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Step 1
Turkish belly dance has many steps. Usually we start out with a grand entrance piece. The music will be lively with a lot of beat to it. It is meant to pick up the audience and grasp their attention. In this stage the dancer will articulate her hips, do basic Turkish stances, hip drops, minor shimmies and some arm movement. There will be some kicks, and if you are lucky a Turkish drop or two! All Turkish dancers use Zill's; it is a tribal sort of dance.
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Step 2
This second step consists of a veil dance. This is much more intense than your traditional Egyptian performance. The veil work is longer, and you will see a lot of spinning action. A dancer will use many different veil moves in one performance--usually consisting of butterfly wings, angel wings, dancer stance, toga or pyramid.
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Step 3
The third step will be a shimmy type piece. The music will be very upbeat with a lot of hip drop motion, and all body shimmies action. There should be some isolation and layering going on at this stage. The dancer usually takes tips at this point in her performance.
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Step 4
The last stage is a exit piece. The dancer will show off her dance style for about 1 to 2 minutes, and then exit. Usually at this stage a dancer will choose to bring her audience into the performance. She may call out to an audience member and get them to dance with her. This stage is always a lot of fun.
