Baladi Belly
Dance and Roma Gypsy Dance in the Greater Sudbury, Ontario
Personal Observations
Turning 50 is a wake up call for many
of us. On my own 50th I decided if I was ever going to take a dance
class, now might be a good time to start. Two days later I attended an
Open House at Lucie De La Fontaine's dance studio in Sudbury Ontario and
signed up.
I wanted to dance because I though it
might be "fun". I got a fair bit more than I bargained for.
Yeah, I've lost weight, my posture is
improved, my belly keeps getting flatter.
Yeah, I've built muscle I believed lost
for eternity a long time ago.
Yeah, I've chased away, for the first
time ever while I've lived in Northern Ontario, the "winter blues".
Yeah, my asthma is gone for all practical
purposes, and my cholesterol levels have fallen, and I no longer need regular
chiropractic adjustments.
Yeah, my confidence, sense of relaxation,
stamina, and energy levels are at long time highs.
But it's more than
that. Dance, this kind of dance, is a place where the total is far more
than the sum of it's parts!
Physically these
dances are marvelous.
Mentally, they
challenge everything we've been taught growing up.
Belly dance is light, floating, and
teaches a grace and fluidity of movement that I've not experienced
in a life filled with many physical pursuits. You are introduced to
parts of your body that few of us have ever met before.
I cannot explain how, but you learn an
acceptance of your body that is deep and rare for women in North
American society. You learn it feels wonderful living in your own skin!
And while you accept your body "as is" it just keeps
looking nicer and nicer anyway. *smiling*
You learn a sensuousness that many
of us never find the courage to express. Yet somehow, while you're
dancing, you're very much in your own "safe place". Belly dance feels
contained, precise, gentle, and very much "yours". People may enjoy
watching, but they seem to have little do with why we dance. I wish I
had better words to describe what I mean, but while you may feel more
confidently feminine than at any time in your life, this is NOT a "pole
dance" on any level. It is
possible to be wonderfully sensuous and very much a lady!
Gypsy dance is different. Many of
the moves are the same or similar to those taught in various types of
belly dance (and you can read more of why that is in the article about
the history of these dances) but the styles are dramatically different.
Gypsy dance is earthy, grounded,
strong, primitive and at times "in your face" in attitude.
I have found belly dance to be the harder
in perfecting the movements, but gypsy dance is for me very much the
greater challenge on other levels. Physically gypsy has burned more
calories and built more muscle. Mentally and emotionally it's pushed
boundaries.
In gypsy you are taught to project your
"energy" to the audience, to share of your own strength in a way I found
difficult. In gypsy dance your walls are torn down, tossed aside, and
you are encouraged to break out and stand tall!
Gypsy movements are bigger and stronger.
And it's not enough to do them well, you must often do them with
attitude and courage. *laughing*
A few months into these classes and I
found myself thinking of all the self help books published each
year, of all the depression and fear people sometimes live with,
with the self esteem issues that plague our society, and of the
health issues so many face.....
I found myself reflecting on what taking
two simple dance classes a week had offered me......
And I found that I wanted to run out and
tell all my friends, and anyone looking sad, that they ought to sign up
for dance class asap.
Lose weight, build confidence, shake
off depression and do it all in a place of safety and acceptance
with groups of people, and amazing teachers!, that allow you to be
who you are, who you truly are, for perhaps the first time in your
life.
I signed up to "dance for fun" and
learned that now I "Dance for Life."
Back
to Belly Dance and Gypsy Dance Index page
Keywords: belly dance Sudbury Ontario,
Oriental dance, belly dance classes, dance studio Sudbury, gypsy dance
Sudbury, baladi belly dance, Egyptian belly dance, tribal dance, African
dance, dance classes Sudbury Ontario
