Reidfidleir's thread is too old to reply to, so I'm making a new one. This board looks like it needs some new traffic, anyway.

I just began taking some lessons a few weeks ago, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm primarily a ballet dancer, so the movements are very new and different to me, and it's actually kind of nice to have a new challenge like this. It's really freshening up my dancing.

On the other thread there was a reply about people looking down on belly dance, and we actually had a discussion about that in class last week. Considering the cultures that the dance comes from, it's really not surprising. They don't tend towards liberation in any form for women in those countries. And even in Western culture, considering the movements and the costuming, it's not all that surprising. My teacher was saying, though, that she was kind of surprised to find that pole dancing and stripping were becoming acceptable forms of dance to study these days, so if that's the way things are going, belly dance probably won't stay at the bottom for too long.

Also, thinking back on my knowledge of dance history, there was a time when ballet dancers were looked down upon as immoral and considered to have bad reputations. In a time and a culture where women were expected to cover themselves to the ankles, they were on a stage showing their legs at least to the knee. Scandalous. Add to that the common practice of having a "patron", and there you have it. High-class prostitutes. And that certainly is not the way of things anymore for ballet, so the way I see it, the acceptance of belly dance has the potential to change more favorably as well.

First of all, nice to see you on this board. It's always great to get someone new in from the DDN community.

I like the fact that in the Middle East not just women participate in The Dance. Men do it too and they do it quite well! lol. It is the accepted norm there. And also the thing about Arab block countries, different countries have different standards. So in one Middle Eastern country women will have many more rights than Westerners even realize but in another country it will be on par with, and sometimes worse than, the stereotype.

Also, as to the costuming, I assume you mean the bedleh (or bedlah), the one where the stomach is out. This was not standard wear back in the day. It is very possible to perform not showing your stomach (thank goodness!) and I think it also shows your level of skill when you can execute the moves and isolation of the upper body without having it apparent half dressed.

As to people looking down on it, this is the oldest dance in the world and it is wonderful for the body and it's just plain fun!

Thanks for making the thread Arak! I've been intrigued by belly dance for a while as well. Cele, I have a question....How good is it for your back? I need to strengthen my back, but very gently. Is belly dancing good for your back?

I know it's good for all major muscle groups, but the thing that might be very good for your back is that you have to use good posture when you do Raqs Oriyental and that's always good for your back. Massage therapy and a chiropractor might help you out more, D_EMT, lol!

Celebrian wrote:

I know it's good for all major muscle groups, but the thing that might be very good for your back is that you have to use good posture when you do Raqs Oriyental and that's always good for your back. Massage therapy and a chiropractor might help you out more, D_EMT, lol!

Thanks Cele! I'm actually doing that right now. Chiro is helping, but he said I need to work on my muscle strength. So, I'm looking for something relatively low impact that I enjoy doing. I can't get into lifting weights, but I love dance and gymnastics. So, I'm going to try belly dance. I don't like exercising, I'm lazy and yes, it shows. But if I exercise without knowing it (dance, gymnastics, sex...) I'll do it more.

Belly dance is popular in my area. New students come in to my Bollywood classes expecting it to be like belly dancing. They seem disappointed to find out that it only has an occasional belly dance-like move in it.

Have fun!

I recently began belly dancing at the beginning of January and I am in love with it. A woman had been teaching already at the building I began renting in September. The building had set empty for over a year and the owner was allowing her to use the building one night a week until it became rented out. I worked out a similar deal with her and decided to try a class out for myself. The beginner class is an hour and a half and I wish it was longer! Many times we run over because we all enjoy it so much and once we work on choreography last half of class, we just want to do it over and over. My abs always feel so good when I'm done! She offers 3 different levels of classes and a performance dance troupe. I can't wait to get good enough to join the performance troupe

I'm planning on starting a belly dance troupe by the end of this year. Am I setting my sights too high? Two hula classes, one Tahitian class and now a belly dance troupe? We'll see what happens, lol!

I love to see so many people getting into bellydance, especially if they're from a different dance background!

Dancing EMT: I find it particuarly good for upper back muscles. My lower back is shamefully weak despite years of bellydance, because of lordosis, so be careful of your posture.

Cele: eek! I wish I had your grasp of time; I don't know how you do it!

I've always wanted to try belly dancing. I would think it's quite good for your core.

I just signed up for a 4 week crash course! Kara's posts in the VCDT got me thinking about it...I have wanted to do it for so long and they are starting this course on Sunday, so I'm going to dive right in!

I am a little nervous though. I stopped Irish dancing because my ankles were too weak and my knees were bothering me. I have some hip issues, my leg muscles either don't work or are too tight, and my knees hurt. I hope I am not too broken for this, though. I need the exercise and miss dancing so much!

Gah! So excited!

^ It's fairly low impact compared to something like ID, but let your teacher you've got dodgy knees/ankles and suspect hips, too. As well as the lordosis, I've got the most ridiculously tight iliotibial bands and kneecaps which track wrong, which means that some hip movements (mayas/omis) are fairly restricted, and I can't keep my knees as soft as I really should. Keep your lower back neutral (it's meant to help the hips), try not to push yourself further than is comfortable, and use common sense: stop if something feels wrong.


.. my "Getting into something new" post: I tried a new class with a new teacher on Monday just gone. In the middle of nowhere. Not bad - she really tested my/my friend's paces when warming up to ensure we were up to the advanced class - but the lack of student input into choreo was really frustrating. We've been spoiled by our first teacher.

Naoise - I have found that the posture (slight bend to the knees) tends to make my quads a bit tight and if I don't stretch them thoroughly after class it makes my knees ache. So be aware of that. Otherwise, it's been pretty kind to my body. Except where I'm out of shape. But that's my fault, not the dance's.

I had my first class tonight....It was a lot of fun!!!! I'm definitely going to be feeling it in my abs tomorrow, maybe a little bit in my arms. But definitely in my stomach.