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S hahna
On
January 26-27 Simone's Seventh Veil sponsored Shahna, a dancer from
Little Rock, Arkansas for a two day seminar. This review only covers
the Saturday workshop, which consisted of technique and a drum solo
choreography.
Shahna began the
Saturday seminar with a warm up and an emphasis on technique. Her
teaching style was extremely effective. She explained the movements as
she did them, but she taught using mostly gestures and sounds, that
described the movement. We were constantly observing what she was doing
as we mirrored her movements. After we practiced the movement with her
guidance, she would turn around and watch us, and gently making
corrections without ever leaving the stage or singling anyone out,
making it a comfortable learning environment for dancers of all levels.
I took a lot of notes on her technique because she taught a lot of the
basics, and took them a step beyond... She emphasized the importance of
posture and creating a beautiful frame. She added in arm movements, and
made suggestions on how to direct the audience's attention to a
specific movement, whether it be with a pause or a look. She included
variations on basic movements. Instead of just plain chest drops she
did them in levels (high, middle low). She added a back diagonal accent
to her Umis (3 dimensional hip circles),and taught a different approach
to the jewel step. She also carefully broke down many steps that were
going to be in the choreography she was teaching in the afternoon,
which made it easy to integrate the movements into the dance.
Shahna
put together a drum solo choreography to a Hossam Ramzy drum solo. She
taught at a pace that made it easy to take notes and dance. She did the
dance with us, and then would watch us to make sure we were ready to
move on before she went to the next step or combination. She
demonstrated specific ways she draws in the audience through movement,
expression, and musical interpretation. In addition to just straight
out teaching combinations or "the next move" she would back us up in
the dance to show us a subtle change, whether a look, or a pause we
could add so that our movements were best illustrating that section of
the drum solo. Close to the end of class, she went through the dance
verbally so we could double check our notes, or take additional notes.
Shahna
is a very down to earth person and a beautiful and dynamic dancer and
an excellent teacher. Unfortunately I did not attend the show that
night, but I have seen her perform in the past, and she is an
outstanding Oriental dancer! This was my third seminar with her, and I
would definitely take another workshop with her in the future!
To learn more about
Shahna visit:
www.miranadanceco.com
Linda
Flowers of Araby
rating :5/5 (if
you are wondering why every review I've written is 5/5 flowers...that
is a fair question.--Perhaps I only write reviews on dancers I'm
totally nuts about...)
Click here To
read our past review, on Hadia's Teacher Training Level I.
Click here To
read our past review, on Kimahri's Seminar.
Click here To
read our past review, on Yousry Sharif's Seminar.
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