is belly dancing considered exercise?

Question

just wanted to know..i do it for fun.................can you teach your self to belly dance?

Answer 1

yes, it is really good exercise

Answer 2

Yes it is a great excersize. In fact it's original purpose was excersize in preparation for childbirth. Other primitive dances held the same purpose. ( Such as S.Pacific islanders). The locking of muscles during a hip drop or sway, excersizes the perineum.

There are several variations...depending on the country. ie Turkey, Egypt, Greece..etc. Tribal Bellydancing is a sort of a mixture of dances. Nice but not authentic. Many Tribal dancers do not compleat a full figure 8, let the hands droop...I find that annoying to watch, and it's not good excersize. It's ok if you're not calling yourself a pro.

You need to have someone spot for you when you're learning, and you will always be learning. Videos are good, just to familiarize yourself with the music and the well known dancers, in various styles. The comraderie of women is also more fun than trying to learn alone. You won't find the mean competition in a belly dance class. Most are very down to earth people. In spite of the training it takes, it is a down to earth kind of dance.
Belly dancing enhances the individuals' girlish or womanly charm all females possess, by builing self esteem, confidence, and physical strength.

Answer 3

Bellydancing can be great exercise if you approach it the right way. If what you're doing is just swaying around to music, maybe not. But if you learn actual bellydance technique and work it at a nice level, yes, it is DEFINITELY exercise.

Bellydancing works individual muscle groups and also gives flexibility to your spine and joints. Bellydancing on a regular basis is very good for your body. I used to work with a chiropractor, teaching his clients to dance, because he really appreciated the health benefits this dance imparts.

You should work from a good video with a good warm up that gives you stretching and other weight-bearing warm-up exercises before getting into the isolations and steps. If you work this dance and are not warmed up, you can be sore and potentially cause damage to your joints. But a well taught video class will tell you about posture and body positioning, and that will give you a great and safe workout.

Once you get to know a few steps, then you can just 'wing it' to music and really get a great aerobic workout too. And THAT can just be tons of fun.

You CAN learn from video, if you use the right ones. You want to have clear, step-by-step instruction that is clearly illustrated and described. Look for a video series that will take you from the beginning on up, so you can continue learning and growing.

Answer 4

Yes it is considered an exercises and a very good one at that, it works all the muscles in your body but most of all your torso and your abs... Keep doing it, you'll have a toned stomach in no time.

As for teaching your self to belly dance, yes you can or you can check out some videos on You Tube under Belly dancing and learn of them. good luck.

Answer 5

Yes, it's a very good, no-impact aerobic exercise. It exercises every muscle in the body, including the 'little grey cells', as Hercule Poirot would say.

Yes, it is possible to teach yourself to belly-dance, but it's more fun with a group, if you can find one. One neat aspect is that you don't *have* to do all the fancy dips and such to be a good dancer. My instructor (when I was taking lessons) had bad knees, so she couldn't kneel or do deep dips, but she went as far as she could, and did it so gracefully that viewers would never have known.

Answer 6

I've seen a number of teach-yourself books on the subject. So look for them, as well as the DVDs on how-to. Also most cities of any size should have classes available. Like hula, belly dancing really firms up the midriff.

Answer 7

Belly dancing is excellent exercise for legs, abdomin and lower back. I have a friend who actually lost 20 lbs. when she started doing it.
I'm not sure if you could teach yourself, but with a DVD, you could probably get the basics.

Answer 8

I'm sure that you can teach yourself to do it, as long as you have a good amount of ambition.
And as far as it being exercise, any kind of dancing is really good exercise for the body. :)

Answer 9

Very interesting post. I myself am interested and have found several sites where more information is available:

http://www.squidoo.com/BellyDanceLessonsOnline/
http://www.squidoo.com/bellydanceapparell/
http://www.squidoo.com/tribalbellydancing/
http://www.squidoo.com/bellydancingclothes/

Live, Love, Belly Dance!
-- Rem

Answer 10

Yes, Any dancing is great exercise. And it's the best kind. FUN to do... lol
And Yes, you can teach yourself. There a tons of DVD's you can buy for it.

Answer 11

I would think any kind of dancing actually would be considered exercise. It's energetic and fun and you move around alot.