Serpentine - Belly Dance with Rachel Brice
Belly Dance Technique & Yoga for Strong, Relaxed & Sinuous Movement is a unique blend of yoga conditioning, belly dance technique drills, choreography and mini-classes designed by Rachel Brice, star performer and instructor of contemporary belly dance, whose technique, artistic style, and warm personality contributed to the rise of Tribal Fusion belly dance. Rachel's instructional method offers you tools to achieve precision of isolations, deep full-range movement, as well as flexibility and strength that will give you the sinuous serpentine grace characteristic of Rachel's own dance style. Her drills, combinations and yoga sessions are designed to help you establish your own regular dance practice, customized to fit your creative goals and lifestyle.
The two main sections of Serpentine are 1. Technique and 2. Choreography & Classes. The Technique section opens with "Yoga for Belly Dance", carefully crafted to enhance your strength and flexibility, qualities crucial for relaxed, effortless dance. A veteran yoga instructor with many years of practice, training, and yoga teaching experience, Rachel Brice leads you in a beautiful flow of classic yoga postures and stretches. She teaches yoga in the Viniyoga tradition as transmitted by Gary Kraftsow and the faculty of the American Viniyoga Institute, LLC.
The Yoga is followed by three drills sessions: Leg Strengthening Drills, including a variety of travel and level-change exercises, and mini-combinations; Isolation Drills (shoulders, torso, and pelvis) where you practice belly dance isolations and then layer each one on 4 footwork patterns; and the Shimmy Drill, a delightful high-energy non-stop shimmy practice with Rachel's signature shimmy layering.
The Technique section ends with a Finishing Yoga Practice. Rachel's Choreography & Classes section features two choreographies; A fast and playful dance set to music of progressively increasing tempo, and a flowing slow dance including backbends and fluid serpentine movement punctuated with elegant accents. Each choreography is performed in costume and then demonstrated from the back with Rachel facing the mirror. Rachel teaches you the combinations for each choreography step-by-step with practice first at a slower pace, and then the faster.
A special DVD feature offers practice loops for each combination. To promote correct and safe backbending technique, Rachel Brice teaches a mini-class on the biomechanics of backward bending, and leads you in the "Yoga for Backward Bending" practice designed to increase the flexibility and the range of motion in your back and develop a strong habit for proper muscle support when executing backbends.
Additional classes and materials include: Yoga Breathing; arm and footwork patterns to be used during the drills; basics of the 10-point dance posture; and two performances by Rachel Brice.
