PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

You can learn a lot from anyone.

Being well known doesn't promise a load of workshop-teaching skills. 

Being a great dancer doesn't promise a load of workshop-teaching skills.

Not everyone can explain things well.

Not everyone uses a teaching style that is compatible with your learning style. 

Not everyone teaches in your dance style or interest. 

Not everyone really knows their material well, so always double check what you were told after the workshop is over.

Pacing can make a workshop look bad when the instructor starts with "easy" material to get a room working from the same level of understanding before moving on to harder material or concepts. Therefore, if you leave early, you'll miss the more advanced part.

You don't always get what you actually planned on getting from a workshop anyway.

If you leave early thinking you got "just two moves" or worse yet nothing from a workshop, then you have probably let your own bias and prejudice steal your time and money.

Take time after a workshop to write down what you think you learned. Then, meditate and figure out what else you learned. Don't be sarcastic and just say, "I learned you should speak clearly," or "I learned not to wear a red thong under thin yoga pants."

Your mileage may vary, but if you look for deeper insights you'll get more miles than you would have gotten. 

Saqra (Seattle, Washington, USA) is a powerful dance artist and a master instructor. Her fluidity, grace, and technical skill is highlighted by her friendly demeanor and clear joy of the dance. She did not inherit the diva gene.

Saqra won titles in Belly Dance USA (Oregon), Belly Dancer of the Year (California), Belly Dancer of the Universe (California), Wiggles of the West (Nevada), and many other competitions. She was voted "Best Kept Secret of 2005" and "Instructor of the Year 2008" by readers of Zaghareet Magazine.

Saqra's journey in this dance form began in 1977 and has led her to study with many of the best dancers in the world, including in America, Canada, Turkey and Egypt. Saqra continues to travel and study both in the USA and abroad and prides herself on proper research for anything she teaches. Folklore, fakelore, and stage creativity: all three are valuable, and Saqra clearly presents for each what they actually are. Saqra is constantly expanding her expertise in the traditional ethnic forms of the dance, the modern stage variants, and the continuing evolving fusion techniques, all these areas combined keep her material fresh and current.

Saqra is widely known as an event promoter, musician, music and instructional video producer, and a registered hypnotherapist in the state of Washington. That is enough stuff to start explaining what she has been doing in belly dance since 1977. Visit her at www.saqra.net

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Michael Baxter, Santa Clara, California. In the photo, Saqra is holding her Teacher of the Year 2008 Award from Zaghareet Magazine.