I found Mirah Ammal on Youtube.com while I was doing my regular "Watch and Learn" session at home today. I love her so much that I had to leave my comment there. If you're interested to see the video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jugI7mR1_tw.

From there, I went to her website & found this article which I feel may be useful for my new belly dance class students that will be starting class this Thursday night at Zero Fitness Dance Studio from 8.40pm - 9.40pm.

She gave 10 useful tips on how you can get the most out of your classroom experience. In short, here is the summary of her tips:

• Pay attention at what your instructor is saying to the whole class - treat corrections and clarifications directed to the group as though they're directed to you and make personal adjustments
• Develop a thick skin - your instructor is not picking on you when she corrects you. It's hard to take correction or criticism but it's the only way to make you improve
• Seek out feedback - ask for honest feedback from your instructor and don't just fish for compliments
• Avoid moving up a level for social or ego reasons - make sure your technique development matches your class level. Consider taking 2 classes simultaneously - one at a lower level & one higher.
• Try not to compare yourself with others - everyone has different competency. Be patient and give permission to yourself to not be perfect right away. It is not a contest.
• Train your eye for detailed observation - train your eye to observe movements carefully. See where your instructor places her weight, which muscles are relaxed, which are working. What are her hands, feet, arms and hips doing?
• Recognize that the darkest hour is often right before dawn - sometimes you hit a bottleneck where you feel you're not improving or moving forward at all. That's ok. By recognizing what you're doing is wrong is a huge step toward doing it right. Sometimes it takes time for the body to make the adjustments. Don't despair, change is coming
• Practice ALWAYS! - practice everywhere! In the office, bathroom, kitchen. A few seconds here and there can help you get better.
• If you don't know what the most important parts of a movement are, ask - ask if you're not sure of the core movement involved in a particular step or technique
• Take classes from more than one instructor - Learn from different teachers as they have different styles and methods. Challenge yourself to try out someone in addition to your regular instructor.

For the full article, please go to http://www.mirahammal.com/danceart_1.htm