Belly Dancing Information
Lotus Tribal Belly Dancing
Archive for May, 2009
i really want to loose weight and im thinking if i should join belly dancing. Does it help me loose weight fast?
Belly dancing will be good for burning some calories off but not too many. It can tone you up , but you need to do 2 things for weight loss.
1). Burn off more calories per day than you put on.
2). Do cardio for about 20 minutes per day.
those 2 factors will limit your caloric input while increasing the caloric output.
You will burn off these calories all over the body and not in any 1 specific spot.
I reccomend speedwalking for 20 minute a day and eat 5 meals each day…small ones. By doing this, you will take in carbohydrates in small amounts to get you to your next meal with none being added as fat.
If you have any questions, contact me at situpking@yahoo.com and put belly dance in the subject line
read comments (3)Julia Naidenko - Britain’s Got Talent - Show 7
Author: admin
Britain’s Got Talent: Julia just needs to get a yes from the judges to perform in front of the Queen, and it doesn’t look like that’ll be a problem…
Duration : 0:1:24
Learn how to perform the Egyptian Twist belly dance move in this free video dance lesson on advanced belly dancing maneuvers.
Expert: Kerri Hernandez
Contact: www.cynergydance.com
Bio: Kerri Hernandez is a licensed cosmetologist in Texas and works in San Antonio. She has been braiding hair for several years.
Filmmaker: Robin Morriss
Duration : 0:1:17
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http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/family-tree-unites-families-and-help-to-improve-relationship-131889.html
what is a good belly dancing dvd for posture and abs?
Author: admin
My physical therapist recommended that I do belly dancing at home to help me with posture and abs.
try turbo jam
I'm doing a research paper on whether or not Belly dancing(aka by many other names) is not a form of sex trade. But many think that it is, so I want your opinion. Is it or is it not? Thank you in advance. Also, please state why you believe it is or isnt. I will respect your answer.
Well I'll give the condensed version of what's a realatively long story. But I think you'll find it may leave you just as confused as ever…
Both dang.dude's and J'nai touch on aspects that are central to this debate. No offense intended for dang.dude's or their teacher but dancers from the middle east often don't have their stories straight either, just like dancer in the US. Many people in the Middle East only view dance in the more recent history of it's development using a cultural biased not only towards their own country but also with Islamic principles. In addition they often play into some of the origin myths that have been perpetuated by westerners for a long time. I've lived in the Middle East and have talked with a lot of people about the "history" of bellydance. What I've found is that each person has a different view most if not all of which are backed by little or no supporting evidence. To really get to the heart of this particular question you have to look at the dance both historically and where it's being done. It is not known where bellydancing originated but there are many ancient dance forms that it has been suggested to have come from. Some people theorize that it came from temple dances in which the dancers served in the role of a sacred prostitute. They would invoke the goddess and a male priest most likely would invoke the god. In this way the holy union between deities was made tangible. Some also say that any man even non-priests would have access to the goddess. These theorists believe that this was a from of fertility ritual in which the men seeking to have children would engage in sex with a fertility goddess thus gaining fertility. However, none of these temple dances are well documented nor can any of them be definitively linked to raqs sharqi(bellydance). This however is directly related to the sex trade. Other's theorize that it was a ritual dance performed for childbirth. This theory is given some support by the research done by a dance ethnologist, Morocco (that's her name not the country). She did research in Morocco (the country this time) on this and was able to witness this dance ritual. She also talked with a woman from the gulf who said they do the same thing there. However it's difficult to say just how far back this ritual goes since it has not been recorded. This is not exactly related to the sex trade although as a birth ritual it is related to the aftermath of sex. Another theory is that the dance originated in India and spread with the Roma (gypsies). This does have a good deal of supporting evidence although it's not possible to tell how much they influenced or were influenced by existing dances of the local populations. However, the gypsy dances were not meant as a sex trade either and were done for entertainment purposes. Although some gypsies may also have engaged in sex afterwards for money (prostitution is the worlds oldest profession) it was not the main purpose. If you go to a hip hop dance show you don't expect the dancer to sleep with you after the show do you? However, some hip hop dancers may may engage in that sort of activity, it's not applicable to all. With the introduction of Islam, people in the middle east became much more conservative regarding their bodies and the way they are seen in public. While a woman may have danced for entertainment before it's introduction with no sexual connotations she would not have been able to do so afterwards. Once Islam enters the picture the common street performer is labeled a prostitute. This did not mean she actually would have engage in this sort of practice but it was no longer acceptable for a decent woman to show her body in public displays. However it was still a done in the home. Women danced for women and men danced for men. This segregation of the sexes meant that women could dance freely for each other still without