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Looking to get your isolations sharper, your figure eights and circles smoother, and your quality of movement crisper and cleaner? It’s all about practice! However, the way we practice can have an effect on what we get out of that practice. Mindful drilling trumps mindless drilling, so here are three tips to strengthen your belly dance isolations!

1. Know what you’re moving, and how you’re moving it

Hip locks. Well, we’re moving the hips right? Sure, but what’s the driving force behind that movement? We know we need to alternate straightening and bending the knees, so have you taken the time to notice if one leg is working more than the other?

First, start noticing what your default pattern is. Film yourself and watch it back, or ask your teacher or mentor to help you identify what’s driving your movement.

Then, it’s time to get a little nerdy. What muscles can you choose to activate a little more to emphasise the hip lift? (Side note: Muscles are always working – there’s no such thing as a skeletal movement, so here it’s more about what you’re actively choosing to contract a bit harder for emphasis!)

Are you feeling contractions in your glutes (butt muscles) or obliques (side abdominals)? You may be choosing to contract (or unconsciously using) one muscle group more than another. I cover some of the ways I use my obliques for hip movements in the free tutorial below on Bigger Hip Shimmies, and I also have an an exclusive video on improving Oblique Strength for Stronger Hipwork just for my newsletter subscribers.

It’s really helpful to learn what muscles could be driving the movement, and get an understanding of how privileging one muscle group over another could change the movement quality of that isolation.

I cover some of the ways I use my obliques for hip movements in this free tutorial on Bigger Hip Shimmies

2. Strengthen those muscles!

We’ve gotten nerdy, we’ve started to think about the muscles involved! Now what? Easy – strengthen those muscles. Interested in how you can get your obliques to play a part in increasing the size of your hip lifts and drops? Start strengthening them. Plus, there’s the added bonus of a decreased injury risk when our muscles are stronger.

(Don’t know where to start with strength training for raqs sharqi and fusion dancers? Siobhan offers the Dance Strong Challenge several times a year!).

3. Slooooooooow it down…

…. Then speed it up, but don’t cheat! Slowing down an isolation can help you to feel and see the “sticky” parts. When you take your hip circle, maya, or hip lock at a slower speed, you’ll be more able to see differences in size and symmetry. If you’re more aware of these differences, you’ll be more able to work on them. When we’re learning or perfecting a skill our brain has to be involved in doing the work. So slow it down, notice what you want to change, give your brain time to process, and keep at it. When you’re ready, increase the speed. Find where you’re comfortable, then get to that “sweet spot” that’s just out of reach – when you’re not flailing and getting too frustrated, but where you’ve gotta work and reach to get and keep that technique strong and even! Playing with speed is not only a good way to identify how we can improve our quality of movement, but also great for challenging our current level of technique.

Interested in putting some strength and technique work into practice? Register for the Greenstone Belly Dance semi-regular newsletter. You’ll be rewarded right away, with an exclusive video on improving Oblique Strength for Stronger Hipwork, and a mini lower body strengthening workout designed for belly dancers!

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I spoke to Aziza of Montreal, an internationally reknowned dancer and superstar – and a huge inspiration to me as both a person and a dancer.  We chatted practice, consistency, stage presence, cycling and more!

Join us for online belly dance workshops and a hafla featuring Aziza of Montreal on February 5, 2022!

Watch the interview with Aziza on the Greenstone Belly Dance IGTV below!

I’ve adored Aziza for a long time. Not only for her extremely elegant, poised technique, but also because she’s just a darn lovely person.

Aziza is a teacher who cares about you and your dance development.

She’s had a huge impact on my dance over the years, which is why I had to host her for our Online Workshops & Hafla this February 2022!

Join us for online belly dance workshops and a hafla featuring Aziza of Montreal on February 5, 2022!

YES! Recordings of the workshops will be available to stream for 2 weeks after the event.

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Thrilled to be back on the Yallah Raqs podcast, this time talking about shimmies and strength! In this podcast episode, we discuss shimmies and the role strength plays when it comes to shaking those hips. There’s always something more to learn, layer, or experiment with when it comes to shimmies, so give it a listen. 🥰

Listen to the podcast here or click the image below.

