Monthly Archives: October 2005

it’s short, but the comments are interesting…

And you thought librarians were stuffy Continue reading →

in cape town, south africa, a more-formal presentation – A feast of navel encounters

Opening tonight at the Obz Cafe Theatre is Bellylicious, a dynamic exposition of the various styles of the sensual Middle Eastern dance, as performed by the belly-dancing schools in Cape Town.

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in australia, dancing with purpose…

Belly dancing helps build pre-school

MORUYA Pre-school has found an innovative way to raise funds to enclose the back verandah of the Campbell Street building and create a new and very functional additional space for the school.

When the pre-school’s fund-raising committee decided to take on the challenge and raise $7000 for the project, Amber Paisley Top volunteered her skills as a belly dancer to run classes for the rest of the year.

Forty-four women and girls, aged between 12 and 70 years, signed up to take a 10-week course during term three, choosing either a beginners’ or intermediate level class. That way $3000 was raised.

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originally from the dallas morning news, but carried in the fort wayne news-sentinel online, Ex-Marine teaches male belly dancers

Dr. [Anthony] Shay [dance historian at Pomona College in California] says the West’s “pink and blue syndrome” when it comes to dance moves isn’t shared by other regions of the world, pointing to the similarities in female and male movements in salsa and Polynesian dancing.

“The idea that these movements are only appropriate to women’s bodies is wrong,” he says. “We think when a male articulates his torso he is somehow being effeminate, but that is really a culturally specific notion held by Anglo-Americans.”

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a broadly-scoped article discussing dancers that aren’t waifish, from the boston globe… They make their move, and it’s big

big dance (modern)
big moves – Phat Fly Girls (hip hop) / Mass Movement (modern)
Danza Voluminosa (ballet)
The Fatimas (bellydance)

Cuba’s Danza Voluminosa is also covered by ap Obese Dancers Break Stereotypes in Cuba Continue reading →

not just dance classes on an air force base… Belly dancing class offers fun, social outlet

… but there’s a guy in the mix:

Shayne Dempsey, attending with his wife Allison, was the only man in the group. He had previously taken belly dancing classes while living in another state.

“I like it. It’s fun,” said Dempsey. “It teaches you to use muscles you didn’t know you had. It doesn’t matter what age you are. Anybody can learn to do it.”

and appreciated:

An untrained eye could become hypnotized by the music and body thrusts, but the dance in its basic form is both beautiful and breathtaking.

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