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In the Beginning: Belly Dance Posture

What’s the first thing you should learn in a belly dance class?  Posture. Why is posture so important?  It is the very foundation of the dance.  ALL movements emanate from your posture. You cannot be a great belly dancer without it.  As a matter of fact, you cannot even be a competent dancer without it.

Basically, proper belly dance posture is this - starting from the top:

Head and neck directly over your torso, shoulders slightly back, chest/sternum slightly lifted, your legs should be directly under your hips and aligned with your torso, a soft bend in your knees, feet pointing forward.  You should practice this so much that you feel relaxed and comfortable in this position.

Here are some examples of problems that occur when you do not have good belly dance posture.

Neck: I have seen dancer’s with their head thrust out past her body.  This isn’t a problem with the head; it’s the dancer’s neck.  Be sure your neck is alignment with your body. You many have to practice pushing your neck back over your body. 

Lifted Sternum/Shoulders:  A dancer who is not standing with their shoulders back and with a sunken sternum will have no energy in her dance. This is such a small thing that you can fix and will make a huge difference in your stage presence. Keep your shoulders back and your sternum lifted and your audience’s eye will be riveted on you.  It will give you energy and make you more confident.

Legs:  I attended a show some years ago and there was an experienced dancer who we had not seen before; we were told she was supposed to be the bees knees in belly dance.  Within seconds I realized there was something very wrong with her dancing. It was off and awkward and you just felt uncomfortable watching her, like when you see someone wearing improperly fitting clothes.  In less than a minute, I knew what was wrong.  I stood up from my chair just enough to see her feet and legs.  Her legs were too far apart and she was also dancing flat-footed with her feet were turned out.  A friend of mine said you could drive a tricycle through her legs. :)  Dancers who do dance with their legs too far apart have movements that are rough looking and out of control.  You can also physically hurt yourself.

Your legs need to be under you when dancing just as you do when you are walking.  If not you are off balance.  Your torso needs your legs under you. In the above example the belly dancer’s performance looked awkward because basically she was off balance and had little control of her body or dance.  Good posture will give you control and balance over your body.

There are just a few exceptions to this rule, like a wide hip circle, however dancers that do wide hip circles also pull their legs back in when they have finished the movement.

Have you ever seen a skeletal chart at a doctor’s office?  Take a good look at it.

Look at the alignment of the body. Notice that the legs are aligned with the torso.

You must always have a slight bend or what I like to call a “softness” in the knees. Don’t ever lock your knees. Bending your knees will prevent you from injuring your knees.

Feet:  Your feet are your connection to the earth.  In many cases your feet are the beginning point of your dance. 

No matter what level of dance you are currently at, please review your posture. Before you start a lesson, take a minute and put yourself in that good posture.

At IAMED, we feel so strongly about proper belly dance posture, many of our instructional videos start with a review of posture.

Good posture will give your dance the following:

Your dance will be balanced, centered and therefore graceful.

You will be able to build technique and movements.

You will become the belly dancer you always wanted to be!

Suzy Evans

BellyDance.org
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Now this is good posture!

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Keith Drosin Belly Dance Photographs

We are looking for photographs taken by Keith Drosin.  Keith was an amazing photographer who specialized in belly dance photography.  Most of his work was in black and white but there are color photographs out there in the belly dance realm.  IAMED will be adding a gallery to the BellyDance.org website dedicated to his work which will also serve as a memorial to him. He primarily took photos in the areas he lived in - New Mexico and Los Angeles. Keith was one of my photographers at the Belly Dance Awards shows.  He did a number of shoots for me in L.A. and took photos - which have become famous - of belly dancers such as Jillina  and Ansuya.  His photos graced the front of the flyers for the Belly Dance Awards shows since the first show.

My friend Keith Drosin passed away in August 2000, coincidentally on the same day as the 4th Awards of Belly Dance.

While I have a number of his photos, I want the gallery to be as complete as possible. If you or you know of anyone who had their photo taken by Keith, please have them contact me through the BellyDance.org website.  We do not need hard copies, they can be emailed. Please share this post and get the word out.

Thank you,
Suzy Evans
BellyDance.org

Ansuya by Keith Drosin

A New Belly Dance Release Coming Soon

In less than 2 weeks we will be releasing a new belly dance performance DVD called The Stars of Belly Dance.
The DVD includes performances by Amanda Rose, Amara, Anaheed, Aubre, Ava Fleming, Celeste, Farasha, Kaya, Marguerite, Sadie, Sherri and Tamra-henna.
Stay tuned....

Suzy Evans
BellyDance.org

Count Your Blessings

With Christmas just around the corner, its a good time to think about how blessed we are.  No matter what your circumstances, if you are financially sound or not, whether you are physically challenged or have great health; there are many things we can be grateful for.

I remember a conversation I had with a young man several years ago.  He had a horrific home life.  No father in the house and a mother who was an abusive drug addict.  I could fully understand why he was depressed and felt he had no hope.  When I told him he was actually a lucky person, he thought I was crazy.  He just needed to change his psychology.  I told him every night before he went to sleep to think of 3 things to be grateful for. Initially he said he could not think of anything, so I helped him get started.
"I am healthy, I have friends, I am young, I have many opportunities to become anything I want to be, I just ate delicious hamburger today...."

And then I told him to start helping other people.  At first he did not grasp this concept.  I told him that if he just did some small thing to help someone everyday, it would change his life.  Helping does not necessarily mean giving someone money.  There are many ways to help someone that don't cost anything.  
Pay somebody a compliment everyday, someone you know or a stranger. Go visit someone in an adult care facility, pick a person that does not get visitors. Give somebody a flower.

This young man is now doing much better.  He's got a job and is on his own.

Suzy Evans
BellyDance.org

A Black Belly Dance Costume

Is a black belly dance costume like a black pair of shoes?

You just can't have too many belly dance costumes. Let's face it, costumes are half the fun of belly dance. As a matter of fact some belly dancers became belly dancers because of the costumes.  A friend of mine started her career in dance because someone gave her a cheap belly dance costume for Halloween.  She started taking lessons and got hooked.  That was about 15 years ago.

As far as owning a black costume, I think it is like a black pair of shoes.  You can't have just one pair. So ladies, don't feel guilty if you just have to have more than one black costume. Sure, men never understand it, its just a girl thing.

BellyDance.org
Belly Dance-O-Rama

Sadie wearing a fabulous black costume in Belly Dance-O-Rama

Dynamic Combinations Ava Fleming DVD

Dynamic Combinations - Traveling in Style with Ava Fleming was Ava's first instructional video produced by IAMED.

I approached Ava about what she wanted to teach on a DVD.  We tossed around ideas and decided on combinations, but with a twist.  Ava wanted to do something unique with her combos - they would all be traveling combinations.  These combos could be used to travel onto a stage, move you across a stage if you wanted to work the other side or use to move off stage.

Ava's combos on this DVD are truly amazing. They are complex and interesting.  Check out the video clip for this DVD on our site.  Click Here for more info and the clip.

Suzy Evans
BellyDance.org