THE DANCE - Belly dancing

In much of bellydance there is a focus upon the core muscles of the body producing the movement rather than the external muscles of the body. Egyptian and Lebanese bellydance in particular emphasise the need for movemements to originate in the muscles of the back. In most belly dance styles, the focus is on the hip and pelvic area.
Important moves are:
Shiver or Shimmy – a shimmering vibration of the hips. It may be created by moving the knees past each other at high speed, although some dancers use contractions of the glutes or thighs instead. It is also possible to perform this using the muscles of the lower back. The two terms may refer to performing this move in different directions, as it is possible to create this vibration moving the hips alternately up and down, side-to-side, or in a forward and back swinging motion. The same move can be performed using the shoulders and is sometimes called a shoulder shimmy.
Hip hits – A staccato movement of the hips out from the body. The move is usually performed by a quick shifting of the weight from one leg to the other and creates the impression of a swinging pelvis.
Undulations – Fluid movements of the hips or of the chest in a circular or rotating fashion. There are a wide variety of movements of this kind, of which the most well known is probably the rotating movements of the chest forward, up, back and down to create the impression of riding a camel.
Different styles also incorporate kicks and arm movements as an integral part of the style.