A belly dance is a smooth and sensual art with moves inspired by Turkish and Egyptian rhythms. It's also an effective and challenging exercise for your core. Belly dancing moves require fine muscle control; to master them, it is important to think of the movements as coming from your muscles rather than your skeleton. Learning to belly dance takes time, patience and practice, but once you can do it, you'll be able to mesmerize your friends at parties.
Undulations
The perfect undulation is the holy grail of belly dance. In a forward undulation, the belly muscles roll downward from ribs to hipbones. Most dancers find it easier to master undulations by involving the feet, rocking forward on the ball of the right foot and back on the ball of the left. Once the feet are going, the chest is lifted as the right foot hits the floor. It may help to imagine a trash can with a pop up lid; when you step on the pedal, the chest is the "lid" that lifts. Then the upper abdominal muscles pull in with the diaphragm as the left foot hits the floor. As the diaphragm releases, the middle belly pulls in. As the middle belly releases, the lower belly pulls in. Then the right foot touches the floor and the chest pops up again, creating a fluid, rolling move.
Hip Shimmies
The secret to a strong hip shimmy is allowing the knees to drive the movement. As the right knee bends, the body's weight shifts to the left. As the left knee bends, the weight shifts to the right. A fast shimmy is simply a matter of moving the knees rapidly while keeping the buttocks fully relaxed. The key to sustaining a rhythmic hip shimmy is a lifted posture and tucked lower abs. When learning shimmies, it helps to imagine that the upper body is a hanger from which the lower body flows. The ribs and chin are lifted, and the shoulders are rolled down and back. Wearing a hip scarf with coins helps weight the hips and allows you to learn this move partially by sound. Hearing the scarf moving in time with the music helps you learn to move your hips to the rhythm.
Shoulder Shimmies
While upper-body shimmies may seem to be all in the chest, an illusion fostered by belly dancers' sparkly fringed bras, they are in fact driven by the shoulders. Dancers just learning shoulder shimmies sometimes rest their hands on a table or barre to keep the movement entirely driven by the shoulders themselves. The right shoulder punches forward, then the left. It is important to learn shoulder shimmies slowly and to build up strength in the correct muscles. Again, a lifted posture and shoulder blades rolled down the back are essential; otherwise, the inclination is to lift the shoulders up toward the ears rather than forward toward the wall.
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