I personally believe that an important part of learning to Belly Dance is to watch other dancers at every opportunity. Some instructors don’t like this as they worry their students will feel they don’t match up and will never be good enough to perform. Please remember that every dancer was a beginner once, and the beauty of Belly Dance is that whatever your ability you have a contribution. The traditions of Belly Dance stem back to whole families and communities dancing together in celebration - whatever their age or ability - and that should be the same today.
With that in mind, I have added a category called Inspiration to the blog, which will include videos of dancers around the world performing. Feel free to suggest your own favorites, or videos of your own dance troupe.
I now am part of Shimmer Middle Eastern Dance Studio, and here in South Africa we have an Association which runs exams linked to the Dance Teachers Union - so am currently training for my grade 5 of 7, and simultaneously rehearsing furiously for a lovely dance festival weekend in June (Tamalyn Dallal is here that weekend).
We at Shimmer and our professional dance company “In Harem’s Way” have several clips on youTube and also on Facebook. If you would like to check us out: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shimmer-Dance-Studio-In-Harems-Way-Dance-Company/14698751519 Feel free to become a fan :)- We need all of those we can get. Just click the link in the top sidebar of the page. Our studio website is www.freewebs.com/inharemsway and we have a very comprehensive gallery - I’d appreciate your comments!
So, go and check out their website and become a fan on Facebook, if you are a member.
The videos for In Harem’s Way cannot be embedded on the blog so you will need to visit YouTube to watch them. This is the video that Kiki likes the best out of their selection on YouTube:
Some of the videos I post on the blog are to show great Belly Dance performances, while others are simply for fun.
I love this video from Japan of an instructor showing people how to Belly Dance, because of all the age groups involved and how they have just found a little corner of the event to dance in. It reminds me of some of the festivals and fetes my own Belly Dancing teacher goes to. Usually after she or the troupe have performed there is a free-for-all time to learn some of the moves.
It’s a great way to get people interested in Belly Dancing!
Please post your comments on the blog and let me know about your own Belly Dancing (and any videos you have on the Internet showing your dancing)
Please note that Expert Village have chosen to remove the embedding option on their videos. That means you can no longer view them from this blog and will have to visit YouTube in order to watch them.
Where possible I have created a link on the blog posts where the videos are no longer viewable to the relevant page on YouTube.
I thought it was time for something for the more advanced dancers. This Arabesque Routine from Keti Sharif will help you start to pull your dance moves together into a more complex routine. This could be achieved by the Intermediate dancers amongst you too, but I thought I would save the main routines for the Advanced section.
Arabesques are a key move in modern Oriental Dance and were most likely influenced by the ballet move of the same name.
Thanks to Keti for the video. I hope to bring you more in the future. I love the setting for this video - Keti has really found a plush location.
Keti Sharif has also written an excellent book on Belly Dance - not as good as my ebook, of course (lol - only kidding!) - which I bought a couple of years ago and can highly recommend:
This is quite a short video on Snake Arms but I wanted to introduce you to someone I found through Twitter (if you use Twitter then follow me at (http://twitter.com/bellydancing). VelvetMoxie on Twitter has a website called The Gypsy Kiss where she has a number of tutorial videos - some showing basic belly dance moves and others showing how to do Tribal makeup and costuming. These videos have also been posted on Youtube so I may feature some more in the future but in the meantime you can head over to her website and take a look at: http://www.thegypsykiss.com/
Here is the video:
Focus on moving each part of the arm in the order described - at first it will seem quite stuttery, but once you have the movement you will be able to create a fluid motion.
In the previous video, Queen Cassie showed how to perform Mayas or Vertical Figure 8s. In this video she gives a clearer view of the legs and hips from different angles (please note, that she has donned shorts to enable a clearer view - for the students’ benefit).
She also shows how to lower these closer to the ground in dancing and useful exercises that will make these easier
Vertical Figure 8s or Mayas are performed by moving the hips up, around and down - first on the left and then on the right. The hips remain facing forward (so that you could perform this movement with your body flat against a wall or lying on the floor, without having to lift your hips).
This video from Queen Cassie is a little dark and the audio is low, but she shows in slow motion how to put the elements of this move together.
In the next video Queen Cassie shows the leg and hip movements for Mayas more clearly.
I love Figure of 8s (or is it Figure 8s or Figure of Eights?). They look so beautiful and flowing.
Here is a video of Meital from 5min.com demonstrating how to perform them. She actually goes beyond the basic Figure8s which is why I have posted it under Intermediate as well.
If you are a beginner, concentrate on the basic move both back to forward and then forward to back. Try to make the mo
Now that you have the correct posture, it’s time to learn some more simple belly dance steps.
Aubre shows you how to do both static and moving hip raises:
If you are new to Belly Dancing it is important to remember to isolate the upper and lower parts of your body. That means that when you are performing a move in the lower part of your body - such as these hip raises - it does not impact on your upper half and vice versa. You can see that Aubre is moving her hips but her torso remains still. Evetually you will be able to perform separate moves at the same time in isolation from each other.
As with many Belly Dance moves you may hear these called different names. In this case they are often called Hip Snaps, or Hip Accents.
It is important to get the correct posture before starting to Belly Dance, and then consciously reviewing it during your dance lessons until it becomes second nature.
Stand with your feet hip width apart, knees soft. Pull in your pelvis, bottom tucked under. Lift the rib cage, shoulders down….and relax!
Sounds too complicated to be relaxing, I know, but it will soon become natural.
Here is Zahira again from Expert Village demonstrating the posture, and then teaching one of the most basic moves of belly dancing - the hip circle:
This video can no longer be viewed on the blog, so either click on the video to see this video over at YouTube or click here.
