News and Events

Creating your Belly Dance Choreography: 5 Part Series

In this Workshop series, belly dance students will learn the basics of creating

their own choreography with the opportunity to perform! Each time we meet

we will work on different topics and techniques, with specific and detailed

personal feedback. At the end of the series, each dancer will be offered to

perform their piece at our Dancers Night at El Morocco Restaurant. The class

meetings will be held on Saturdays at 12:30pm - 2:00pm (subject to change if needed):

August 17th: Choosing your song, learning how to listen to the music, entrances and exits.

August 24th: Rhythms and Tempos, making your choreo dynamic

September 7th: Adding a "Wow!" moment with empathy and connection to the audience

September 21st: Personal review of your choreography so far, adjustments and critiques

September 28th: Final review before performance

Performance on Sunday September 29th 6:30pm at
El Morocco Restaurant in Pleasant Hill

Belly Dance! News and Events

Are you ready for your next belly dance

performance? In this Workshop Tabitha will teach

you everything you need to prepare for your next

performance. We will cover:

Entrances and Exits,

Etiquette,

Props,

Music and more!

This will be a combination class of dancing and

lecture, handouts will be provided.

Immediately after the workshop we will have

refreshments and shopping of new and gently

used costumes and accessories!

You can register on MINDBODY or By Venmo

@Taryn-Lee-8

$30

Workshop 1:00 - 2:30

Shopping 2:30 - 4:30

Welcome Madeline to the Belly Dance! Team

Madeline will begin teaching a beginner series

starting Thursdays, May 11

S

There's nothing better for your dance than a strong foundation.... and what's the foundation of your dance???
YOUR FEET!!!
Finding a deeper connection, more freedom and better rhythm in your feet helps with finding a connection, freedom and rhythm in the rest of you!

This upcoming masterclass, offered both in-person and over Zoom, will teach you how to connect rhythmic footwork with balanced, stable legs along with hip joints that are free to move. This is an intensive learning experience!
Here are the details…

LIVELY LEGS, FANCY FEET
TUESDAYS FROM 6:30-8PM April 4th-25th (4 Weeks)
COST: $140 in-person price ($95 Zoom price)
Drop-in price: $40 per class ($25 per class Zoom)

3 DAYS LEFT TO SIGN UP!!!

Week 1 - Rotation of hips from center

Explore how to rotate your hips and lengthen your legs from your center for easier and more efficient movement. Learn how to integrate the full rotation of your hip joints and legs into your dance.
Week 2 - Long legs, pointed feet

Explore lengthening of the legs and pointing of the feet while rotating, engaging the deep muscles of the spine and hips to support you. Learn traveling steps in multiple directions.

Week 3 - Painting with the feet

Explore drawing shapes or “painting” intricately with your feet, using your whole self to support this movement. Learn how to incorporate beautiful, eloquent drawings with the feet into your dance.
Week 4 - Finding rhythm in the feet
Explore finding easier, more intricate rhythms with the soles of your feet. Learn how to apply more intricate foot patterns into your dance.

Here’s the format of the class...

PART 1 (~30mins)
We'll start the class by improving your mind-body connection with somatic movement explorations lying down on a yoga mat. Our goal with this part of the class is to sense for yourself how to move from center and create the habit of including more of your whole self in every movement. We also learn how to prioritize breathing, find a sense of ease, and how to improve your sense of presence and awareness.

PART 2 (~15-20mins)
Then we'll do some exercises to map out these movements, practicing different pathways for our feet and legs to move us through space. Some of this work will involve standing on one leg to improve our sense of balance. We'll explore how we transfer weight left and right as well as how to better utilize the full range of rotation in our hip joints to support us in changing directions.

PART 3 (~40-45mins)
We DANCE!! Apply everything you've learned to specific dance steps and combinations.

I'm here to help you build stronger foundations in your dance. This is going to be one of my best classes yet.

Limited spots available. Venmo preferred. Email me to sign up!

Hope to dance with you soon

Intermediate Choreography with Rabiayh
Wednesdays 7:30pm

Learn fun group choreographies with optional performance opportunities!
This months song will be "Yalla a Beirut" by Emad Sayyah

Would you like to get to know your hips more?
Get more in touch with how to dance more elaborate rhythms with fluidity and ease?
Deepen your sense of freedom and power available to you in your hips?
Expand the vocabulary of movements available in your dance?
I’ve designed a course with all of my juiciest secrets around incredibly smooth dance technique. I’m calling it Hypnotizing Hips - a 5-week masterclass in how to move your hips with more presence, power, and precision.

This is all stuff I wish I knew 12 years ago when I was just starting out with learning bellydance. I struggled for years trying to learn how to dance and looking terrible. If only I had known this sooner, I might not have struggled so much. My hope is to share this knowledge so you don’t have to.

The best part of this masterclass is that I’ve applied principles from neuromuscular sciences to shift your nervous system into a state of ease so you can learn better, faster and easier.

We prioritize maintaining a sense of pleasure, ease and lightness during the process of learning the class is fun and enjoyable for you.
We dive deep into the “how” of technique to provide the richest possible learning experience for you, working the best scientific and artistic tools to harness your body’s natural ability to learn.
We bring a sense of curiosity and playful exploration to the process so it feels fun, easy and light instead of boring, hard, and heavy.

