Learn Arabic Belly Dance Moves - Part 1

Belly dancing is not only about movement of the belly or just dancing! It is an amazing exercise too that tone up your entire body and energize your mind too. It is very good for those who fight obesity too. There are many people who started practicing Arabic belly-dance moves from videos like this and have lost weight plus they picked up some great belly dancing moves. So, it is highly recommended for any body who wants to lose weight, or learn belly-dancing for professional reasons or to just have fun.

Shoulders may tend to hurt for some beginners if they overdo. Listen to the instruction and you can do it right. For practicing the upper body movements, it doesn't matter how big your breast size is to do shoulder shimmy, or other moves. The vibrating movement of the breasts is natural during a shoulder shimmy, and you can perfect it like any trained professional belly dancer does.

Many new practitioners report that belly dancing is really not too different from your basic dance warm-up with all the isolations. It is easier and better to practice the moves with your friends rather than doing it alone, especially if the moves are found difficult or if you cannot reach perfection.

Turkish belly dancer in pink costume

Turkish Belly Dancer in hot pink, originally uploaded by Peace Correspondent.

The author of this Flickr photo adds: "Turkish Belly Dancer in hot pink - This performer shares her traditional Turkish belly dance interpretation during a show of the performing arts of Turkey in an Istanbul night club and restaurant. The audience this evening is a typical mix of tourists and visitors from dozens of countries around the world."

Belly dance forms currently being performed in Turkey, Greece and Cyprus is believed to have been influenced by Arabs before the Ottoman Empire as much as by the Egyptian Syrian and Lebanese belly dance forms.

It is understood that Turkish law does not impose restrictions on belly dancers, whereas in Egypt dancers are required to cover their midriffs and the dancers cannot perform some floor work and certain pelvic movements. This difference has resulted in a marked difference in style of belly dancing - ‘Egyptian belly dance is noted for its restraint and elegance, whereas Turkish belly dance is playful and uninhibited’. Costumes of Turkish belly dancers have been very revealing, but now there seems to be a move towards making the dancers wear more modest costumes similar to Egyptian-style belly dance costumes.

It has been noted that many professional belly dancers and musicians in Turkey are influenced by Romani heritage. Also styles from Kurdistan have an influence as Kurdish people too were mixed with the Ottoman Empire, because of which there is a lot of elements of fusion styles in Turkish belly dance. It is also to be noted that there is a distinct Turkish-Romani dance style which is different from Turkish oriental dance style. Turkish dancers are known for their energetic, athletic including even gymnastic styles, and their adept use of finger cymbals (zills).

Belly Dance: Raqs Baladi

El Gali, originally uploaded by Nico Nelson.

Raqs Baladi is the folkloric style of Middle Eastern dance, commonly called belly dance, performed socially by men and women of all ages in some Middle East countries at festive occasions and at ceremonies such as weddings.