Transcript

Kelly: Hi, I’m Kelly. I’m an intern with howcast. I saw the belly dancing series, I thought it was really cool. And I figured why not give it a try? The first video that I saw that sparked my interested was the choo choo shimmy. So Irena, help me out.

Irena: So what we’re going to do is step on the right leg, and the left leg, and with each step we’re going to lift the hip up. And let’s try that with music. And this is much easier if you keep the heels lifted off the floor, keeping the weight on the inside of the feet.

Kelly: That is easier.

Irena: And that’s how you do a choo choo shimmy.

Kelly: Alright, well I think I have the choo choo shimmy so let’s move onto another move that I thought was pretty interesting. The basic Egyptian.

Irena: So this is how you do the basic Egyptian.

Kelly: The next video I came across, it’s kind of a hard one. It’s called the traveling andulation.

Irena: What you’re going to do is combine the basic andulation with some foot work. Let’s try that with music. And let’s try it a little bit faster. And that’s how you travel with an andulation.

Kelly: Let’s try it all together now. Music please? Alright, well that’s my routine. It’s a lot of fun, but hard work. Thanks Irena, for all the moves.

Transcript

Now let’s try the travelling hip twist. Keeping the knees bent, just lift, the lower abs engaged, tailbone down. We’re going to twist front to back, keeping the movement horizontal to the floor. So we’re just twisting the hips. Now we’re going to just take a step with the right foot, crossing the left behind. And again right, and crossing behind, right, crossing behind, and make sure you are taking very small steps keeping the movement right underneath your hip bone. We’re going to switch the footwork. We’re going to start with the left, crossing the right behind, and left, right behind. And again, keeping it really small. The smaller the movements are, the easier the hip work will be. Now, we’re going to combine the two movements together. We’re going to bring the hip back. We’re going to release the right foot, so this is the right side that’s active right now. We’re going to step into the right leg and push the right hip forward into a twist. Then we’re going to bring the left foot behind, bringing the hip back. And step forward, cross back. And forward, cross back. And forward, cross back. We can switch the movement, as well, so starting with the left foot, we’re going to bring the left hip back, lifting the left foot off the floor, stepping onto it, pushing the left hip forward, and bring it back. Step forward and back. And we’re focusing on one hip at a time where the other hip is obviously working. So, let’s try that a little bit faster, and try it with music. And forward and back. And left, cross, left, cross, left. And this movement is a little bit easier if you’re travelling faster, if you come up on your toes. So, starting with the right hip, and forward. And remember to keep the knees slightly bent no matter what. Chest is lifted. And faster. And that’s how you travel with a hip twist.

Transcript

So now we’re gonna try to isolate just the upper abs. Keeping the knees bent, chest lifted and feel the lift coming from your upper back so you wanna feel the support lifting you up. Try to relax your abdominal area, keeping the knees bent, hips neutral. You’re going to relax the lower abs, and then contract the upper abs in sharply. Inhale and try to find it with an exhale, so if you exhale really sharply, you’re gonna find that contraction. Feel that and try to get in touch with that without using your breath. So, keeping the lower abs relaxed, you’re gonna contract everything in and push out, and contract in and out. And really try to avoid using your breath to find that muscle or at least after you find it, try to relax and not use a breath for each contraction. Let’s try that with music — and in. And a little bit faster. Check to see if your lower abs are engaged. They should be relaxed. This is purely an upper ab contraction. Let’s try faster. That’s how you isolate your upper abs.

Transcript

Now let’s try the opposite hip pushes, keeping the knees bent, lower abs engage, chest lifted, arms out, shoulders back. We are going to take a step over to the left side with the left foot, the same time we’re going to lift the right heel off the floor and push the right hip up and step back together, and lift and together and lift and together. We can do the same thing over to the other side as well. So we’re going to step over with the right, lift the left heel off the floor, left hip up, step back together, and lift and together and lift and together. And again the key to this is to isolate, see when you really lift the chest up and relax and let this movement happen just below the rib cage, head lifted and again keeping the knees really, really bent. Let’s travel to the right and try it with music let’s travel to the left let’s try it a little bit faster. And that’s how you do an opposite hip push.

