There is no doubt that clothing used in this dance form is meant to flatter and highlight a woman’s body. The whole dance itself is a celebration of a woman’s curves. The clothes are the icing on the cake if you will. Why not complement your hip shaking with the right belly dancing clothing?

Using The Right Material

The material of most belly dancing clothing is lightweight and transparent. The nature of the fabric adds to the effect of sensuality and titillation. The soft and flowing fabric will flutter and ripple with the slightest shake of your hips or turn of your body. It adds a feeling of endless movement to your dance moves.

The lightweight fabric used in belly dancing clothing also makes movement easy. You wouldn’t want to be dancing in a stiff material that restricted your movements, would you? The silks and satins commonly used to make the tops and skirts add a touch of glamour and luxury to even the simplest costumes.

The colors chosen are usually jewel toned. The bright colors are an extension of the expressive nature of the dance. You can’t help feeling more free when you are wearing bright happy colors. Bright colors are also traditionally used in belly dancing. Silver or gold accents serve to heighten the feeling of exoticism.

Belly Dance Clothing Accessories

Common accessories added to belly dancing clothing are coins, chains, and shells. Coins are the more traditional accessory to belly dancing clothing. This is because belly dancers are traditionally presented with coins for their performances. Usually a fringe of coins is added to skirt hems and bra tops.

Veils are also another popular accessory that is coordinated with belly dancing outfits. Veils can be an alluring prop to hide the face or draped around the head to provide a flowing movement during turns and swirls. Scarves used around the arms are used to draw attention to the grace and elegance of the movements.

Whatever you choose in terms of belly dancing clothing you should first like the clothes. Secondly you should feel comfortable in them. Don’t feel like you have to bare a lot of flesh just to be authentic. You can leave most of your body covered and still be sexy.

Have you thought about taking belly dancing lessons with a friend? It’s a fun way to keep up a friendship, get caught up on gossip, and also stay in shape at the same time. Taking belly dancing lessons as mother and daughter, sister and sister, or friend and friend is something fun to do.

Adult Education Belly Dancing Lessons

Many people can find out about belly dancing lessons through their local adult education facilities: community colleges, community centers, or universities. If you cannot find a local place for belly dancing lessons after trying these options, you may have to get creative to find a belly dancing instructor.

Talk to the dance instructors that you do find, and ask if any of them is trained in the ancient art of belly dancing. An instructor may be willing to teach you one-on-one or to add a belly dancing class to her schedule of dance classes.

Other Dancing Lessons

If you have ever expressed an interest in learning ballet, square dance, or even the Tango, why not try to learn those dances with a friend, too. Dancing feels great and it burns calories, too. Moving the body to the beat of music is something humankind has been doing since music was invented.

Nothing is more fun than dancing with a group of friends to a song that you love. While other kinds of dancing may not give you the core muscle workout that  belly dancing lessons will give you, you may find that you get more of a cardiovascular workout from swing dancing or contemporary dancing than from belly dancing.

Online Belly Dancing Lessons

If you can’t find belly dancing lessons in your local area, never fear. The internet can help you find an instructor or it can even teach you to dance. By watching online videos, you can learn to take belly dancing lessons and perform basic belly dancing moves: the hip piston, shoulder shimmy, three-quarter shoulder shimmy, chest thrust, snake arms, and the like.

Video Belly Dancing Lessons

If you have cable or satellite TV, you may have access to free fitness videos that teach you how to use belly dancing to tone your muscles and lose weight, or how to dance just for fun. Look for a channel called Fit TV. If you have an on demand video service, look for a health and fitness channel that has workouts the viewer can do at home. Use these videos to learn basic belly dancing steps at your own pace.

Belly Dancing for Weight Loss

Belly dancing has got to be one of the best ways to lose weight, firm and tone your body. Dancing in general has never been more popular, as evidenced by the many dancing themed popular TV shows. Dancing With The Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, and the like have revived an interest in dancing. At the same time, weight loss makeover programs like The Biggest Loser, Bulging Brides, and Ten Years Younger also surged in popularity. Belly dancing combines the two: weight loss and dancing.

You’ve Seen Shimmy on Fit TV

Not to be outdone by ballroom, hip hop, contemporary, swing, or jazz, the ancient art of belly dancing also has a television show of its own. Shimmy, which airs on the satellite and cable channel Fit TV, takes viewers through a half-hour belly dancing lesson, led by exotic beauties Shivaun, Adalat, Dominique, Gillian, Karen, Manon, and Simone. The dancers break steps down, starting very slowly until the dancer following along at home gains confidence in her abilities to learn the moves. Gradually the pace increases, and soon the home viewer is belly dancing in her own living room.

The Pace of the Show is Perfect

Every episode of Shimmy begins with a dancer-led warm-up that gets your muscles ready for the workout to come. Next comes a section devoted to instruction. Home viewers learn four to six movements that put the hips, thighs, glutes, and abs through a vigorous workout. Belly dancing has never been so much fun, as the home viewer learns a complete routine.

A performance section follows the teaching. Viewers can dance along, using moves they just learned, or sit back and watch. The beautiful dancers in their flowing scarves and colorful costumes paint a vivid picture of this ancient dance. A no-holds-barred, freestyle session closes out every episode, with hips pumping, shoulders shimmying, and fingers flying.

Calorie Burning Can Be Fun

Belly dancing burns about 250 to 300 calories per hour, so dancing your way through an episode of Shimmy will consume 125 to 150 calories. After twenty-three belly dancing sessions, you will have danced enough to lose an entire pound. Building muscle in your core and midsection is key to reducing the buildup of troublesome belly fat—the most dangerous kind of fat there is.

Belly dancing builds the core muscles that surround the spine. Regular belly dancing will whittle your waistline in record time. Check your local cable or satellite listings to see if you get Fit TV in your area, and find out when Shimmy is on. When the time comes, start shimmying and toning your way to fitness with belly dancing.