3

Stretch. Getting warmed up before you start to dance will keep you
from straining a muscle or getting injured. Just bend down to touch your toes, roll your neck and shoulders, and
stretch your wrists to feel nice and loose. If you can do a backbend, do one to help stretch out your stomach
muscles.Turn on the right music. Any music with a strong repetitive base will help get you in the right frame of
mind. Try to use some music of Middle Eastern origin and gain an understanding of the rhythms. There are
many pieces of Arabic music that are composed specifically for belly dance and contain musical cues which will
help you to understand when to make earthy movements and when to make flowing, graceful movements.
Being able to dance to middle eastern music will help you to gain appreciation for belly dance. Get in a starting
position. Begin in a position so that your upper body is straight. Don't arch your back or hunch. Tuck in your
butt so that it also aligns with your back. Bend your knees slightly and never, ever, lock them. Your feet should
be parallel and about a foot apart. Your chin should be raised slightly, and your shoulders should be bent gently
back

4
Lift your arms and flex your stomach slightly. Use your stomach muscles to 'pull' or lead your hip movement; the lower
back should not have a large arch. Some schools insist on the stomach pulling from the start, in order to train your stomach. Lift
your arms in the air so that they're slightly above parallel to the ground and lift your wrists slightly.

Method 2 of 3: Mastering the Technique

1.

1
Master the side to side move and the back and forth move. For the side to side move, just drop your left hip to raise your
right hip, and then drop your right hip to raise your left. Start slowly until you perfect this motion, and then speed up until you're
shimmying your hips. For the back and forth move, just move your hips back and forth, using the center of your pelvis to make
the movement look graceful.

Keep your arm lifted at a ninety degree angle and move your fingers to add balance and grace to your

o
movements.

To move side to side, first lift your right foot and lift your heel until only your toes are touching the ground. Use

this movement to pop up your right hip for two counts, and then let it fall lower than normal for two counts. Repeat this
movement with your left leg and hip and then alternate until you can shimmy rapidly.
o

Use your knees to help generate momentum and movement, not your knees.

To master the hip movement, try to mentally divide your torso vertically down the center. This will help you
learn to move one side of your hip up and down without affecting the movement of the other hip.

2
Make small circular movements with one side of your hips at a time. Try 'drawing' little circles in the air with your one
side. As you get the hang of it, try 8's, arcs, and swirls. Don't forget your other side. One side will always be easier, or stronger,

depending on whether you are left or right handed. Keep your arms lifted, a slight smile on your face, and your fingers moving as
you master these techniques.

3
Combine your moves. You don't have to belly dance using the same motion all the time. Once you master a few techniques,
you can switch things up. Do the left hip circle, the right hip circle, two right hip circles followed by two left, or move your hips
back and forth and then transition into moving them from side to side. Remember to continue using your stomach to pull your
hips in different directions.

Method 3 of 3: Mastering the Stomach Ripple

1.

Practice making the stomach ripples that cause the back and forth movements. There are three main muscles that you
will use: (1) a crescent shaped muscle just above the pubic area; (2) The area between the 1st muscle and below the navel; (3)
just above the navel to your ribs (the one that hurts when you laugh too hard).

2.

2
Try isolating or clenching each muscle individually. Isolate the first muscle group, then the second, and then the third. Once
you can isolate and clench these muscles, you'll be on your way to doing the stomach ripple. Work on clenching and releasing
them individually and then combine the movements.

Shoulders: snake arms, shoulder shimmies, shoulder lifts

Hips: small & large circles, figure 8s, mayas (reverse figure 8s), hip drops & lifts.
Chest: circles & lifts
Undulations, body waves.
Moving across floor: Arabic walks, grapevine.
Walk with shimmy (3/4 shimmy).
Basic zill patterns.
Turning: pivots, three point turns (rhumba), barrel turns.
Veil: draping, holding, chaine turns, rumba walk with veil.

1.

1
Stand your arms forming an angle of 90 degrees. Put the right leg in front of your body and elevate the hip.
Ad

2.

2
Maintain the right leg in front of your body and move the hip down.

3.

3
Move the hip again up to the same side.

4.

4
Cross your leg in front of the body as if you kick a ball and move the hip down.

5.

5
Repeat the movement and when kicking turn 90 degrees and begin again until completing a circle.

Belly Dancing for Fitness

Belly dancers aren't just wiggling and jiggling their hips; they're getting an ab workout that sculpts almost every single muscle in
their core even the hard-to-target, deep transverse abdominals, says Rania Androniki Bossonis, author of Belly Dancing for
Fitness (Fair Winds Press, 2004). Do this 10-minute routine once a day and you'll shimmy your way to a sexy stomach.

Rib Slide
Minutes 0:00 - 1:30
Stand with hands on hips and feet together.

Targets: Tectus Abdominus and Obliques

Stand with hands on hips and feet together.

Move just your ribs to the left, then back through the center of your torso and to the right.

Continue moving from side to side.

Hip Circle
Minutes 1:30 - 3:00
Standing with feet hip-width apart and arms slightly lifted at sides, shift your hips to the right, as if you were hula-hooping.

Targets: Obliques and Glutes

Standing with feet hip-width apart and arms slightly lifted at sides, shift your hips to the right, as if you were hulahooping.

Then move them in a circular motion to the front, left, and back.

Repeat in the opposite direction.

Continue alternating.

Horizontal Figure Eight

Minutes 3:00 - 4:30
Stand with arms out to sides and feet hip-width apart.

Targets: Lower Portion of Rectus Abdominus

Stand with arms out to sides and feet hip-width apart.

Lean right hip diagonally forward.

Shift it to the right side, then around to the back and center.

Repeat with the left hip and continue alternating, as if your hips were drawing a figure eight on the floor.

Vertical Figure Eight

Minutes 4:30 - 6:00
Lift right hip and heel and lean to the right.

Targets: Lower Portion of Rectus Abdominus and Obliques

Lift right hip and heel and lean to the right.

Drop hip and heel, returning hips to center.

Repeat to left side.

Now combine both sides into a smooth motion.

Imagine you're drawing a figure eight on the wall in front of you with your belly button.

Camel
Minutes 6:00 - 8:00
Press chest forward while drawing shoulders and arms at your sides and arching your spine.

Targets: Rectus Abdominus

Press chest forward while drawing shoulders and arms at your sides and arching your spine.

Reverse this motion by pulling abs in, tucking pelvis, and bringing shoulders forward.

Continue alternating to create a rippling S with spine.

Belly Roll
Minutes 8:00 - 10:00
Stand with arms out to sides and a few inches behind you.

Targets: Rectus Abdominus (not shown)

Lift right hip and heel and lean to the right.

Inhale and expand your rib cage, then pull in the lower portion of your abdominals.

Reverse the motion by relaxing and expanding your lower belly as you draw in your upper belly.

Alternate between the two movements, creating an undulating wave with your abdominals.