Acceptance At Last!!!!!!!

 All my life I have been searching for the feeling of acceptance.  As mentioned in my first blog, I am an extremely athletic person and as such, have been on countless sports teams.  I’ve been on more soccer teams that I can remember, the church volleyball and basketball teams, and various intramural teams.  Needless to say, I learned the concept of teamwork at a young age. 

Regardless of these various teams, I have never had the feeling like I really belonged anywhere.  I’ve always felt like I was just on a team because that was my age group and was, therefore, the team I had been assigned to.  I have never felt a strong connection with any of my sports teams; that connection one feels when they are accepted as equals by those on the team.  Year after year I participate in these different sports and have yet to feel that acceptance from the other teammates.  Sometimes I might become decent friends with a few people on the team, but I have always felt disconnected to a large degree.

When I started belly dancing, I never thought about the fact that, in a sense, I was on a team, a team of all women working together to coordinate a dance that would both stun the audience and create unity between us.  By the end of the seven weeks of my very first belly dancing class, I still didn’t know everybody, but even without knowing the names of the different people in my class there was an unspoken connection between us.  I don’t know if I can fully explain what that feeling is.  If I had to try to put it into words, I would say it is a feeling of being welcomed, a feeling of being accepted without having to “earn” it, even a feeling I have never before experienced.  I had never taken a dance class before in my life, a fact that worried me for a while and made me initially feel out of place.  This fact didn’t matter to any of them though, because we were there to learn together, to celebrate together, to dance together.

I have now been in three different Middle Eastern Dance classes, and I’ve had the same feeling in each class.  Regardless of your size, race, life style, dance ability, or anything else that may matter in any other setting, people there accept you for you.  Belly dancing, for me, really in an escape from a secular society.  My dance class is  something I look forward to all week because it is 1-1 ½ hours of freedom.  Freedom from gossip, freedom from being judged, freedom from a society that doesn’t accept people how they are.  At dance I can be me, and that person is good enough just the way I am. 

I have finally found a place in this world where I belong.  I have found my escape from our secular society!  Have you??       

Cherish the good things in LIFE!!!

It will make ALL the difference!!!

Belly Dancing as an Art Form!!!

A few years ago I took a two-hundred level humanities class.  I don’t remember how I ended up in that class because I had never taken a humanities class before.  All I know was that when we got to the section of the class that talked about art, I was utterly surprised.  More than half of the pictures and statues seemed to be depictions of naked men or women.  If you think about some of the most famous statues or painting in the world today, your mind may included some of these images.  For example, one of Michelangelo’s masterpieces, The Statue of David which is meant to show the strength and power of David in his youth.  Another famous status is that of the Venus de Milo statue.  This statue is a depiction of the Greek goddess of love beauty and fertility.  Aphrodite, also known as Venus, is sculpted to portray the beauty and affection that binds people together in marriage.  What makes this statue unique is that Aphrodite has no arms; a piece of cloth covers most of the lower half of her body; the rest of the statue is bare.  This statue, and many others like it are honored for their portrayal of classical elegance and representation of beauty. 

Now, what do these statues have anything to do with belly dancing? 

Most people, when first hearing the words "belly dancing", immediately think of the costume they have deemed as immodest.  This thought is followed shortly thereafter by a mental image of a type of dance they have declared inappropriate.  Middle Eastern Dance is a form of art like unto these statues.  The dance and costumes are not meant to flaunt or sexually portray the body, but rather, it is meant to help express the beauty of the dance and body.

The other day I was talking to an individual who is experienced in the areas of psychology and sociology.  Something he said stuck me.  He said that the largest sexual organ in our body is our brain.  In other words, we decide how we respond to what we see.  It is US, as individuals, that train our brains to respond to our surroundings in specific ways.  This is why one person looks at the Venus de Milo and thinks it is pornography, and another person, seeing the same statue, finds its view breathtaking and beautiful.  This is why one person looking at a belly dancer thinks the costume is revealing and the dance is scandalous, and another person, seeing the same outfit and dance finds the view to be impeccable, graceful and a representation of a pure art form.

It is each of us, individually, who decides how we respond to the world around us.  Might I encourage each of you to give Middle Eastern dance another change.  Take another look, and this time, open your mind, and your eyes will adjust accordingly!  You will see the beauty I see, the gracefulness that has me so deeply in love with this art form. 

GUEST BLOGGER--Belly dance: More Power to You!

I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since I was eight, and hold a current temple recommend. I grew up in California and later moved to Utah when I was in high school. I started belly dancing in 2007 and I love it. I love everything about it. I love the music, the costumes, the shows, and especially the other dancers! I do not find this dance form vulgar or obscene, though just like almost any other thing, it can be made vulgar and obscene if people chose to use it that way.

