Videos or books for overweight dancers?

Venefica

New member
Not long ago I bought a Pilates DVD. What was special this DVD is that it are made for fat pepole. It is named Plus Size Pilates. I also got a book named Megayoga which is about yoga for fat pepole. Now these two products are brilliant. Finally some Yoga and Pilates stuff for those of us which are overweight from pepole who understands that a fat body is not the same as a thin one, we can not always move in the ways a thin person can because frankly things like bellies and boobs get in the way, so in these products they have taken the classical moves and rewritten them to fit a overweight body, which get the thumbs up from me.

Now what I was wondering is if there exist any Bbelly Dance material, books or movies, which do the same. When I take classes I find that often I can not keep up with the others, not just because I am clumsy and learn all sort of physical stuff slowly, but also because I have to move my body differently. For example holding my arms out to the sides or up over my head for a long time, I can not do that. I weight 145 kg, meaning that my arms are very heavy, the same with holding poses. When I move different musculature get the strain but when I hold a pose it get to heavy very quickly. So I was wondering if there is any material out there specially made for us overweight folks, and where I could find it if there is.
 

lizaj

New member
I have a DVD...for the full-figure dancer by a Sohalia. It's a good general instruction DVD but I actaully couldn't see what made it so definitive for us bigger girls except that she had a larger student dancing the moves..and of course proving whatever your body shape you can look good doing this dance. If anyone wants the DVD, I am happy to sell it.
 

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
I teach from an "internal" point of view, getting you to use muscles in the torso to generate movement, rather than pushing against the ground. Because I teach this way, I do not feel the need to modify any of the basic muscle contractions for different body types.

Venefica -- I have had rail-thin students who could not hold their arms in 2nd or above their head for very long. And I have one heavier lady who has more upper body strength than I will ever DREAM of having. Holding your arms in position is just a matter of strength. Grab a small pair of hand weights and a dvd on toning your arms, and you'll be able to hold them up in no time.

I understand about flesh getting in the way though -- and having a larger chest or hip region will change the look of the movement. But the same basic muscle contraction is happening whether you're 100 pounds or 300. Leg and knee pain can be an issue with a heavier body (OR if you're wearing a weight belt, ladies!!), so you may need to practice in shorter periods of time, or practice some movements seated.

Yoga is different in that you are looking to place the body in specific poses, so I can see how you would have to modify some movements for different body shapes and sizes. But belly dance really shouldn't have those kind of positions, for the most part.
 
Venefica -- I have had rail-thin students who could not hold their arms in 2nd or above their head for very long. And I have one heavier lady who has more upper body strength than I will ever DREAM of having. Holding your arms in position is just a matter of strength.

This is so true. I'm overweight now and carry some of that on my arms, but it's made no difference to holding my arms out - I had trouble holding them out when I weighed 50 kg, too!
 
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