Belly Dancing: Hip Roll - part of the women's fitness video series by GeoBeats. Hi, I am Tava. I am here at Work It Dance and Fitness Studios in Norwalk, Connecticut. Right now I am going to teach you how to do a belly dance hip roll. We are going to do them two ways: hip rolls on the up and hip rolls on the down. The first thing I want you to do is stand in basic belly dance posture, knees soft, tailbone tucked, chest lifted and shoulders down. So, I am going to start by imagining there is a pencil come straight out of my hipbone and I want to draw a circle on the wall in front of me. I am going to bend the knees deeply, press the hip out to the side, lift up to the ball of the foot, and then pull back into center. So I am drawing down, out, lifting the heel, contracting the obliques, and pulling into center. When I smooth that out, down, out, up and in. Down, out, up and in. Down, out, up and in. You want to be mindful that the tailbone does not tip back, pushing the bottom out. You want to imagine you are stuck between two planes of glass and you can only move sideways. Down, out, contracting the obliques, pulling back into center. Let us try it on the other side. Bending the knees, sliding the pelvis up to the left, lifting the heel and pulling into center. Down, out, up and in. Now let us try alternating right side to left side. This can be a little bit tricky. As I lift my hip up on the right, I am going to transition on a diagonal down and over to the other side, pushing off to one ball of the foot and then the other. So, I am getting this figure eight type quality in the hips. Right and left. Right and left. I am also being mindful not to slide on the foot. I do not want to swish it back and forth like that. Again, I am staying in the frontal plane. Right, left, engaging the obliques, and it is a very soft movement. Excellent. So now let us shift. Instead of the hip roll on the up, we are going to do the hip roll on the down. So, I am going to start by lifting the heel, contracting the obliques, taking the pelvis over to the side, bending the knee and then pulling into center. I am reversing the direction of the circle. Up, out, down, and then squeezing the abdominals to come back to center. It looks very easy, but it is quite a workout. Up, out, down and in. And again, trying to smooth out the corners and create a circle. Excellent. Let us try it on the other side. Lifting the heel, pushing the pelvis out to the side, bending the knees and pulling back into center. Up, out, down, in. You may find that your range of motion is a little bit smaller when you first start this. That is perfectly acceptable. It is best to have the movement small and have your form correct than try to go big and have your hips do something they are not supposed to do. So, up, out, down and in. Again, alternating right and left. Right and left. This is called a maya, and as you get more comfortable with the movement, you can find you can do this with your heels on the floor, just pushing the knees back and forth. Make sure there is no pain in the lower back. Low belly is tucked, chest is lifted. And I am trying to keep my upper body nice and stable, I am not reacting. Excellent. So, that is your hip roll.