Transcript

So now we’re going to learn how to do the Basic Egyptian. Come back to the neutral position keeping the knees bent, once again chest lifted, lower abs in. And you’re going to touch the right foot in front, and come back, touch the left, and come back. Touch the right, and come back, touch the left, and come back. Keep the knees slightly bent at all times. And now as you touch you’re going to push the hip up, and release, and the other side. And as you push up, that hip is going to go to the opposite, upward diagonal. So if you’re squeezing your right hip up you’re going to aim at the left upper corner. And reverse it, when you’re squeezing the left side, aiming at the right upper corner. Chest is lifted, and adding that small lift and twist. Once again, you want to make sure you’re not bouncing in space, the chest is lifted, the head is still. And once again from the side. And now we’re going to add arms. Same active side of the leg will be active with the arm as well, so the right hand will be reached right in front, the left will touch the top of your head, and then you’re going to switch. Pushing right in front, and down. From the side. So now we’re going to start both the hand and the leg at the same time. Reaching forward the right side, with a twist, and switch, with a twist. Let’s try that with music. And there are various arm positions for this movement, so you can see lots of different variations, but this is one of the most basic versions. So this is how you do the Basic Egyptian.

Transcript

So now let’s try the “walking hip shimmy”. In order to prepare for it, let’s keep the knees really bent. Let’s think about those hip lifts we did earlier. Nice and slow, lifting one hip at a time. And you want to really feel this in your sides more than pushing through the knees. Just because we’re going to use the knees in order to be able to walk. So, try to feel this in your obliques more than anything else. Remember to keep the chest lifted, lower abs tucked no matter what you’re doing with your hips. While we’re here, try lifting one heel off the floor, but still not compromising the integrity of the shimmy. What that means is that you’re not hyper-lifting one side and barely lifting the other. You want to try to keep it as even as possible, even though one foot is slightly higher than the other. Let’s try the other side. Lifting the left heel off the floor. Trying to keep the hip shimmy even. Chest lifted and the heel down. Right heel lifted. Now try to lift the foot off the floor. You can either touch it to the ankle of the opposite leg, or let it hover in front. And step back together. Try the other side. Lifting the foot off. Try extending forward. And while you’re doing this, try to have a continuous relaxed shimmy no matter what. And place it back down. Let’s try that with music. We’re going to lift the right heel up. Take a step. Lift the left heel up. And lift the foot. And step. Stepping back. Try to have a continuous relaxed shimmy no matter what. Lifting the chest, shoulders back, arms full of energy. Let’s try a little bit faster. Traveling back. And that’s how you walk with a shimmy.

Transcript

So this is what a normal hip scarf usually looks like. It’s a square piece of fabric covered in some kind of embellishments, usually coins. And basically what it is, is just a visual aid for the students to feel their hips a little bit more and see their movement when they’re practicing in the mirror.

A real hip scarf can be pretty much anything you can tie around your hips. We just like to decorate ourselves a little bit so that it’s more fun to practice.

Transcript

[music playing] So a sword is prop that belly dancers very often use in order to demonstrate their flexibility and the sense of balance. So it’s a very beautiful prop and also has a sense of dancer and definitely mesmerises the audience very often. And what often is done is it’s balanced either on the arm, on the fingers, sometimes on other body parts, shoulders, hip, knees and most commonly it’s balanced on the top of the head. [music playing]

Transcript

So this is what typical finger cymbals, or zills, look like. They’re rounded in shape, there’s lots of different versions of them. And there’s always four of them and you wear one on the middle finger, one on the thumb. And, you basically can accompany yourself with the music so while you’re dancing and listening to the music you can play some of the rhythms yourself.

Transcript

Belly Dancing – How to Use Veils:

So this is what a normal belly dancing veil looks like. It’s usually either a silk veil or chiffon or some other light fabric and the reason for that is we use it as a prop for entrance. It’s a very lyrical, very beautiful material and it gives a beautiful commentary to the music.

