How
to Belly Dance
Since I started my website I receive emails from people all over the world
wanting to know how they can learn to belly dance. The best way to
learn belly dancing is from an instructor. A teacher can work with
you and make sure you are executing a move correctly. You can ask
questions if you feel your are doing something wrong. I know I learn
from watching, so it's nice to have someone in front of you demonstrating
the movement. But let's face it, this is not always
feasible. This is not an all inclusive lists of sources, hopefully this page will start you in the right direction.
Check back from time to time, I will be adding more information to this
page as I find it.
Articles
Belly Dance Instruction on the Web
Books
Costuming
Finding an Instructor
Videos
Veil Dancing
Zills
Articles
Core
Belly Dance Moves and Steps - by Atea
Give
Your Dance a Face Lift - by Jasmin Jahal
In
Search of a Better Belly - by Jasmin Jahal
Learn
How to Belly Dance - the Atea Method - by Atea
Zaramaya's
Tips for Flawless Technique - from Zarasemporium website
Belly Dance Instruction on the Web - websites that offer instruction,
lessons and papers on belly dancing.
Aziza Sa'id's
Lessons Online - two lessons are currently available, Hip Lift &
Drop and Shoulder Shimmy. Aziza Sa'id did an excellent job with
the graphics.
Belly
Dance Lesson Online - three lessons - beginning, intermediate and
advance from Ankestamen's website. Also included is a beginning
cane choreography.
Cassiopeia's How to
Execute a Bellydance Move - from how to belly dance online videos
Dance
Movement of the Month - Aszmara highlights a different move every
month on her page.
Egyptian
Belly Dancing: putting moves together - 20 short video clips
covering basic move, zills, putting it all together and
costuming.
Expert
Village - online video lessons
How to Do Belly Dance Moves - explanation of how to do various
belly dance moves and more from Shira's website.
How
to Prepare to Perform Belly Dancing - online video lesson from
Expert Village with Johanna Kryntzky
Kawakib's Dance Tips - Instructional
papers on the art of Oriental (belly) Dance for beginners through
teacher levels
Movements
Page - from Middle Eastern Dance page
top
Books - there are more instructional
books on this subject but they are out of print. Check used
bookstores and your local library to find more sources.
Search Amazon for instructional books on belly dancing
Intermediate Belly Dancing by Vicki Corona.
Provides a brief culture lesson on Saudi Arabia, describes how to do about 18
intermediate-level moves, offers a few finger cymbal rhythms, provides a structure for
combining movements into a complete dance, and introduces what a dancer should know when
beginning to perform for an audience.
Mass Market Paperback - 28 pages 1 Ed edition, Earth Dance International Publishing; ISBN:
1585130249
Nefertiti
Presents...Belly Dancing "the basics"
a dedication to Nerfertit
by Sherry Jeffries (Ankestamen) Instructional aid,
or just for fun!
40 page, GBC bound, flip style, illustrated book for learning basic belly dance moves.
Detailed instructions on 20 basic moves, basic veil, floor work and zills.
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Finding an Instructor - don't know where to
look to find an instructor? Here are a few suggestions:
- check your local yellow pages under dance studios or dance
instruction
- restaurants in your area that have dancers
- your local city's Parks & Recreation department
- the Internet - several websites have a dancer or teachers directory
- also email dancer's that you find on the Internet, they might be
able to help
- colleges and universities - some offer noncredit classes that might
include belly dancing if it is not offered as a credit course
- health clubs
- new age stores
- Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA)
- if you see a dancer perform, ask, they will be glad to help - this
could be at the fair, a grand opening, a festival, a singing telegram
or belly gram, etc.
Props - performing with props adds a lot to
ones dance and is a lot of fun and at times can be challenging.
Cane (Raqs al Assaya)
Belly
Dancing with a Stick - by Valeria Lolacono
Raqs al Assaya
- by Lorelle
Fan Veils
video
Fabulous FanVeilzz
with Mahsati Janan
Isis Wings
video
Isis Wings with Phoenix
Shamadan
How
to Bellydance with a Shamadan - by Juliet Myfanwy Johnson
Shemandan
Dancing - by Lucy Smith
Snakes
articles
Belly
Dancing with Snakes - by Neferteri
Dancing
with Snakes - by Maria
Dancing with Snakes
- by Shira
More
than you ever wanted to know about Living with Constrictors -
by Eva Cernik
Snake
Dancing - from Middle Eastern Dance Resource Guide
Snakes
and Shakes - by Jasmin Jahal
video
Belly Dance with Snakes
Sword
articles
Choosing
and Dancing with a Belly Dance Sword - by Zarifa
How
to belly dance with a Sword - by Christina Jordan
How to
Choose a Belly Dance Balancing Sword - by Marisa Wright
Selecting,
Using and Strong Balanced Props - by Princess Farhana
Swords and Scimitars
- by Aziza Sa'di
Tips & Tricks for
Swords - by Shira
video
Belly Dance for Balance
Sword Stylization with Belladonna
Tray
video
Bellydance Tray Balancing Technique
Veil Poi
video
Poi Spinning for Beginners
Voi
Veil Dancing - one of the most
moving, flowing, expressive and prettiest part of belly dancing. This is one of my favorite props to work with.
