How to belly dance

Learning how to belly dance is to invite your self to engage with a world of joy, beauty, energy, fitness, positive self-image, myth, archetype and sensuality.

Although you can pick up a lot from watching an instructional DVD , I would say it is essential to find a teacher (who should be a Belly Dancer herself) if you really want to get involved and learn this dance.

The best way to learn how to belly dance would be to train under as many teachers as possible as well as watching DVD's or videos of as many dancers as possible. This is because although the movements and steps we all use are fundamentally the same, there are different styles to this dance and then again the movements within these styles will look different depending on the body type of the dancer.

To learn to belly dance is more than just knowing how to shimmy(but that's fun and a wonderful belly dande ) so if you plan to join thebellydance superstars be prepared to put in the time!

So to find how this dance works best with your body, and personality observe and practice as much as possible and you will find the style that you resonate with.

No matter how long you have bellydancing or have not been dancing there is always more to learn. I have been for seven years now (March 2008 at time of writing) and still feel like I am only beginning because the 'vocabulary' for this dance is, as I perceive it now, infinite.

To help get you on the road to learn how to belly dance I have listed below the contact details of a number of dance schools and teachers offering specialist courses in belly dance. Some are know to me personally, even my own ;), some are not.

If you know of a school or teacher (wherever you are in the world) that you would like to recommend please tell me about it by using the message form in the right margin. If you are yourself a teacher or run a belly dance school I'd be delighted to add you to this list.