If there was a reality show called "So You Think You Can Draw," I don't want to sound presumptuous but I think I might have a chance. Like visual art, dancing is its own art form and I enjoy improvising movement to music like the majority of the lay dance community, but I certainly have no formal training in any dance style. But there's no reason life has to remain that way, right?
As a young girl, I often wanted to become a ballerina, but I lacked the resources to fulfill my young wish. This didn't stop me from pretending on occasion. But a big difference between being a child and an adult is the space between imagination and reality shrink as our opportunities to live our dreams in the real world increase. In other words, it is up to me now whether I take a dance class or not. I don't have to ask anyone's permission and be halted if the answer is no. The only person who can stop me is myself. Adulthood equals no excuses.
I still love watching ballet, but dancing opportunity presented itself as something more sexy, more primal--movement to invoke Aphrodite and hold this feminine archetype, which is not always easy when you're raised in a culture that rarely honors the whole woman. While our culture may be at once sexually permissive and stunted, let's just say taking a belly dancing class may be a remedy for this bind. Shaking your hips this much does not obey narrow tenets.
My former yoga instructor, Aubrey, has a studio in Clearfield called The Movement Academy and belly dancing classes are held Tuesday and Thursday nights from 9-10 pm. My sister Tiffani and I went Tuesday and there were fourteen of us altogether, including the instructor Heather Ann, a beautiful dancer. It helped me so much to watch her reflection in the mirrors spanning the east wall of the studio. Most of the women there have been practicing our dance for the past month and a half and here my sister and I are, knowing absolutely nothing about belly dancing but willing to look stupid in order to have fun. Truthfully no one looks stupid though; it is such a raw and sensuous movement of the body that even out of sync with the choreography, moving on your right foot when you should be on your left foot and trying to figure out how to move your hips while keeping your torso still, it is still seductive in more than one way. The most difficult aspect of belly dancing is the isolation of body parts. While the hips twist, the upper body remains under control. The shoulders shake while the lower body is silent. Of course, to shimmy all over isn't that easy either. The thighs are almost always kept together while dancing, except when we lean back and throw our heads from left to right at a count of eight. It demands attention while simultaneously feeling completely natural, almost a return to a deeply celebratory part of being a woman. Just think about it: How many women celebrate being a woman? Or how about how many women curse being a woman? That can't be healthy. I definitely recommend belly dancing to any woman, and you would be surprised to see some of the other women in there dancing. There were several different ages and body types. As Heather Ann said, "Embrace the jiggle." And to all the men, you already know how much you enjoy belly dancing. That's healthy too! I loved this experience. It will make you sweat in a way you enjoy, and Aphrodite will be proud.
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