Beyond the belly ...
hips, hands also have part in dance
Originally published October 02, 2009
By Nancy Luse
News-Post Staff
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Photo by Travis Pratt
Belly dancing instructor, Anake, leads the class in hip movements, involved in the dance, during a recent class at Talley Recreation Center. |
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They call it belly dancing, but the belly isn't what does all the work. It's really the thighs and butt."We see the movement in the stomach, but usually it's not generated there," belly dancing instructor Ananke told her flock of beginning students this past Sunday at the William R. Talley Recreation Center in downtown Frederick. The women hung on her every word, just as their eyes seriously fixed on the movements she showed them in this first class. But by the end of the seven-week session, they'll probably be doing the "twisty-shimmy" and the other moves in the lesson plan like there's no tomorrow. Most people have "the perception that belly dancing is sexy and seductive, and I'm not saying that it's not ... but there is so much more," said Ananke, who has been teaching for about two years and prefers using her professional name when talking about belly dancing. "It's an old dance with so much history ... It can convey sorrow or joy, it's used in religious events," she said. "It's great exercise, gentle on the joints, anybody, any shape or size" can do it. "And, it's also good cardio." Ananke is a recent Hood College graduate, and studied science and biology. She took her first lesson about six years ago. "I fell in love with it and just knew I wanted to do something with it. I'm a shy person," Ananke said "and belly dancing was the last thing I could ever see myself doing." Her students had their reasons for trying it, too. Susie Tomalewski of Woodsboro has been clogging for five years with her husband and decided to expand from fast-moving feet to motorized hips. She chuckled. "My husband refused to come." With no other dance experience except "when I was younger and going to the clubs," Tracy Pauter of Frederick said she was looking for "fun, fitness and something a little different." Tara Mose of Frederick said she "saw some people doing it on TV and decided to be bold" and enroll in the class. Already, people at her job are saying they want to hear all about it. "I guess I'm the guinea pig," Mose said. But she brought along her friend, Kara Lee of Frederick, for support. "It was a lot easier than I thought. I'm glad she taught us step-by-step," Lee said at the end of class. Moving on out The first step was to move the group that was hanging out against the back wall like the stag line at a junior high dance. "Come on, move up," Ananke coaxed. They stepped forward and ran through a warm up of side bends, toe raises, wrist circles and head rolls. "Leave behind all the stress of the weekend. We're here to focus on belly dancing." The golden coins sewn on Ananke's hip scarf made a soft jingle, accompanying the music from a CD. She is big on hip scarves, bringing along a stash of them for students to try out. A future class will get into the art of veils. "It's a prop," she said, which adds to the mystique of the dance. "Plus, they look FABULOUS. Sparkle is good." Hands swirled in circles as Ananke praised. "Wrist circles are the icing on the cake," which makes the dance that much more interesting. "Wrist circles tell how long a person has been dancing. Mine are nothing like my teacher's." Getting down to finger placement, the instructor said, "the middle finger is what you lead with." Giggles from the class. "Not to be offensive," she added. "I like to think of it as what you'd do to get the last bit of peanut butter out of the rim of the jar." Let's not forget the gaze. "When you're looking at what you're doing (like that middle finger leading the twirling hand that's attached to a slithering arm) it becomes interesting," she said. "Now, let's learn something about the hips." Breaking it down into steps, she had her students move their hips left, front, right, back for a few times and then reverse the order. It's not so much like you're rotating a Hula-Hoop, but with a movement that isolates each step. "You should be getting nice butt action." Ananke walked around the room. "Nice, nice," she said, nodding. "When in doubt, get low in the knees. You're the center of the circle, your hips go around you." Before you knew it, the hour allotted for class was over like the twirl of a gauze veil, and still no real concentration on the belly. That no doubt comes next week, maybe contained in the lesson of the "twisty-shimmy."
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