Articles
Dancing
with a Veil - by Jasmin Jahal
The
Great American Belly Dance Veil Routine - by Najia El Mouzayen (from
the Gilded Serpent)
Making
a Dance Veil - from Ruric-Amari website
The Wonderful
Art of Veil Dancing - from Dancers of the Desert website
Books and DVD's/Videos
Bellydancing
with Veils - video by Cory Zamora
Double and Single Veil - instructional video with Joynan
Fabulous Four Yard Veils with Shoshanna
How
to Belly Dance with a Veil - online video dance lesson from Expert
Village
How
to Dance with a Veil - online video dance lessons from eHow.com
Petite Jamilla Unveiled: double veil instructional
Seven Veils - romantic Bellydance
Veil
Dancing - clips of various dancers from You Tube
Veil with Aziza - instructional DVD with Aziza
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Videos - this is a wonderful way to learn
belly dancing. Doesn't matter if you are a beginner or a
professional dancer, you can learn from video
tapes. Don't think you can only learn from instructional videos, you
can learn a lot from performance tapes also. A video shouldn't
replace an instructor, they are a great tool to use along with
lessons. If you don't have an instructor or classes in your area
videos are the best.
One of the best sources to find belly dance video tapes is the Middle
Eastern Dance Video Sourcebook edited by Donna Carlton.
It's a wonderful resource for both instructional and performance
videos. The guide is updated every year in April.
The Internet is another good source. Try to find websites that have video
reviews. This will help you in making a decision on what to
buy. Also ask dancers about the videos they like before you
buy.
Online auction sites, like eBay are a great source for purchasing belly
dance videos.
Check out your local library to see if they might have a video to check
out.
Also check out bookstores, (don't forget the web bookstores) and
electronic stores, like Best Buys, that carry videos.
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Zills - also known as finger cymbals, and sagats. These
circular disks really add a lot to your dancing.
I posed a question on my website asking dancers, "Do you play
zills when you dance? I was amazed at the results, (see survey
below). I love playing zills and it adds so much to your
dance, so I decided to add more info to this section. Don't give up,
keep trying you will succeed.
Articles
Basic Dumbek &
Zills for Dancers - from Heavyhips website. Includes zill
patterns.
Finger Cymbals for
the Beginning Student - by Miramar
How do I Clean My
Zills? - FAQ from Aziza Sa'id's website
Rhythms
& Cymbal Patterns - article by Jasmin Jahal
Zills
- from the Middle Eastern Dance page. Topics covered are history
of zills, care of zills and zill patterns.
Books, Audio Tapes and Videos
Bellydance with Zils - instructional DVD with Elsa Leandros and Raquy
Danziger
The Dancing Cymbalist - How to play music with finger cymbals & dance at the same time
-
by Jenna Woods
Finger Cymbal Fantasies - by Vicki Corona
Finger Cymbals for Belly Dance - instructional DVD, Tobias Roberson
with Rachel Brice & Mardi Love
Hahbi 'Ru The
Cymbal Dance Level Three - advance zill/dance routine, awesome!
(scroll down the page to the video)
How to Play
Finger Cymbals - video with Mesmera, beginning to intermediate (scroll down the page to the video)
Learn Finger Cymbals with Ansuya - DVD with Ansuya, beginning to intermediate
Playing
Finger Cymbals - online video lesson from eHow.com
Wanna Dance
Zill Workshop with Shamina - video for beginner to intermediate.
Z-Helene's
Finger Cymbals for the Intermediate & Advance Belly Dancer -
video with Z-Helene
Zills & Drums: thrilling,
chilling zilling - CD by Armando (scroll down the page to the CD)
Zills on Fire: a
finger cymbal workshop - CD and instructional booklet. Page
contains downloads of various rhythms
Zills
with Zahira - Three's - DVD with Zahira, beginning to intermediate
drills
Online Lessons
Online Finger Cymbal Workshop - find lessons, videos and books on
how to play the finger cymbals. Great source from Shira's page.
Practicing
with the Finger Cymbals (also known as sagats or zills) - article by
Jasmin Jahal
Zills on Fire: the
basics of music - learn about music tempo, pulse and zill
patterns. Check out the instructional CD and workbook at the
bottom of the page.
Zill Patterns
Arabic Segat Rhythms
- by Karim Nagi Mohammed
Survey (1/04)
| Belly
Dance Survey |
Do
you play zills when you dance? [213
votes total]
|
| Yes
(76) |
36% |
| No
(12) |
6% |
| Sometimes
(84) |
39% |
| Would
never play them (1) |
0% |
| Never
learned (18) |
8% |
| I
can play zills but not while dancing (22) |
10% |
|
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|