The exotic art of belly dancing is loved for many reasons.
It is a way for a woman to get reacquainted with her body and is a celebration of being a woman.
Some women are tempted to take up belly dancing as a feminine way to be creative, to commune with one another, to learn to move gracefully, and even as a sensual way to lose weight.
Belly dancing caught on in a big way in the U.
S.
in the 60s and 70s.
Interest has recently resurged due to its incorporation into the videos of pop performers such as Shakira and Britney Spears.
It's a great form of exercise and a lot of fun! Women of practically any age or any size can do it.
To achieve the perfect belly dancing posture, practice the following techniques: stand against a wall with your back flat, chest lifted, shoulders down and neck straight.
Place your feet as far apart as the width of your hips, with the backs of your heels against the wall.
Make sure your knees stay bent and that your upper back stays completely flat against the wall.
This is important, as it will keep your upper body from bending forward.
Keep your chest lifted and your shoulders down.
Your rib cage's lift will strongly oppose the downward-pulling muscles in your back.
When you feel tension on the muscles directly beneath your shoulder blades (lats), you will know you are doing it right.
Your lats should stretch and pull downward.
Get comfortable with the feeling of this new position.
Hold then slowly release.
Repeat this until you get the hang of it.
With enough practice, it will soon be second-nature.
Using these techniques can improve your moves and boost your confidence! Now lets move on to the tips on getting a bigger stage presence for belly dancing.
Shakira's famous song "Hips don't lie" has played a major role in spreading the belly dancing across the globe.
Well, the video was such a huge hit that both men and women went crazy about her movements.
However, belly dancing is not a European or American dance form as it is originated in the Middle Eastern countries and it is their traditional dance form.
Belly dancing now has grown to various countries and women take up belly dancing lessons mainly to remain healthy and also in shape.
The stage presence is extremely important for a belly dancer as she needs to remain calm and composed for the performance to look natural.
You are susceptible to make errors on the stage since you are a human being; however, the important thing is to hide it and recover from the error with a beautiful improvisation.
Also, you will be subjected to the fixed gaze of as many people and you wouldn't find this completely comfortable.
What is the solution to tackle this? Well you can follow the "up and over" technique to overcome the stage fright.
Also, it's extremely important to make the audience feel that they have your attention.
A sense of connection with the audience is important and you this will enable you to confidently dance before them.
How does this up and over technique work? Well, in this technique you basically stay away from making eye contact with your audience.
Then how does that work? Well, giving attention to one or two won't help the rest of the audience, either.
Given that, you need to make them feel that they have your attention.
For this, look above the head of the audience.
Your eyes should be set to one level above where they sit.
You make eye contact with an imaginary row and act as if some people are sitting there.
You keep your gaze fixed at one point and slowly move the attention to another point to the left or right.
This will give an impression that you are keeping an eye contact with somebody or other and this will help them to engage in the performance for the rest of the show.