Thread: Dancers with skinny arms....

I don't know if its just me, or if other dancers with really skinny arms experience this-but I feel like my arms always look too angular. I can't really explain it. I get complimented quite often on my arms, but I personally feel they look a little awkward and too angular. Advice?

You probably just have longer arms than other dancers. That is not a bad thing. Make sure you don't bend them in to make them seem shorter, be proud of them, I am sure they make you appear very graceful.
Please don't do big puffy sleeves to hide them!

It took me a while to identify one of the major problems with my arms. I am not particularly short and I have a pretty big wingspan myself, but lack of previous formal dance training and years of taking belly dance classes that were too crowded for their location meant I was used to pulling my arms in when I danced instead of going as wide as I should.

When you describe your arms as "angular," there are only a couple of places where you could be pulling angles--shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands. Are your shoulders back and down? Do your elbows form a pleasant crescent, or are you bending or straightening too much? Do you continue your arm line through your fingers? Does everything look relaxed? Are you holding your arms too far forward or back to look comfortable? The trick is to move with muscular tension in the arms without looking tight. Not enough tension looks noodle-y and weak. Too much looks rigid and overly determined.

Another dancer once explained arm positioning this way: Let your arms hang down by your sides, then imagine you are standing in rising water (or stand in a real swimming pool) and let your arms float upward. This should be your natural arm position. It may be a bit forward of where you are used to holding them. It was a fad for a while in some areas to teach really aggressive "crucified" arms in response to the "tribal fence," and if you learned in that era, then that might explain why your arms look hard. Personally, I like to shoot for this vibe (although this particular reproduction of the statue has the arms a little low and the hands are very "paddle," but the hand thing was intentional to their artistic style).

Staying tuned to this thread because I have the same issue....

I love form-fitting gauntlets and armbands to enhance my arms, but Sandra's right. If you have slender, beautiful arms, the last thing you want to do is encase them in pouffy chiffon ..c::

I have very long and thin arms, and until very recently I did everything I could to draw attention away from my arms: letting them hang down most of the time, bending them more than I should to make them look shorter... I also had a problem with space, from being in overcrowded classes and practicing in my tiny room.

So for my first 2 years of belly dance (or longer) I didn't even bother with my arms. I thought of them always as a liability. I am now in my third year, and just now starting to think of them as an asset. I realized long arms look beautiful on dancers who know how to use them, so I started working on them.

For me, the answer has been to look into ballerinas and belly dancers with a strong ballet background for inspiration, because ballet favors that aesthetic. I've been keeping my arms simple, purposeful, and long. I need to always keep some "graceful tension" in them and really, really watch my angles. When I get it right, they look great! But if I mess up a teeny tiny bit, they look horrible. I got used to the fact that my arms require perfection, but in my journey towards perfection I am learning to love them.

On the other hand, it's very hard for me to get this kind of inspiration from more earthy, baladi belly dance. I still don't know how to keep my arms "small" for a more internalized approach and still stay graceful.

My arms are so scrawny I feel like a snowman at times. Some costuming helps. I like gauntlets and long sleeve tops. As my arms have become more flexible, my arms look softer, but I still have the chicken wing effect happening at times.

Tourbeau, thanks for posting that statue of Aset/Isis. I feel a little better about my arms now! Personally, my favorite of the quartet of statues is the Goddess Selket.

Thanks for the all the advice. I don't have exceptionally long arms...they are just really, really skinny. I studied ballet quite extensively in my youth...but I can't shake the ballerina arm thing and I desperately want to be able to look earthier. I'll see if I can find pictures that might illustrate what I am talking about.

...finding pictures

i think your arms look fine. very graceful

and great job on that double sword routine.

Maybe it's a posture thing. I thought your upper body carriage and arm movement looked much better when you had the sword balanced on your head than the first part of the video. I'm tempted to say the beginning looked like your shoulders were hunched a bit forward. Perhaps a little more lift to the ribs and head?

possibly. Generally, my posture is very good-thats what ballet does for you;). BUT...I was very nervous, not feeling well, and feeling weak that night. So it really could have been. But maybe that video is not the bast example then. Hm...I was nervous sharing it anyway, because its not a piece I am particularily proud of. maybe I'll take it down and find pictures where I am specifically noticing arm positions.

I also have really long, really thin arms. My arms and legs are actually too long for my torso (or rather my torso is too short for my limbs) so I already look disproportionate, and I'm always self-conscious about my 'spider arms' and giant hands. I took ballet for years and that has helped a bit, but as a tribal dancer I really want strong and fierce arms; I really should get around to taking Flamenco classes.

People compliment me on my arms and hands, so I guess they're not as bad as I think, but whenever I see video of myself they just look so awkward. I try to break up the length with lots of bracelets, and am planning to make some little glovelets for that purpose as well.