My goal is to leave you with a new sense of freedom and aliveness in your hips, feeling more grounded and connected to yourself while learning how to dance more elaborate movements with precision, pleasure and ease.
You might ask, who is this class for?
All levels of dancers will benefit greatly from taking this class.
If you are a beginner and completely new to dance, and you want to learn proper technique from the very beginning with the best quality of instruction, this course is for you.
If you are an intermediate dancer, your dance will progress a lot more quickly with these techniques. You’ll find the ability to layer several moves more available to you. Deeper breathing and having a soft, relaxed face while dancing will be easier and more available.
If you are an advanced dancer, the quality, clarity, and ease of your movements will dramatically improve with these techniques. I will share with you the same process that I use and come back to over and over again to improve… and there is no limit to improvement!

What will you learn?
Week 1 - Hip Drops and Pops
Learn how to articulate your oblique muscles and lengthen your hip joints for smooth, sharp, powerful hip drops. Draw vertical up and down lines with your hips at different rhythms. Make your movements smooth or sharp, slow or fast. Play with 5 or more different combinations and integrate traveling steps.
Week 2 - Hip circles from the side
Learn how to articulate your right hip and left hip in circles - up, down, left and right with quality, clarity, and ease. Draw one-sided circles with your left and right hip and then combine them into figure 8’s. Play with 5 or more different variations and integrate traveling steps.
Week 3 - Hip circles front to back
Learn how to articulate your hips in all directions for small fast circles and big juicy circles. Play with many different variations in shape, size, and rhythm while integrating traveling steps.
Week 4 - Shimmies
Learn how to articulate your knees and hamstrings for a more powerful shimmy. Play with 5 or more different rhythms and variations and integrate traveling steps.
Week 5 - Drops, circles, and shimmies (integration week)
Integrate everything you’ve learned about hip drops, circles, and shimmies, exploring how to liberate your hips in all directions. Play with a creative variety of shapes, rhythms and variations and integrate traveling steps.
What will the class entail? The first half of the class will be 45 minutes of slow, challenging, intentional floor exercises that will bring you deep into the process of learning how to move your hips in new ways. The second half of the class will be 45 minutes of dancing, including a warm up, and then starting off with simple moves and gradually building up the level of complexity. We will combining all 5 or more steps we’ve learned into a dance and then cool down. Please bring a yoga mat!
More about me…

Hi, I’m Tamara (pronounced like tomorrow, but it’s today). I have over 12 years of dance experience in multiple genres including bellydance, modern, ballet, samba, and fusion. I’ve studied dance with over 50 teachers around the world and have traveled to over 30 countries to learn and practice dance. I’ve completed over 500+ hours of somatic, movement-based neuromuscular education and am certified to teach Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons. I’m obsessed with dance, neuroscience, anatomy, and learning how to move in new ways every day. For me, dance is a way of life, a way of being in the world and a way moving through the world. It delights me to see other people experiencing the art of dance, and I would be delighted to share my all of my knowledge and expertise with you!
Testimonials “I’ve been going to belly dancing classes for 3 years now, and I feel like Tamara’s class is the first time I learned how to really shimmy.” ~Anne
“Tamara is a very technical dance teacher. She can take any dance move and take you through the process of learning how to do it in detail. She’s gotten me able to do things I never knew I’d be capable of doing!” ~Samah
Hope to dance with you in 2023!

Click here to sign up

NEW Tunisian Dance Class

Wiem Hassani grew up in Tunisia and started dancing at the age of 12, and created choreographies in high school until graduation. Even though she a Computer Science degree and became a famous fashion designer, she always came back to dancing. Her love of dancing a desire to polish her technique got her the opportunity to be trained by the artist Haifa Bouzouita who gave her the chance to start teaching classes. Following her heart she recently moved to California and was honored to join the Belly Dance! Studio in Walnut Creek to share her passion for Amazigh culture. She aims to use her abilities for good, and hopes to empower others not to give up on themselves!

Children's Belly Dance Class!

Starting in June

Thursdays 5:15 - 6:00

$64/month

Online Option Available

In this class, your child we explore and learn movements popular in belly dance in a fun, age appropriate manner. We will focus on hip drops, shimmies and arms, and even work on a short routine! Taryn Tabitha has over 15 years experience with kids, from her career as a preschool teacher, and teaching preschool dance. She is fully LiveScan fingerprinted and vaccinated. Parents are welcome to stay outside the studio as our studio is small.

Starting May 25

Learn Something New

In this class we will be focusing on a full routine! At the end all students who wish to will be a part of our video shoot.

Classes begin Thursday 4/29
6:30Pm on Zoom AND in person at the Studio

Class recordings will be available.

Private and Semi-Private Lessons in the Studio

We are offering Covid Safe small classes in the studio for 1 to 4 people. (With masks, disinfecting and ventilation.)

Weather you are looking for serious coaching and instruction, or a something fun and interesting to try, we can make the perfect class for you.

For scheduling and pricing call or text: 415-305-3872