Belly and Egyptian Dance
Moves, Steps and Routines

The emphasis here will be on power and balance. You’ll be using your core (the central muscles around the diaphragm area) in everything you do. It is engaging these muscles that will keep your movements smooth.

Initially, you will be taught the basic stance. This is your posture for the dance.

It is heavy through the hips, feet pushed into the floor. And from the hips upwards, pulled up, spine and neck elongated as much as possible, head held high, shoulders pulled down.

Once in this stance, if you have got it correctly, you should be able to feel energy pushing up through the floor into your feet and up into your body, and finally out of the top of your head. You do really push up from and down into the floor – an interesting concept!

A lot of other dances rely on simply resting on the floor for support. In this dance you are actually drawing energy, drawing the dance up from it. The dance is rooted and grows up through you.

Tiny hand and arm movements will be introduced in a circle pattern. Then engaging the core, you will circle your diaphragm in a very subtle loop.

Keep the diaphragm lifted and the shoulders down. Lock the hips down – pubic bone heavy and pointing down.

Dancing with the feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another.  - Author Unknown

These moves are feminine, effective and easy.

Next, you’ll probably try circling the hip bone whilst keeping your central line straight. Try a double circle with one hip bone – like drawing a figure 8 on its side.

Push your feet hard down into the floor – like you are stepping on your car pedals. These tiny, undulating movements all come from the floor – although if you get the movements right, nobody’s going to be looking at your feet!

All these moves are tiny and that posture you mastered at the beginning should still be intact in everything you do.

Your teacher might introduce a turn which again will be kept small and simple. But some turns have a flick of the hip added at the end – this looks sensational and will give you a taste of the higher levels of the dance.

By now, the music will be more intense and your movements faster and more voluptuous.

You’ll learn an Egyptian hip drop or a Turkish hip swivel. The Turkish style is exaggerated with wild body movements and shoulders flung back. The Egyptian one is much more subtle and far sexier.

When you put all your moves together with the music and the sound of the hip jewellery really takes off – you’ll have entered another world. This is fantastic dancing and all in your first lesson.

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