Belly dancing, who would have thought.
I have always wanted to belly dance. I recall one time we went to a turkish restaurant and during dinner they entertained us with a belly dancer. Oh boy, could she shake. I really thought that I could do that, no problem, what is so hard about shaking your hips. What girl would not be able to belly dance?
Hello, meet the girl who could not do it.
When my gym offered belly dancing classes I thought, now here is my chance to shake my bootie. Boy, did I found out the hard way that it is not so easy to do. Easy to watch, but not easy to do.
The instructor passed out skirt scarfs , which we wrapped around our waist. Jingle, jingle went the scarfs, as we all swiveled our hips and laughed. I could do this, no problem real easy.
Then the instructor started to belly dance. Oops! Not so easy. Why my hips did not move around like hers, and certainly not as fast. Wow, how does she do that? Not only did her hips move, her arms began flowing out from her side like a snake dancing for his master. What choreography.I have taken her class for the last 3 weeks and learned a few tricks. I learned that shaking you hips is not just a hip shake, your hips need assistance from your knees and feet. When you incorporate these your hips begin to shake. Keep this going and your hips take on speed. It does take concentration and a lot of control. This reminded me of what Kristie Alley recently said about dancing, she stated that dancing helps your brain as well as your body, I certainly agree, belly dancing is not a mindless movement. It will take me some time to get all the moves I am willing to wait. I know that belly dancing is a great form of exercise and belly dancing helps strengthen the muscles behind the belly wall. I surely need these muscles strengthened.
So if you haven’t guessed by now I will be continuing this class and hope to learn the routine and the moves. Oh, by the way not only do you need to shake your hips,legs, feet and arms you will need to also shake your chest, all part of this exotic dance. So shake it up. 