Dance Moments Most Dancers Can Relate To

Our Semi-Annual Studio Showcase is Coming!

Dance is awesome. That is a fact. There’s something that moves us to want to dance, and there’s something that keeps us doing it and enjoying it and all that’s great. Besides all of those feel-good moments, we also live through a lot of struggles that only dancers can understand. Here’s a list of relatable moments for us dancers.

 

Feel-Good and Struggle Moments Most Dancers Will Understand

 

Feel-Good Moments

  • Pictures of your dance crew where you are all wearing matching outfits (costumes) and makeup.
  • The moment of calm and bliss after finishing the showcase you worked so hard for all year long.
  • Hearing a song from a past show that you danced or choreographed to and immediately being brought back to that time (and trying to remember the steps you used to know by heart).
  • The moment of lucidity when you finally understand what the lyrics of a certain song are actually saying (and realizing that you’ve been singing it wrong for the longest time).
  • Finding the PER-FECT song to choreograph.
  • Finally breaking out of your shell and dancing in public and feeling absolutely free.

Balrefire

 

Struggle Moments

  • When you arrive late to class and have absolutely no idea how to catch up fast enough that nobody will notice.
  • Freezing up on stage because you totally forgot your solo (or any other part of the choreography)
  • Putting on your tights after taking a shower (literally, squeezing yourself into those tights) and then realizing you need to pee.
  • The moment you realize you have several costume changes that need to happen in the shortest amount of time during a recital and you’re super excited (or not really).
  • When you fall during a performance and you have to get up quickly and pretend like nothing ever happened (poker face).
  • When you can’t hit that move with proper technique while your teacher is watching but you nail it the second they look away.

 

Our studio is going to be closed Thursday, December 22, through Thursday Jan 5, with all classes resuming Sunday, January 8, 2017.

Pack Your Dance Bag Like a Pro

Ballroom dancing

Regardless of the style of dance you do, as a dancer, you need a fully stocked dance bag that can help you go through the expected and the unexpected hassle-free. So, whether you are out doing dance jobs or just going from class to class, here’s a list you can use to make sure that you pack your bag like a pro and that you’re always carry everything you need with you, but of course, feel free to add whatever specifics fit you the best.

Dance Bag Checklist

Hair Kit

You might let your hair down for one class, but the next one might require you to wear a neat hairstyle. It’s always ideal that you a carry your favorite comb or brush (or both), some hair ties, bobby pins, maybe even bun nets, and hairspray.

Dance shoes

A must! These are your instruments. If you take different dance classes, make sure you pack all different style shoes.

Extra Attire

Pack some extra tights and a clean shirt. You can roll them up to keep them from getting super wrinkly

Towel

Yes, a towel. Dancers sweat, regardless of the weather, and they don’t usually sweat just a little. A towel will help you wipe off the excess moisture to avoid slipping or having it drip into your eyes.

Lacrosse Ball or Foam RollerRoad to Rio at the Clocktower

To aid those tense muscles before or even after class.

Deodorant

You don’t want to be the smelly one in class.

Perfume

At some point, you might not be able to take a shower after class before you head out. A little spritz of perfume will help you feel fresh.

Band-Aids

These little fellows are important. At some point, blisters will find a way onto your feet, and that handy Band-Aid you’ve been carrying around will help alleviate discomfort during class.

Water Bottle

Hydration is crucial, especially during long days of rehearsal or really intense classes.

Healthy Snacks

Bring some nuts or fruit with you for some extra fuel whenever you need a boost.

Dance bag essentials

Five Dances from Around the World

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Dance is a way of expression. We express all kinds of emotions through it, whether it’s happiness, anger, pain, or many others. Through the years, dance has been used as a way to celebrate, commemorate, or prepare for rituals like some ethnic dances. There are a lot of dances from different ethnic groups in different parts of the world.

5 amazing dances from around the world

Polka

It originated in Central Europe (Bohemia, now part of Czech Republic) in the middle of the 19th century. The name possibly comes from the Czech word for “half,” most likely referring to the short half-steps which the dance is based upon.
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Kabuki

This is a really interesting dance style. It’s a Japanese dance-drama. Some of its performers usually wear very elaborate makeup. The name means sing, dance, and skill, but it’s often translated as “the art of singing and dancing.
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” Kabuki is the most popular type of dance out of all styles of Japanese drama.

