What to Wear to Class?

You can wear any thing that is comfortable and does not restrict your movement. Bare bellies are not required! You’ll find students wearing everything from shorts and a t-shirts to a tank top and flowing skirt. Amalia does encourage her students to dress in a way that makes them feel beautiful, so don’t be shy about putting on make up or jewelry for class!

It is best to have dance shoes, socks, or bare feet for belly dance class. It is quite difficult to do the moves in sneakers or street shoes.

Amalia usually brings hip scarves and veils for use during class.

Tips on Hip Scarves:
When shopping for a hip scarf here are some things to consider…

• Inexpensive hip scarves can be found starting around $20. A good quality hip scarf with plenty of coins or beads can run anywhere from $35 to $85+
• The weight of the scarf: It is best to have something slightly heavier to help you feel the movements. Some of the inexpensive scarves are very light weight.
• The number of beads or coins: This partly depends on your style, but some of the cheaper belts can be pretty sparse. Also some coins are thin enough to easily bend in half with your fingers, while the better quality are more durable.
• Base fabric: hip scarves are often made with a chiffon or velvet base. There are usually more styles and designs to choose from with chiffon, but I prefer to buy velvet since they stay tied better and tend to slip off the hips less.
• The quality of the beadwork: On lower quality belts the beads or coins may be strung on only a few strands of thread, while better quality will be strung on thicker and stronger material.
• Sometimes you may find “as-is” bins at belly dance events. I have found $70 belts marked down to $20 because of some loose beads.
• If you will be attending large belly dance workshops, it is considerate to have a quiet belt or scarf that you can wear to these events.

Amalia usually brings hip scarves for use in class, and good quality velvet hip scarves are available for purchase during class at reasonable prices. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for details.

Belly Dance Links & Resources

Philly Raqs
Belly dance news, links and calendar for the Philadelphia area.

Gilded Serpent
The belly dance web-zine.. Articles, reviews, etc.

Shira
Articles on belly dance costuming, etiquette, history, and more

Rakkasah
Huge belly dance festival in North Jersey each October. Three days of performances and shopping!

Hossam Ramzy
Hossam Ramzy is a well-known Egyptian percussionist. His site includes several articles giving a musicians perspective on belly dance.

Oriental Dancer
Belly dance articles, news, video clips, Arabic song lyrics, and message boards

Bhuz
“Bhuz.com™ is the leading Belly Dance Community on the Internet. We are home to over 7000 members; belly dancers, belly dance enthusiasts, and Middle Eastern style musicians”

Music Sources
The “Belly Dance Superstars” series is a good place to start for a sampling of different kinds of belly dance music, and is available through most major music stores.

Borders or Amazon have a decent selection of Middle Eastern and Belly Dance CDs. Itunes has a growing selection of Middle Eastern music. Amalia has published an iMix of music used in her classes. Search the iTunes store for “Amalia’s Belly Dance Class”

Solace - Rhythm of the Dance – a great CD of Middle Eastern rhythms frequently used in Amalia’s classes.