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Please note these are the moves Huraiva uses when teaching,
there are many variations on the moves, the one your instructor (if its not
Huraiva) uses may be different.
Proper Posture – feet hips width apart (one or two fists), knees slightly bent, tail bone tucked (using the lower abdominal muscles and not the glutes), rib cage lifted, (using the center mid back muscles) shoulders down and back (not pinched together)
Head moves:
Head slides: slide the head side to side keeping it flat; do not tip or turn the head .
Head circles: move the head forward side, back side, keeping it level.
Head figure 8’s (happy captive): facing the back, sway and twist the head so that the top of the head draws a figure 8’s above the body.
Hair tossing - 1/2 circle: using your upper back muscles sway your head from side to down in the center to side
Hair tossing - full circle: using your upper back muscles move your head in a circle where the top of the head draws a large circle on the ceiling, be careful not to crunch your neck backwards.
Arm Positions and Moves:
Aladdin Arms - one hand behind your head with elbow straight out to the side, other hand held away from the body, straight arm, pretty hands.
Arabesque - one arm held in fifth position, the other arm held across the body at chest height, both with pretty hands.
Arm Figure 8s - one hand above head, one hand under chest, both palms facing down, hands move away from center of body, travel down the side of the face and up the side of the chest, cross under the chin, travel up the side of the face and down the side of the chest and pass under the chest and above the head.
Arm Ripples - very small and tightly controlled snake arms, the movement travels from the shoulder out to the fingers, the arm does not move more than 6 inches up or down.
Belly dancer second position - arms out to the side, elbows rotated backward, hands slightly lifted and held palm facing down with pretty hands.
Candle Arms - start with hands in high Pharonic. One hand rotates down and in towards chest under the elbow, out and up then over the head then rotates back to starting point, repeat with other hand. May be done alternating, at the same time or at the same time but in opposite positions. Try to keep the hands flat, as though you were balancing a candle on them.
Circles - arms/hands make a large circle around the outside of the body. Arms move leading with the elbow. Circles may either be inward or outward direction, arms may be synchronous or in opposition.
Delilah’s cobra arms - arms held straight out to the side, hands cupped with fingers touching thumb to make a snake head, hand rotates to face head, moves towards shoulder and just before the "snake" would "bite" the shoulder hand rotates to face outward and move away from body agian.
Egyptian Headache - one arm held away from the body with pretty hand and straight arm, the other hand at the temple, back of hand resting on head, pretty hand.
Fifth Position - hands high above the head, arms extend outward at shoulder level and curve back inwards at elbow level, hands should not touch. Palms may face inwards or outwards, but hands should be in "pretty hands."
Finger ripple - bringing the fingers in or out one at a time leading with either the pinky or index finger (thumb remains out).
Fish tail - hands held above the head, "belly dance" hand ripples done to the front and back in opposition.
Floreo - a rotation of the wrist that leads with the pinky finger.
Genie Arms - arms held in front of the body, one forearm resting on top of the other across the chest a la I Dream of Jeanie
Hand Jive - used in the gypsy fusion style, includes fists beating on various body parts and hands slicing across various body parts.
Hand ripple - there are two versions, the "belly dance" and the "hula" version. The belly dance version leads with the wrist and "rolls" down to the finger tips. The hula version leads with the finger tips and "rolls" down to the wrist.
Hip frame - hands held at the hop level with palms facing the hips.
Incense rising - hula hand ripples starting about waist height and rising up above the head crossing each other.
Katia Arms - belly dance hand ripples above the head moving side to side together.
L arms - One arm in second, the other arm in fifth.
Low second - hands out the sides, hands slightly higher than hip level and away from the body, slight curve at elbow and wrist, hands held palm facing down with pretty hands.
Low Snake arms - hands at hip level, leading with the elbow they move side to side like you are passing a large beach ball back and forth and your hands are paint brushes painting the floor.
Medusa Arms - snake arms done out in front of the body.
