1.Basic Posture
It is very important to have a proper stance and posture in belly dance. You should stand with your feet shoulder width apart with one foot on the ground and the other foot balanced on the toes. Your knees should be slightly bent and they must feel relaxed, flexible and ready for movement. Hips and pelvis should be centered and level to the ground. Your ribcage should be pulled up with the stomach held but comfortable, and shoulders relaxed. Arms should be open in a graceful and comfortable position.
2.Weight Shift & Hip Slides
This is a soft, smooth movement that focus on shifting the body weight from one leg to the other, keeping both feet flat on the floor. It will lengthen and tone the side abdominals by isolating the chest and keeping it still a dancer moves. Another excellent health benefit.
3.Snake Arms (or arm undulations)
One of the most common arm movement used by belly dancers, it add accents to belly dance moves. This graceful, fluid movement appears to ripple across the body from one arm to the other. Snake Arms not only sculpts the upper body, it also improves arm & shoulder flexibility.
4.Hip Lift & Drop
A staccato movement of the hips out from the body. This can also be performed using other body parts such as the shoulders or chest. The move is usually achieved by isolating the hip area and contracting the glute muscles to move the hips up or down. The dancer's weight can either be distributed across both legs or on one leg with the toes of the other foot pointed. Hip Lift & Drop is a great to work on thighs, side abdominals and hips.
5.Chest Lift & Drop
The Chest Lift & Drop is very much like an abdominal crunch, only better since it puts no stress at all on the neck or back. Start with lifting the ribcage by breathing in and lengthening the upper abdominals. Keeping the back straight, breath out as dancer contract the upper abdominal and drop the ribcage. This move helps to build strength in the upper abdominals while improving posture.
6.Chasse (Pronounced as sha-
A Chasse is a series of 2 or 3 side steps. The feet come together on the second step. The name is derived from “to chase”, because one foot is essentially chasing the other. Many types of dance incorporated the chasse into a routine including Belly Dance. This movement develop good body balance.
7.Shoulder Shimmy
The shoulders and neck are notoriously tense as we hold much of our stress in these area of our body. Shoulder Shimmy can help to relieve stiffness and it is one of the most dynamic and characteristic movement in Middle Eastern dance. This deceptively challenging move start with pushing the shoulders back & forth, focusing on maintaining the rhythm to keep the shimmy going.
8.Choochoo Shimmy
This movement involves stepping on toes and taking little steps on the feet. It is a popular form of shimmy also known as Traveling Shimmy. The shimmering vibration of the hips is usually layered onto other movements to create depth in performance. It may be created by moving the knees past each other at high speed, although some dancers use contractions of the glutes or thighs instead.
9.Three Point Turn & Cross Turn
3 point turn in Belly Dance will help a dancer to move around effortlessly. Step with the right foot, cross the left foot in front, facing back, twist that right foot facing back also, bring the right foot back around you, facing forward. Similar benefit to Chasse it focus on balancing the body weight while making a turn.
10.Egyptian (Step & Point)
This step is one of the essential traveling movement which defines belly Dance. Hold at Neutral position keeping the knees bent, chest lifted, lower abs in. This step requires one to touch the right foot in front, and come back, touch the left, and come back. As you touch you're going to push the hip up, and release. And as you push up, that hip is going to go to the opposite, upward diagonal. So if you're squeezing your right hip up you're going to aim at the left upper corner. And reverse it, when you're squeezing the left side, aiming at the right upper corner. Chest is lifted, and adding that small lift and twist working on all the core muscles.