The Girls Of the Harem by Fabbio Fabbi
Middle Eastern Dance
Side Lying Movements
This page lists descriptions of the most common movements used in floorwork for bellydance.

Cleopatra
Lying on your side, lift the torso off the floor and rest on your elbow.  Bring
your free arm behind your head gently cupping the back of your head or
gently lifting the hair of the base of the neck.  The leg on the bottom should
be bent with the foot behind you while the top leg should be straight with the
foot pointed.  The movement is essentially a figure eight on one side.  Start
by bringing your hip (this should be the top or free side) forward and twitst
it down towards the ground.  The knee of the top leg should turn inwards and
drop down as well.  Now turn the knee back out and beging twisting the hip
backwards or up and behind you  There should be the essential feeling of
doing a figure eight on one side but because you are lying on the floor your
range is more limited.  Use your abdominal and oblique muscles to enhance
and further control the movemnt.  But do not allow it to become an
undulation  Allow the leg and foot to follow naturally but do not lead with
them.  You sould get a snakey movement which is reminicant of old
Hollywood Cleopatras that audiences still love today.  Remember to keep the space between your  arms and your
chest open and the ribcage lifted.  The chest stays still.  Your upper leg will rotate in and out with the movement

Cleopatra (Lifted Variation)
Lying on your side, lift the torso off the floor and rest on the palm of your hand.  Keep a straight line from the palm to
your shoulder, the hand needs to be directly under shoulder or you will tend to slide down away from your hand
making it nearly impossible to do this movement.  Bring your free arm behind your head gently cupping the back of
your head or gently lifting the hair from the base of the neck.  The bottom leg should be bent with the foot behind you
and the top leg should be straight with the foot pointed.  The body is lifted and resting on the side of the lower part of
your bottom leg.  The weight is entirely on your hand and the side of the leg.  In the Cleopatra movement the hips are
lying on the floor and so there is limited range of motion however with the lifeted variation there is a much larger
range of motion allowing for a more noticable figure eight.  It will still be a one sided horizontal figure eight but
because the hips are lifted your other hip can follow along for the ride.  Twist the top hip forward and down toward the
floor and then bring it back up and twist back droping it behind you.  The knee will rotate in and out with the
movement allow the leg and foot to follow, but do not lead with them.  You sould get a snakey movement which is
reminicant of old Hollywood Cleopatras that audiences still love today.  This movement does require a lot of muscle
strenth and control.  If you have any problems with your wrists knees or shoulders I urge you to be extra careful as
that is where a large portion of the weight is distributed.  Remember to keep the space between your  arms and your
chest open and the ribcage lifted.  The chest stays still.  Your upper leg will rotate in and out with the movement.

Snake
The snake movement is almost the same as the Cleopartra but includes an undualtion.  You should be in a side lying
position with the torso lifted resting on your elbow.  Bring your other arm behind your head, cupping the back of your
head or lifting the hair from the base of the neck.  Begin with an undulation by pushing the chest forward and lifting up,
then roll down when you get to the hips the hip will push back and drop behind.  When your chest lifts your hip will
and drop down. 

Undulation
Lying on your side resting on the palm of your hand, lift your torso and hips off the floor so that you are resting on the
side of your bottom leg.  The bottom leg should be bent with the foot behind you.  The top leg should be straight with
the foot pointed.  Bring your free arm behind your  head, cupping the back of your head or lifting the hair from the
base of the neck.  Remember to keep the space between your arms and chest open and the ribcage lifted.  Now, roll
down your body in an undulation.
Detail from The Girls Of the Harem by Fabbio Fabbi.