Belly Dance - A refuge from the modern world
Belly Dance - A refuge from the modern world
By: Cari Meyer, Bakotopia.com contributor
Description: The ancient art shakes its way into the hearts of Bakersfield. Find out what it's all about and get involved!
Topics: belly dancing, Bakersfield, Bakotopia, downtown, Bahiyya Almas, 2007
Posted by Bakontributor Tue Sep 18, 2007 17:16:06 PDT
Viewed 290 times
0 responses 0 comments Location: 2005 Eye St Suite #6, Bakersfield, CA 93301
By Cari Meyer, Bakotopia.com contributor
Belly dancing, although very good for one physically, can not cure cancer nor solve the woes of the world. It helps improve coordination and physical fitness. It helps balance and develops grace and fluidity. Inches can melt away. It’s enjoyable enough that once an individual starts, she doesn’t wish to stop. It does not feel like exercise. However, as one is practicing, one’s strengthening core muscles and her cardiovascular system, not to mention helping her immune system and discovering and strengthening muscles she did not know that she had.
One of the more amazing benefits of belly dancing (and the biggest surprise to me, personally) are the changes on the inside (and I’m not talking digestion). The intangible ones that no one could put their finger on but could see. That new-found sense of self and confidence.
In a society that encourages women to put their femininity, feelings and selves on the back burner, it was nice to stumble into a world where femininity was encouraged. No one holds the lack of a penis against you here. It was a relief to have an outlet for all the beauty, sadness, joy and, yes, sometimes even anger and frustration that get swallowed in our day-to-day lives. These are all released in song and controlled movements, the isolation of muscles.
Finally, in nurturing one’s own beauty and femininity, there is time for one self. In the classes and through dance, you get to spend more time with the girls. It was a very tight-knit group that I found myself the pleasure of being part of - a protective, loving and extended family while I’m so far away from my own.
Belly dancing can also help with the acceptance of one’s own body. I’ve seen many women shy about showing their bellies who, after a few weeks, change their minds and show them off (I’m one of them). Someday she may even feel brave enough to perform a choreography - one she’s made up herself or one she’s learned from her troupe mates. Belly dance also opens one’s eyes to new music, cultures and different ideas. It can also bring out creative tendencies when making costumes for performance. Once she’s tried to costume herself, a dancer will never look at normal, everyday items the same way again. She’ll find creative uses for things like buttons, Christmas decorations and items found in a hardware store (including wire and washers). It’s also more than slightly entertaining to watch people do a double take when you tell them you’re taking belly dance lessons.
Even if the more traditional, stereotypical spangled and shiny, beauty queen version of the American Cabaret belly dancer does not appeal, there is another major American belly dance style with which one could become involved. The darker, earthier, almost bordering on Goth/punk American Tribal style is rising in popularity. Although the costuming is less froufrou with the emphasis being more on coins, cloth and tassels as opposed to bangles, fringe and sequins, American Tribal style is no less feminine than American Cabaret. In the Middle East, several styles of belly dance exist. Most are dictated by the dancer’s country of origin. Style doesn’t matter. The benefits are still there.
Belly dancing is appealing to women of all walks of life - from high school drop-outs to Ph.D.’s. A woman of any size or age could be involved. Belly dancers are teachers, students, daughters, mothers, librarians, construction workers, law enforcement officers and employees of other fields traditionally viewed as male, as well as jobs that are traditionally held by women. Belly dancing can occur at any place - a theater, restaurant, studio, the office, in the car (now you know what’s going on the next time you pull up next to someone at a stop light, and she’s only moving her chest, head or arms!), by railroad tracks, or at home.
It doesn’t take much space or special equipment (it can get really expensive if one gets into buying ready-made costumes) to practice. It is an individual art. A true belly dancer performs in a way that is neither lewd nor disgusting. Her show should be one the whole family can enjoy. Although the costuming shows a bare midriff so moves are easier for the audience to see, the belly dancer prefers not to be looked at as pieces of meat, but rather as an artist presenting her latest magnum opus (I mean, would it be proper to leer at somebody like Vincent Van Gogh, offer a dollar in your teeth to Maya Angelou, or wolf whistle at Beethoven?), sharing with her audience the beauty than comes out of blood, sweat, tears and bearing her soul. She wants you to enjoy her dedication to her art, her individuality and the hours she spends practicing. She yearns for you to share her enjoyment and joy when she dances, her refuge from the modern world.
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