Here's why I love Belly Dance!

Belly dancing is like playing with legos. Even if you have just one kind of piece, say just yellow pieces, you can build something magnificent! It's all about your imagination and how you put it together. Case in point: http://www.boredpanda.com/20-incredible-lego-artworks-by-nathan-sawaya/

Same with bellydance. When I have some free time before a dance class, I like to just throw on some music and improvise and see what comes out. My favorite thing to do is to take one move, for instance a figure 8 or a basic hip drop, deconstruct it and reconstruct it in as many ways as I can think of, then put it all together with music. I build a whole choreography with just one dance move. I've done entire drum solos with just one hip!

With just a few steps you can create a powerful and captivating dance. Once I challenged myself to dance a taqsim with only 2 dance moves-- figure 8's and umi's. I did them high, low, fast slow, different directions, with different arms, combining them in all kinds of ways. After that set, someone told me it was my best ever!

Dancers, learn from this: sometimes less is more. Challenge yourself to savor a move, add some flavor to it instead of busting out your whole repertoire in one song.