The standard posture of FatChanceBellyDance®Style can be challenging for so many of us when we first start dancing. Many times in level one class I remind everyone to check in with your dance posture and usually when someone is struggling with a move, it comes down to adjusting their dance posture. Unless we are constantly checking in, we tend to revert back to our normal, every day posture…

Now that we have the foundations of feet under us….let’s move up to the knees!

Before we get started, it’s important to review that the knees are hinge joints, meaning like the elbow, they don’t rotate, well at least not much. There is a little "give" in the joint so you injure yourself with gentle twisting movements of the legs and torque in your step, but they are certainly not made to twist. Anytime your knee is not pointing forward, the rotation is actually coming from your hip joint! More on that later…

A gentle yoga practice with a focus on feeling grounded, supported and at peace.

A little different perspective on arm undulations….

Shoulder strength and flexibility is a HUGE topic. In fact, I have multi-hour workshops on this topic alone and I still run out of time when I teach them. I love to work in this area because its not only healthy for everyday use of our shoulders and arms, but can make a huge impact to being safe and efficient with our dance movements…

I went live on Facebook earlier today because I needed a little meditative movement focused on breath and I thought it might help a few others at this time. Here's a very simple 8 minute taxeem flow. Focus on long, consistent inhales and exhales through your nose and I promise after these 8 minutes you'll feel refreshed and renewed.

A restorative yoga class I taught in one of my recent online series. Designed to make you feel amazing, mindful, rested and restored. Joined by my friends Veronica and Chelsea. Excuse the video quality as this was recorded live on Facebook.

In American Tribal Style® Belly Dance, we use a system of cues to communicate to our fellow dancers what's going to happen next. For instance, a bigger twist on count one of the Basic Egyptian means we are going to 1/2 turn the move….

A one hour Vinyasa based yoga flow designed to help open your ribcage, expand your lungs, challenge your body and relax your mind.

Recent events in the world have forced many people to work from home and begin embracing social distancing for the next several weeks. This may be a little easier, and even welcoming, for those that can easily work online, log into meetings, etc. But for many, especially those in the service industry, not going into work means no pay. The need to offer and to take online yoga and dance classes is stronger now than ever. It’s forcing creatives to well……get creative! …..

Some days I feel like I could do a Reverse Turn on a dime and other days it’s all I can do to no trip over my own feet. This was true a few years ago, but once I learned the hook and crossover turn technique, I finally feel stable! Well….. about 95% of the time anyways!….

Our dance posture, while it is close to what is known as our anatomical neutral posture, can sometimes feel strange. We aren’t used to sitting or standing up tall, shoulders relaxed and a neutral pelvis. Imbalances, in activity, our desk jobs, phones, etc take a toll on our bodies…

The weekend after Reunion I headed to Austin for a bellydance dance event called Migrations. I challenged myself to step outside of my comfort zone and rather than collaborating on a group performance, I decided to present a solo. I’ve performed less than 10 solos in my 16+ years of bellydance, they don’t get any easier. I definitely prefer to dance in a group, but this was a great opportunity to have a little fun, meet new people and showcase ATS® in a fun way. Many of these movements will be covered in my March online series!

I ran across this video in my Facebook memories and thought it would be a nice addition to my blog. Occasionally I get messages or emails from friends and students with questions about anatomy, how to connect with certain muscles, visualizations or ways to help their students. I LOVE these questions and I intend to turn more of the answers into videos.

This video is a few years old (hence the quality) and I have since created more detailed explanation…

Last May I created a series of blog posts and videos utilizing yoga blocks to help you with your dance technique. I had so much fun putting those videos together and sharing ideas to change up your routine and think outside your (dance) box!

I’m happy to share that I’ve made all of those videos public, updated the descriptions with the blog post information and added them all to a playlist on my YouTube channel!

You can go back and visit or reference them anytime! Visit my YouTube channel where I’ll also be posting more helpful videos on other topics over the next several weeks!