18 jayplay.
thursday. september 4.2003
fitness
SHAKE, SHIMMY AND SLIM
Belly dance your way to a better body
Trinae Joler, Lawrence junior, belly dances at Aladdin Cafe on Thursday night. Belly dancing is turning into a new fitness craze among some students.
By Lauren Karp
lkarp@kansan.com
Jayplay writer
Imagination, liberation and self-expression exuded from the pores of the dancers on Thursday night at Aladdin's Café, 1021 Massachusetts St. Passion was in every turn and movement. Pride spread across the faces of the dancers as the crowd watched in awe. For some, this is their first glance into the world and art form known as belly dancing.
Move over Shakira, here come the girls of the University of Kansas and they've discovered how to move their hips just as well if not better. Whether it's the hips or the belly you want to shake, belly dancing has it all. It looks good, and it pays off in the end with health benefits and confidence.
Delilah, a Lawrence performer and instructor has released her own series of videos called the Visionary Dance Production Video Series, based out of Seattle.
Delilah says there are more than 100 techniques demonstrated in these videos, which will last you forever and you can turn them on at any time. "It's easier when learning to belly dance to refer to something moving rather than written. Belly dancing is a very left-brained activity, it's more artistic, not right-brained," she says.
Delilah says belly dancing first became popular just after the Vietnam War when the birth control pill was introduced and women were freer and worldlier. Now it's making a comeback. Delilah says belly dancing is an escape or a fantasy for the female form to engage in.
"The movement of belly dancing itself is a combination of different techniques, which uses muscles you normally wouldn't use." Trinae Joler, Lawrence senior says. "There are so many different muscles in the belly alone. It acts as a completely different
exercise when compared to something like jazz dance."Joler takes classes at the Lawrence Recreation Center and is involved in a troop of about five girls who perform. The troop is called Raghhsidad, which is Persian for "they dance."
Zada Al Gaziyeh, teaches belly dancing classes at the Center. She is the choreographer for Raghsidad, which performs in Kansas City at the Renaissance Festival and once a month on
intermediate classes consist of KU students, but we also have students from the Lawrence area who are teachers, doctors or even work in retail," Gaziyeh says.
"Fifty percent of our beginning and
Joler has been belly dancing for about four and a half years
Joler got into belly dancing after her mother suggested it to her and has been hooked ever since. "I decided belly dancing was fun enough to continue and odd enough to stay cool," she says.
and says, "Belly dancing gives me confidence and is the only art form I take part in, and when I have to perform it requires me to stretch my mind."
Alex Stout, Wichita senior and belly dancer says one of the
All of the sudden your left hip can talk and your head has something to say.
style from Stout. "I was a ballet dancer for 12 years. The key to balancing in ballet is to keep the abdominal core firm and lifted.I liked the idea of letting loose and learning to use the portion of my body that was essentially ignored in ballet," she says.
Joler sees a lot of American women taking up belly dancing and expressing other cultures through dancing.
DELILAH. LAWRENCE PERFORMER AND INSTRUCTOR
She says belly dancing is making its way into pop culture and
biggest misconceptions is that belly dancing is only an erotic or seductive form of dance. "The interpretation can celebrate life or show the happiness and even sadness of the piece," she says.
sainth of the piece, she says Kelly Hawkins, Overland Park senior, learned about the dance
appealing to the masses, especially young women who are attracted to it as an art form. As for men getting involved in the dance, she says
Stout feels belly dancing is a legitimate form of dancing, which expresses its own culture. For Stout, belly dancing is a family tradition. "Two of my aunts also dance, and I grew up watching
she thinks they're a little bit shy about it.
them perform for my family," she says. "When I was about 19, I decided that I'd like to try it for myself."
Stout warns it's possible to strain the back and various muscles, but with proper stretching, it is less likely. Belly dancing can actually ease the pain or stiffness in joints, since it's fairly low-impact.
Hawkins recommends other KU students take belly dancing; she's taken classes for two years now and says it's a beautiful way to move and it's fun.
She says the demand on the body is completely different. "I supplement belly dancing with other exercise. But it helps with muscle control and coordination." she says. "You have to train your body to do several different things at once."
Hawkins feels as a form of physical fitness it should be combined with other means of exercise.
Gaziyeh says belly dancing's origins date back to the late 1700s and early 1800s from the European travels to North Africa. She says it was their misconception that the Africans danced with their bellies, which gave birth to belly dancing.
Gaziyeh says in her classes she includes yoga stretches, though she most closely relates the form of exercise to pilates, which focuses on specific muscle groups at one time.
give birth to beny damning.
Gaziyeh says the dance is very mental, you can't rely on your unconscious at first. "It's like bending to pick up a box, you have to think about the right way to do it until it comes naturally."
Gaziyeh has no dress code in her classes.she does stress the importance of safety and posture. She says she's learned to see through baggy clothes to make sure students are using their muscles correctly.
Delilah says belly dancing is a symbolic expression of each part of your body. "All of the sudden your left hip can talk and your head has something to say."