WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2008 News WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
13
RECREATION
Belly dancing sways away dance stereotypes
BY BRYAN CISLER bcisler@kansan.com
Alberta Wright remembers it clearly. It was more than 30 years ago when she was a student at the University and stumbled upon an ad for a belly dancing class while flipping through The Kansan. Wright
gave into her curiosity and attended the class. She quickly knew she had found her calling.
"I thought that was it, this was my dance," Wright said.
Wright loved the quick movements and independent nature of the dance, and three decades later she is still going strong. Wright is an office manager for the School of Social Welfare and also teaches belly dancing classes.
"A lot of students when they take classes realize it wasn't what they thought it was going to be," Wright said. "They thought they were going to shake their tits and ass."
Over the years, belly dancing has taken many forms and new dances and styles have emerged. Kelsey Coon, Topeka senior, has been belly
"Most dancers who become belly dancers say they were shy at the beginning but found out that they were an entertainer deep down inside."
ALBERTA WRIGHT
Belly dancing instructor
Belly dancing originated from the Middle East and was one of the oldest dances in the world. Still, belly dancing has had to fight stereotypes in the U.S. Some associate the dance form with stripping.
dancing for several years and said it was the best form of dance for posture because the dance uses every torso and back muscle.
"Belly dancing is an art which requires concentration, unbelievable
control over the body, patience and a creative mind that can match appropriate movements to the music's often quickly-changing mood," Coon said. "Belly dancing is the most free and expressive form of dance of all I have learned."
Jo Anne Zingo has been teaching belly dancing classes for 15 years at the Lawrence Parks and Recreation. Zingo teaches different classes based
on skill level. She said she noticed an increase in interest five years ago when the U.S. went to war with Iraq. She said people began to pay more attention to Middle Eastern culture.
"After the political responsibility is the social responsibility," Zingo said. "We began to wonder about their people."
Another reason belly dancing has been gaining popularity is because it is one of the few dance forms that encourages dancers of all ages and sizes. In Egypt, older belly dancers are admired, and Wright said being heavy was an advantage.
"You want a fleshier body so you can see the movement." Wright said.
Wright, who has performed in many shows throughout the years including the Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs, said that belly dancing had given her the opportunity to show people a side of her that she didn't usually show.
Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
"Most dancers who become belly dancers say they were shy at the beginning but found out that they were an entertainer deep down inside," Wright said.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
JO Anne Zingo has been teaching belly dancing classes for 15 years. She said that she noticed an increased interest in belly dancing five years ago when the U.S. went to war with Iraq. CONTRIBUTED PH.
SCIENCE
March of penguins could be wary sign
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - The dwindling march of the penguins is signaling that the world's oceans are in trouble, scientists now say. Penguins may be the tuxedo-clad version of a canary in the coal mine, with generally ailing populations from a combination of global warming, ocean oil pollution, depleted fisheries, and tourism and development, according to a new scientific review paper.
A University of Washington biologist detailed specific problems around the world with remote penguin populations, linking their decline to the overall health of southern oceans.
"Now we're seeing effects (of human caused warming and pollution) in the most faraway places in the world," said conservation biologist P. Dee Boersma, author of the
Scientists figure there are between 16 to 19 species of penguins. About a dozen are in some form of trouble, Boersma wrote. A few, such as the king penguin found in islands north of Antarctica, are improving in numbers, she said.
paper published in the July edition of the journal Bioscience. "Many penguins we thought would be safe because they are not that close to people. And that's not true."
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists three penguin species as endangered, seven as vulnerable, which means they are "facing a high risk of extinction in the wild," and two more as "near threatened." About 15 years ago only five to seven penguin species were considered vulnerable, experts said.
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7:30 p.m. Tuesday - Saturday July 15-19,2008 2:30 p.m.Sunday,July 20,2008 Stage Too! Murphy Hall