New belly dance students are always surprised by how much they have to use their arm muscles. I’m always surprised after coming back into dancing after a month or two off!

Belly dancers have to hold their arms up for long periods of time, and it actually takes quite a lot of strength to perform arm movements slowly and gracefully. Ever seen those fabulous snake arms? Gorgeous! Try doing those in a belly dancing class for 5 minutes at a time, whew!