Transcript

So a cane is another balancing prop that is often used in belly dance performances, and this is a more traditional prop which often is associated with the region Egypt. What happens is that it is very playful and you can do a lot of twirling with it. A lot of really fun playful hits, but also you can balance it as well on other body parts like your head.

Transcript

Now let’s try a reverse undulation and make it travel. So, keeping the knees bent, we’re gonna try the reverse undulation stationary first, contracting the lower abs, dropping the chest down, lifting it back up. We can connect some footwork to this as well, so we’re gonna step the right foot and then the left foot. Stepping in the right, stepping in the left. As you step on the right, you’re going to contract the lower abs in. Contract the chest down. Lift the chest up, stepping back on the left foot. So, contracting in. Chest up. Step right. Step left. Step right. Step left. And right. And up. And right. And up. Step right. Step left. Let’s try that with music.

Try it on relevance, we’re gonna come up on toes. Step. Step. Step right. Left. Right. And try faster. And you can travel with it from side to side. And you can switch the feet as well. Circle left.

So that’s how you step and travel with the reverse undulation.

Transcript

[music] Now let’s try the travelling undulation. What you’re going to do is combine the basic undulation with some foot work. So when we contract our upper back to reach the chest up we are going to step on the right foot, as you contract the upper abs you are going to step on the left foot. Stepping right lift up, dropping down step left: and right, and left, and right, and left, right,and left, and right, and left. And when you get comfortable connecting those two movements start to add the belly contraction, reaching up, contracting, contracting, reaching up, contracting, contracting. And this movement is easier to do when you come up on your toes. So, you’re going to step right – reaching the chest up, step left – reaching chest back, up – chest down, and up – chest down. Let’s try that with music. [music playing] And let’s try a little bit faster. [music playing] And you can take this move to travel from side to side. Additionally you can change the footwork so you step left – right -left -right. You can bend the knees and lift up to add a little change. And that’s how you travel with an undulation.

Transcript

So now lets try a travelling hip lift. Keeping the knees bent, tail bone down, chest lifted, abs engaged. Your going to lift the right heal off the floor and your going to keep the left knee bent. So make sure your in this position at all times.Now your going to just take a little step to the right side and then shuffle the left foot over to the right foot. Your going to keep the right heal off the floor and the left foot on the floor. Lift up and step together. So we going to actually push the hip all the way up as we step up to the right foot and step together and lift and together and lift and together. And now we are going to try the same thing to the other side. So lift the left heal off the floor. We are going to take a tiny step out, lift the hip out and then as we drop the hip down we are going to take a little shuffling step together and lift and together as we travel to the left. Lift and together and lift and together. trying it again to the right. Up and together. Lets try that with music. (music playing). To the left. As your travelling try to keep this isolated in the lower body only. SO chest is lifted and the head is up and your not bouncing in space up to down. So lets try that full speed. Travelling to the right. (music playing) And remember this movement is completely horizontal. There is no twisting. Lets try it little bit faster. And you can take it all around. And that’s how you travel with a hip lift.

Transcript

Belly-Dance-Moves-ChooChoo-Shimmy

Now let’s try the Choo Choo shimmy. So what we’re going to do is step on the right leg and the left leg and the right and the left, keeping the knees really bent, chest lifted, tailbone down, and we’re going to do this really fast and with each step we’re going to lift the hip up. So the trick to that is keeping the knees really bent and not letting yourself straighten or bounce. Keeping the knees bent and thinking about shooting the hip to meet the ribcage. So taking a step with each hip lift, we’re going to go right, left, right, left and let’s try that with music. And this is much easier if you keep the heels lifted off the floor and keeping the weight on the inside of the feet. And faster. Keeping the chest lifted, not letting yourself bounce or level change so the head is floating up and try it even faster. You can travel with it and that’s how you do a Choo Choo shimmy.

Transcript

Now let’s try doing the figure 8 only on one hip, switching your position coming back to standing on the left leg, keeping you left knee bent, brining the right foot forward heel up. We’re going to lift the chest up, extend the arms, lift the right hip up, drop it forward, bring it back down and come back to neutral position where you normally are standing. Then you’re going to proceed to lift it up, bring it back, drop it down and again come back to neutral. Up, forward, down, neutral, up, back, down, neutral. So we are drawing a figure 8 going up to down, and again this is happening in this dimension, parallel to your body if you are facing the one side. Let’s try that with music and faster. And that’s how you do one sided hip figure 8.

