Aziza Sa'id's FAQ - Dance Styles

Here's a little list of things I thing students should learn or at least be exposed to in their first year. I wouldn't expect a first-year student to have a comprehensive understanding of these things, and many things would not be mastered, but this list provides a good target for what they should be at least familiar with. Some variations I've included are advanced variations and would not necessarily be covered in the first year, but might be touched upon.

Not all of these things are self-explanatory, and different dancers use different step names, so they may not all be familiar to you. I will be expanding this section with descriptions and definitions as I have time. In the mean time, if you have questions, please contact me.

A definition first: First Year Student is one that has been taking 2 classes a week for a full year, and putting in 2 hours practice on their own each week.

Basics

Safe posture
Basic dancer's position
Correct foot stance (toes forward, not too wide)
Inner thigh engagement

Stretches

Forearms (inside and outside muscles)
Shoulders (rolls, delts, lats)
Side (lateral stretches)
Calf (all 3 muscle heads)
Inner thigh
Back (cat / cow flex)
Pectorals
Neck
Hands / fingers / palms

Arms

Basic arm positions (5 ballet positions, modified for Mideastern style)
Snake arms
Classic arms
Breathing arms
Hand ripples
Hand/wrist rolls
Circular pattern (rise up the middle, draw down the middle)
Elbow/shoulder rotation (palm down, elbow crease rotates up/down)
Stretch sequence for ripples

Steps

Step Lift (variations with toe to front / side / back / underneath and triple lifts)
Single and double side hip hits
Single and double hip twists
Traveling single side twist (left and right, around in a circle)
Forward & back basic step (R fwd / L place / R back / L place)
Marilyn walk (step, then shift weight/release hip)
3 step walk chasse (quick quick slow, step together step)
Basic walk (stepping toes not heels)

Hips

Hip tics (bend one knee and straighten the other, facing forward / corners, sitting )
Circles (African, Arabic, large, walking, pivot same direction, pivot reverse direction)
“e”s (circle and a half forward, circle and a half back)
Half circles (forward, back)
Figure 8 (forward, back, up/sway, over/out/maya)
Hip drops (straight down, diagonal back, "m" fwd/side/back/side, "n" Fwd/back, with foot release)
Hip lifts (up inside ribs, "u" fwd/back, "w" fwd/side/back/side)
Jazz roll (forward bottom half of body wave)

Ribs

Lifts
Circles (flat, clock face, fwd)
1/2 circles (bottom, top, front, back)
Slide

Body

Camels
Body Wave

Shimmies

Hip shimmy (basic knees, twist, Egyptian straight leg, layering on other things, one leg)
Shoulder shimmy (slow thrust, backwards pulling, layering on other things)

Turns

Pivot (weight on one leg)
Turn (walking on spot)
Chenne (traveling 2-step turn)
3-step turn (with clap, with hip lift)

Veil

Circle
Turns & pivots
Sweep (low in/low out, low in/high out, high in/high out, high in/low out, veil in front)
Toss (overhead from front to back, from back to front)
Over shoulder sweep (from front to over/behind shoulder, with forward wheel throw)
Envelope
Tricks vs. Dancing

Zills

Sounds (open ring, 1/2 ring, edge click, flat click, flat, closed clap, outside click)
Patterns (alternating, 3s, 337, 77, 311, perhaps others)
Playing basic 3s with step/ lift or double hip hit

Musical usage

When to start
Finale line
Repeating and reusing

Culture

Countries of origins
Basics of Egyptian / Turkish / Western style differences
Cultural folk context
How to answer hoochie koo / strip / seduction questions
How to behave in dance settings
How to behave at seminars
How to behave in class

Ethics

Undercutting
Performing only in level-appropriate venues
The difference between Critique / Analysis and Gossip

There's a lot of material there, I wouldn't expect a first year student to own all of it, but rather to have a working understanding. If a student MASTERED all that in a year, they'd be a Truly Remarkable Student.