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Orient Expressions: Belly Dance moves from the Far East to Western North Carolina

By Burt Dellinger

Belly Dance. For most people, the name conjures up images of exotic women dancing for a sultan's delight. But according to Becky Shook, a Belly Dance instructor who leads The Lost Jewels of the Ghawazee, a Belly Dance troupe based in Granite Falls, NC, that image is about as far from the truth as… well as far as Granite Falls is from India, where Belly Dance originated.

"Contrary to what many Westerners believe, Oriental Dance — the correct name for Belly Dance — did not originate as a dance of seduction done by concubines to titillate the sultan," Shook explained. "For centuries, the role of Oriental Dance in Middle Eastern society has been that of a folk dance that people would do at joyous occasions such as weddings, the birth of a child, community festivals, and other events that bring people together." In certain cultures, it was also a dance that trained women's muscles for childbirth and was usually performed by women for other women, their husbands, or their families, but never for strangers.

Shook, who performs under the name Neela, first began Belly Dance (called "ethnic fusion" in her studio) in 1995 from a dancer named Joy Raymond. "She was interested in teaching and was looking for a student. I told her I didn't want to learn this hoochie-coochie stuff," Shook recalled. "But then we went to an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism, which recreates medieval battles and middle-ages life) event and I actually got to watch her dance… and I just thought it was absolutely beautiful. At that point I went back to her and apologized for being ignorant and asked her to teach me."

After two years of working with Raymond and her troupe, Raymond moved to Charlottesville, VA, but Shook continued studying Belly Dance on her own. She now teaches Belly Dance classes and formed her own dance troupe, the Lost Jewels of the Ghawazee, at the Mind-Body Connection, a yoga and dance studio Shook co-owns in Granite Falls.

The troupe performs at festivals, schools and other public events throughout the community. "Believe or not our biggest sponsor this year has been the Girl Scouts," Shook said. These public performances help the dancers raise awareness of the true purpose and benefits of bellydancing as well as share the beauty of this increasingly popular art. "It is a chance to become friends and sisters with other women," Shook elaborated. "They learn to love who they are and its reminds us that the body types and stereotypes we think of as beauty are not as narrow as we perceive them to be… and that's a great thing. People get in touch with their souls and their spirits and their bodies in a way thev've never done before."

The Belly Dance which Shook's troupe performs is an American hybrid of various styles of Oriental dance known as ethnic fusion. The troupe does its own choreography, though its dances are freestyle, rather than the lead and follow exhibited in American Tribal Style (ATS). The troupe performs either to prerecorded music or live music performed by the troupe's spouses and friends.

They also make their own costumes based on their own personal preferences, Belly Dance costuming trends and, of course, the cultures from which the dance originated. But don't expect them to be wearing nothing but veils and sequins. Belly dancers are not strippers — a distinction which is often lost, even on dancers' own families. After watching her perform for the first time Shook's father said " 'Well I guess we don't have to be embarrassed over you doing this, huh?' " Shook recalled. "And I'm wearing three times more clothes than he is sitting there and working real hard to make it a beautiful and elegant experience."

It takes years to become truly proficient at Belly Dance, but Shook is thrilled to introduce new students to her art. After three months of training, her beginning classes "graduate” at a celebration known as a hafla. "Basically, it's like a final, and they get their friends and family to come in and see what we do. I do the whole lecture, 20 minutes interspersed throughout the evening, where I discuss the history, where the name comes from, what countries are influenced… so in that regard its very educational," Shook explained. "At the same time, we like to get out and perform because again, just us showing up and not wearing a sequined bra and sequined belt having five miles of leg hanging out changes people's perceptions as well. That's an education unto itself. But the biggest thing is just to be able to dance. That's what we really love to do."

Becky Shook has been involved with Belly Dance since 1995 and offers Belly Dance classes at the Mind Body Connection, located at in 20 South Main Street, in Granite Falls, NC.

For more information contact:
828-313-0013
www.ghawazeedance.com
booking@ghawazeedance.com
bshook2@charter.net

To find other instructors throughout NC, go to:
ncbellydance.org

Comments

- Posted by: Kathy at October 13, 2005 12:29 AM

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