Belly dance
What is it: Clara Ball says, ‘Belly dancing is also known as raqs sharqi or Oriental dancing. It’s a very empowering dance for women, as historically it started with women learning to dance to improve their stomach muscles for child birth. So it’s nothing to do with entertaining men. But it has become really popular in recent years, partly because of superstars such as Shakira raking in the crowds.’
Difficulty: ‘The most difficult part is learning to isolate different parts of the body. When the moves are broken down, it’s very easy, but when they’re put together it becomes challenging. People tend to overthink it, but the basics are very simple.’
Benefits: ‘It’s a full body workout, and you tone all your core muscles. You’ll definitely break out in a sweat when we’re really going for it. It gives you a real fluidity that’s hard to replicate with other dances. When I used to go to nightclubs, I could tell which girls had learnt belly dancing.’
Where to learn: Clara teaches ladies-only belly dancing classes at the Beach Club, Beach Rotana, for advanced beginners on Tuesdays at 5.30pm, and absolute beginners at 7.30pm. Each lesson costs Dhs40 for non-members, and Dhs35 for members. Call 02 697 9000 for more information.
Tango
What is it: Guilhem Varangot says, ‘Most people will have heard the phrase ‘it takes two to tango,’ and that’s basically all it is. It’s two people sharing the moment and the music together. It’s was created in Argentina at the start of the last century, and has spread across the world. Nowadays you have many kinds of tango styles, but, essentially, they all follow the original Argentine model.’
Difficulty: ‘Honestly, it’s not the simplest dance to do, but that’s not what a beginner should focus on. You should see if you like it, and not bother thinking about whether you’re good or not. If you like it, you’ll want to get better. Sometimes people who have never learnt any other dances are better at it, because they don’t have to unlearn anything.’
Benefits: ‘It really can help your poise, agility and balance. There are no basic steps to learn, unlike salsa; you have to focus on your connection with your partner, so it can help you emotionally as well.’
Where to learn: Guilhem runs classes at One To One Hotel on Fridays at 6pm for beginners and 7pm for intermediate, and at the Millennium Hotel on Saturdays at 7.30pm. Classes cost Dhs50. Call 050 783 1104 for more information.
Hip hop dance
What is it: Terhas Legasse says, ‘You must have seen this kind of thing on MTV. It’s a kind of street dance, that’s very similar to break dancing, popping and locking, except it’s all on the ground, so you don’t do any of that acrobatic stuff. There’s a lot of use of shoulders, hips and heads, and it’s a very energetic dance, so you’ll sweat a lot.
Difficulty: ‘It depends on the teacher. I have to be patient and make them love the dance, and once I’ve done that, it’s easy. But the best thing about it is that it’s creative, it’s not just one style, so once you’ve learnt the routines you can make up stuff. As long as you have legs and love dancing, you can pretty much do it. You don’t need a couple to do it, so you can practise by yourself at home. But it’s mainly about flexibility and memory.’
Benefits: ‘It really improves your memory, because you have to remember steps and numbers. So, especially for children, it can make you really good at maths. Secondly, every part of your body has to do a certain job, so you burn a lot of calories while you’re dancing, and get a full body workout.’
Where to learn: Hiltonia Beach Club. Fridays, advanced, 4pm-6pm. Saturday, beginners, 5pm-6pm. Non-members Dhs35, members Dhs30. If you’re super talented, Terhas might even let you join her dance posse Fire ’N’ Ice.
Salsa
What is it: JJ Shaban says, ‘It’s a dance that originated in Cuba about 90 years ago, which mixes Western and African dance styles. One of the most popular styles now used is LA street style, which is strongly influenced by the mambo, swing, Argentine tango and Latin ballroom dancing styles. LA style places strong emphasis on sensuousness, theatricality, aerobics and musicality.
Difficulty: ‘You don’t have to be a natural dancer. It’s mainly about feeling the music, with the man leading and the woman following. It’s not the number of lessons you take that makes you good at dancing, it’s how often you practise and the consistency of dancing.
Benefits: It’s an effective physical activity, and a great way to gain self-esteem and make friends.
Where to learn: JJ holds free weekly classes at Étoiles nightclub at Emirates Palace on Monday nights at 8pm for intermediates and 9pm for beginners. He also runs classes at Abu Dhabi City Golf Club every Wednesday at the same times. For more information, email j.shaban@gmail.com.
Dance records
Take up one of these classes and soon you could beat one of these world records.
•The world record for the most number of tap dance taps in a second belongs to Irish-born James Devine with 38 quick steps, stealing the record from creator of Riverdance Michael Flatley.
•The longest individual dance marathon was by Steve Stevens, from West Sussex, England, who danced non-stop for 131 hours without a break. That’s well over five days.
•In 2006, US comedian Justin Laipply uploaded his Evolution of Dance medley video to YouTube. It turned into a viral sensation and has since had 170 million hits, making it the third most watched non-music video ever.
•Keep practising your Michael Jackson moves and you might soon be able to beat Luo Lanto of China’s moonwalk 100m record of 32.06 seconds.
