Forums > Social Chat > belly dancers
Login/Join to ParticipatePooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx
Posted:
so no, as a disclaimer, i'm not good or anything. i only know a little bit. as a dancer, it's how i move anyway, all snakey, but i'm not like the belly dance king or anything. i can move, and make it look pretty belly dance esque. but learning how to REALLY belly dance is helping me get my *ahem* hip area more invloved in my dancing without looking like a dorky white guy at a nasty boody rubbin R&B concert trying to get some... convulsin an gyratin and people callin da ambulance...
but i'm finding that i am of a rare breed indeed... any other guys out there belly dance? any? at all?
it is soooo good for your spine!!!! and let's not forget they have a way better version of "the wave" than breakdancers...
anyway... here's a really cool site with some instruction links that has been helping me, if anyone's interested... my favorite so far is the "belly dance with boticelli" site.
belly dance instruction on the web
[ 01. January 2003, 16:13: Message edited by: arashi ]
so no, as a disclaimer, i'm not good or anything. i only know a little bit. as a dancer, it's how i move anyway, all snakey, but i'm not like the belly dance king or anything. i can move, and make it look pretty belly dance esque. but learning how to REALLY belly dance is helping me get my *ahem* hip area more invloved in my dancing without looking like a dorky white guy at a nasty boody rubbin R&B concert trying to get some... convulsin an gyratin and people callin da ambulance...
but i'm finding that i am of a rare breed indeed... any other guys out there belly dance? any? at all?
it is soooo good for your spine!!!! and let's not forget they have a way better version of "the wave" than breakdancers...
anyway... here's a really cool site with some instruction links that has been helping me, if anyone's interested... my favorite so far is the "belly dance with boticelli" site.
belly dance instruction on the web
[ 01. January 2003, 16:13: Message edited by: arashi ]
-Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.
enthusiast
201 posts
Location: Australia
201 posts
Location: Australia
Posted:
I love belly dancing! It's so lusciously beautiful... I always thought it was a succulent woman thing, but after reading this thread I'm quite impressed. It much be a lot more of a challenge for men cos they are generally not as fluid in the hip and tummmy areas. Keep up the great work!
I love dancing with fire (hence my name
)... I guess you could say it's partial belly dancing mixed in with my own style. I'm starting fire dancing workshops for women to 'Awaken the Goddess Within' 
, with an emphasis on dance. But now I'm thinking I should have them for men as well...
they're probably not as open to that kind of thing here in Australia...
I love belly dancing! It's so lusciously beautiful... I always thought it was a succulent woman thing, but after reading this thread I'm quite impressed. It much be a lot more of a challenge for men cos they are generally not as fluid in the hip and tummmy areas. Keep up the great work!
I love dancing with fire (hence my name
)... I guess you could say it's partial belly dancing mixed in with my own style. I'm starting fire dancing workshops for women to 'Awaken the Goddess Within' , with an emphasis on dance. But now I'm thinking I should have them for men as well... they're probably not as open to that kind of thing here in Australia...
Pooh-Bah
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx
2,364 posts
Location: austin,tx
Posted:
i dunno, my dancing has always been pretty oriented in the orange chakra area so i would tend to disagree, i am very comfortable moving that area of my body and can pick up a new movement pretty quickly. i think if a guy can dance in the first place (which is the rare part) then it should be just as easy or hard to do belly as it is for a girl. i grew up around african americans so dancing for me has always been a lower down "booty shakin" thang, not the white guys' chicken head bobbing dance. so i may be a rarity, but i know i'm not _that_ rare, cause i've found that there's other belly guys even here in my city. i encourage you to go coed, as long as you can feel the guy out and you don't think he'd add a creepy lecherous vibe, which some guys can do without even being pigs necessarily. getting pervy just happens to the best of us when you get around lots of girls moving their hips around... me i'm waaay used to it by now and it doesn't even scratch me. course i am a pervert but some things will never change 
- i just keep it out of the dance studio. mostly 
i dunno, my dancing has always been pretty oriented in the orange chakra area so i would tend to disagree, i am very comfortable moving that area of my body and can pick up a new movement pretty quickly. i think if a guy can dance in the first place (which is the rare part) then it should be just as easy or hard to do belly as it is for a girl. i grew up around african americans so dancing for me has always been a lower down "booty shakin" thang, not the white guys' chicken head bobbing dance
. so i may be a rarity, but i know i'm not _that_ rare, cause i've found that there's other belly guys even here in my city. i encourage you to go coed, as long as you can feel the guy out and you don't think he'd add a creepy lecherous vibe, which some guys can do without even being pigs necessarily. getting pervy just happens to the best of us when you get around lots of girls moving their hips around... me i'm waaay used to it by now and it doesn't even scratch me. course i am a pervert but some things will never change - i just keep it out of the dance studio. mostly -Such a price the gods exact for song: to become what we sing
-Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
-When the center of the storm does not move, you are in its path.
