Why take up Belly Dance?

You might be deciding on what type of dance you should take up in order to keep yourself fit and active. While every type of dance plays its role in contributing to general well being, belly dance has a few special things to offer. You might be surprised that belly dancing involves much more than just the belly! Below are some of the health benefits of belly dance:

Muscle Toning

In belly dance, our muscle groups are toned by repetitive and rapid contractions and relaxations. The muscles involved are mainly small muscle groups of deep muscles close to the bones. These are the muscles that normally don’t receive much training as most physical activities work mainly on large muscle groups further from the bones. The muscle groups that you will train the most while practicing belly dance are the abdominal muscles, lower back muscles, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, arms and the muscles surrounding our hips and joints.

Bones and Posture

The oriental dance really stresses on a correct posture. This is because without a correct posture, certain movements are not possible to perform. Unlike some other types of dance (eg. Ballet), that work against the body's physical inclinations, belly dancing is based on movements that come naturally to the female form. In fact, belly dancing can even be practiced as a form of therapy to relieve pain such as the back pain, shoulder or neck pain or even digestive discomforts. As a belly dancer moves gently across the floor, she strengthens her bones, improves her balance, the flexibility of the spine and prevents any impact on the knees, ankles or the joints.

Internal Organs and Fluids

Through its naturally gentle movements, our joints benefit not just by the toning of the deep muscles but also by the boosting of lubricant release. Movements like the figure eights, hip circles or shimmies increase the flow of lubricants in our hip joints. Movements like the belly rolls and upper torso movements that involve gentle contractions of the abdominal muscles result in a light massage of our internal organs. These movements also help in our digestion and the relief of abdominal or even menstrual pains.

Circulation and Respiration

Like any other form of exercise, belly dance promotes a healthy blood circulation to all parts of our body. You would be surprised how a simple movement such as the snake arms (which involves a gentle up and down movement of arms) quickly increases the blood circulation to all parts of the body! Other belly dancing movements are more aerobic in nature and provide a great cardio work out. Try shimming for 5 minutes and you will discover that you are starting to perspire and need to pose to catch your breath!

The Hidden Spirituality of Belly Dance

In the olden days belly dance was performed by some Middle Eastern tribes as part of a procedure to pay respect and to worship the Gods.  Till today, belly dance has its spiritual interpretations. In one way, belly dance helps a woman to connect deeper with her inner self as the dance requires her to feel the dance and the music and to perform the dance the way she feels it from inside. In another way, a woman performing belly dance somewhat represents the macro world in which we live. The upper body movements which tend to be softer and smoother in nature connect with the Devine, heavenly world. On the other hand, the lower body movements which tend to be shaper and more rooted to the ground connect with the Earth. In this way the dancer and her dance form a medium which connect the two.

A few misinterpretations about belly dance that should not stop you from its discovery:

“In order to take up belly dance, one needs to have a tummy”

Anybody can do belly dance. There are no specifications regarding body shape, size, weight, age or fitness. Besides, contrary to its name, belly dancing involves much more then just belly rolls. In fact, besides the belly roll and a few undulations all the other movements involve different parts of the body, mainly the hips and the upper torso.

“Only ladies can do belly dancing”

This is not true. Men can belly dance too! Belly dancing (or more accurately Raks Sharki in Arabic) is traditional for men in the Middle East. They dance using many of the same movements we learn in belly dance class. Middle Eastern dance in abstract is actually neither feminine nor masculine, but the body language we are used to seeing in the dance is predominantly feminine. In Egypt, not long ago, it was (and may still be) common for males and females to ‘belly dance’ as couples in Disco’s. Worldwide, there are many popular male belly dancers who perform regularly and conducts belly dancing classes and workshops.

“Belly Dancing is a ‘sleazy’ form of dance and is performed for the purpose to seduce men”

This is a wrong interpretation of belly dance. Belly dancing was never meant to be anything of that sort and it should not be perceived that way. Like any other dance, belly dancing is the expression of art and it is a visual interpretation of the music played. Belly dance performance also tends to be very interactive. The dancer often ‘plays’ with the audience and displays facial expressions that might tease the audience or encourage the audience to engage in the dance as well. This is done for the purpose of more interaction between the dancer and the audience and to create a joyful environment.
Belly dancers actually do not have to wear a two-piece reveling costume. There are also one-piece long costumes that cover most of the body parts. Because belly dancing is getting more popular as an evening entertainment in restaurants and bars, the costumes tend to get sexier so that the dancer ends up wearing less. This is an effect of a modern culture and its demands, but it is not necessary. A belly dancer never strips her clothes of and the overall outlook of the dance remains traditional rather than modern, performed usually to traditional instrumental sounds.