being labeled prostitutes. In addition two classes of performers have always existed, the street performer and the trained performer. Street performers under Islam were already considered prostitutes and in order to make a living in an increasingly more conservative society that no longer wanted their wives, daughters, sisters, aunts, and mothers to be dancers many of the street performers had to turn to prostitution in addition to dancing just to make a living. However trained performers were highly valued and a large bride price would be payed for women who had such training. Slaves were also often trained in these skills and were then sold for large amounts of money because of their talents. You have to remember that there were no tv's and radios so a person who could sing, dance, play an instrument, and recite poetry was a great source of entertainment for the family. These women became wives and sometimes concubines for the upper class citizens who could afford them but that did not make them sexual slaves nor were they forced into using dance for sex. They became a member of the family and for the most part were treated with respect. Being as they were women they spent most of their time entertaining the other women in the family and then also entertaining their husband. I'd like to point out that any dance can be used seductively and when you dance for your husband or boyfriend or even significant other you may do more than dance, this does not mean that the dance itself is associated with sex or the sex trade. When the dance first came to the Westerners attention it was the street performers that the westerner saw, because no man would have been allowed into the womens quarters to see respectable women or trained dancers. The orientalists painted scenes that often were dreamed up out of their imaginations some of them based on street dancers but still these images often depicted a more exotic image that was real. Additionally western dances and ideas of womens behaviors were also quite conservative. To the point that even talking about a womans stomach in any context was scandalous and had heavy sexual connotations. The westerner viewed the dances they saw as lewd and unrefined because they differed so much from their own preconceptions of what was acceptable and proper. Western dances did not fully utilize the body and focus primarily on footwork which is almost the opposite of middle eastern dances. What the foreigners sent back by way of description and paintings gave a exotic idea to the people back home. What they read and saw formed the orientalist mentality that the harem and Mid East is a society in which men enslave women for sexual purposes in their harems in which women were forced to show sexual prowess in order to gain favor from their masters. This is not how it was and goes against the way that Muslims live their lives. It violates so many cultural practices that it's hardly plausible at all. The orientalist mentality continued and continues to be perpetuated. When the US first got it's peek at middle eastern dancers at the Chicago worlds fair in the late 1800's the promoter Sol Bloom coined the dance as "belly dance" which among the conservative Victorian population had sexual connotations which caused quite a bit of controversy and made the exhibit even more popular. The dance which featured hip movements done by women who were fully covered from north Africa was far different than the dances they population knew and allowed. This made it seem more overtly sexual to them. Hollywood in addition featured glamorous sexy women doing overtly sexual dances in seductively revealing clothing pushing the limits of acceptability even for their own time and labeled them as harem dancers, Arabian princesses, Arabian slaves, genies and so on and so forth. The dancers in the middle east soon started to adopt this costuming instead of their own original costuming because it was what foreigners visiting the middle east began to expect from watching Hollywood movies. This in turn influenced the dancers in the us who wanted to emulate middle eastern dancers. When bellydance first started to gain it popularity primarily in the late 60's, early 70's (it was around before but this was kind of the first wave of real general popularity) the dancers who learned it were not aware of what was authentic or not. This led to perpetuation of not only Hollywood costuming styles but also many origin myths such as being developed to seduce the sultan and gain his favor within the harem. In the Middle East the new costuming styles which were more reveling sort of sealed in the minds of the populous that this traditional form of entertainment was a form of prostitution instead. In the US many strippers were donning bellydance like costumes and sometimes learning a few moves to add some flavor to their routines. In the US bellydance is practiced in two ways now. It's done by some to enhance their sexuality and by others as an art or exercise. Generally the more involved and serious you become with this dance the less sexual connotations it holds for you. However because of the strict stigmas in the Middle East all dancer regardless of how they feel about the dance and what their actual conduct is they are viewed as prostitutes. So from my personal opinion I say that no the dance is not a form of sex trade. It is an art form and has been traditionally so for centuries. It is the misconceptions that the west has brought that have taken it towards the direction of a sex trade. Even though public performers are considered like prostitutes in the mid east the dance itself is done by women of all ages and sizes for each other's entertainment. I do blame the sexualization of the dance on the orientalists and Hollywood because they influenced a great deal of what bellydance has become. However, it&
I'm looking for a place that offers beginner classes. And I don't have any natural dancing ability, will that affect me learning to belly dance?
