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Basic Warm up Exercises for Belly Dancers

Do not overexert yourself. Be respectful of your body and its limits. Enjoy your warmup time. Consult with a doctor if you suspect health issues.

Suggested music: Slow and thoughtful. Rapture Rumi by Steve Flynn (Delilah's husband) is a class favorite.

Stand in basic dance position: Feet shoulder width apart, knees bent, pelvis tucked under, chest lifted. The whole body should feel centered.

Begin by raising your arms to the sky. Stretch out your entire body as though trying to touch the sky. You should feel the stretch especially strongly in your stomach muscles and your arms. Remain in position for ten seconds. Without relaxing, go up on the balls of your feet (demi-point). Hold position for ten seconds. Bring arms back to your side. Release your entire body into basic dance position.

Raise left arm up over your head and bend at the waist towards the right. Try to touch the wall to the right of you without twisting your body. This will stretch your left side muscles. Hold for five to ten seconds. Return to basic dance posture. Repeat on the other side.

Assume basic stance. Lift right leg off the ground with softly pointed foot. Slowly rotate foot at the ankle. Repeat on left side.

Bend your knees as far as you can comfortably go without bringing heels off the ground. Make sure upper torso is lifted and hold position as long as possible without strain.

Hip circle: assume basic stance. Do slow soft circles around your body with your hips, keeping the circles parallel to the floor. Don't let your pelvis drop, especially when the pelvis is behind you. Stay centered.

Chest circle: assume basic stance. Do slow soft circles around your body with your chest, keeping the circles parallel to the floor. Keep body relaxed with knees soft, pelvis tucked and shoulders rolled back.

Shoulder rolls: roll shoulders in slow soft circles parallel to the wall. Do one shoulder at a time and then both together.

Wrist circles: Resisting the air with your middle and ring finger, do slow circles around your wrist.

Head circles: Keeping your head and neck relaxed at all times, lightly roll it around your neck. Let your chin go towards your chest, then roll your cheek towards your left ear, then roll towards the back, the roll cheek towards right shoulder, then to the front.

Fast Warm up:

Hip circle: Touch the four compass points with your hips by pushing hips around in a level circle parallel to the floor. Push forward, R, back, L, and then return to front for another rotation. Pelvis is tucked in, esp. when pushing back.
Chest circle: Touch the four compass points with your chest while moving in a circle on a level plane. Lift rib cage up to push your chest forward, push chest R, suck your chest back into your shoulders to push your chest back, push chest L, then lift the chest up to begin another rotation. Keep your head and hips out of the chest circle.
Head slide: Do some slow head rotations to warm up before doing the head slide. Push your head to the right with your chin parallel to the floor, then reverse and slide your head to the left keeping your chin parallel to the floor. Don't turn your head to the right or left to get a movement. Your eyes should always be looking straight ahead.

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