~ Call me old school, but when I think of bellydance, I think of the Middle East. In America and Europe, bellydance is losing it’s “ethnicity.” Little by little, generations of Westerners have changed the look and feel of the dance. It’s hard to find pure ethnic bellydance, these days, that isn’t fused with hip-hop or performed to modern techno music. Yet, the legend of “bellydance” lives on, even as the dance itself derails from it’s ethnic roots.
What little girl of my generation didn’t fall in love with Elizabeth Taylor after watching the movie, Cleopatra? Her costumes made me drool. The giant exotic headpieces, deep rich golds with turquoise and lapis lazuli jewels. And her makeup! Her eyes perfectly lined with dark swallowing kohl. Orientalist fantasy meets Hollywood production. What a woman.
I began my career as a professional dancer in my early teens. Back then, I didn’t like being thin. I used to pad my hips with foam inside my panties to give myself a womanly shape. For bellydance especially, I like to have meat on my bones to vibrate, and accentuate my hips. Some of the dancers I most admire would be considered “over weight,” by western media standards of feminine beauty. One of the things I love about ethnic folk dance, is that you don’t have to skinny to look great doing it. In fact, many of the movements look better if you have a little weight to throw around.
Our relationship to dance changes as we age. In youth, our dance is physical, strong and fast, but emotionally unripe. Not until midlife, do we earn our true power and character, and refine the quality of our dance from sexy to sensual. The end of youth, is not the end of dance. And physical perfection is not the sole measure of beauty.
Lovers leave. Friendships fade. But wigs are there when you need them. Fake braids and falls are a staple of my dance wardrobe. The hair travels well, and keeps it’s shape in rainy weather. To create “dance hair,” simply buy a pack of inexpensive hair from any beauty supplier, and then, get creative. Experiment. Braid the hair with beads and coins, or sculpt it into bee hives. A pack of hair costs about $3.00
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