Finding Proper Posture
Posture is everything in bellydance. If your posture is correct, you'll have a much bigger range of motion in your hips, find it easier to isolate, and avoid back and knee pain.
Pictures will be added to this article soon!!!
Stand with your thighs close together (feet lined up under your bra straps at the very widest, closer if it's comfortable for you.)
Distribute your weight evenly between the ball of the foot and the heel.
Toes generally point straight ahead. But if your toes normally turn out or in, you may need to modify the dance posture to suit the structure of your body. Position your toes so that if you bend your knees slightly, your toes are underneath your knees.
Soften your knees. Never in bellydance do the knees lock back, but don't squat down with knees bent either. Just a soft, bouncy microbend at the knee.
Notice that you can tilt your pelvis forward and back while keeping the knees soft and level (not bouncing up and down) and NOT tightening the glutes (muscles in the butt).
For dance posture you want your pelvis in a *neutral* position, halfway between tucked and relaxed. Think about lifting the pelvic bone slightly upward, toward your navel, and letting your tailbone drop slightly toward your heels. This action comes from the lower belly and front of the hips. Try the exercises at the bottom of this page to help you find the right action and position of the pelvis.
Lift your ribcage up and slightly forward of the hips. Think of lifting from the back as well as the front of the body. Your upper back muscles, between your shoulderblades, should feel firm but not clenched.
If you turn sideways to the mirror, you should be able to see that your lower front ribs are slightly forward of your hipbones.
With your knees soft, pelvis neutral, and ribcage lifted and slightly forward, you should feel that your lower body is soft and bouncy, like a spring, and your upper body is firm and lifted.
Rest your arms on the air at either side of your body. Your hands should be about even with your lower ribs, palms down. Let your hands drift forward until you can just see them with your peripheral vision (try wiggling your fingers). Lift your elbows slightly behind you and let the hands drift far enough away from your body that your elbows seem lightly curved rather than bend. Wrists stay flat, resist the urge to bend your hands up or down.
The back of your neck is long, chest wide open.
Breathe!!
Tips & Warnings
* As you're learning hipwork, try squatting down lower and tucking your hips more. This can really help you to find the right muscles to direct hip movements.
* Beginners should focus on keeping the knees soft and the pelvis neutral
* Once the proper knee/hip softness feels natural, concentrate on keeping the chest open and forward
* Keeping the arms lifted and energized comes after the hips and torso fall into place.
* Not very long ago, American bellydancers were trained to have their knees quite bent and hips deeply tucked or even pressed forward. If you've trained with an old-school instructor or a video, try standing up a little more, letting your pelvis fall to a more neutral position, and bringing your ribcage forward.
* Your head should stay level when you move your hips; if it's moving up and down or you're having trouble keeping your upper body still during hipwork, you may be straightening your knees too much as you move your hips. Soften the legs and try practicing with fully bent knees for a while, then come back up.
* If your hips make unwanted twisting movements as you move, you're probably dropping the front of your pelvis. Keep your lower belly firm and hold onto that light tucking action that keep you in neutral.
* Bellydance is best studied with a live instructor who can keep you safe from injuries and give you feedback to help you develop good habits.
Exercises/Practice to find proper posture
Try lying down and pressing your lower back toward the floor, first with bent knees then with straight legs. You'll feel the muscles deep in your very low belly, at the front of the hips, and around the tailbone creating the tuck.
Stand with your back to a wall, touching the wall with your heels, hips, shoulders, and back of the head. Soften your knees and engage the muscles of the lower belly/front of the hips to lift the pubic bone slightly toward your navel. You should feel the tailbone drop slightly toward your heels. This is a subtle action. Now lift the back ribs slightly and draw the entire upper body slightly forward, so your shoulders and head come away from the wall just slightly. Feel that you are pressing forward with the center of the chest while keeping the front and back of the body long and shoulders back and down. Your head will come forward with the upper body, don't allow the head to lead forward or chin to jut out. Practice holding the body in this position with the wall for guidance, breathing, relaxing into the stance without losing the posture. You can come back to the wall to check your posture as you work with isolations and learn new movements.