Teaching Philosophy
Generous in her teaching, Anasma loves giving and exchanging. She keeps the energy high in her fun and informative workshops and classes, creating a supportive and creative learning environment.
Of her performance and teaching philosophy, Anasma says,
“It is fundamental to know the origins of your influences. While we search for who we are, we should always remember where we come from. In order to make your own style, you need to appropriate for yourself what was taught to you, and sometimes bend the rules and go beyond. ”
“As a teacher, it is important to me to love transmitting and to help people grow and get to know themselves better and accept themselves the way they are. I encourage my students to study as much as they can. The best is to practice with consistency, on a regular basis and to be corrected by a teacher in order to deepen the work and form a solid base. Do not hesitate to study with other teachers, and explore many dance styles. Always search for connections between your influences.”
“Intellectual honesty is very important. You are welcome to use short combinations, or moves created by others. Let yourself digest the lessons then, days, weeks, years later, these movements will “come out of you” naturally and become part of your own body of movement and dance vocabulary. Like parents, teachers teach you what they have to share. As a child, you assimilate what you learn, and eventually move on to create your own opinion and writing in dance.
“As you let your body soak in different elements, always acknowledge when and from where your inspirations are taken. Give credit and be grateful to your teachers. You would not want your own choreography to be ‘stolen’ without your permission or acknowledgment of your part taken in the creative process. Remember that what goes around comes around.”
As a teacher, Anasma taps into her diverse background to create her unique and rich teaching style: yoga (DeRose Method), Bellydance (Raqs Sharqi and Tribal Fusion, various Dance teachers; most important influences: Sylvie Abdel Khalek, Mayodi, Leila Hassan, Souraya Baghdadi, Kaeshi Chai, Amar Gamal, Suhaila Salimpour), Theater (Compagnie Chimel à bulles), Mime (Richmond Shepard), Popping/ Voguing/Hip Hop/ Breakdance (Tommy Hypno Chan, Future, Mike Supreme, KrazyPop, Archie, Nobuya, Motion-Ze and others) Flamenco (Victorio), Contemporary Simonson Technique (Antolino Alvarez), Modern (Movement Research), Street and Lyrical Jazz (Grant Chang, Cecilia Marta ), Ballet (MasayoTomita), Wushu (Spinnin Ronin and Ai Ikeda), African (Djoniba)…
“I would love to thank ALL my dance, theater and mime teachers, my parents and family, the Love of my life, my students and fellow dancers, and the Universe for each daily gift. Special thanks to Hella, Future, Tommy Hypno Chan, Richmond Shepard, Marcelo Tessari and the DeRose Method, Tsuyoshi Kaseda and Ai from Spinnin Ronnin, Linda Faoro, Souraya Baghdadi, Bellyqueen, Antolino Alvarez, Chimel, and Suhaila Salimpour, who have particularly influenced my teaching style.”
Student Ethics
Following is a list of guidelines and ground rules for studying with Anasma. Please read ahead of time as Anasma expects her students to be familiar with these guidelines.
- No gum, no smoking, no telephone.
- Come to learn. Work to grow as a better dancer and person.
- Work for yourself. This is not a competition. We are all brothers and sisters.
- Be safe for your body. Give yourself fully and only take what you need.
- Push yourself to do the best but do not be too hard on yourself. Remember that each person learns at his or her own pace.
- Have fun! Don’t take yourself too seriously.
- No video capture permitted unless permission is given by Anasma. If videos are allowed, they should be only for your personal use and not be made public (youtube, dailymotion etc.)