Persian arms - giant snake arms beginning and ending with one hand above the head, palm up and the other hand in front of the low belly, palm up.
Pharonic Arms - angular arms held with hands flat at either head height, shoulder height or hip height.
Pretty hands - hands form a gentle "C" shape. The thumb is below the index finger, which is extended slightly upwards. The middle (or middle and ring finger) are dropped and the pinky is extended upwards.
S arms - arms curved, one above the head, the other framing the hip.
Shoulder shimmy - rapped shoulder thrusts
Side sweep - arms start in arabesque and low arm sweeps across to L arms
Snake arms - one arm moves up, the other arm moves down, both out to the sides. The motion is lead by the elbow, the wrist follows and the hand "brushes" the walls like a paint brush painting the wall.
Suhaila arms - hands extended outward, either up, down at the hips or straight out to the side with a wrist rotation. Hands may be in the same direction (both up or both down) or in opposite directions.
Swells - a snake arm, Persian arm, Medusa arm, etc done simultaneously instead of in opposition.
Temple Arms - hands are above the head, with elbows bet outward forming a frame around your face. The hands should be fairly far back so you don't have a "unicorn horn". Hands may be pressed palms together, back of the hands together or with wrists wrapped and palms together.
T-rex - elbows are pulled into the waist, forearms extend away from the body with pretty hands.
Tribal Snake arms - refined angular snake arms, includes pulling in the shoulders, base position is tribal torture arms.
Tribal Torture Arms - arms out to the side, elbows lifted higher than shoulder height, wrists at shoulder height and pulled in, hands turned out and held palm facing down with pretty hands.
Wrist rotation - rotating the wrist leading with the index finger, like wiping out the inside of a vase.
Rib cage slides: slide rib cage side to side, keeping rib cage flat, do not tip side to side
Rib cage arch/contract: move rib cage forward and back without lifting or dropping, from the side your shoulders should appear stationary and should not round or pinch back
Horizontal Rib cage circles: combine slides with arch and contract to create circle, rib cage remain flat level and not tilt from the waist
Rib cage lift/drop: lift rib cage using the muscles in your back under your bra strap and lower the rib cage using your upper abs, can be done smooth (movement tacking all the full counts) or accented (sharp, with movement taking a fraction of a count and then held for the rest of the beat.)
Vertical rib cage circles: combine slides with lift and drop to create a circle, do not twist or lean forward or back.
Rib cage wheel: combine arch and contract with lift and drop.
Shoulder thrust - arms in second, thrust one shoulder forward by rotating it in the socket, as though you were trying to push a button with your shoulder.
Chest pyramid - combine shoulder thrusts and accented rib cage lift and/or drop. Right shoulder, left shoulder, chest lift, drop.
Rib cage V’s or diagonal lift/drop:
lift the rib cage up to the one side, then drop it in the center, then lift it
up to the other side, making the shape of a “V”
Twisted rib cage slides: twist the upper body then do a rib cage slide so that the rib cage slides from the front right to the back left or vice versa.
Rib cage forward figure 8’s - type 1: push the rib cage forward (arch) slide to one side, pull rib cage back, slide to center, push rib cage forward, slide to other side, pull rib cage back, slide to center. May also be done by pulling the rib cage back to start, then slide to one side push forward, slide to center, pull back, slide to other side, push forward, slide to center.
Rib cage backward figure 8’s type 2: twist rib cage and push to front diagonal, twist the rib cage so it is at the same side, but the back diagonal, do a twisted rib cage slide, then sweep from front to back diagonal. May also be done with the sweeps being from back to front and the twisted rib cage slide being from front to back.
Vertical rib cage 8’s: keep the lower body still, move the rib cage in a vertical figure 8 as though it were between two panes of glass, it should not twist forward or back. May be boxy with as though combining two vertical rib cage circles with a lift (or drop) in the center or may be done with a diagonal in the center .
Have the name of a move and need a description? Know a move but not what it is called?
E-mail Huraiva at huraiva@huraivaalimah.com
