Belly Dancing: The Sensual Art of Energy and Spirit

by Pina Coluccia, Anette Paffrath, Jean Pütz

A comprehensive guide to the art of belly dancing

• Covers the origins, mythology, and history of the Middle Eastern dance, including its physical and mental health benefits

• Contains practical instructions with easy-to-follow photographs

• Includes recipes for perfumes, cosmetic creams, and food from the Middle East

Belly dance is pure sensuousness and has enchanted humans since ancient times. Yet beyond its erotic aspects, belly dancing offers many physical and emotional benefits. On the physical level it helps with muscle stiffness, autonomic nervous system disturbances, mobility of the abdominal region, and strengthening the back, which in turn enhances the body’s overall posture. Belly dancing also relieves menstrual problems and has been shown to be extremely useful during pregnancy and childbirth. On the emotional side belly dancing increases the libido and has enabled women to overcome self-esteem issues and regain healthy feelings of sensuality and sexuality. Belly Dancing covers all aspects of this ancient art, beginning with its origins and mythical connections to the moon goddess. The authors provide practical instructions and easy-to-follow photographs for the most important dance movements as well as guidance in costuming and related accoutrements. Additional information on foot reflexology and Indian chakras aid the further understanding of the art. The book also contains recipes for Middle Eastern perfumes, cosmetic creams, and food as well as suggestions for musical accompaniment.

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2005

Reviews

[Baroness · Rating 4 out of 5]

The passionate wild in me loves to dance. I practice belly dancing among other types of dance. I would have liked to see more pics of the movements. Overall, great read with a beautiful loving message about honoring your inner goddess, yourself and your body.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

An informative book on Bellydance. I’ve been Bellydancing for a little while now so I kind of skimmed over the parts with movement instruction. I did really enjoy how the author tied in the spiritual aspects of Bellydance though as that’s what drew me to Bellydance in the first place...a place where I can really connect with the divine feminine. This book was a good reminder of that.

[Fiona Endsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorites in that it has a strong emphasis on the physical and emotional health benefits of belly dance throughout a women's life- childhood to puberty to childbearing to menopause and beyond. Very warm, very sisterly. It even has some yummy recipes in the back!

[Marjanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is relatively short and attempts to cover a variety of aspects of belly dance. There's some of the history of belly dance, a little about the emotional, spiritual, and physical benefits of belly dance, a tutorial on basic belly dance movements, and some recipes for Middle Eastern food. I liked the portions with instruction on movements, music, and costume. However the rest of it was just a little bit too 'new age-y'. I agree that belly dance has some great benefits, but I really disliked that the authors seemed to take some liberties and made gross generalizations about women. For example they pretty much state that women who don't embrace their menstruation are denying their womanhood and therefore that leads to PMS and eating pints of ice cream. That was just too much (not to mention no reference to any actual studies that support these generalizations). Overall, not a bad book to read, but take a lot of it with a grain of salt.

[Jodee Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very informative on the history of the dance. I enjoyed reading it and learning about this ancient art form. I think this could help support self esteem and body awareness.

Maybe someday I might give it a try

[Lisa]

new

[Dreamersemporium]

very good