How to Teach Belly Dance : Shemiran Ibrahim

I've included a review of Shemiran Ibrahim's How to Teach Belly Dance here, though I'm cheating just a bit - because it's not just a DVD. It's a whole lot more than that!

It does contain 2 DVD's with 4 hours' running time, but they're only one aspect of a more comprehensive package. The course also includes a Teacher's Manual, Student Handouts and a CD of music for use in class.

For me, the best part of the course is the structured Beginners' belly dance syllabus, which is broken down and illustrated week-by-week in the DVD's. If you're an accomplished belly dancer, but you're hesitant about passing on your knowledge in a clear, organized format - this is for you. As a former ballet and jazz dancer, I'm used to working with a syllabus - so having a predefined class structure makes me feel far more confident about teaching belly dance. The printable lesson plans are convenient and useful, especially the first few times you take a class.

I particularly love the way her syllabus cleverly incorporates improvisation (in a non-threatening way) from the very first class. That has two benefits - it means students lose that all-too-common fear of impro, and they also get the feeling of "really dancing" without having to devote large chunks of the class to memorizing choreography. I would never have been brave enough to introduce improvisation at that level myself, and I'm not sure I'd have known how to teach it without Shemiran's help.

The Teacher Handbook also offers good advice on interacting with students, and provides useful tips on the practical side of running a belly dance business. I also like the student handouts - giving these out after class is a great way to impress students with your dedication in preparing all this information for them, when in fact you've just been busy with the printer!

For some, the most attractive aspect of this course is that it leads to certification as a belly dance instructor. Better still, certification can be done via email and video. When you consider the amount you'll save in travel and accommodation costs by not having to attend a face-to-face course, this package offers an economic alternative.

If you're thinking of starting a belly dance business, this is not a bad place to start. Besides the usefulness of the syllabus and other resources in the pack, just being able to say you have belly dance certification can help attract new students - and this is a convenient way to achieve that. It's also useful for technically-minded teachers who want to add an extra dimension to their teaching. It's not cheap, but when you consider the cost of attending a face-to-face course to get the same results, it's pretty good value.

You can buy Shemiran's teacher training course here.