How to Belly Dance by Francine Morrissette

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Get Ready to Dance

The only costume a new dancer needs is a hip scarf tied low on the hips and a form-fitting top. After slipping on the costume, dancers need to warm up. Prepare muscles for dancing with slow and steady movement, like walking in place, until the body feels warm, then gently stretch. Loosen muscles with reaching elongating motions, taking care to not hyperextend or overexert them.

Belly Dancing, Step By Step

1. Begin in an upright position. Dancers should imagine they are hanging from the ceiling by a thread coming out of the top of their head which pulls them up, up, up into proper alignment. While tucking the backside in so that it aligns with the spine, dancers should bend slightly at the knees, tighten their abdominal muscles, and pull their shoulders back while feeling that imaginary thread pulling you up towards the ceiling.
2. Use the stomach muscles. Abdominals muscles, not lower back muscles, lead the hip movements. Dancers should practice using the abdominal muscles to pull the hips up and down and from side to side. At first these movements may not be noticeable but as the abdominals grow stronger the movements will be more noticeable. Remember to use the “belly” muscles to “belly” dance!
3. Visualize. Dancers mentally divide their bodies into upper (heavenly) and lower (earthly) halves. In belly dancing the upper body flows with languid, serpentine, graceful movements. The lower body, however, moves in a strong, bold, quick and precise movements. The arms flow and the hips flick. Practice moving the upper body gracefully and the lower body snappily.
4. Divide. Mentally divide the body into right and left sides. Try to move one side of the pelvis (right hip, for example) up and down while the rest of the body remains perfectly still. Master up and down, then try drawing circles in the air, first in one direction then the other followed by figure 8s. Remember that the stomach muscles, not the back muscles, pull the hips in different directions.
5. Ripple. Belly dancing’s trademark abdominal undulations are created with ripples. When rippling there are three main muscles used: 1. the crescent shaped muscle just above pubic area, 2. the muscles in the area between the above muscle and the navel, 3. the muscle just above navel that leads up to the ribs. Abdominal ripples are done by clenching each one individually in order (clench 1,2,3 followed by 3,2,1) and then releasing them the same way. When this technique is mastered even beginner dancers can begin to undulate like a pro.

Once the moves are mastered, belly dance students can add music with a good, strong repetitive beat and try matching their movements to the tempo of the music, alternating between the heavenly (upper body, flowing) movements and the earthly (lower body, more forceful) moves. There are many pieces of Arabic music which are written especially for belly dancing; these compositions incorporate musical cues to help the dancer understand when to incorporate each movement. Dancing to middle eastern music is ideal for belly dancing.