Irish Stepdance

Rooted in the traditional Irish dance. It’s based on a very stiff upper body but quick and precise movements of the feet. They use special shoes; some are hard shoes that sound a lot like tap shoes, and then there are some soft shoes similar to ballet slippers.

Bhangra

Indian traditional dance from Majha, which is in the Punjab region. There’s traditional Bhangra and modern Bhangra.

Cancan

This is a very intense type of dance. It became popular in the 1840s but eventually became popular in French cabaret.
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The main steps are really high kicks, splits, and cartwheels.

Semi-Annual Student Showcase at Bella Diva Dance

Passion for Dance in Denver at Bella Diva

At Bella Diva Dance, we are passionate about world dances and want to share some of them with you. For this reason, we offer different classes in Denver, like Belly Dance, Afro-Caribe, Samba, Bollywood, and more. Check out our class schedule. Come join us! We’d love to have you.

5 Ways Dancing Increases Your Self-Esteem & Confidence

Body Positivity & Dance

Learning to dance can be one of the best things you can do for yourself!

Improve self-confidence and self-esteem through dancing

There are numerous benefits to dancing and taking dance lessons in Denver, ranging from increasing your amount of daily exercise to making new friends with shared interests. Most importantly, dancing also improves self-confidence and self-esteem by providing an opportunity for people from all walks of life to express themselves and learn something fun and new.

So, if you are dealing with low self-esteem or doubting yourself, here are four more ways in which dancing can help you gently overcome these limiting beliefs:

1) Fear of being awkward

Do you feel as if you have “two left feet?” Too uncoordinated? The beauty of recreational dancing is just that! When you dance for fun and start braving the dance floor, the anxiety of bad timing and looking awkward starts to fade away as you learn new movements, gain confidence, and break through the fear.
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2) Negative body image

Dancing can help increase self-esteem and your own body perception because it works wonderfully for toning the muscles and improving the mind/body connection.

World Dance Classes in Denver

3) Comparing yourself to others

Dancing gives you the potential to accept your body as it is and appreciate its own beauty, movement, and rhythm. It also allows you to change the perception of yourself from worst enemy to best friend.
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4) Living in the past

Because dancing pushes you to be very present, it helps to increase self-esteem by keeping you grounded and flowing along with life, letting go of the stress and worries of the past or future.

Are you ready to start dancing?
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Bella Diva Dance offers dance classes in Denver. You can choose from Belly DanceSambaYogaBollywoodHot Hula FitnessAfro-Caribe, and Kids’ World Dance. Our new studio is located in the Glendale Center on E. Mississippi Ave. and Birch St., near Colorado Blvd. Visit us today and start dancing your way through life!

Becoming a Better Dancer

Denver dance classes

No matter what your level of experience or preferred style of dance is, these five tips will help you become a better dancer.

Become a better dancer in Denver Colorado

  1. Love it: If you want to dance, you’ve got to love it. If your heart is not into dancing, you will most likely give up when you cannot do certain moves, and this will decrease your sense of control and confidence.
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  2. Perfect your posture: Focus on achieving a good posture at all times. Stand up straight, push your shoulders down and back, and hold your head up.
  3. Stretch: Daily stretching will make your body much more flexible. A big goal in dancing is to make each move look effortless that’s why flexibility is important. Make it a habit to stretch every day.
  4. Keep practicing: Once you’ve learned a few techniques, practice them at home on your own. Not only will you be getting good exercise, you’ll also be developing your technique and style. Watch other dancers on television, instructional videos, or in other venues. Notice their body alignment, posture, and techniques. Good technique is what separates good dancers from the best dancers.
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    Don’t be afraid to learn new moves, but always strive to perfect each step.
  5. Set goals: It is best to work towards a specific goal and to have a focused mindset on what you are doing. Specific goals are critical to achieving success because without them, you will not be challenged to grow. If you have a specific goal, such as a competition, performance, or exhibition, you can be sure that you will improve and grow as a result of the pressure.

Latin Dance Denver

In the end, be proud of your work and enjoy every performance! A smile is an expression of pleasure, happiness, or amusement. If you smile while you’re dancing, people will get the feeling that you love what you’re doing. Even if you are dancing alone, smile at yourself. You love to dance, so let it show!
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What do you need to start dancing today?

Learn About Other Cultures Through Dance

Dancing can be one of the best workouts you experience!

