Dance Conditioning

[gotraqs]

OK. So, I've been checking out some books on dance safety and conditioning. These books have primarily applied to ballet, jazz, modern. So, my question is:

Since it seems a strenghthening/flexibility program outside of technique class is important, what kind of conditioning do you think is most beneficial to belly dancers? Should belly dancers follow the same advice on conditioning and safety that is given to classical dancers?

[Andrea2]

I didn't have dance lessons before I started BD, and I haven't read any of the books so I'm sorry if this is redundant. I think yoga is beneficial to everyone, even if you have some physical limitations. Since it addresses the spiritual as well as the physical, you can tailor each practice to what you need at the time - strength, stretching, restoration. Though my experience is limited (OK, I hardly ever put in the tape), I think Pilates is great for strength without weights.

[Lauren_]

Yoga has REALLY helped me to become both stronger and more centered. I'm certainly more flexible, too, but that's not something that I see reflected in my dance -- well, maybe in my shoulders, my arms seem less likely to drift forward. But it's the centering I feel most of all, the ability to walk, spin, turn, stand and transition with grace because I'm very balanced now.

And I think that building strength has helped me with posture and arms. That's come from both yoga and weightlifting.

Cardio helps my dancing immensely, too. The more I push myself to jog instead of walk, etc -- really get my heartrate up -- the more energy I see in my dancing.

When I can find time for it, I really enjoy using ballet workout videos for crosstraining, building strength and balance while being conscious of arms and head placement during movement.

[LauraLevana]

I think Pilates is excellent overall conditioning, and especially good for dancers since it focuses on core strength and overall flexibility.

My only problem with it is that I always get impatient--like I should be jumping around and sweating more, or I'm not getting a workout!

I have to say Yoga....

[tabitha]

I found that ballet helped me with arms and leg strength. When I first started I found out that I had great quad strength but no inner thigh or hamstring strength at all. Also I learned a lot about posture and how to use my core to keep me lifted.

I remember someone saying that ballroom was good for belly dance? Hmmm...might have to try that.

[BabsGrrrl]

Ballroom is great! I did that before I found bellydance. It teaches poise, core strength (gotta have that good carriage!) and the Latin dances really teach how to seperate bottom from top. It's a good for arms as well, because you do not fully rest your arms on your partner's shoulder and hand.
I also loved how you would get into "character" for each different dance. That was lots of fun to go from fun and flirty samba to passionate/angry tango. And then there was Rhumba, "the dance of love", as my teacher called it. Hee!

[Zamira]

For conditioning exercises specific to bellydancers, there's always Suhaila's famous glute squeezes. She also has some other exercises for bellydancers on her yoga and pilates videos.

I'm also told that one way to build great shimmies is to sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you and then alternate lifting and dropping your thighs as fast as you can leaving your feet on the floor. I think a couple local dancers got it from a Sahra Saeeda workshop. You'd be surprised how fast it gets tiring.

[micamica]

A note of caution about the sitting on the floor shimmies though-I was told to be careful to not actually bounce the backs of the knees off the floor. Doing this may cause damage to the blood vessels in the legs, including varicose veins or traveling blood clots!
Nikki