How to Practice Belly Dancing

The belly dance has surged into popular culture through the music of Shakira and the need for more creative exercise routines. Belly dancing involves the quick movement of the hips and abdominal area to match the accompanying music. Your experience with belly dancing will be helped along by learning proper technique and preparation.

Instructions

1. Stretch out your entire body before and after you perform any belly dance moves. The isolation of the abs and upper leg area during belly dances can lead to chronic muscle aches throughout your body without proper preparation. Use an exercise bike or elliptical trainer for 5 to 10 minutes to warm up your body effectively.

2. Focus on your diaphragm and abdominal muscles through breathing exercises. The belly roll is a staple of all belly dancing forms and you need to be able to isolate these muscles to move your belly independent of the rest of your body. Take deep breaths and use your hands to feel stomach muscles before practicing a belly roll.

3. Isolate your gluteus maximus as the driving force when performing a hip bump. The hip bump is a rapid side-to-side movement of the hips that identifies a true belly dancer. Keep your feet a little wider than your shoulders and practice flexing the gluteus maximus regularly to keep your hip bumps quick.

4. Bring the back bend into your belly dance repertoire as you become proficient in other skills. You need to exercise your upper legs and back regularly in order to bend backwards gracefully. Purchase knee pads before you practice the back bend because of potential pressure on your knees.

5. Purchase an inexpensive instructional DVD on a particular variety of belly dancing that you are interested in. Avoid websites or vendors that claim to be experts in belly dancing and sell high priced DVD sets. Rely on organizations like the International Academy of Middle East Dance that are committed to transmitting proper instruction to the general public (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Choose music with a heavy beat and an interesting sound when you are belly dancing. The belly dance is meant to be a physical extension of the sounds and feelings embodied in the music. Belly dancers typically use traditional Middle Eastern or Latin instrumental songs to help inspire their movements.