Other than practice, practice, practice...fishnet adds a sexy, curvy vibe to arms, I've always thought. Somehow the mesh adds some shadowing & contouring that makes arms look more defined - whether they're skinny or not. But fishnet isn't always the best look for every costume - so sheer and/or beaded mesh is also an option. Or strategically placed cuffs and arm bands if you don't want to go poufy.

can i just intervene and say i would kill to have a skinny arms problem! LOL my problem is that my arms are too long! and when i try to be graceful and keep them higher up like the ballet influenced dancers, i feel like theyre too damn long! like these long stringbeans coming out of my shoulders!
when i first started dancing i did the typical keeping my arms low and kinda hooked where it looked my forearms were coming out of my hips. i realized after watching myself on video that i looked too beginner.
my solution for my freakishly long arms? to constantly keep them moving! not spazzing out but subtle changes here n there where i just don't keep them in the same position too long...lessening my stringbeanness :)
bdlana, you're welcome to take some of my arm fat to beefen up yours :) just sayin'

Originally Posted by sarcasm-hime

I also have really long, really thin arms. My arms and legs are actually too long for my torso (or rather my torso is too short for my limbs) so I already look disproportionate, and I'm always self-conscious about my 'spider arms' and giant hands. I took ballet for years and that has helped a bit, but as a tribal dancer I really want strong and fierce arms; I really should get around to taking Flamenco classes.

People compliment me on my arms and hands, so I guess they're not as bad as I think, but whenever I see video of myself they just look so awkward. I try to break up the length with lots of bracelets, and am planning to make some little glovelets for that purpose as well.

short torso? you too? thank goodness there's more of my kind!

Sonya_b you aren't alone. I've got a short little torso and long limbs too. My hands swing around down by my knees. They're also quite thin.

I have a tendency to keep my arms lower and my current instructor is encouraging me to move them higher and do more with them. Learn to love the reach! It means that I can work with longer veils and make myself look taller.

As for help with your thin arms, bdlana I've always thought your performances were lovely. I like to stand in front of a mirror and mess around with my arms, really slowing them down. That way if I see a pathway or position that is awkward looking I can change it and then drill it that way a bit faster. Hopefully that makes sense.

I need to learn how to practice in front of a mirror; I find it almost impossible. As soon as I actually start dancing my gaze snaps away automatically.

Own your space. Extend your arms (you may even feel a bit of muscle soreness when you first start this) to the point where it's a light stretch. It will become more natural feeling when you build up the strength.

Some of the best advice I ever got about my arms.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

Staying tuned to this thread because I have the same issue....

I love form-fitting gauntlets and armbands to enhance my arms, but Sandra's right. If you have slender, beautiful arms, the last thing you want to do is encase them in pouffy chiffon ..c::

Ditto on this...My friend made these beautiful drapey arm things and they were fabulous. I always have the problem of everything falling off my upper arm too. I like form fitting gauntlets as long as it is not 100 degrees outside like last week. My arm bands slid off from sweat.

Great thread! Long and very skinny arms myself. Bothers me too, I love that gracefull 'rounded' look most bellydancers have in there arms. What helped me was looking at modern dancers like Leila (who has long arms, not skinny though) and I noticed she's allways holding them really high up, not down (as I was thought back in the days from my old teacher). Somehow that's a better look for skinny arms in my opinion. It's a pity, but I think that curvy and soft look is just not for us. But we can do 'gracefull', right?

Originally Posted by liesbeth

Somehow that's a better look for skinny arms in my opinion. It's a pity, but I think that curvy and soft look is just not for us. But we can do 'gracefull', right?

That's what I was just thinking. When I keep my arms down and low, Cairo style, it looks more like chicken wings than Dina's soft, inviting arms. But I can do ballerina arms

Also, Aradia told me in a private lesson that I might want to study more Lebanese dance to help my arms because they utilize such beautiful, flowing arm patterns. More food for thought!

I think this is it. And I guess its now about acceptance that I may never achieve the roundness I see in some other dancers, but I should be grateful that I do have another kind of grace to my arms. That reminds me that we had Ava down to Tucson this last Sunday, and I was thinking about how much your personal body can affect how moves look on you. My friend saw some similarities in our dancing styles, but I noticed such a difference in how certain moves would look on her, and how they look on me. I think its so fascinating that though the approach might be the same, the look can vary so greatly.

Originally Posted by liesbeth

Great thread! Long and very skinny arms myself. Bothers me too, I love that gracefull 'rounded' look most bellydancers have in there arms. What helped me was looking at modern dancers like Leila (who has long arms, not skinny though) and I noticed she's allways holding them really high up, not down (as I was thought back in the days from my old teacher). Somehow that's a better look for skinny arms in my opinion. It's a pity, but I think that curvy and soft look is just not for us. But we can do 'gracefull', right?