In contrast to certain other forms of fitness-think treadmill running-dance is a joyous, celebratory way of burning calories, strengthening muscles, and enhancing flexibility. The Bellytwins, Neena and Veena, have been proselytizing this message for years. The identical twins, who go by their first names only, are experts in bellydance and have trained extensively in traditional forms of dance from India and the Middle East. The sisters have helped to popularize these artforms through classes and a series of videos and DVDs.

After instructing scores of students, Neena and Veena realized that bellydancing-and the training for it-was, as you might imagine, a heck of a workout. Bellydancing fosters strength not only in the core muscles of the belly, but in the back, the legs, and the arms. It also requires a heightened awareness of the body; to perform some of the movements, you have to be able to move specific muscles with a level of control that requires deep concentration.

In addition to their how-to and fitness DVDs, the twins recently penned The Way of the Belly, a book that presents their thoughts on bellydancing's benefits as well as tips on diet and beauty. Veena, speaking for the duo, offers her insights about the choo-choo shimmy, one of her favorite moves, and the centrality of the belly.

LIME: You must have a heightened consciousness of your belly, even when you're not dancing. How does this shape your everyday experience?

VEENA: Neena and I believe that the belly is your tool for communicating. Energetically, your belly senses non-verbal communication between you and every person, place, or thing around you.

LIME: For someone who might like to try out a bellydancing fitness technique, what do you recommend as being the most intense of the moves? And what are the easiest moves for beginners?

VEENA: One of the easiest moves for beginners is hip circles, where you draw horizontal circles with your hips. You keep your feet together or wider apart, and draw small or large circles. This is not only one of the most versatile movements in bellydance but also one of our favorites. It's a great warm-up for your hips, knees, spine, and internal organs. And it's one of the most basic movements that can easily be woven into more complicated dance steps. Like many bellydance steps, add more complexity, and voila! It's now a more muscle-burning, intense movement. All in all, I would still say the choo-choo shimmy-where you shimmy on your toes, with slightly bent knees-has created more pumping hearts and burning quads than any other move. It's also very fiery and exciting to watch. In fact, shimmies generally have that effect. And when you do them, you feel like you're "shaking" off the calories. You really feel like you're getting a workout. In Bellydance Core Conditioning, our latest DVD, we teach a whole shimmy section. We receive tons of emails from women all over the world saying they've lost so much weight from our workout DVDs.

LIME: Other than these, what's your favorite bellydancing move?

VEENA: Another favorite is the full-body undulation, a more complicated but very sensual movement. Very snake-like. This dance movement has a lot of health benefits also, especially for women. It's not only a great workout for the upper and lower abs, chest, and the entire pelvic region, but this movement has been known to prepare women for child-rearing years.

LIME: With such a belly-centric approach, is it necessary to be particularly careful with what you eat?

VEENA: Absolutely! In The Way of the Belly, we explain the importance of a good diet to lose weight, gain more energy, and feel better overall. In the second chapter, we designed an easy 30-day diet program to get you started on a life makeover process.

LIME: In your recent projects, you've begun incorporating techniques from yoga as well as influences from bhangra dancing into your regimen. How do these meld together, and do you find that you are bringing in philosophical teachings as well as physical techniques into the mix?

VEENA: In our newest DVD, Indi-Hop, we combine bhangra and hip-hop (and even some martial arts) to create this unique, very cardio dance style. We open and cool down with yoga, which itself creates a very spiritual experience. But this dance style is also guaranteed to make you sweat and detox! We've been teaching this technique and Bollywood-influenced choreography for about 12 years. With all of our teachings-whether it's bellydance or Indian dance-at dance workshops, seminars, and in the book, we always integrate our own spiritual philosophies to the appropriate degree. That's just us. We do that a lot in the book, but neither readers nor students ever feel like we're "preaching." It should just feel like a fun experience. We want to take them on a physical and spiritual journey.

LIME: Along these lines, you write in a recent newsletter that bellydancing is both "physically and spiritually empowering." Can you describe how it fulfills both of these dimensions?

VEENA: Physically, bellydance improves muscle tone, flexibility, and posture. The moves are also very natural to the body-especially to women. And because it's fun and easy to learn, you will stay with it, so consequently you will lose unwanted fat and calories, which makes you feel better and sexier. When you feel better, you feel more empowered. More generally, bellydance uplifts and frees your spirit, and it opens your creative mind and expression. That's why it's become so popular with women all over the world.