5 Answered Questions about Belly Dance

You have probably heard many times about the health benefits of Belly Dance: it improves body posture, boosts your self-esteem, helps improve our concentration skills and its energetic and undulating moves also help reduce stress. Also, medical studies confirm that practising this type of dance helps ease abdominal pain during the menstrual period.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to try Belly dance, if you have not done it yet. If you are still reluctant and have not made up your mind, here you will find a list with the most common questions from beginners with its corresponding answers that would hopefully help you make a decision.

Q: I have tried Belly dance before but gave up because I thought I was not making any progress and felt a bit intimidated by some techniques and moves that seemed effortless on my teacher but impossible to get when I tried myself…

Barcelona Bellydance: Apart from being one of the world’s most ancestral dances ever known, belly dance is a joyful dance, full of energy. If we want to enjoy it to its full extent, we need to forget about prejudices and be ready to try it out without any embarrassment feeling that might arise when we do not get a movement right the first time we try it or do not look as graceful as the dancers we all know and admire.. We need to forget about any “psychological blockage” and simply enjoy dancing to the music.
Perseverance is key and we all have been beginners once, even all those great dancers we praise and admire. They got to the place in which they are now, by learning every day and working hard.

Q: Are there different belly dance styles and techniques?

Barcelona Bellydance: Yes, there are a lot, actually. What we know nowadays as “belly dance” is actually what Egyptians labeled as Racks Al Shark, or Middle Eastern dance.
Belly dance was born in Egypt, and expanded from here towards other regions in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Belly dance in its multiple variations and forms is known at present in all countries across the globe. Apart from the classic Egyptian style, other well-known variations are Turkish-style belly dance, Lebanese, Greek, and the more contemporary Tribal style.

Q: Which is the most appropriate belly dancing attire to wear when taking lessons?

Barcelona Bellydance: Comfortable clothing is essential. A long skirt or loose trousers are always good options, although it is also very recommendable, when taking beginners lessons, to wear leggings, which shows the knee area, on which it is important to focus in the beginning. A top – not too loose – and a hip scarf are also good options.

Q: Do you need to have a certain fitness level or are there any other prerequisites or conditions to start taking belly dance lessons?

Barcelona Bellydance: There are no prerequisites whatsoever. The only thing you need is the desire and eagerness to dance and enjoy. Women of all ages can belly dance, no matter the age, fitness condition, height, weight… It is a very democratic dance!

Q: I would like to read more about Belly dance: its origins and evolution throughout the years. ¿Could you recommend any interesting titles?

Barcelona Bellydance: There are an awful lot of interesting books and audio books focused on Belly dance. We will recommend a few:
La Danza Oriental by Debora Korek, (one of the few books about Belly dance published in Spanish language)

The range of titles published in English is much wider. To name a few of them:
Bellydance: A Guide to Middle Eastern Dance, Its Music, Its Culture and Costume by Keti Sharif (Paperback - Feb. 1, 2005)

The Rough Guide to Bellydance Cafe by Nili Belkind (Audio CD - May 8, 2007) – Audiobook

Turkish Bellydance:Secret of My Heart (Audio CD - Feb. 1999)

We hope we have helped you clear your doubts. Please send across your questions, comments or suggestions to Barcelona.Bellydance@gmail.com.

We look forward to hearing from you!