How to Do Hip Accents in Belly Dancing

Hip accents are one of the most popular type of moves in belly dancing. They look great, and are fairly simple to learn. All you need is a little bit of stomach muscle control and a good sense of rhythm. The rest will just fall into place.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Start off with the simple stuff by learning the slow isometric moves. Hip circles are where you draw imaginary circles on the floor with your hips. You can go big or small or even do a figure-eight. Practice doing the moves slowly, then once you're comfortable with the moves, speed things up.

2. Practice the hip bump. The hip bump is one of the most popular moves in belly dancing, and one of the easiest. You do it by squeezing your gluteal (buttock) muscle to make your hip pop up and out. You can do this to accent such moves as step touches, or do several in a series for an appealing accent to a drum or musical piece.

3. Shimmy it up. The shimmy is a super-fast move that requires strength in your knees and legs. You pump your knees up and down as fast as you can, causing your hips to go up and down quickly. When done correctly, the look is almost seamless and you appear to be vibrating.

4. Remember to accessorize. When you do hip accents in belly dancing, the costume you choose is just as important as the moves that you make. Choose something flashy to wear on your bottom half, or something that makes noise when you move to accent your dance nicely.