One part of pole dance that people love to try is floor work. The thing is, they often don’t know what to do once they get down there.
So, today’s post is a lesson on one of my favorite floor moves from belly dance, the Cleopatra. It’s sexy and seductive, and accentuates every delicious curve.
Starting Position
To start the Cleopatra, you want to be lying on your side, toes pointed. The knee touching the floor should be bent at a 90 degree angle, pointing behind you. Prop yourself up on your elbow, being sure to keep your hand lying gently and unclenched on the floor in front of you.
The Motion
The key to doing the Cleopatra is to focus on your hips. If you see it done in anything other than a long skirt, your eyes will likely be drawn to the movement of the legs and feet. This movement can be lovely to look at, but if you want to learn how to do it, tell your eyes to ignore all that and focus on the hips.
The motion for the Cleopatra comes from letting your hip fall forward and then bringing it back, accentuating the movement to give as much of a figure-eight shape to it as possible. As you do this, your feet and legs will naturally move along with your hip, but if you focus on those movements, you won’t get the move.
Instead, focus on your hips and let your legs and feet follow. If you lose the movement or have trouble finding it in the first place, just breathe, focus on your hips, and start again.
Here’s a Video to Show You How To Do the Cleopatra
Variations
Once you get the hang of the Cleopatra, you can begin to play with it. Try propping yourself on your wrist, not your elbow. Play with your hair. Use willowy arm movements. Try different facial expressions. Play with costuming – anything accentuating your hip line will look fabulous for this move.
When to Use It
Use the Cleopatra any time you want to stay on the floor for a bit, instead of continuing up to dance on the pole. After a spin that lands on the floor – say, a backwards stag – simply unwind off the pole by rolling to your side, and then begin. You can also incorporate it after any dismount from a climb or invert.
Mastering the Cleopatra
The Cleopatra takes some practice. You’re going for nuance with this move; it requires patience and a deep connection with your body. Just breathe into the movement, feel into your hips, and aim for curves. If your hip is just clunking up and down (which it will, at first), stop, breathe, and try again.
You’ll get there!
If you liked this article, you might also like to learn how to do a Reverse Horizontal Figure Eight. And, if you need help jazzing up your movements, consider treating yourself – and your dancing – to private coaching.
There are very few things as sexy as hips. They strut, they tease – in short, they totally rule. And when pole dancing, you want to be sure not to leave them out. Hips are absolutely essential when doing transitions.
Belly Dance Moves Every Pole Dancer Should Know
As you’ve all come to know by now (or soon will), I am a belly dancer by training, and that infuses pretty much every kind of movement I do, pole included. Heck, pole especially.
It’s easy to get caught up in the gymnastic side of pole, but the dancing part is what pulls it all together. And belly dance moves go really well with pole. After all, both are very sultry, sexy dance styles, and both use a lot of isolations. I thought it would be great to show you some classic belly dance moves that you can easily work into any pole dance routine.
Reverse Horizontal Figure Eight
The reverse horizontal figure eight may not sound like the sexiest move, but, believe me, done well, it will knock their socks off! The video below will show you, step by step, how to do this move and ways to use it in conjunction with pole. There are a few things you should keep in mind as you watch:
Push into your hip sockets. This is essential for this move. You need to exaggerate the motion to get the figure eight effect.
Move slowly. Languorous movements are the essence of sultry dancing. Sure, dancing quickly looks cool, but if you do it slowly, you turn the show into one big tease.
Watch your hips as they move. When you watch your own movements, you pull the audience in through your gaze.
Use the pole as a frame. You can do this move in front of the pole, behind the pole, or next to the pole. However you choose, be aware that you are contrasting this curvy motion against the straightness of the pole. If you are in front of or behind the pole, make longer, slower movements to be sure the movement can be seen around the pole. If you are standing next to the pole, you can make the movement as big or as little as you like.
Do half the move. Sometimes, half a reverse horizontal figure eight makes for a beautiful transition. It can be used to turn you around smoothly, or to accentuate a pose.
Click on the video below to see how to do this move:
There you have it. A simple belly dance movement that looks beautiful when combined with pole. Play with it and let me know how it works for you!