Siobhan Camille chats all things shimmies on the Yallah Raqs Podcast!

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For a long time, I didn’t publicly state this because it felt performative. But I’ve realised that being more vocal about what we believe in also helps ensure we attract the students and collaborators who also share the same core values.

To that end, I want to tell you what inclusivity looks like to us, and what we’ll be doing to do better as we go forward.

💚 Modifications are always offered in classes to accommodate injury or illness. You are always allowed to take a seat if you need a rest. On the rare occasion I don’t offer you a modification and you need one, you are always welcome to ask.

💚 There is no shame in leaving your camera off during online classes. I do often acknowledge it and invite you to give me feedback if you have a question (as I can’t see you and give feedback), but there is no shame here.

💚 There are no body type requirements and no body shaming in our classes.

💚 There is also no tolerance for whorephobia, fatphobia, racism, homophobia or sexism in our classes. I, Siobhan Camille, acknowledge that as a white female in our society, some of these things are ingrained and unconscious. I invite you to call me in if you hear me slip up.

💚 We make multiple donations per year to anti-racist organisations, and causes supporting dancers of MENAHT origin and MENAHT peoples in general.

✨ The important part – how will we continue to do better? ✨

💜 We will be more transparent in our donation processes. Currently we’ve been providing the donation overview amounts only to those who request it, for no real reason other than it felt “showy” to publicly post our donations. These will now be public. We hope this will also help highlight some awesome organisations and initiatives doing good in the Black and POC communities, MENAHT communities, dance communities and beyond.

💜 We will continue to teach on cultural relevance and significance in all dance classes; you cannot divorce this dance from its roots and context.

I also want to give a huge shout out to Eshe of Mahasti Creative Emporium who inspires me to stand up for what is right even when it’s uncomfortable. I truly appreciate you.

Let’s make the world a kinder place together.

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This month Greenstone Belly Dance is celebrating its third birthday! We’re excited to celebrate with some free events this Sunday the 18th of July. We’ll begin in the morning with an in-person dance class and birthday picnic in Delft, then we have our online events in the event, starting off with a belly dance quiz, followed by a performance watch party! See the full schedule on our events page.

For those of you joining us in Delft, the Netherlands, we will be supplying cake! But we do invite you to bring a plate of something to share, if you wish. For those of you joining us online, we thought we’d share our 2021 birthday cake recipe with you!

Greenstone Belly Dance 2021 Birthday Cake Recipe (Vegan friendly!)

This chocolate cake is vegan-friendly, and it’s based off the Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Cake from “It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken.” I’ve been making this cake for a couple of years, so I’ve experimented with how I like making it!

Dry ingredients:

1 cup wholemeal flour*

1.5 cups white flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

1 big teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 small teaspoon salt

*No wholemeal flour? No worries! Just make it 2.5 cups of standard flour instead

Wet ingredients:

2 cups plant-based milk (e.g. almond, oat)*

2/3 cup neutral oil (e.g. canola or vegetable; don’t use a flavourful oil like olive)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Optional: Frozen raspberries

*No plant-based milk? If you’re not vegan, I often use regular milk

Instructions:

Pre-heat your oven to 180C/350F. Lightly grease your cake tin or cupcake tin (I really like making these as cupcakes).

Whisk together all the dry ingredients.

Whisk together all the wet ingredients.

Combine wet and dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.

Instructions:

Pour the batter into your cake tin, or 12 cupcake moulds.

If baking cupcakes, optionally add 3-5 frozen raspberries on top of each filled cupcake mould.*

*In my experience, the frozen raspberries seem to work better on cupcakes than in a standard cake. I’m a dancer, not a baker, don’t ask me why!

Instructions:

If baking a cake, bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. For cupcakes, bake for roughly 20 minutes; keep an eye on them and also use the knife method.

Then let them cool a little before you remove them from their moulds/the tin, then enjoy!

Let me know if you make this at home! I’d love to know if you put your own spin on it. This cake is really fudgy, so I usually don’t put an icing on top. Icing is definitely optional if you want to go ahead and add some. 🙂

Happy baking, and hope to see some of you at our birthday celebrations online or in Delft this Sunday the 18th of July!