Its All About The Hips

What is it they say - Her hips don't lie!!  Well belly dancers know this to be true.  So on this the first post of Spirit, I am going to give you a break down of the Level 1 Egyptian Belly Dance Hips :)

Now the first thing to remember is to warm-up!!  Cant stress this enough cause you may cause injury and that will keep you from setting yourself free.

Dance Posture - This is the most important move you will learn.  this posture keeps your body in alignment and keeps you from hurting yourself.  Your feet are slightly apart, soft knees, pelvic is tucked, stand up straight, chest lifted, shoulders back, chin is neutral, and body is relaxed

Hip Lift - start in dance posture, lift hip up (like you are going to put it in your armpit), the accent to this move is on the up

Hip Drop - start in dance posture, this move I want you to think of sitting into the movement, you are going to drop your hip down, and the accent is on the down

Hip Twist - start in dance posture, this time think of a washing machine, you are going to move your hips front and back, they are moving on the same level (when the right hip is front, left hip is back)

Hip Bump - start in dance posture, now I call this one shutting the door, same motion as if you were shutting a car door with your hip, the accent is on the out, hip goes out and slightly up at the same time, this move tends to get the most attitude :)

Hip Slide - start in dance posture, think of what it looks like when you slide something across the table from point A to point B, simply slide your hip out and slide it back to center, hip is not lifting it is just moving out and back

Hip Thrust - start in dance posture, same movement as the Hip Twist just when you move you are pushing your hips forward and back, think of the movement as a "punch", punch your hips forward and back

Ok guys have fun with these and play with speed and build a cute hip combo.

Get those hips moving :)

Have a great weekend and enjoy your wild side cause now I really need to build my costume for my show this weekend!!