For thousands of years, women have practiced the graceful art of belly dancing. Once a sacred dance for the eyes of women only, it became a somewhat scandalous dance in the Victorian age when the thought of scantily dressed dancers was enough to have a theatre closed down. Hollywood gave belly dancing its sensual, tempting characteristic where dancers would lure the hero to his destruction!

We have now fortunately, entered a more enlightened age, where women are free to choose and encouraged to explore their own sensuality.

· The movements performed in belly dancing are ideally suited to a woman’s body, the hip, torso and arm movements are graceful but at the same time, demand control from the muscles. The body’s core is the centre of belly dance and is strengthened by these movements. Posture in dance is very important and dancers learn how posture can lessen tension, especially in the lower back, by correcting their posture. Every class begins with a warm-up and dancers are urged to warm-up before any performance or class.

· A typical Beginners Level class will start with a warm-up which is designed to stretch and warm-up muscles and joints from wrists to ankles. The Belly Button Dance School has a syllabus for beginners which is ‘result based’ rather than ‘time-based’, giving dancers the opportunity to complete the syllabus within their busy lifestyles. While we realize that we are not teaching ‘professional’ dancers, we do teach to a ‘performance’ level, offering competent dancers the chance to perform at functions and offering all our dancers the opportunity to perform at our end-of-year show (performance is an individual choice—not a requirement.)

· At Beginners Level, we start with basic movements, such as hip circles, hip lifts, hip drops, and hip thrusts. These are done first in a static position then in a travelling movement and with variations. While we teach the arm positions required for these movements, we do not expect the new Beginner Level dancer to put these together until they are comfortable with the hip movements. We also teach footwork, the various shimmies, and body undulations (or ‘the camel’).

· Beginner Level dancers are also taught how to identify various musical rhythms typical to belly dancing music and how they can interpret these rhythms. They are also taught to dance with the veil.

· The Belly Button Dance School aims to teach dancers at Beginner Level how to perform various belly dance choreographies to the ‘best of their ability’ and at the same time to enhance their self confidence, self image and knowledge of their own bodies.

· Once dancers get to Intermediate Level, the movements and choreographies become more complex and we explore the more creative side of dance. Choreographies are a collaborative effort and we encourage students to create solos, duets and group choreographies of their own. It is at this level that we start to branch out and explore the different types of belly dance, such as American Tribal, Arabic Flamenco, Traditional Egyptian, American Cabaret, Contemporary Belly Dance, and dancing with veil, double veil, zills, sword, cane and shamadan.

Belly dancing can improve flexibility, help with arthritic joints, relieve stress and improve the general wellness of participants. It has been recommended for certain patients who have had hip surgery (obviously students with any medical condition are urged to consult their physician before commencing). It can help with fertility and child bearing. There are no requirements or limitations regarding age, size and/or fitness level (except that a person be of generally good health). Some of the Belly Button Dance School students are cancer sufferers, some have had hip surgery, and ages range from 16 to over 60. Demographics range from housewives to executives, from school and university students to grandmothers.