Practicing Belly Dance with No Mirror - Tips and Tricks

Welcome to part one of my tips and tricks for practicing belly dance blog series. I was trying to squeeze in some personal practice this morning before the dawn (the struggle is real) and I started laughing because I realized I was using my own shadow to guide my practice. Viola! The inspiration for this particular post was born: How to practice belly dance without a mirror...

Let me start by saying that I am not advocating to ditch the mirror. Even a smaller cheapo mirror can save you hours in corrections later but we don’t all have access to the fantasy home studio  of our dreams and the reality is that sometimes a mirror is just not an option. One of the amazing things about belly dancers is that we make whatever we have work. Personally I have had to go long stretches without mirror access and even my current primary practice space does not have mirrors. Or even a mirror, though I would like it to. I thought I would share some tips and ideas that you can try if you find yourself in a similar situation:

Mirror Substitutes:
There are quite a few ways you can improvise a mirror or make do for those times where you don’t have a full body mirror:

1. The TV – A turned off TV has a subtle reflective quality to it. Usually you can see yourself in it (maybe not in full detail but some). Nowadays it is more common to have large TVs which means you get more surface area to play with. I had a teacher use this method a few times with me in privates.
2. Laptop/Webcam – On some (most) laptops you can access the built in webcam without using a chat program. You can turn it on and it becomes like a small mirror depending on the size of your laptop/desktop/ipad/be creative! I use this method a lot when I am working on combo’s for teaching and want to see how it looks in real time.
3. Video Tape – Oh I cannot stress enough how important video tapping is regardless if you have a mirror or not!! But to stay on topic…this is probably my most used mirror substitute, especially for working out choreography. It is time consuming and you can’t correct yourself in real time  but you do get a continuous view of what is going on and what you are doing if you are changing directions/facing the back.
4. Shadows – As I mentioned earlier, using the shadow your body casts against a wall can be yet another way to practice. It is a good tool for lines and overall shapes. I was working on taqsim and happened to have my lamp behind me. A full body shape of Kirah against the wall was a good reminder to not forget about my arms.
5. Mini Mirrors – Even if they don’t show your full body, maximize the mirrors you do have access to (ie bathroom mirrors). You can always check in on your chest or head isolations for 5 minutes.

When you can’t use anything:
There are times when even the above ideas aren’t going to work or aren’t available. This is not always a bad thing. When you perform there is no mirror and if you only practice with a mirror you can become very dependent on it and be thrown for a loop when you perform.

1. Practicing through body connectivity – Focus on how the movement feels internally.

• What muscles are you using?
• Can you feel and control them?
• How do your feet feel?
• Where is your weight?
• Do some areas feel tight or weak?
• During drills can you be aware and push and stretch just a little bit further?

 
The lack of a mirror has forced me to become more self-aware and conscious of what my body is doing by feel. When you do have a mirror start paying attention to how it feels to execute a movement correctly and try to recreate that feeling without the mirror. Check in with your body. This increased connectivity will strengthen your control and power in your movements and performance.  
 
     2. Feeling the Feely Feels – To me dance is expression and you have to open yourself up. This can be hard. Using mirror free time to just dance and feel the music away from your inner critic can allow you to start tapping into your authentic dance self, the expression and enjoyment of the movement and going beyond framed 4x4. It is also a good time to practice improve, being present in the moment or even just being silly. So don’t be afraid to feel the feely feels and don’t judge yourself too harshly. You can even close your eyes to help you relax, I still do.While it is super helpful to have a mirror it is not  the end all be all of dance practice. Some practice is still better than no practice. Did you find this list helpful? Do you have your own mirrorless tricks? I would love to hear them so make sure to share them in the comments below. For more tips and tricks for practicing belly dance make sure to follow me on Facebook!
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<3
Kirah