“Moving is a whole-brain experience,” says Karen Andes in her book, A Women’s Book of Power (Berkley Publishing Group, 1998). Each side of the brain dominates the movements on the other side of the body. So, the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and the left side of the brain leads the right side of the body.
Using the opposite arm and leg at the same, particularly when the movements cross the center line of the body, activates both halves of the brain. Belly dance can not only be a full body workout, it can also be a whole brain workout. However, according to Andes, well before we’ve even learned belly dance, we’ve acquired movement personalities that favor one hemisphere of the brain over the other.
Right vs Left Brain Thinking Styles
Neither the right brain nor the left is better for belly dance. Dance moves involve both sides of the brain. However a dancer may find that one side dominates. She can look at the way she normally processes information for clues to how she can strengthen herself as a dancer.
The left hemisphere style is rational, responding to verbal instructions, solving problems sequentially, and relying on organized information. The left brain looks at differences, does planning, and prefers selecting from multiple choices.
The right hemisphere style is intuitive, responding to demonstrated instructions, solving problems with hunches, and relying on self-perceived patterns. The right brain looks for similarities, is spontaneous, prefers manipulating objects and dealing with open-ended questions.
Rational vs Intuitive Belly Dance Styles
Dancers with a dominant left brain style prefer rational movements. According to Andes, these dancers will strengthen their style by relying on precise choreographies with clear beginnings, middles, and ends; counting with a reliance on moving to precise rhythms; moving together with a group as opposed to being singled out; following a leader; and facing a mirror in practice.
Intuitive and spatially-sensitive right brain dancers prefer free expression in dance, favoring dancing alone. These dancers will not want to dance with a group or to a choreography. They will be more willing to move against a rhythm. These women will want to practice their dance without looking in a mirror. Right brain dominant belly dancers will seek to dance in front on an audience so to reveal their “essence.”
How Belly Dancers Can Dance with Their Whole Brain
Although one thinking style may dominate, both sides of the brain do communicate with one another. Left brain thinking allows a dancer to move from one movement to the next in sequence. The right brain introduces emotion and a spatial awareness to the dance.
Left brain thinking may feel dull while right brain thinking may be frightening. It is up to a dancer to try a variety of methods to learn her dance. There is a benefit to trying both choreographed as well as free form dance and then seeing which feels more natural.
A belly dancer can use her knowledge of the differences between right and left brain hemispheres to better develop herself as a dancer. If she moves in a way complimentary to the way she thinks, she will be able to more naturally progress as a dancer.
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