Hey Beautiful People,

I am going to be teaching my first fitness belly dance class and I was wondering if any of you fabulous teachers had any advise on switching over from a more traditional dance class to a fitness geared style of class . I'm doing some reading on how to organize a traditional group fitness class, but I'd love some specific suggestions for belly dance.

Thanks!
:) Levona
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Levona
offline Levona
Los Angeles
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  • Re: Switching Format to Fitness Class. Suggestions?

    Tue, May 6, 2008 - 4:57 PM
    For my bellydance fitness classes, I format the hour as such:

    10 minutes warmup and stretches
    20 minutes of technique drills (focusing on one hip technique for the day)
    20-25 minutes combo build (keep them moving to keep their heart rate up- great cardio portion)
    5-10 minutes deep stretch and cool down

    The main point is to keep them moving so their heart rate doesn't drop back down. When creating your combos for the class, figure out how you can build the pieces of the combo in a way that they are continually moving. Ex. walking in place as your base, four basic Egyptians, back to walking, four basic adding arms, walking, four basic add grapevine to right, walk, basic-grapevine with ups, walk, etc, etc. Before they know it, they have the entire combo and are sweating quite a bit. Great cardio and muscle toning all in one.
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    • Alesa
      Alesa
      offline 53

      Re: Switching Format to Fitness Class. Suggestions?

      Wed, May 14, 2008 - 11:17 PM
      I had a similar situation since I am giving class in a gym where the main thing is to get fit , so I had to change a little the format ..

      I also recomend keeping they heart rate up , make them sweat they will love it , besides that start slow with the dancing part , I mean teach them the basics , since some women get really frustrated when they cant achieve to do some combinations.. Also enfatize them how they are getting fit and tonifiyng their muscles while dancing, like while doing snake arms you can work on your arm and upper back muscles

      What I do Is a Warm up , and break the class on sections , hips , chest and arms we go from simple chest pops to hips locks with variations you can make them do simple hips up and down but with a level challenge . And make the shimmie they will love the after effect haha ..

      Besides that ,the last part I like to include is conditioning !

      Wish you best luck !
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  • ash
    ash
    offline 20

    Re: Switching Format to Fitness Class. Suggestions?

    Wed, June 25, 2008 - 8:07 PM
    I was trying to get my current class to be more of a fitness thing but its also a very beginner class and so I focus on technique for a while and then I put together a little bit of a choreography to Chicky (cause who doesnt love Chicky?) and the girls love it. add a little warm up before and stretching where needed and voila! well this is my technique for this class anyway. I think you need to adjust your class plans to what works best for you and your students. Sometimes what you plan doesnt work out as well as it should. Best of Luck :)

    ~Ash
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