New to bellydance, but i really wanna learn it! :)

Zhara03

New member
Hi.
So i'm pretty new to bellydance, althrough i have watched it a lot and tryed some moves. But i have never really danced it a lot, and i dont know many of the moves. But i'm very attracted to the dance and the beautiful music, and i would love to learn some bellydanceing.

I can't really afford attending a(nother) danceing class, so i will have to learn it by my self and youtube.

I'm just thinking about when practiceing. I'm already a dancer, and i dance hiphop and dancehall, but dancehall is my fav. :) So i wanna ask how much your practice and how you started out with danceing? And if my dancehall, where there also is a lot of focus on hips, belly, body rolls, whine and etc. would help me to get it quicker, atother because there not will be so much tecnique?

Thanks in advance
 

Yame

New member
I don't know how good you are at hip hop or dancehall, but assuming you are fairly proficient at both, I think you should have an easy time with belly dance basics, isolations especially. But you really need to pay attention to your posture and the way you do the moves, the emphases, etc. If you're good with self-assessment and at being able to tell these things just by watching video, then you probably won't have much of a problem, but if not, then you will probably think you're doing a great job when in reality it just looks like you're doing dancehall or hip hop to belly dance music.
 

Kashmir

New member
With your background you should be able to control your body to express the basic vocab (a bit like learning French if you already know Italian). But belly dance is not just a bunch of moves. It needs to express the (Middle Eastern) music in a "belly dance" way.

If you cannot do classes (and I really recommend doing some classes - at least a few private lessons) it is hard as an outsider to understand how to express the music as a belly dancer (not just doing moves). For instance, without a teacher, would you be able to recognize a khaleegi section (or few bars) and know what to do with it? Problem is, without a teacher you won't know what you don't know!

Next best is buying a performance DVD - YouTube just doesn't cut it - of a classic belly dancer. Watch full routines and follow along - over and over - and over and over. (This might also indicate where your weaknesses are) Then after a month or so try another DVD.
 

Ariadne

Well-known member
With your dance background I would recommend asking Cassandra for suggestions. She dances both a fusion and Oriental style BD and might be able to help you understand the difference in the vocabulary.
 

Sophia Maria

New member
Congrats on finding bellydance!

I definitely agree with Yame, if you have a hip hop and dancehall background I think you will understand isolations very well, but posture is so different. Bellydancers really carry themselves differently from other dancers. I think you should find at least an experienced dancer, if not a teacher to work with because they will correct your posture. I came from a modern dance background and it took me a good year or two to really correct my posture, with the help of a teacher.

Find workshops in your area! Good luck! Also, this is a good DVD http://www.amazon.com/Bellydance-Basics-Beyond-Technique-Foundation/dp/B000FSL8WQ
 

miiya

New member
Hi! I'm new here. ^^

Um so this is probably in the wrong thread but I have a question. I really like belly dancing so far and I can't do all the moves, which is understandable since I am a beginner. I also have a leg length discrepancy and I cannot keep both of my feet flat on the floor without an insert. Am I allowed to wear shoes? or do I just slip the insert into my sock?....or tape it to my foot? :D Just kidding about the taping...But I really want to know.:pray: I am having major trouble with learning the hip roll and hip slide because of this. Thanks all!
 

Mosaic

Super Moderator
Um so this is probably in the wrong thread but I have a question. I really like belly dancing so far and I can't do all the moves, which is understandable since I am a beginner. I also have a leg length discrepancy and I cannot keep both of my feet flat on the floor without an insert. Am I allowed to wear shoes? or do I just slip the insert into my sock?....or tape it to my foot? :D Just kidding about the taping...But I really want to know.:pray: I am having major trouble with learning the hip roll and hip slide because of this. Thanks all!
Welcome to the forum. There is no reason why you can't wear shoes, it is perfectly OK, and as it will help you, I'd say it was necessary. I wear shoes in class, a very soft sole jazz slipper which is not the same thing as you need:D But they help me to turn without wrenching a gammy ankle. I sometimes wear shoes when dancing at shows, sometimes I don't depends on the style of dance, but those shoes are dressy with a low cuban heel. One of my teachers wears a soft jazz shoe to teach the other one doesn't, so it really is personal preference.
~Mosaic
 

miiya

New member
Thanks so much for replying! That was super helpful. Um i wear a size 4 shoe...do you know where I could find shoes that size? a 5 would just be too big. ><
 

Pirika Repun

New member
Thanks so much for replying! That was super helpful. Um i wear a size 4 shoe...do you know where I could find shoes that size? a 5 would just be too big. ><

Hi miiya

I wear dance sneaker when I take class, because I need cushion for my knees and back which my chiropractor told me. But when I perform I usually bear foot or some times wear dance shoes depends on the floor.

I have small foot too, and you can buy kids side dance shoes/sneaker from dance store. I'm not sure where you live, but you can buy dance shoes from dance store, dance school or ballet school too. ;) Hey kids side are cheaper than adult one. :)
 

Mosaic

Super Moderator
Thanks so much for replying! That was super helpful. Um i wear a size 4 shoe...do you know where I could find shoes that size? a 5 would just be too big. ><
As Pirika suggested dance supply stores would be the best place to shop for shoes, or you can go online and search for dance shoes. Ebay is another place and you can get them fairly cheaply on Ebay.
~Mosaic
 

Darshiva

Moderator
It's fine to wear shoes when dancing. AFAIK, bellydance is the only style where barefoot is part of the culture and then pretty much only in the west. We need to protect our feet when dancing, particularly if we have injuries or body asymmetry. So to make you feel a little better, here's a pic of me performing wearing a pair of jazz shoes and an ankle brace. Nobody noticed the shoes - they were far too busy watching me dance. Afterward, nobody made a big deal out of it because they knew about my ankle injury and were mostly happy that I'd been able to dance for them. The moral is to take care of yourself first. If a teacher insists on bare feet in spite of your need for specialist foot support, FIND ANOTHER TEACHER.

 

Yame

New member
IMO it's good to opt for footwear in class anyway. I perform mostly barefoot (when I can), but in class I like to wear something on my feet.

This is because when you are dancing for over and hour and repeating the same things over and over again (many of which include traveling moves on demi-pointe and spins and pivoting turns), it's not good for the feet, ankles, and knees to be constantly pivoting on a naked foot, which has no "slide" to it and therefore builds torque on the knees and ankles, which could lead to injury over time.

Personally, I opt for foot undeez because I like the almost-barefoot feel, but I don't have a problem with other people wearing other kinds of dance footwear that have a fair amount of slide to them (sandals, jazz shoes, ballet slippers, etc... on carpet I even allow socks, but on other surfaces socks can be dangerous because they slide *too much*).

So you just need to look around to see what kind of dance shoe would work with your inserts.
 

jaimeeligan

New member
Personally, I opt for foot undeez because I like the almost-barefoot feel, but I don't have a problem with other people wearing other kinds of dance footwear that have a fair amount of slide to them (sandals, jazz shoes, ballet slippers, etc... on carpet I even allow socks, but on other surfaces socks can be dangerous because they slide *too much*).
.

Doesn't the foot undeez slip out of your foot when you dance?
 

Yame

New member
Doesn't the foot undeez slip out of your foot when you dance?

If they slipped out, what would be the point of wearing them? :p

No, if you get them in the right size they shouldn't slip out. They come in small, medium, and large for narrow, normal, and wide feet, respectively.

They should fit tightly and snuggly, so that they don't come off when you dance. You might have to readjust them if dancing for extended periods of time, but if they are slipping out altogether then you got a size that's too large.
 
Top