Belly Dance Article by Sarah Hill

Did you dream of being a dancer as a child? I have tried ballet, modern and tap but would I have the stomach for belly dancing? The sensual delights of belly dancing have always attracted me, but what would the reality be? Would it be just a group of fat women wobbling or something more mysterious?

"I do belly dancing because I find it relaxing and an excellent way to keep fit. I also like the fact that it has a novelty value and is something a bit different," said Ruth who took up belly dancing after the birth of her daughter, as a way of getting back into shape and having fun at the same time.

Well it certainly wasn't for lack of trying that I hadn't been to a belly dance class yet.

On Sunday I went to try a class in Glasgow's West End, only to find that the class had been merged with the previous one, due to the lack of numbers.
The next day I telephoned the Scottish Ballet School to find out where and when their belly dancing class was and along I went that evening.

"Belly dancing allows women to feel good about themselves and their bodies whatever their size, shape or age," said belly dancer Ruth, who is part of Partial Exposure - specialising in belly dancing classes, workshops and parties.

I arrived at the red sandstone building - the home of the Scottish Ballet School - full of apprehension. I imagined I would be going into a class of slim beautiful women wearing veils and sequinned colourful costumes. The image was vivid - there was smoke creating a mist, the dancers were making slow controlled movements to the music, their bright veils swaying through the air, their heads would turn away shyly and mysteriously. It almost felt magical.

Many myths surround belly dancing. Traditionally in the East, folk dancing is referred to as Oriental dance or Middle Eastern dance, some people find the term belly dancing is demeaning. The term 'belly dancing' was first used in the 1890's in Chicago, to attract more visitors to see the entertainers at the world fair. Most people have heard of belly dancing, but their image of it varies greatly, from its origins as a traditional folk dance - to fat women wobbling - or a sensual dance.

In Eastern cultures men, women and children, would dance for fun, from the heart, at celebrations such as weddings and festivals. It was a spontaneous dance done with friends and family, not a professional performance in a costume.

Early Egyptian films first used sequinned bra and belt costumes, which were inspired by Hollywood.

Today professional dancers perform at special occasions, such as a wedding where it brings good luck to the couple, nightclubs, restaurants and cabarets.
"It is an ancient form of dance and movement that is essentially female and is a celebration of the power, subtlety and beauty of the female body," believes belly dancer Ruth.

She added, "There is a view that belly dancing originated as an emulation of conception and birth - another view is that it started as a stylised version of soup stirring!"

On a dark and murky evening I forced myself to cycle through the wind and rain to try a class - I felt pretty nervous. When I arrived the door was locked, so I checked I had come to the right building. A mysterious old man unlocked the door - he said the class wasn't on. He slowly hobbled back behind the desk, he checked the message and said the teacher had called in sick. I felt relieved and disappointed. All the images of far away exotic places were snatched away from me when I went back out into the harsh reality of the dark, cold and rainy Scottish night, I cycled home deflated.

The day before I had managed to get a glimpse of the class - which consisted of the teacher and one pupil who were both middle aged. It must have been a quiet week. They were doing their final bit of dancing and then stretching and cooling down. I could hear subdued music in the background - I imagined it must be Middle Eastern music - it was calming and upbeat. The room they danced in was part of an old school, used today as a community and learning centre.

The room was well lit with windows on either side, the reds, blues and greens glared out from the walls, it was reminiscent of a primary school class room. There were tribal masks hanging on the walls and instruments everywhere, from guitars to keyboards to tin drums.

The cool down looked like the kind of stretches that would be done in any exercise class. If it wasn't for the music and the teacher's bright green sash belt, it could have been the end of an aerobics workout. The pupil looked a little ill at ease, she had grey wispy hair and had a kind of hippie look about her. From over hearing their conversation at the end of the class - it was her first lesson and both of them were surprised no one else had shown up. But then again this class did start early on a Sunday.

Performer and teacher Yvonne McCombie said: "Belly dancing is good fun, it's good exercise and it tones all of your body. It has got very popular in the last few years." Yvonne has been dancing for 12 years and she still performs professionally - "If people can afford me," she said. She was the teacher at Sunday's class and she told me that she teaches seven to eight times a week in the Glasgow area - so there had to be more classes!

I decided that belly dancing was not going to defeat me. I set out to find when and where the next class was in Glasgow.

I finally achieved my goal to try belly dancing.

