle Eastern dance is a feast for the senses and an invigorating challenge for the brain and body.

In an effort to increase the calibre of belly dance in Winnipeg, and to push myself to greater and greater abilities, I have looked to standards set in larger cities where the dancers are significantly better. The result is new expectations of myself as a dancer and teacher, and of my students. Expect to move, groove, sweat, think, feel, and grow as a dancer. My content and pace are appropriate for gaining understanding as well as ability in this dance, with breadth and depth of knowledge, and technique that will allow you to keep up in workshops, other teachers' classes, and private lessons. Mastering content in beginner and intermediate levels will be an excellent grounding for pursuing dancing as a solo or troupe performer.

I combine my lengthy experience as a performer, my professional training as a certified educator, my extensive background in sports and dance, and my considerable training in Middle Eastern dance to create a learning environment that is innovative, supportive, and thorough. Classes emphasize safe, effective technique,  aesthetics and artistry of the dance, so you gain the skills, understanding, and appreciation of this most beautiful and complex dance tradition. 

I encourage myself and my students to see the many vibrant colours of this dance form and the cultures from which it comes, rather than the black and white stereotypes Westerners tend to have about belly dance and of the Orient.

All Classes & Levels include:

• imagery, hands-on correction, thorough explanation, correct demonstration, break-down, combinations, partner and group work, transitions, creative exercises, interpretive time, humour, and fun
• class content is, in part, adapted from/consistent with the Cassandra School of Minneapolis
• having recently completed Teacher Training Level 1 and 2 with Hadia, I place a renewed emphasis on safe, effective, correct technique and a simpler approach concentrating on the truly essential movements and knowledge of the dance
• best-practice technique and teaching methods 
• brain-based learning that takes into account:   multiple intelligences theory; how the brain does/does not think, learn, and remember; ways of remembering and recalling; Feedback for Learning methodology will be in use in all classes (where appropriate) to establish clear criteria for what you need to work towards and how it will happen
• students in all levels receive: a copy of the syllabus; basic handout package; first notification of new content added to the site; access to discounts; notes on any choreographies
• choreography appropriate for the level is prepared for June recital season
• basic finger cymbal (zills, sagats) technique
• each studio session generally operates on a 9- or 10-class lesson plan

"The body says what words cannot"
~ Martha Graham (1893-1991)

Class Schedules (click on a studio name for more information)