What
are the A-Z Routines?
by Kerry Stewart
Keti
Sharif’s A-Z Routines are twenty
six 16-count routines designed to teach bellydance movements and combinations,
ranging in level from basic to advanced.
The Routines developed from
Keti’s experience as an international dancer, troupe performer and aerobics
instructor. Keti performed with the Hassan
Folkloric Troupe in
To learn Keti’s A-Z Routines
is akin to learning the basic grammar and structure of a language. The Routines
teach basic Oriental Dance techniques, spatial awareness, floor patterns, turns,
transitions and movement combinations. Once learned, the Routines can be
endlessly varied. Elements of the Routines can be used alone, or they can be
“cut and pasted” to invent a variety of new combinations in response to the
particular music being danced to. Most Middle Eastern music is in 2/4, 4/4 or
8/4, so 16-count routines fit well.
The Routines simplify
individual choreographies and troupe work. They also increase the vocabulary of
moves and combinations which a student or dancer can draw on for confident
improvised dancing. The Routines are
an excellent tool for “fast-tracking” beginners learning bellydance. In a
recent survey, students at Oasis reported that using the routines gives them a
sense of achievement and confidence with their own dancing.
Keti:
The A-Z Routines are a very logical way of putting bellydance moves together so
that dancers have a short cut to choreography, or a short cut to feeling very
safe in their rhythm, their feet, their turning, so that they can then embellish
with all the emotion they have within that safety.
Kerry:
They can relax into it and be expressive..?
Keti:
That's right, this stuff eventually become automatic, and that's when you start
dancing like the Egyptian people. Your body knows the movement, every cell in
your body knows the moves, you don't have to think about how to step or do a hip
drop; it frees you up to get really expressive.
Keti Sharif, Interview with Kerry Stewart Published in Bellydance
Oasis Issue 13, July 2003
All the teachers at Oasis
Dance Studio have been trained by Keti to teach the Routines and use Keti’s
A-Z Routines in their classes (depending on the nature of the class). Fereshta,
Jasmine and Kerry have been certified by Keti to teach and examine the full 26
Routines. (At the time of writing, only 12 teachers worldwide have this
certification.)
Kerry’s Saturday afternoon
Foundation Course in Middle Eastern Dance teaches many of the Routines over a
full year, discusses their cultural context and introduces some playful
variations of the Routines. An ongoing weekly course to revise the earlier and
teach the more advanced Routines will begin in April, 2004.
Private lessons are available
at Oasis Dance Studio for A-Z training and certification can be arranged after
the private lessons by either Keti Sharif
or one of the Oasis
teachers.