I went into the room, it was quite dark and warm. I had butterflies in my tummy, which was about to be the focus of the next hour, which I wasn't very comfortable with and I felt very self-conscious. There was a bit of hanging around at the beginning of the class waiting for everyone to arrive and for the teacher to set the stereo up. It felt like ten minutes but it was probably just a few. I took off my shoes and socks, I noticed that the teacher had matching red nail varnish on her toes and fingers. There were seven students and the teacher - all varied in their ability but being non-competitive this did not matter. Everyone wore comfortable casual clothing, mainly black, a few ladies kept their socks on (presumably to keep warm), and the teacher wore a scarf around her hips to accentuate her centre.

I had been unsure whether we would wear scarves too, I had two in my bag, but I felt too shy to put one on. I waited to see whether any other students did - they didn't. I desperately wanted to wear one, but at the same time I didn't want the teacher to think I was a know-it-all. So in the bag they stayed.

It was like Ruth had said, "I think that a big appeal is the 'dressing up' element and all the paraphernalia that goes with it."

Jacqueline Chapman, professional belly dancer since 1980, performs authentic Egyptian belly dancing in full costume with coins, hats, veils and beads, often using swords and sticks, which she loves.

Many women in nomadic Arabic societies would wear their dowry, which meant potential husbands could see how much she was worth. This is where the dangling of the coins comes from.

Jacqueline is passionate about dancing and frequently visits Turkey, Egypt and Morocco to keep her authenticity, she often takes some of her students with her. As an English women some Arabs thought she would not be able to belly dance, as you have to wear your heart on your sleeve. She said that you have to be very aware of keeping your femininity and keeping in touch with your senses.

As a successful teacher Jacqueline said, "Belly dancing has many health and therapeutic benefits, it strengthens, massages internal organs and brings an overall feeling of well being."

In the class we started with stretching then we began the hip circle movement, which is the fundamental part of the dance. This was more difficult to do than I thought, as I was only supposed to move my hips without moving my shoulders. To do this hip movement we stood with feet hip distance apart, knees bent, pulled our bottoms in, slightly tilting the pelvis up and tucked the tummy in. The hardest part for me to do this movement was trying to relax the rest of the body. I felt very rigid.

I was the new girl on the block and very aware of this, some of the others in the class had been attending for a few terms. Yvonne was helpful in showing every move separately. There were certainly a variety of different movements, including hip flicks, pelvic tilts and moving the hips in a figure of eight. The key to me as a beginner seemed to be to concentrate on the hip movement and try to enjoy it.

Next we had to circle our hands from the wrist, whilst doing a figure of eight movement with our hips and move forward in a circle around the room. This was co-ordination!

There seemed to be a bit of an animal theme happening in the class. Some of the arm movements looked like snakes and cobras. Yvonne showed us the cobra arm movement, too advanced for most of us. Then one student felt like a camel when we were doing the vertical hip circles - she started to laugh and she sounded like a camel too!

Later in the class, whilst we were doing fast pelvic tilts - which created a kind of shimmy, the teacher told us she had called this the chicken move previously in a class. Everyone had thought she was serious, until the end of the class when she admitted she had made it up.

A few students had the giggles - which seemed contagious - it may have been our nerves or was it the fact that we were all feeling a bit self-conscious? The atmosphere was relaxed and everyone seemed to be having fun. There was quite a lot of laughter at some of the silly comments made by students. One lady said that the pelvic tilts reminded her of a childhood game, where they knocked off pins. Although, the same student did say that the pelvic tilt felt more like a thrust. She then said she could feel her abdominal muscles working rather than it wobbling. This had us all in stitches.

The teacher was discreet and did show most of the class individually any improvements we could make in our dancing. It certainly did not feel as though any one was being singled out - which is always one of my worst fears when trying something new.

Yvonne said that many of the movements involve isolating just one part of the body. Some of these included: doing hip circles whilst on the balls of the feet and moving around the room; putting one foot on ball and doing a vertical hip circle; and twisting on the spot - keeping one foot flat on the floor and the other on the ball in front, going round in a circle by moving one foot forward, and flicking the hip out. All this to the music, which was very intoxicating.

The teacher showed us a variety of moves leading to us performing a routine to the Arabic music, towards the end of the session. This felt like a huge achievement.

One student said: "I hope you come again. It's sad to see people come once and not come back again."

If you want to have a bit of fun then this is for you and it's something anyone can have a go at. There is the potential to increase self-confidence, work at your own personal level, and feel good about yourself too.

I did not feel like a natural and I did feel a bit awkward, but I tried and I enjoyed it. But Sunday morning is usually not the best time for me!