Belly Dance "How To's"

 

These are basic guidelines for the beginner student who would like to practice at home and needs a little memory boost to help with some of the moves learned in class.This is not meant to replace lessons with an instructor who can guide you and make corrections for you when necessary. While books and DVD's are wonderful resources, they can not replace a real teacher. These resources are best used in conjunction with an instructor who can help prevent the student from learning incorrect technique or picking up bad habits.

 

The key to using proper technique in bellydancing is to understand that the HIPS carry the legs, not the other way around. Most of the hip movements require contracting the glutes, not bending and straightening the knee. Once this is established, you will be able to build a solid foundation of proper technique and from there, learning other styles of the bellydance will not disrupt the basic movements of the dance. Styles can change but basic technique remains the same.

 

Basic moves

1. fast hip movements such as lifts, drops and twists

2. slow hip movements such as hip circles and figure 8's

3. torso movements and undulations

4. head movements

5. step patterns and turns

6. arm and shoulder movements

 

Fast hip moves

1. Hip lift -

When lifting the right hip; put your weight on your left foot, keep the kneebent and raise your right heel, keeping the right ball of the foot to the floor but no weight on it. (You can also remain flat footed) Raisethe right hip up and release, bringing it back down to “neutral position”---in other words,don’t drop it down. Repeat on the left side, changing your position accordingly. Don't use your legs to move your hips,keep the torso still and keep the hip lifting upwards trying not to twist forward.

2. Hip drop -

For right hip drops, same position as above. Drop the hipdownward and release to neutral position. Repeat on opposite side, shifting your weight accordingly. Isolation is key; try not to drop the body with the hip!

3. Hip accents (locks) -

pushing your hip out to the side, for example, shifting your weight to the right leg and pushing the right hip out to the right side; kind of like doing the bump, or trying to close the car door when your hands are full of groceries---sometimes we use our hips to close the door when it hasn't closed all the way. I call these "hip locks".

4. 3/4 shimmy-

There are three basic 3/4 hip shimmy movements – side, up and down. All other 3/4 shimmies are variations of this.The first movement is always the biggest and the next two movements are smaller.3/4 shimmies are all about the hips, not the knees. If you haven’t mastered basic hip articulations (lock, lift, drop), these shimmies can be very difficult. The movement comes from the hips but you must always keep the knees soft so the hips have maximum range of motion.

 

Slow hip movements

1. Hip circles -

basically, pretend that you have a pencil taped to your tail bone ad draw a circle with it. Keep the knees soft.

2. Big hip circles-

like leaning to the side, push your hip out to one side, then to the back (like sticking your butt out, but keep a flat back), then the other side and return to neutral.

3. Figure 8-

twist the hip, in this case we'll start with the right, forward, push it back diagonally, shifting your weight to the left; that left hip will then twist forward and push back, shifting the weight to the right again...you are making a figure 8 in the horizontal plane (on the floor)

4. inward fig. 8, or "taqsim"-

this move is done in the frontal plane and you are making afigure 8 going inward (towards the midline of the body) * while raising the hip upward andinward you are also shifting your weight from one leg to the other

5. outward fig. 8, or "maya"-

also done in the frontal plane, but making the figure 8 goingoutward (away from the midline of the body) *raising the hip up, out and down on oneside, then the other and shifting the weight from one leg to the other

 

Torso

1. Chest lift-

basically a lifting of the rib cage without using the shoulders to help lift the chest. Lift up and then release back into neutral position. Chest drop- the opposite; drop the rib cage, or chest, downward and release back up into neutral.

2. Chest circles-

visualize that you have chalk taped to your chest and you are leaning up against a chalkboard: now draw a circle!You can go right to left and then left to right.

3. Belly roll -

a smooth 'rolling or waving motion' where the abdominal muscle alone is usedwithout any movement of the spine. First 'push' out, then 'pull in' the upper part of the ab, then 'pull in' thelower portion of the ab. *Please note: There is no such thing as upper and lower abs!!!! The abdominals are just one long sheetthat run from your rib cage to your pelvis. I am using the term ‘upper’ and lower to describe how to perform this move, so please don’t confuse it with there actually being two parts to the muscle. You cannot work one part without working the whole thing!* Sorry, the Personal Trainer in me just had to make this clear! :-D Remember to isolate! No shoulder movements, chest or spine movements should be involved!

4. The 'camel walk' -

undulations and walking at the same time. Undulations come from using the abs and leading with the chest, not the legs. When the legs are used, it creates a “momentum” from the legs out the pelvis, which looks similar to something you'd have seen Michale Jackson do. Moves like this are considered vulgar in the Middle East and even as an American, I can't say that I blame them. When the move comes from the torso, it creates a beautiful undulation that is almost snake like and sensual, but not vulgar and sloppy. You are not stepping Right, Left, Right, Left with your legs. You are creating a circular motion with the rib cage within the sagital plane and rolling the abs as you circle the rib cage, moving forward, up, back and returning to neutral position. As you create this undulation with your torso and abs, the weight of your body shifts slightly from the front foot to the back foot, in this case we'll use the right foot in front and left in back. Once you engage the leg muscles and not the torso, you create the aforementioned momentum that is not actually any kind of a bellydance movement that you would see in Middle Eastern dance. Remember to contract the abs as your chest moves forward and relax the abs as the chest comes back.

 

Head

1. Head slides-

keeping your chin parallel to the floor, slide your head to one side, then the other. *It is important to remember not to tilt or turn the head. Keep the face straight and just slide the chin as if you were sliding it back and forth along a table top.You can also do this in a circular motion; keeping the chin parallel to the floor, make a circle instead of sliding back and forth. *Again, no tilting or twisting of the head. Keep the face straight forward!

 

Step patterns and turns

1. three stepTurn -

Start with the body facing the front. The first step is out to the side. Next step you turn to face the back, weight ontothe other foot, your back to the audience. Then step onto the initial foot 180 degree turn (continuously in the same direction) to facefront again. Use the 4th beat to pause.*This is the easiest and most common turn used and can be done with scissor arms, body waves and other nice additions that give this move variety and creativity.

2. Karslimar (also known as "the Turkish")-

step right foot front, step in place with the left foot, step back with the right and again in place with the left foot. This basic foot pattern can be done in a variety of different ways by adding hip locks, hops and shimmies to it!* There are "L-steps" and "Horse-steps and, of course, the Debke, but we'll learn all of this in class.

 

Arm and shoulder moves

1. Snake arms -

slow, wave like arm movements done with arms out to the side, alternating levels, for example: lift one armup while the other is down low and then smoothly, bring the other up while bringing the opposite arm down. *Lift theshoulder to the ceiling, then the elbow, then the wrist, then the hand; then “swipe” your palm down the side of the wall. Repeat on opposite side as your arm is swiping down. Make sure you keep your arms to the side rather than pulling them in! Think of it in termsof “reaching” towards the right wall, then the left wall.*

2. Shoulder shimmy -

a rapid, relaxed vibrating move in the shoulders. You can start slowly by pressing one shoulder back as the other comes forward, and then speed up. Try to keep the hands still and level while the shoulders shimmy. *Think of it as “pointing” at something with your shoulder rather than your hand.*

 

HORIZONTAL PLANE:  divides the body into upper and lower portions. (An example of this would be torso rotation, like the twist.)

 

FRONTAL PLANE:  divides the body into front and back. (Abduction & Adduction occur in this plane, like raising your arm out to the side, or your leg.)

 

SAGITTAL PLANE:  divides the body into right and left. (Flexion & Extension occur within the sagittal plane, bending forward, raaing your arm or leg to the front.)