Tigard Dancing Academy
They have belly dancing and break dancing and all of that I got a free lesson because my old girlfriend worked there. Its on Durham road here's the number….
- (503)926-4010
I think the directors name is Colin
Which belly dancing video is the best to learn from?
Author: admin
I want to learn how to belly dance in order to add a little more spice in my boyfriend's life. Which video is the best to learn from?
No video is the best to learn from. All videos lack proper instruction and feedback which are essential to the learning process and safety. I would highly recommend looking first for an instructor. If you don't want to sign up for classes you could at least try some private lessons, one or two private lessons would probably be enough to impress your boyfriend (assuming he's not a bellydance expert). However, if you really instist on learning on your own here's a list of some resources including videos which you may find helpful:
WEBSITES (for finding teachers/classes)
http://www.shira.net - probably the most extensive directory
http://www.middleeasterndance.net - my site which has a decent sized directory as well.
http://www.bhuz.com - another large directory as well as a great forum which can answer pretty much every question you will ever have about bellydance since it's comprised of bellydancers from all over the world.
If you can't find lessons looking on these three sites there may not be any in your area.
WEBSITES (for learning moves on-line)
http://www.middleeasterndance.net - my own site look under the movements section, there will be enough to keep you busy for a long time. Also please read the before you begin section with the disclaimer, warm-up, cool-down, and basics about posture.
http://www.shira.net - Shira's site is an extensive collection of articles written about and for bellydancers and can provide you with a wealth of information that will be very beneficial. It's one of the oldest and most respected sites on the Internet and is referenced by bellydancers world-wide. She has a specific page which tells you how to do some moves as well as extensive links to other sites that offer on-line lessons as well.
http://www.venusbellydance.com/vocabulary.htm - More movement descriptions.
http://www.aleena.com/miramar/ - go to on-line dance lessons there are several articles about dancing there.
http://www.zilltech.com/onlinelessons.htm - Another old, well, respected website full of information you should check out. She offers a few instructions for several basic moves.
http://www.kawakib.com/page-30.html - more of a technique lesson but might be helpful after learning some basics.
http://www.raqs.co.nz/moves.html - has some descriptions of select movements.
BOOKS
Belly Dancing Basics by Laura A. Cooper (ISBN: 140271078X) - newer book, not great but not bad either.
The Art of Belly Dancing by Dahlena with Dona Z. Meilach - This book is out of print but shows up on amazon and e-bay from time to time. It's ok but it's written for a different time the history part is especially questionable but the moves are pretty straight forward.
Grandmother's Secrets by Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi (ISBN: 1566563267) - An interesting read has several descriptions of dance moves as well.
A lot of books have been coming on the market recently and most of them (excluding out of print books) are available at Barnes and Nobel or borders books as well as other chains and smaller stores.
ON-LINE INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS
http://www.trybellydancing.com/ - Like a mini instructional video available online. It's not bad quality.
http://www.expertvillage.com/interviews/egyptian-belly-dancing.htm Several mini instructional segments on various moves as well as zills, costuming, and musicality.
http://bellyrolls.com/howtopage.html - more mini on-;ine instructionals. The video quality is a little poorer and not is clear to see but the instructional quality is decent.
VIDEOS
*Precision Motion Workout Series by Suzanna Del Vecchio - offers good posture basics as well as quality instruction on many moves.
*Bellydance for Weight loss Series by Rania - Not great but cheap
*Bellydance for Fitness Series by Neena and Veena Bidasher - this series is very cheap and available from major retailers like target, walmart, borders, and Barnes and Nobel but the quality of instruction is low. This is more of a workout for beginner dancers who already have had some training. The videos are a good quality as far as picture and sound but these are not good for an absolute beginner.
*IAMED Instructional videos - pretty much any video produced by IAMED (the International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance) will have quality instruction by some of the top dancers both in the US and Internationally. These videos are going to set you back a pretty penny but the quality of instruction is good.
