Bellydancing...?

Question

i'm 16 and thinking about learning bellydancing for exercise purposes.

are there any free websites or tips you can give me?

i have a little book that gives you the basics, but can you give me short workouts i can easily fit into my schedule every day? i'd appreciate any help you can offer!

thank you!

Answer 1

You can get a bellydance fitness dvd for beginners make sure you can see which level of belly dance is used because if you get anyone it may be to hard to even get the moves down to flow into an exercise.

www.shira.net

Answer 2

I hope your not trying to learn exclusively from an online source as that could be potentially dangerous. I highly recommend (if you have not already done so) you find a local instructor to take lessons from and then use other resources to supplement your learning. You can often find videos, books, and music at the library which would make it free as well. All that being said here is a condensed list of recommendations for you the online videos are towards the bottom.

WEBSITES (for finding teachers/classes)

http://www.shira.net - probably the most extensive directory

http://www.middleeasterndance.net - my site which has a decent sized directory as well.

http://www.bhuz.com - another large directory as well as a great forum which can answer pretty much every question you will ever have about bellydance since it's comprised of bellydancers from all over the world.

If you can't find lessons looking on these three sites there may not be any in your area.

WEBSITES (for learning moves on-line)

http://www.middleeasterndance.net - my own site look under the movements section, there will be enough to keep you busy for a long time. Also please read the before you begin section with the disclaimer, warm-up, cool-down, and basics about posture.

http://www.shira.net - Shira's site is an extensive collection of articles written about and for bellydancers and can provide you with a wealth of information that will be very beneficial. It's one of the oldest and most respected sites on the Internet and is referenced by bellydancers world-wide. She has a specific page which tells you how to do some moves as well as extensive links to other sites that offer on-line lessons as well.

http://www.venusbellydance.com/vocabular... - More movement descriptions.

http://www.aleena.com/miramar/ - go to on-line dance lessons there are several articles about dancing there.

http://www.zilltech.com/onlinelessons.ht... - Another old, well, respected website full of information you should check out. She offers a few instructions for several basic moves.

http://www.kawakib.com/page-30.html - more of a technique lesson but might be helpful after learning some basics.

http://www.raqs.co.nz/moves.html - has some descriptions of select movements.

BOOKS

Belly Dancing Basics by Laura A. Cooper (ISBN: 140271078X) - newer book, not great but not bad either.

The Art of Belly Dancing by Dahlena with Dona Z. Meilach - This book is out of print but shows up on amazon and e-bay from time to time. It's ok but it's written for a different time the history part is especially questionable but the moves are pretty straight forward.

Grandmother's Secrets by Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi (ISBN: 1566563267) - An interesting read has several descriptions of dance moves as well.

A lot of books have been coming on the market recently and most of them (excluding out of print books) are available at Barnes and Nobel or borders books as well as other chains and smaller stores.

ON-LINE INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS

http://www.trybellydancing.com/ - Like a mini instructional video available online. It's not bad quality.

http://www.expertvillage.com/interviews/... Several mini instructional segments on various moves as well as zills, costuming, and musicality.

http://bellyrolls.com/howtopage.html - more mini on-;ine instructionals.  The video quality is a little poorer and not is clear to see but the instructional quality is decent.

VIDEOS

Precision Motion Workout Series by Suzanna Del Vecchio - offers good posture basics as well as quality instruction on many moves.

Bellydance for Fitness Series by Neena and Veena Bidasher - this series is very cheap and available from major retailers like target, walmart, borders, and Barnes and Nobel but the quality of instruction is low. This is more of a workout for beginner dancers who already have had some training. The videos are a good quality as far as picture and sound but these are not good for an absolute beginner.

If you have any questions about bellydancing, please feel free to contact me through my site http://www.middleeasterndance.net