Friday Five/ My Newest Favourite Thing: Belly Dancing

This is a cross-over post (of both Friday Five and My Newest Favourite Thing), as for the past six weeks I have been trying something new: namely bellydancing. Let me begin by saying I will never be a bellydancer. I haven't got the grace or the coordination, or the want/ need to shake my bits in front of an audience of strangers (in other words; I've got the belly but not the dancing bit down pat) but I have very much enjoyed my brief introduction to the art.

Our instructor, Brooke Thomas, is amazing. She is talented and professional (and has a proper dance troupe - Quake Bellydance) with warmth and humour to accompany her style. While she teaches serious and capable dancers, she is equally adept at dealing with incompetent, uncoordinated people with two left feet (i.e. me). She gives us moves to develop into a routine and introduces us to fun techniques, with plenty of warm up and cool down stretching, and some technical and historical background for those interested in the art. 

5 Favourite Things about Bellydancing

1. Camaraderie/ body acceptance - bellydancers come in all shapes and sizes and they are meant to jiggle. The body is an amazing thing and this type of dance celebrates that. Shimmies and hip movements isolate and highlight groups of muscles, and arm placement draws further attention to parts of the body and indicates their vibrancy and versatility. You don't have to be a supermodel to bellydance; you just have to learn to embrace your curves and enjoy the way your body feels when it moves.
2. Work-out/ flexibility/ stretching - Isolating muscle groups provides a great workout - it can be as high impact as you want to make it, and you really get to move, stretch and tone. The names of the moves are descriptive and evocative: there are hip drops, lifts, flicks, bumps, and rotations, snake arms, ribcage slides and circles, Maya, butterfly catch, envelope, Roman flame. The feeling afterwards is of a contented glow (much like you might experience with yoga or Pilates), and the week after we concentrated on snake arms, I really knew about it!
3. Music/ Rhythm - I love music and dancing for fun, even if I'll never be any good at it. Brooke makes the choreography fit beautifully to the beats and the ambiance of the music. We listened to some great Turkish songs and compositions, which were uplifting and fulfilling. I will admit to not being a fan of Shakira, although I now have Whenever, Wherever as an uninvited ear worm lodged in my brain.
4. Costumes - Brooke makes all her own costumes and she looks spectacular (did I mention she is ridiculously talented?). We danced in shorts or leggings and exercise tops. We did, however, get to play with the coin belts and veils. Coin belts are great fun: they jingle as we jiggle and we are literally present with bells on, but they are also tell-tale alarms for when the lower body is meant to be still as the upper body is meant to be directing the action. Veils are just great fun to drape, twirl and float about with. 
5. Learning new things - it's good for mental as well as physical health. I have a whole new appreciation of the artform. And, most importantly, I had a lot of fun!

Graceful shape framed by a veil