Belly dance workshops with Suhaila Salimpour in Blackpool (UK)

In June 2008, as part of the event called Raqs Britannia, I had the pleasure to attend four hours worth of workshops with the great Suhaila Salimpour. Suhaila is a worldwide famous belly dancer from California, daughter of the legendary Jamila Salimpour.

After practising at home with Suhaila’s four fitness DVDs (Bellydance for beginners: Fitness Fusion) and after the workshop I attended in 2005 with Sharon Kihara, who used some exercises from the Suhaila’s format, I knew that these workshops would have not been easy.

The first two hours of belly dance workshop with Suhaila Salimpour were about technique. Even the warm up was quite tough, as well as the rest of the workshop that was really interesting. Suhaila is a very good teacher and fun to follow. As for the movements she taught, even if they were supposed to be basic steps, the way she taught them gave me a new insight these movements, which I thought I knew quite well.

The second belly dance workshop with Suhaila Salimpour was in the afternoon, after I was already tired having attended other workshops. However, it was worth the effort taking part. This two hour session was about belly dance jazz fusion, where the aim is to perform jazz footwork (from the basic steps up to the intricate ones), while at the same time moving your hips or torso using belly dance moves, such as hip locks, hip circles, square hips and undulations. It seems easy on paper, but it is not in reality.

Altogether, even if I was wrecked at the end (mentally and physically) it was worth every moment attending those workshops with Suhaila and I recommend anybody to attend her workshops (but get a good night sleep first).