A torso-driven dance, with an emphasis on articulations of the hips.

Movements found in belly dancePercussive movements

Fluid movements

Shimmies, shivers and vibrations

Percussive movementsStaccato movements, most commonly of the hips, which can be used to punctuate the music or accent a beat. Typical movements include hip drops, vertical hip rocks, outwards hip hits, hip lifts and hip twists. Percussive movements using other parts of the body can include lifts or drops of the ribcage and shoulder accents.

Fluid movementsFlowing, sinuous movements in which the body is in continuous motion, which may be used to interpret melodic lines and lyrical sections in the music, or modulated to express complex instrumental improvisations, as well as being performed in a rhythmic manner. These movements require a great deal of abdominal muscle control. Typical movements include horizontal and vertical figures of 8 or infinity loops with the hips, horizontal or tilting hip circles, and undulations of the hips and abdomen. These basic shapes may be varied, combined and embellished to create an infinite variety of complex, textured movements.

Shimmies, shivers and vibrationsSmall, fast, continuous movements of the hips or ribcage, which create an impression of texture and depth of movement. Shimmies are commonly layered over other movements, and are often used to interpret rolls on the tablah or riq or fast strumming of the oud or qanun (instrument). There are many types of shimmy, varying in size and method of generation. Some common shimmies include relaxed, up and down hip shimmies, straight-legged knee-driven shimmies, fast, tiny hip vibrations, twisting hip shimmies, bouncing 'earthquake' shimmies, and relaxed shoulder or ribcage shimmies.

Belly dancing in different regions

Belly Dancing Costumes

Benefit of belly dancing Belly dancing is a non-impact, weight-bearing exercise and is thus suitable for all ages. It is a good exercise for the prevention of osteoporosis in older people Many of the moves involve isolations, which improves flexibility of the torso.

Belly dancing moves are beneficial to the spine, as the full-body undulation moves lengthens (decompress) and strengthens the entire column of spinal and abdominal muscles in a gentle way Dancing with a veil can help build strength in the upper body, arm and shoulders. Playing the zills trains fingers to work independently and builds strength. The legs and long muscles of the back are strengthened by hip movements. Paffrath researched the effect of belly dance on women with menstruation problems. The subjects reported a more positive approach toward their menstruation, sexuality, and bodies.

Learn belly dancingIf you want to learn belly dancing I will recommend to find a local teacher to teach you belly dancing because you will get 1 on 1 couching with a local teacher. To find just search on google learn belly dance or belly dancing classes with your locationEg: search on google belly dancing classes in nyc

If you want to learn online I will recommend BellyDancingCourse The Ultimate Masterclass programme because It is the most complete home belly dancing class on the Internet. It contains 50 videos, 8 hours of step-by-step instructions covering 5 dance styles, 3 different teachers, lifetime updates plus one-on-one coaching!