Transcript

Now let’s try reverse undulations. Assuming the same position, keeping the knees bent, we’re going to contract the lower abs first, then contract the upper abs to bring the chest down. Then squeeze between the shoulder blades to lift the chest back up. And again, contracting under. Chest down. Up. And releasing slightly into the neutral position. And here when we start larger, we’re going shift our weight back into the heel, contract under, chest down, and as you lift the chest up you’re going to release forward. Now, we’re doing this only to exaggerate and find the movement in the beginning. So, starting back. Contract. Under. And up. And down. Roll. And up. Let’s try that with music.

And when you’re reversing, make sure you’re not lifting your head too far up. There’ll be a small level change in the beginning, but ultimately you want to stay in the same exact spot.

And now we want to make it a little bit smaller. We’re going to stop shifting our weight forward to back and stay neutral. So we’re gonna contract the lower abs. Upper abs. Upper back. And in. Down. Up. Neutral. Smoothing it out. And faster.

And that’s how you do a reverse undulation.

Transcript

So now let’s try the basic undulation. Keeping the knees bent, lower abs engaged, we’re gonna slide the chest all the way forward. Lift it back up. Contract the upper abs to drop the chest down and then contract the lower abs to bring the hips under. And then untuck. But make sure that when you untuck you do not arch the lower back. So you want to come to neutral position. Again, sliding the chest forward. Chest up. Upper abs. Lower abs. And release. And as you shift, you’re going to feel like you’re shifting your weight toward the toes. And then coming back into the heel. Reaching the chest forward. Up. Upper abs. Lower abs. Release. And smoothing it out into an undulation. Let’s try that with music.

And as you speed it up, you’ll make it a little bit smaller. So stop shifting your weight front to back and stay centered. Reaching forward. And as you’re undulating, you’re going to feel the contractions. Starting in the upper back to lift the chest up. Upper abs, lower abs, release. Up to down. Upper back, upper abs.

And that’s how you do a basic undulation.

Transcript

Now let’s try the horizontal figure 8’s, these figure 8’s will travel in the dimension parallel to the floor. Before we were doing vertical figure 8’s, we were working from side to side, now we are going to be working in the surface in front of us. Keeping the knees bent, we are going to twist the right hip forward just like we did before in the basic twist. With the right hip forward we’re actually going to slide that hip all the way out and pretend like you’re trying to reach the front right hand diagonal of the room. Pushing all the way through, keeping the knees slightly bent and again try to stay completely horizontal to the floor, so you don’t want to dip up or down. Sliding out, now you’re going to trace the outside, the right side of the room with your hips. You’re gonna push all the way out until you reach the back corner and here you’re going to switch your attention to the other hip and slide through to the front diagonal of the left side, along the wall to the back diagonal and through over to the right and through over to the left. And you’re going to be shifting your weight from side to side, going over to the left and over to the right. Let’s try that with music and a little bit faster. And as you’re doing this figure 8, when you’re transitioning from the diagonal to the other side make sure you come back to the neutral position where your belly button normally is and your knees are bent. So after you finish one first full loop, transitioning through you should feel an engagement in your lower abs to push through, through the other side. So that your figure 8 is even both front to back and doesn’t bring it too far back or too far front. So it’s happening right under neat your rib cage and right and left. And that’s how you do a horizontal figure 8.

Transcript

Now let’s reversing the horizontal figure 8 — now it’s going to be traveling back to front. Keeping the knees bent, twisting the hip back first — so we’re going to focus on the right hip first — twisting all the way back, pushing through to the back corner, coming along the right side, until you hit the front corner, sliding through, contracting the lower abs and shifting your attention to the back of the left side. At the back corner coming forward, contracting the lower abs, pulling in. And right side, and back, and left, and back. For now this movement is happening completely horizontally to the floor — there’s is no up to down twist. This one is just horizontal to the floor. Let’s try that with music. Right hip back, and scoop, and scoop, contract lower hips, and around, and around. You’re going to try to keep you rib cage relatively still. There’s no level change — your head is staying in the same place. It’s a smooth figure 8. And that’s how you reverse a horizontal figure 8.

