MissChiefNYC started this discussion ·
Simple question. How do you improve your body waves? Mine seem so stiff, and unnatural, yet they are one of my faorite things to do. Oy vey...please help. :) THANK YOU Veeners!!
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I just do them everywhere. Do body waves in front of a mirror till it feels more natural and looks flowier. It took me about a good yr to get it looking descent...
I had a horrible time doing body waves...took me forever to get them to not look stupid! LOL For me it was also just a lot of practice but I also feel that doing kneeling body waves helps a bit too. Once I took my lower legs out of the equation my body waves looked better...so perhaps practice them on your knees more too?
Amy has a really good tutorial on this. Here's the link: http://aerialamy.com/blog/2011/10/04/tuesday-tips-body-waves-reverse-body-waves/ It might be a little hard to see in this video, but she's up on the balls of her feet which really helped me because it sort of gives you that extra "rolling" effect. Also, contracting/rounding the shoulders when pulling away and then arching when pulling back towards the pole the way she shows it, has helped me to warm up and loosen my back muscles. Good luck!
For me the key was doing a ZILLION of them very slowly, feeling what parts were being isolated, and going for a super exaggerated roll so I could get as much out of each one as possible. I also think of them as an infinity sign, moving in a figure eight sort of motion. When my shoulders are closest to the pole my hips are at their furthest away, and as my hips are close, my shoulders are at their furthest, and in between I roll everything in the direction of the part that's moving toward its furthest-away point. I hope that makes sense, lol.
Ohhhh, great tips everyone. Thank you :)
It helps to break it down into it's individual coponents (that's how I taught my girls in bellydance classes.) Start with your shoulders down and your scapula SLIGHTLY engaged. Now you begin the body wave by pressing your chest forward. This is NOT sticking your boobies out. It isyour chest FORWRD by engaging your upper back muscles. Now lift your chest while it is forward by tilting your upper back (not arching.) Use your stomach muscles and back muscles to control the move. This will make it tight. Now you bring your chest diagonally down toward the ground by squeezing your stomach muscles (still keeping your shoulders back) and keeping your back in alignment with itself (you do not want a lot of arching in this as it will irritate your back. You might feel like you have a sort of forward hunch at this point, but your shoulders should still be neutral. Now slowly bring your lower body under your chest by engaging your lower abdominals in a rolling motion. You achieve this by first engaging your upper abs, keeping them engaged while you engage your lower abs, now release your upper abs while keeping your lower abdominals engaged, then release your lower abs. That will help you "roll" your hips down. Practicing a lot of stomach rolls will help with your body waves. Also just doing the chest portion of this can help (so you can learn to isolate the movements independently then put them together.)
Pantera helped me a lot with this when I took a workshop with her. Roll Bits to belly button to goods....
What they said! Practice, practice, practice 🥂Here are some lessons on Body waves for those taking them Body wave https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/44d25916-b8ee-11df-856f-001b214581be Reverse Body wave https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/2521603e-b908-11df-856f-001b214581be Floor Body wave https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/a08e825a-b8f0-11df-856f-001b214581be
Jenny99 ·
Try practicing in the bathtub. It is an old belly dance trick. You can see the water move and get a better sense of how to time your muscles.
