How to Belly Roll

Co-authored by Richa Jauhari

The belly roll, or undulation, is an essential movement in belly dancing, a mesmerizing dance form that originated in the Middle East. Rolling your belly is done by flexing and unflexing your abdominal muscles so that the stomach undulates while the hips and spine remain still. With practice, you can train your muscles to roll at varying speeds.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Learning to Control Your Abdominal Muscles

1
Position yourself in front of a mirror. Stand facing the mirror with your feet about shoulder-width apart and your back erect. Keep your arms at your sides. Relax your abdominal muscles and let your pelvis naturally stick out a bit. You should feel loose and comfortable.
- Since you're doing a belly roll, you'll need to be able to see your belly. Wear a midriff-bearing shirt or just a bra, and comfortable yoga pants, a skirt or shorts that sit below your belly button.
2
Find your two sets of abdominal muscles. Your abdomen is divided into two different sets of muscles: upper abdominal muscles and lower abdominal muscles. Place one hand across your upper abdominal muscles, just below your ribs. Place your other hand over your lower abdominal muscles, just below your belly button. Learning to isolate the two sets is the key to performing a belly roll.^{[1]
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3
Keep your hips and spine still. A belly roll engages just your abdominal muscles, and the rest of your body should stay still. Don't be tempted to move your hips forward or from side to side; stand completely still and focus on moving those muscles and nothing else.
- If you have trouble isolating your abdominal muscles without moving your hips and spine, practice your belly exercise while seated on the floor, lying flat on your back or perched on the edge of the chair. Lean back in the chair and rest on your hands, both legs extended straight in front of you. Hold your torso in a straight line as you practice.
4
Suck in your upper abdominal muscles. Let your lower belly pooch out while your upper belly pulls in toward your spine. Hold the position for a moment to get used to the feeling of sucking in your upper abdominal muscles while your lower abdominal muscles push out. This is an essential movement in a belly roll.^{[2]
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- Practice flexing and unflexing your upper abdominal muscles. Pull them in, then push them out. Keep doing so until you can easily locate and engage them.
- It might help to keep your hand on your abdomen above your belly button so you can feel your muscles tighten and loosen. After trying this for a while, practice without using your hand.
5
Suck in your lower abdominal muscles. Pull your lower belly in toward your spine while pushing out your upper abdominal muscles. This movement is trickier than its reverse, so it's going to take some practice. Imagine pulling your belly button in while the muscles just above stick out.^{[3]
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- Practice flexing and unflexing your lower abdominal muscles. Pull them in, then push them out. Keep doing so until you can easily locate and engage them.
- Keep your hand on your abdomen above your belly button so you can feel them tighten and loosen. After a while, do it without using your hand.
6
Flex your upper and lower abdominal muscles in rotation. First suck in your upper abdominal muscles, then suck in your lower abdominal muscles. Go back and forth between them, making sure the muscle that isn't being sucked in is pushed out. By rotating between the upper and lower muscles, you'll give the appearance that your stomach is undulating. Once you get the hang of it, you're ready to perform a belly roll.
- If you have trouble flexing your upper and lower abdominal muscles in isolation, doing ab exercises can help. Try crunches, sit ups, and other belly workouts to gain greater control over your abdominal muscles.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Rolling Your Belly

1
Do a top-to-bottom belly roll. This is the basic belly roll that every dancer knows. It goes like this: push your upper abs out, your lower abs out, your upper abs in, and your lower abs in. Practice these motions until you can do them smoothly.^{[4]
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- Look in the mirror to see whether your belly looks like it's starting to roll. If you can't tell, try to make your flexes more pronounced and stick out the muscles that aren't being engaged. When you suck in your upper abdominal muscles, really push out your lower belly, and vice versa.
2
Do a bottom-to-top belly roll. To do a bottom-to-top belly roll suck your entire abdomen in, then push out with your lower abdominal muscles first. Push out with your upper abs. Suck in your lower abs, and finally suck in your upper abs, too. Repeat.^{[5]
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- Practice both this and the top-to-bottom roll; you might find that moving in one direction or the other comes more naturally to you.
3
Start rolling faster. Try to speed up your flexing and unflexing so that as soon as you finish flexing your upper abdominal muscles, you move to the lower. Go back and forth quickly with no interruption. Keep gaining speed until you're rolling as fast as you can. Slow down, then speed back up. This will help you gain greater control over your muscles.^{[6]
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4
Find your rhythm. Like any dance movement, the belly roll requires a good sense of rhythm. Move back and forth between your upper and lower abdominal muscles with a particular pattern, rather than jerking back and forth. Watch your belly in the mirror and try to create a smooth, elegant roll with your muscles.
- It helps to move to music. Turn on some music with a good, steady beat and practice rolling your belly with it, just as you'd tap your foot or clap your hands.
5
Learn to belly dance.The belly roll is just one movement in belly dancing. A belly dance includes elegant arm and leg movements as well. Throughout the dance, the spine is held erect and the hips still while the belly undulates. If you enjoy belly rolling, consider taking the next step to learn how to do a complete dance.

Expert Q&A

Question

How do I learn to roll my belly?

Richa Jauhari
BollyX Regional Trainer, NASM certified Personal Trainer, Choreographer, Fitness & Mental Health Author
Richa Jauhari is BollyX Regional Trainer for Southern California based in Glendale, California. With over 10 years of experience as an instructor and choreographer, she specializes in Bollywood fusion dances. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Toronto and a Master’s in Marriage & Family Therapy from Brandman University. She has also earned a certification as a personal trainer from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and an Athletics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) certification in group exercise. She has published articles on fitness & mental health in notable online publications such as Brown Girl Magazine, Medium, BollyX Life, and India Currents.

Richa Jauhari

BollyX Regional Trainer, NASM certified Personal Trainer, Choreographer, Fitness & Mental Health Author

Expert Answer

Body rolls are a great way to learn and practice flexibility while keeping the abdominal muscles engaged. A great way to control abdominal muscles is to practice sinking the bellybutton into the spine while exhaling many times a day. Along with strengthening exercise, stretching the lats muscles and chest openers can also help the torso flow more smoothly during a body roll.
Question

How do I get my abdominal muscles to move one by one?

Community Answer

This takes lots of practice. It takes strength in your obliques and lower back as well. Try hip-ribcage isolations (look up isolation jazz warmup exercises), which helps a lot. Then practice some more! Use the mirror to assist.
Question

Can I belly roll and belly dance even if I'm thick?

Community Answer

Anyone can belly dance! I am on the thicker side as well and I teach belly dancing classes. I find thicker people can dance as well, if not better than thin people.