BRONZE Member
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA
the henna lady
6,193 posts
Location: WNY, USA
Posted:
An Ami (pronounce Uh-me) is one of the moves men have to be wary of. It is actually a horizontal rolling contraction of the lower abdominals (starting with an oblique and working across to the other one) resulting in, to use poi terms, forward wall plane oval. Many a man has pulled groin muscles and pulled lower back muscles doing this move, so watch out!
Flutters, I think, as well as bellyrolls, look silly on anyone...which is why they are so much fun and wonderful.
As to the flutter and breathing at the same time, it is detrimental to your diaphragm. You are telling it to do two different things at the same time (contract and expand) which can result in damage/pulling/etc. to it. For a flutter you should hold your breath.
I went to a workshop not long ago and she had a great statement for things like flutters, rolls, gum twirls for Melayaa, etc....they are tricks. Not imperitive to the dance but they command attention...so do it once for a short time to get the response and move on. No need to linger or prolong it, because it takes the sharpness and mystery away from it. She then did a demo and was totally right. Which means in the end, you don't need to do flutters that long (and shouldn't anyway as technically they are like bellyrolls and can have an effect internally if done too much). It is a fun thing to hear the audience reaction.
Want to get them stronger and more dramatic. Fill the bath tub (or sit in a jacuzzi), and do them laying in the tub. Having to displace the water strengthens your movements while soothing your muscles at the same time. Works wonders
I think it is awesome that you have really embraced this! I am so excited to see you perform at some point!
I am not working with Hipchik right now because I am involved in another show and the time/travel constraints would have been brutal. I am doing alot of choreography solo though for my new show in the spring. I am also looking forward to going to Arizona in Feb where I will be able to work with some of my dance idols, and just hang with them as well. Yay!
BTW...recently added more Hula to my arsenal...way too fun!
FDF...there are men who dance in Aus. I know a couple, though they are few and far in between.
Happy Shimmies!
An Ami (pronounce Uh-me) is one of the moves men have to be wary of. It is actually a horizontal rolling contraction of the lower abdominals (starting with an oblique and working across to the other one) resulting in, to use poi terms, forward wall plane oval. Many a man has pulled groin muscles and pulled lower back muscles doing this move, so watch out!
Flutters, I think, as well as bellyrolls, look silly on anyone...which is why they are so much fun and wonderful.
As to the flutter and breathing at the same time, it is detrimental to your diaphragm. You are telling it to do two different things at the same time (contract and expand) which can result in damage/pulling/etc. to it. For a flutter you should hold your breath.
I went to a workshop not long ago and she had a great statement for things like flutters, rolls, gum twirls for Melayaa, etc....they are tricks. Not imperitive to the dance but they command attention...so do it once for a short time to get the response and move on. No need to linger or prolong it, because it takes the sharpness and mystery away from it. She then did a demo and was totally right. Which means in the end, you don't need to do flutters that long (and shouldn't anyway as technically they are like bellyrolls and can have an effect internally if done too much). It is a fun thing to hear the audience reaction.
Want to get them stronger and more dramatic. Fill the bath tub (or sit in a jacuzzi), and do them laying in the tub. Having to displace the water strengthens your movements while soothing your muscles at the same time. Works wonders
I think it is awesome that you have really embraced this! I am so excited to see you perform at some point!
I am not working with Hipchik right now because I am involved in another show and the time/travel constraints would have been brutal. I am doing alot of choreography solo though for my new show in the spring. I am also looking forward to going to Arizona in Feb where I will be able to work with some of my dance idols, and just hang with them as well. Yay!
BTW...recently added more Hula to my arsenal...way too fun!
FDF...there are men who dance in Aus. I know a couple, though they are few and far in between.
Happy Shimmies!
Pele
Higher, higher burning fire...making music like a choir
"Oooh look! A pub!" -exclaimed after recovering from a stupid fall
"And for the decadence of art, nothing beats a roaring fire." -TMK
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