Is Belly Dancing Easy?

Is Belly Dance Easy?

YES! To start learning belly dance, here are my 5 quick tips;

• Stand tall and lift your chin
• Close your eyes and feel where the music vibrates in your body
• Walk to the beat
• Start with a hip circle
• Smile you’ve started to belly dance!
  

  Belly Dance posture how to stand

Starting to belly dance really is as simple as standing tall, lifting your gaze up and looking out.  I take a moment to relax my shoulders by squeezing the muscles in my shoulders blades as if I am trying to undo my bra, this lifts my chest and opens my breathing.  I make a quick check of what my tummy is doing and if it has popped forward, I just squeeze my lower tummy muscles on both sides in and this sort of pushes my spine up and I feel tall.

Then I close my eyes and feel the music in my body.  This is so important to me and my relationship with belly dance and I teach it from day one in my beginner’s belly dance class.  This is really why I built my website Arabelladances so I could share this magic with others.  I notice where the music resonates and vibrates, is it in my fingertips, in my belly, in my heart, in my hips?  Do my legs want to move, my chest my shoulders?  For me this is dance; your response to music, physical and emotional and Belly Dance is the vehicle I found to express this.

Belly Dance how to walk to the beat

Next feel the beat and start to walk.  Lean into the music and you should feel a compulsion to move in a rhythm as you join with the musicians who created this belly dance song. Find a spot to settle and beginning to move your hips in a circle.  This is the most ancient of the belly dance moves a hip circle.  Try to hold the engagement you found in your tummy muscles earlier to support your spine as you circle and the move should flow.  I usually feel a smile tingle up through my body at this point and know I am belly dancing!

How to do a hip circle

Of course, like learning any new skill belly dance takes time to master.  I fell in love with the music, the colours of the costumes, beads, sequins, the history and the culture of the dance.  And I found the best friends I have ever made and that kept me going through the challenges of learning more intricate steps and developing my own dance. So, my advice is just try a beginner’s belly dance class why not try mine on zoom? Maybe you’ll find some mental respite from lockdown lethargy or just maybe discover a world of passion, positive mental health, fitness, well-being fun and friendship.