How to Teach a Belly Dance Fitness Class

By Katayoun Farah

Created by dancer and educator, Katayoun Hutson, “How to Teach a Belly Dance Fitness Class” is a guide for new and seasoned instructors on how to present this beautiful performing art to a wide audience as a fitness activity. Drawing from her expertise in Middle Eastern dance and her extensive teaching experience, Katayoun shares her unique perspective and provides the tips and tools every belly dance teacher needs, including movement vocabulary and terminology, lesson plan and music playlist templates. This format will not only enhance your teaching, it will simplify it! Katayoun shows you how to structure a class, organize and present your teaching material, plus how to select, organize and compile music suited for instruction. Learn how to use music and rhythms to teach dance skills and cultural knowledge in a challenging fitness class format. Plus, tips and advice gleaned from two decades as a professional teacher and dancer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katayoun Farah
• Release date: Sep 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301382415

Katayoun Farah

Katayoun was born in Tehran, Iran and grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia where she took her first dance class as a teen in the summer of 1988. Today, she is best known for her interpretations of Egyptian folklore and the Persian dances of her Iranian heritage.Among the most respected instructors and professional performers in the Washington area, she is known for her elegant and expressive dance style and captivating stage presence. In 2010, she was one of 25 dancers selected from around the world to participate in Project Belly Dance, the search for America's Top Belly Dancer, a competition and reality show.A graduate of George Mason University and former language teacher, she is trilingual with English, Farsi and French, and has also studied Arabic and Italian. The intersection of dance, music, culture and language is where the culmination of her life-long experiences came to fruition in 2009 when she founded Mosaique.An innovative and dedicated instructor, Katayoun has consistently taught weekly classes to hundreds of students of all ages and backgrounds in Northern Virginia since 2001, accumulating over 8,000 instructional hours in the classroom and the dance studio. She has continued her own education with over 350 hours of advanced and specialized training in Middle Eastern dance and music with acclaimed instructors, as well as graduate coursework through the University of Virginia.She has developed a multi-dimensional approach to education that is fun and inspiring, yet considers each student's interests, abilities and goals. In addition, she has created Teacher-Training programs to promote breadth of knowledge and teaching standards within the Middle Eastern Dance community. A community leader, she serves as a mentor and role model for area instructors and aspiring professionals.Katayoun is a co-founder of Tiraz Dance Network, a member of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) and Loudoun Arts Council.

Book preview

How to Teach a Belly Dance Fitness Class

By Katayoun Hutson

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Katayoun Hutson

Cover art by Joshua Ali Naderi

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Teaching Belly Dance for Fun & Fitness

Planning & Preparation

Class Structure

Movement Vocabulary

Music Selection

Music Suggestions

Giving Students Feedback Correction

Tips & Inspiring Quotes

Introduction

Hi, I’m Katayoun. Welcome to my dance format! I have created a teaching format for teaching Middle Eastern and belly dance styles in recreational and fitness settings. This format introduces students to the beautiful and expressive movements, music and culture of Middle Eastern dance, in a safe, fun and encouraging format, while maximizing the health benefits of belly dance. I immensely enjoy teaching belly dance fitness classes! I am now training other teachers in my format.

I first developed the format specifically for a health club with an established belly dance fitness program. At the time, I had been teaching dance for more