It is also a very creative, free and emotive way of self-expression and artistic performances. Even though you’re amazed by ballet dancers, or latin dancing contests, dance is for anyone and everyone.

Incorporate physical activity into your lifestyle, along with a balanced diet, and enough sleep for a healthy routine. Learn of what you need to start dancing today and of the amazing benefits of dancing.

Bella Diva Dance Studio

What is needed to dance?

It really doesn’t require anything but your will, discipline and effort, plus your feet and a great attitude! Dancing is a physical activity that offers a wide variety of styles to satisfy everyone’s tastes and likes. When you listen to music and involuntarily start moving your feet to the beat, you need more dance in your life. Try any of the many World Dance Classes we offer in Denver: Samba, Belly-dancing, Afro-caribe, Bollywood, Hot Hula, Bharat Natyam, Tribal Infusions Belly Dance, Ballroom Latin Foundations and Classical Foundations.

Benefits of Dance

Exercise will provide you with many benefits to your overall well-being, even if it’s just 10 minutes. A full dance class will provide you with a cardiovascular workout, will liberate endorphins into your body, and leave you feeling less stressed and more relaxed.

Dance will help you increase your body’s flexibilty and strengthen your muscles and bones. It also helps boost your memory and workout your brain in such a way the it prevents dementia, memory loss and other mental diseases.

2015 Semi Annual Student Showcase

Bella Diva Dance’s  new studio is located in the Glendale Center on E. Mississippi Ave and Birch St, near Colorado Blvd. We offer you: Belly Dance, Samba, Yoga, Bollywood, Hot Hula Fitness, Afro-Caribe and Kids’ World Dance. Learn of some great venues to go dancing in Colorado and of the amazing benefits these yoga postures can give to your body.

Useful Beauty Tips for Athletic Women

Some ladies like to wear make-up, some others go natural. Some of us prefer flats, and others prefer heels. It really comes down to each and everyone’s individual personality. The truth is we decide what beauty is to us.
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And athletic women know that sweating, spending time in chlorinated pool water can take its toll on the whole beautifying process. There are easy tips for athletic women who want to combine sports and a healthy  beauty regimen. Let’s take a look at ways in which you can take care of your hair and wear makeup and still get all of our sweaty routine with style.

Beauty Basics for Sporty Women

beauty tips for active women

Sporty Hair Styles

Although the most common hairstyles when working out are a messy bun or the thrown-up ponytail, there are other styles that can be applied. If you’re good at braiding, try one across your forehead and sweep in into a ponytail. Spice up your bun or ponytail with a cute headband or accessorize with hair ties.

Quick Makeup and Let’s Go!

One of the great advantages of working out is that our body gets a chance to detoxify through sweat. Make sure to give your body a break from makeup now and then.
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If you can’t make it without, keep it light and use waterproof formulations. A little waterproof mascara, some concealer under your eyes and a colored lip balm can do the trick.

Sports Bag Must

Facial wipes are one of our favorites. These can help remove makeup before working out, and to wipe clean your face after a workout. Women with skin prone to breakouts should use them often to avoid dirt accumulation. This is a life saver if you need to go somewhere immediately after your dance class or workout.

Get in shape with style - beauty tips while you workout

Incorporate these great beauty tips into your routine to get a great looking hair and shiny face. Read about more health habits for women like how to do the Salutation to the Sun yoga postures. Come try our newest class offering: Latin Dance.

BellaDiva_BellyDancers4

Hot Hula Fitness® lessons at our dance studio in Denver

Polynesian dance forms

There is a great workout option that involves dancing to the rhythm of the upbeat Hawaiin music: Hot Hula Fitness®. This unique body workout incorporates movements from the traditional dances of Hawai’i, Tahiti, Bora-Bora, Samoa and other Southern Pacific islands. It was created in 2009 by Anna-Rita Sloss. The Hot Hula Fitness® program has extended from the US to Australia, England, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore. Today, there are over 2,000 trained instructors around the world.
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The workout focuses on the core as it isolates larger muscle groups to increase strength of abs, glutes, quads and arms. It’s a complete and full-body workout that will make you move every muscle in your body!
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Hawaiian Hula Dance musicbobbie2

Hot Hula Fitness® is danced to the sounds of traditional Polynesian drums fused with funky Reggae music. One of the strongest musical and movement influences of Hot Hula Fitness® is the traditional Hawaiian dance of Hula. Hawaiian Hula was a way of expressing and telling epic tales, stories, myths, history and philosophy of the islanders. The message was already being conveyed by poetic chants in ritual dances performed by men.
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The chant was called Mele and the instruments originally used were sharkskin drums, rattles, gourds and castanets. Contemporary Hula Dance now includes other instruments like the ukelele, guitar and bass.