Transcript

Now let’s try the Reverse Figure 8 going down-to-up. So keeping the knees bent, tailbone down, chest up. We’re going to drop the hip down, reach hip out, lift it up and you’re going to lift the heel off the floor, contract the hip back in and release it back down to neutral. Bend in your left knee a little bit more to drop the hip down, sliding out, lifting the heel up to bring the hip up, and you’re also gonna feel a contraction in your obliques and coming back to center, drop in to neutral. Down, up, up, heel up, In. Down, up, in, release. You’re going to feel a shift of weight from foot to foot. As you reach all the way out the highest point here is when you’re going to switch your attention to the other side to bring the heel down and up. So it’s a continuous motion going from one side to the other. Let’s try that with music [music starts]. Keep the chest hovering up and a little bit faster. And that’s how you do a down-to-up figure 8.

Transcript

Now let’s try Vertical Figures on both hips form up to down. Keeping the knees bent we’re going to lift the right heel off the floor, push away into the right hip. Now we’re going to slide it out, drop the heel down, bring the hip down and contracted back in towards the centre. Now we’re going to switch our attention from this side to the other side the body, lifting the left hip up, pushing out, dropping the heel down contracting back in. Lifting right, right heel comes up the floor, pushing up, coming down, pulling back to centre, lifting the left side out, heel down and in. Now you want to be careful, when you’re pushing out, make sure you’re keeping the way on the inside of the foot, you don’t want to roll the ankle at all, so you want to stay centred. So once again, you want to keep the chest really havering up, chin up, and this movement should not your upper body whatsoever. So let’s try that with music. [music playing] Stepping right, stepping left. Let’s try it a little bit faster. So you want to make sure your tail bones are pointing down no matter what and your lower are still engaged and there is no twisting to this motion so it’s actually happening just from side to side there is no front or back dimension to it, and the tail bone’s tucked down. Once again. For now, I will recommend keeping this out of your chest hyper isolating but sometimes you want to let your chest involved and let it travel into your upper body. So that’s how you’re doing an up to down vertical figure 8.

Transcript

Belly Dance Moves: Interior Hip Circles

From: Irina Akulenko

So now lets try interior hip circles. Keeping the knees bent, legs are underneath the hipbones, chest lifted. We are going to contract the right hip up, contract the lower abs in, contract the left hip up, and come back to neutral.

Lifting the right side up, contracting the lower abs, keeping the upper abs relaxed, left side and release. One and two and three and four. In contrast to the exterior hip circles; the hips would actually roll. Exterior hip circles, keep the hips parallel to the floor and the interior hip circle we’re actually going to roll the hips under.

So, let’s try that with music. [Music] [Slowly making internal hip circle movements] Make sure chest is lifted; arms are still and let’s try it faster. [Continues with faster hip circles] Let’s try going the other direction [Slowly does hip circles in the other direction] and roll. [Continues with rhythmic rolling of the hips movement] And you can go faster. And that’s how you do an interior hip circle.

Transcript

Now let’s try doing a vertical hip circle on just one hip. So, coming back to the same position we use in order to do a hip drop and a hip lift, stand the knee the left leg for now is bent. Stepping the other foot next to it, heel is lifted. Both knees bent, tailbone tucked down, chest lifted, shoulders back, arms out. We’re going to contract the hip up and keep it there for a second. Now we’re going to push the hip forward just like we do a twist front to back. Only this time the foot is gonna be lifted and the heels up. Pushing the hip forward, dropping the hip down and pulling it back. Lifting up. Forward. Down. And back. Let’s try that with music.

And when you smooth it out, you get a circle. And you can reverse it as well, going up, back, down, forward. Up. Back. Down. Forward. And smooth it out. Reach. Try to keep yourself from changing your level so the head stays in exactly the same spot. Chest is lifted.

And that’s how you do a one-sided hip circle.