How To Belly Dance

“Hey ladies drop it down, Just wanna see you touch the ground. Don’t be shy girl go Bananza, shake ya body like a belly dancer” is a popular song by Akon which simply emphasizes how sexy one is when belly dancing. In fact, belly dancing is said to be one of the world’s oldest dance forms known to mankind. The origins of belly dancing can only be traced down to the Mediterranean, African and Middle Eastern cultures due to unavailable historic evidence on the rest. Belly dancing is recognized as Raqs Sharqi in Arabic which translates to "dance of the orient". Turkish people identify it as “Oryantal dansi” which in turn means "exotic oriental dance". The traditional way of dancing is with bare feet. The belly dancer moves are so enticing that it has passed on from aeons and still manages to be labelled as “sexy” and “hot”. Listed below are the essential, basic moves that define classic belly dance. Grasp and master these core moves to establish the coveted foundation in belly dancing. Dazzle crowds with exotic moves as you scroll down below and learn!

Learn Belly Dance
Before you begin, bear in mind that patience is the mother of all virtues. It’s not going to be a cakewalk! First, master the core moves and then graduate to the higher levels. Relate to the music and explore your creativity. No doubt, an expert dance instructor would be ideal as he or she can flawlessly demonstrate the proper moves right in front of you and guide your progress. However, great belly dancing trainers are not too easy to find. Thus, you might want to try out these steps and experiment on your own!

Basic Stance
Good posture is the cardinal rule in belly dancing. Use approximate hip and shoulder width to keep your feet slightly apart. Point your toes forward and distribute your body weight evenly between your feet. Relax your knees and keep them flexible. Pull up your ribcage as you comfortably hold in the stomach. Be conscious of your vertical body alignment and don’t trip. It is best to start by moving only one part of the body and isolating the rest from your dance moves. This will you perfect each move one by one.

Basic Staccato Hip Moves
To do the hip twist, keep the hips level as you twist and suddenly snap into forward motion. As you twist the right hip forward, twist the left one backwards. Don’t lock the knees as you swivel the hips. To master the ‘up and down hips’ move, move your right hipbone straight upward and then downward. As your upper torso stays still, snap your right hip upward and the left one downwards. Alternate this movement and let your body muscles get attuned to this motion. The hip thrust step entails you to imitate the action of bumping a door shut. Except this time, you do it with your hips and not your hands! Put a little snap into the move as you alternate from one hip to the other. Focus on utilizing the muscles that make your hips move, like the muscles in the upper leg, pelvic, and buttocks region.

Snake Arms
Stand straight with your feet flat on the floor and shoulder length apart. Lift your right arm as the same height of your shoulders. As you carry on with this movement, move your ribs to the right. Try to push something with your torso as you dance. The entire move should begin with your wrist, hand, arm, shoulder, ribs, and back. Repeat on the other side.

Vertical Belly Dance Hip Circle (Bicycle Hips)
 As you isolate your hips in basic stance, slowly raise your right hip upwards, roll forward, push down, push back, and then bounce back to your starting point and then trace a circle which is vertical to the floor. Lift up your heel off the floor as you roll your hips up. Push the heels down as the hip rolls down. This is just like pedalling a bicycle! This movement is best viewed from the working side of body, and unlike our figure 8's, the circle is usually perform on one hip only. All circular movement in belly dance can be done clockwise or counter-clockwise.