How Do I Create Belly Dance Choreography?
There is no denying that belly dance classes are super fun. You learn everything, from the basics to jazzing up dance routines with props you never thought you’d use, like swords. After dancing for a while, you might start feeling the creative urge to come up with your combination and eventually put together a whole dance routine on your own.
In addition to allowing your creativity to fly, some other essential tips can help you get on track to creating your belly dance masterpiece.
Choose Music You Love
Not every track will inspire you the same way. When you’re choreographing, you’ll be listening to the same song over and over, so it better be a piece of belly dance music that you like a lot, so you’re still inspired to create after listening to it several times. Plus, if you’re passionate about a song, you will be much more creative, and the choreography process will be more efficient.
Pay Attention to the Instruments
Before you start creating, you need to understand the music you’re using. Pay close attention to the nuances in the song. Tremolando sounds are perfect for shimmies, drum sounds call for percussive movements, and wind or string instruments are the ideal combinations for flowing movements.
Use Repetition to Your Advantage
Phrases are always repeated or sections in every song, and they are usually repeated more than once. Create a sequence of steps and movements for those phrases. You can repeat your sequence each time those phrases come back or change them up a bit to put a new spin on the remaining piece of choreography.
Use the Space and Create Different Levels
To keep things interesting, avoid staying in the same spot throughout the song. Instead, use the whole dance floor as much as possible. Also, incorporate movements that come from different parts of your body or that go in different directions. You don’t want your choreography to be 95% shimmies and 5% a few other movements, but you also don’t want to have too many things going on.
Don’t be afraid to start playing around with your creativity and put together your first piece of belly dance choreography. You got this! ????