I do love belly dancing

[feliciakw]

Got to go to a belly dancing workshop this morning, taught by the teacher I took classes from a couple years ago.

And I've decided: I like belly dancing much better than zumba.

Belly dancing is . . . beautiful. More than anything, it speaks to me as a celebration of the body, the physical vessel in which our souls reside. God made us physical creatures as well as spiritual creatures, and dancing like this, once you get past the self-consciousness of it, just sort of melds the three (physical; spiritual--or perhaps more accurately, emotional; and mental--because you really do have to stay present) into a single celebration of . . . being.

Also? It's theatrical. And you all know how I love theater and performance. The costumes and the presentation . . . it's just so much fun.

I really do feel good when I'm doing it and after. You get a workout without realizing you're getting a workout. And it makes me feel good to watch. It's amazing to see people who can isolate portions of their body and move them independently of everything else, when I didn't even realize there were muscles there to be moved.

And it's a nice social/learning time, especially when everyone is the same beginning level. Everyone is ready to embarrass herself and laugh at herself and just have fun with it. No one's judging, because none of us know what we're doing. (Okay, I had a wee bit of an advantage in that regard, since we learned the same routine I did a couple years back.)

Ironically, I was the only one in the class from Culpeper. Everyone else was from at least 40 minutes away, closer to big cities where you can find dancers if you know where to look. No such luck for me.

Comments

[kimmer1227.livejournal.com]

I can only picture you as Barbara Eden in her genie outfit. It's quite the image. Hee.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Bwah! *g*

You know, I think I actually did go as a harem girl for Halloween one year. My costume was very modest, though.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I should look into belly dancing. I keep saying this, and I keep not doing it. (Money, you know?)

Perhaps after Dan and I finally find a night when we can take ballroom/swing. I mentioned belly dancing to him once, and he was like ".... I approve of this plan," with a total "just went to his happy place" look. *g*

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

I have DVDs, and can totally show you some basic stuff, if you want to try it before signing up for a class...ooo, if Fee comes out for a visit, we could have a dance day! *bounces*

[leelust.livejournal.com]

*sits in her corner and silently envies F*

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Do not be envious. You should check in your area for similar dance classes if it's something you're interested in. It's loads of fun!

[leelust.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm, i'm too shy for that *iz blushing*

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

One of my books describes bellydance by saying "There once was a time when the way healthy women walk was considered so beautiful they made a dance out of it." I love that about it, that it's a celebration of the body, as you say. Trying to get back into it, myself, since it's good for regaining tone in all the muscles that got shot during pregnancy. I discovered that I just like turning on some music and doing a slow taxeem (or however you spell it, the basic figure-eight hip walk).

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

"There once was a time when the way healthy women walk was considered so beautiful they made a dance out of it."

That's excellent!

I've read that belly dancing grew out of exercises young women were taught in preparation for childbirth. Middle Eastern Lamaze, I call it. So the idea that it tones everything back up after pregnancy and childbirth makes total sense.

Actually, I think dance in general does that. I worked with a gal at that PAC who was a former ballet dancer and still taught. When she had her first child, it was an incredibly easy delivery. When I saw her in the hospital, I told her, "Of course it was. You're a dancer."

Re: . . . taxeem . . . vertical figure-8s or horizontal figure-8s? And do you know of any good websites that discuss the basics of the various movements?

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

My dance teacher told me that a lot of middle-eastern women used to believe that if your friends all came and danced in your room during your labor, it would make your delivery easier. Supposedly it worked, if not for the reason they thought, because they all danced for each other's deliveries so their core muscles were all really strong.

Taxeem: the horizontal figure eight. It's almost the first thing I learned in bellydance. I haven't seen a lot of bellydance stuff online, and unfortunately most websites that have anything to do with it are really badly put together. I think it's because dancers are usually such free spirits that structuring a website so that you can actually navigate it without going insane is not something they're wired to do.