Hot Hula Fitness® at Bella Diva Dance Studio in Denver

We offer Hot Hula Fitness® lessons, that include an introduction to basic Hula dance, Tahitian and other Polynesian dances and rhythms under the Hot Hula Fitness® format.

Our prices:
4 week month series = $52
5 week month series = $65
$15 Drop-in rate (if spots are available)

hot hula fitness Denver

Dance music: Eastern drums class

In the Middle East, Belly Dance was performed by women as a form of worshiping the sacred feminine as early as 5000 years ago. It was also used for entertainment and exercise. It was not a dance invented to entertain men, and that was only a fantasy that was created by western male travelers to the Middle East in the late 1800s. Belly Dance music and shows are colorful and fun, and that’s why it appears on movies and as entertainment. Today, we share with you some details about Belly Dance Music and our Middle Eastern Drumming class.

Belly Dance,

Belly Dance Music

Belly Dance comes from an oriental translation of the French “dance du vientre”. It is more commonly referred to as Middle Eastern Dance, and also known by the Western world as an Egyptian dance form.
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Belly Dance music encompasses its rhythm with percussion, strings, and winds. The percussion, even though complex, uses simple instruments like Doumbek drums. In the strings you will find an oud, and sometimes a harp. Woodwinds are the last section of instruments.image (2)

Intro to Middle Eastern Drumming in Denver

If you want to expand your awareness of rhythm, sequence, sound, and synchronicity, come learn to drum for belly-dancers! If you are already a dancer, deepen your understanding of musicality by studying the origins of the beats that move you!

Students learn ancient rhythms from the cradle of civilization, rhythms that are still heard on the radio today.
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These rhythms persist because they connect to our early human roots, naturally as a heart beat. The drum inspires movement, hope, empathy, and visceral urges, which all lead to DANCING. The class covers the Basics of Arabic Drumming. Students learn how to play basic sounds on the Doumbek and drill specific rhythms to continuously improve in speed and sound quality. Bella Diva will provide Doumbeks to play in class and you will get a chance to co-create rhythms with your classmates.

Register online

Read more about our Eastern drums class instructor: Theo Drama and about our newest class offering: Latin Dance class.

Dance 101: Bollywood basic moves

Bollywood dance was originated from Bollywood culture; and Bollywood culture was born in the Indian film industry, in Bombay. The word is a combination of Bombay (known as Mumbai) and Hollywood. The Bollywood film industry is the largest in the world, in terms of tickets sold and amount of movies made per year.

Bollywood dance is also growing in popularity around the world because of its colorful and exotic costumes and accessories, vibrant loud music and fantastically coordinated, breath-taking choreographies. Celebrity singers like Madonna, Shakira and Britney Spears have included Bollywood dance moves in their music videos. It is a world dance that is increasingly becoming more popular.

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About Bollywood basic moves

Hand movements

The hands are essential in Bollywood dance, as they draw the imaginary lines of the rhythm and tell stories. There are two types of movements: single (called asamayukta hastas) and double (called samyuta hastas). The names of the gestures come from ancient Sanskrit poetry. The story told is usually a conversation between the two dancers. There are twenty-three double hand gestures and thirty-two single hand gestures.

ThumkaNsihita_dance2

This is one of the basic Bollywood movements, and it combines hip and head movements. The idea is to keep up with the beat, with one hand on your hip and the other one on your head. Move hips and head at the same time, while pivoting your foot. Switch sides.

Bollywood Dance Lessons in Denver

We offer Bollywood and Indo-Western Dance lessons in our Denver Dance Studio. Our class is a fusion between Bollywood’s classic stylized dances and the influence of Hip-Hop, Latin, Jazz, Funk, and Street Styles.

Dance class prices:

4 week month series = $52
5 week month series = $65
$15 Drop-in rate (if spots are available)

Visit us and learn about our World Dance Lessons in Denver. Read more about our new Latin Dance class and one of our most recent performances.