Monday, 1 July 2013

Belly Dance

Belly dance or bellydance is a Western-coined name for "solo, improvised dances based on torso articulation" originating from the Middle East, especially raqs sharqi (Arabic: رقص شرقي‎). Other names which are sometimes used for the dance in English speaking countries include Oriental Dance, Arabic dance or Middle Eastern dance.
Belly dance takes many different forms depending on the country and region, both in costume and dance style, and new styles have evolved in the West as its popularity has spread globally.

Belly dance is primarily a torso-driven dance, with an emphasis on articulations of the hips.Unlike many Western dance forms, the focus of the dance is on relaxed, natural isolations of the torso muscles, rather than on movements of the limbs through space. Although some of these isolations appear superficially similar to the isolations used in jazz ballet, they are often driven differently and have a different feeling or emphasis, which is usually more subtle and contained.

Correct posture and muscle control is as important in belly dance as it is in other fields of dance, and enables a dancer to move the hips freely whilst avoiding lower back injuries.The basic posture used varies slightly between styles (in particular, the knees may be more or less bent, weight may be held slightly further back or forward, and 'resting' arm position may vary), but a kinesiologically correct posture should always be used. Some belly dancers also study Pilates or Alexander technique in order to achieve a healthy and efficient posture.

There is no universally codified naming scheme for belly dance movements. This is due to the folk/social dance origins of the dance form in the Middle East, and the very diverse range of teaching traditions in the West. Some dancers or dance schools have developed their own naming schemes, but none of these are universally recognised. Many dancers today prefer to use simple, physically descriptive names for groups of related movements.


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