If all you want to do is dance a little sexy for you boyfriend then I guess you might want to go with a cheaper video that offers minimal technique and emphasis on proper placement and alignment. However, long term usage of the shoddy technique taught in them can lead to injury and joint damage. Doing a movement improperly too many times can really add up. If your going to dance for him maybe 10 times or less in your entire relationship it won't matter but if you plan on enticing him with your dance for months or even years I would consider getting something that offer proper technique and focuses on safe posture and positioning.
If you have any questions about bellydancing, please feel free to contact me through my site http://www.middleeasterndance.net
Guide to Belly Dancing - Dance 2 featuring Mihaela Coman
Author: admin
http://www.WatchMojo.com presents… A demonstration of the art of Belly Dancing. featuring Mihaela Coman
Duration : 0:2:34
Achieve Presence With Your Presents
Author: admin
It’s Christmas time again; time for over-eating, relaxing and exchanging Christmas presents. But leading up to the festive period, the magic of Christmas can sometimes be hard to find when fighting your way through bustling crowds to try and find appropriate presents. Well, no more. Through the help of online shopping, buying Christmas presents that will make an impression is thankfully now becoming easier.
When shopping in stores it’s hard to find Christmas presents with presence because a lot of gifts are the same from shop to shop. One way of giving a statement gift is to give them something personalised that will make the present unique to them. By simply uploading photos and dates you can create personalised calendars and diaries which are a great way to give a practical and yet special gift. You can also choose a themed calendar, such as romance, golf or film and place the recipient’s name in the calendar to make them feel like a star. You can also engrave special photo frames and trinkets. Other more unusual personalisation options include writing something on a doormat for them, creating a personalised jelly mould or a walk of fame star with their name on it.
For kids, presents like the radio-controlled spider and helicopters are a great idea to keep them busy. Other creative presents like designing your own pyjamas or creating your own memory book with personalised photo albums are great ways of inspiring children. You could also adopt an animal on behalf of a child, which is not only interesting for young wildlife lovers but also encourages an interest in animal welfare and endangered species. With an adopt-an-animal gift set you get a cuddly toy, certificates, stickers and an information pack and you can feel good because it will contribute to the maintenance and care of different endangered species. If they are interested in the way the world works, getting a grow-your-own plant kit would be a great Christmas present enabling them to learn about nature and have fun too.
If you are really looking to surprise children, why not book them on a child’s fun photo-shoot or even book them into an hour of a recording studio session to make them feel like superstars! An experience like a makeover day or time in a recording studio is a fantastic present too for teenagers and adults alike; a great way to give people the chance to try something completely different.
If buying presents for a couple, there are lots of romantic options for Christmas presents that will stun and surprise. If getting married during the holiday season, buying a deluxe engraved wooden box holding a bottle of champagne and a bottle of wine is the perfect present. Not only personalised and of a high quality, the champagne is perfect for celebrating now and the bottle of wine will be perfectly matured in time for their fifth wedding anniversary. Other romantic ideas could be personalised flutes or glasses or even a personalised photo frame or photo album to capture their happy memories as they make them. Another idea could be an experience day like a wine-tasting day at a vineyard, a lunch in Paris for two trip or a ballroom dancing lesson; a novel way for them to spend well-spent time together.
Men are often so hard to buy for as they tend to just buy what they need when they see it. For a man in your life, experience days driving fast cars or watching premiership matches are a sure-fire way to get in their good books and are a way for them to let off some testosterone. Women always like a bit of pampering and pamper days out are a great way to help them relax and show you care. Options available are hot stone massages, spa days, hydrotherapy and oil treatments. Other experience days like Indian cooking lessons, belly dancing, garden design courses are excellent statement Christmas presents that can be tailored to be the perfect present and a way of giving someone something they wouldn’t necessarily think of to buy themselves.
Some experience days can be catered for a whole family, like trips out to a stately home, tickets to a theme park or west-end show. Another perfect family Christmas present would be a session with a professional photographer or portrait artist to capture the spirit of their family as well as the spirit of Christmas!
From personalised calendars to experience days to engraved objects, the perfect personalised gifts are just waiting to be created, ensuring that you give Christmas presents with presence.
John Smith
http://www.articlesbase.com/gifts-articles/achieve-presence-with-your-presents-667680.html