In general, most people I have met have been interested and excited when I talk about dancing, but I have met some people who are not as accepting of belly dance as they are of other dances. Some of that may stem from how this dance came to America and how it was initially portrayed as ‘naughty’ and mainly taken into the seamier side of our culture—strip clubs and the like. It is too bad that people have these incorrect attitudes about such a wonderful and empowering dance, because belly dance comes from the rich culture of the Middle East, and there it is accepted as a beautiful art form. People there will go to a restaurant and watch a dancer as they eat. It is family entertainment—for everyone. This is what belly dance is supposed to be.

I like belly dance, and call it empowering, because it gives the dancer so much knowledge about his or her own body. The movements are isolated and controlled—unlike most other dances, though many other dances use some of the moves that are found in belly dance. I also feel belly dance empowers the dancer because they can dance with a group, or on their own. They do not have to have a partner, for example, a woman can dance by herself, not with a partner who is ‘leading’ her. This is one of the few dances where a woman can be dominant and strong, without the need for a male prop. A male belly dancer, contrary to some opinions, does not have to look feminine. The moves look great when men do them, too, just different from a woman because their body structure (proportions, center of gravity, etc.) is different.

I think costume is an inseparable part of belly dance, whether you are dancing in jeans and a top, a Tribal or Folk costume that may be a more muted color with coins and shells or very little decoration, to an Egyptian Cabaret costume made from a flashy material, decorated with beads and sequins. I feel the dancers needs to be free to wear what they wants to wear, what will display or enhance the dance. It seems unfair to me that public opinion will often label a female belly dancer as slutty for wearing a costume that shows her bare belly while professional ballroom dancers and ice skaters wear costumes that may be very much more revealing, but they are accepted. I have a friend who has children involved in ballroom/jazz/lyrical/ballet dance and she regularly goes to shows and has told me that the costumes the performers wear often (usually?) display much more of the performer’s body than any of my dance costumes do. Why is this acceptable and a belly dancer with a bare belly is not? I have no problem with a dancer who chooses not to show her belly—I just feel it should be her choice and her choice only, not a reaction to public opinion. Athletes and other dancers do need to wear sportswear and costumes that will not restrict their activities for their sports or dances. In the same way, I feel belly dancers, who have some of the most amazing and controlled belly movements I’ve ever seen, should not feel they need to cover their belly. This will cloud or even obstruct a view of one of the most beautiful parts of the dance. This is why it is called belly dance! Much of the effect of these subtle belly movements is lost when covered up.

I also think that it shouldn’t matter, especially for a woman, what size her belly is. If a woman is confident about her body and that she knows the movements and she has practiced her dancing and wants to perform, she shouldn’t be told by friends or family that she should cover her belly because it is ‘too big,’ or that she should forget it, she is ‘too fat’ to perform. There is not one standard body shape, despite what we see on the anorexic TV stars and the airbrushed magazine pages. One does not have to have stick arms and legs that don’t look as if she could even make it from one end of the mall to the other. Women come in all shapes. I think a woman would want to be as healthy as she can, and as part of that, belly dance can be a great starting point to increased vitality. Of course any venue hiring a dancer should be free to hire whomever they choose, and knowing the public bias, a dancer who wants to go professional will meet with less enthusiasm if she is on the larger side, which is too bad, especially if she is an accomplished dancer.

Having discovered belly dance almost four years ago, it is now an integral part of my life. I cannot imagine living without it. It is my primary exercise, my creative journey and my emotional outlet. Given the right music, I can dance any emotion I feel: joyous or despairing, gentle or angry, playful or even grief stricken, leaving me generally satisfied and confidant on almost any day instead of a repressed and cowed shell of a woman vainly seeking for something that will alleviate her despair. That is why I love belly dance.

Performance Time!!!!!

Last Saturday I participated in Gypsy Tapestry; this was my very first dance performance EVER!!! 

Here is a video that my sister took of my class' dance.  I apologize in advance for the quality of the video being so poor.  It was recorded using an ordinary camera, but it's all I have for now!  ENJOY!!!

It was a WONDERFUL experience; I can't wait until next March when I get to perform again!!!

All the people who came to support me!!!!  Thank you thank you!!!  I love you all!!

Lets do a Lil' Mixin'!!!

This last week I attended a faculty dance performance on BYU campus.  Much of the performance was modern dance, a style of dance I had never seen before.  Something I found fascinating was that there were a lot of dance moves I saw that were either similar or identical to those used in belly dancing.  This realization inspired me to view dance from a new perspective.  

Although I have never participated in any other type of dance in a formal setting, I have learned a little bit of various dances throughout my upbringing.  Some of my favorite types of dance are swing, country, hip hop, Latin, ballet, ballroom, B-boyin'/ B-girlin' (what everybody knows and refers to as "Break Dancing"), etc.  

When I realized that there were similarities between Middle Eastern Dance and the dance performance I had seen, I started pondering about various dances and wondered if there were any similarities between them and Belly Dance.  This is what I found....

Here are only four dances I have found similarities in.  Any other ideas???