Belly dancer Senta Duffield posted a link to this blog post on Facebook: Why I don't pay for dance anymore
It really got me to thinking about dance and all it really has to offer. Not the exercise and learning steps, but the peripheral skills and opportunities it engenders. When students sign up for classes they don't actually realise what all they are getting for their small class fee.
Community
When I started belly dancing I thought that it would be similar to ballet. There would be a community as I knew dance communities to be. At the time I thought the experiences I had in dance communities was fine and normal, but only after I got involved in belly dance did I see what true support and friendship could be. I won't deny that there is still a bit of cattiness and infighting but it's not to the same extent that I saw in ballet.
(P.S. I have to say that since joining international online communities I've seen a lot more negativity than what I've experienced here in South Africa. I do trust though that this is a general internet thing rather than an indicator of international belly dance communities).
The support for each other (not just in the dance environment but also in a personal and professional capacity) is something I've never come across before. I have to thank my late teacher, Janka Kliment, for this introduction. She encouraged the formation of community and friendship in her studio and with "sister schools" across South Africa. As I was introduce to international dancers I saw the same love and philosophy from them.
I'll never forget rehearsing for the International Oriental Dance Festival's Gala in 2010, with Paola Blanton (our international guest) sitting on the floor glueing bling on our costumes for us and giving us guidance. This was so humbling for me; someone that was an international star, held with high regard, was sitting under a pile of our dresses with a glue gun and gems, sticking together our costumes so that we could have more time to practice. That was a real turning point for me. We tend to put our mentors and inspirations up on a pedestal when they are real people and even if/though they do dance better than us they are still our equals.
This then of course goes for our students. We are their equals. If we treat them as equals they become more comfortable and freer to explore themselves through the use of dance. I've also found that if you treat them as equals they tend to be more respectful of everyone else, but that goes for every relationship in existence.
Healing
There are to sides to this: physical and psychological/emotional.
With belly dance being a weight bearing exercise that focuses on one of the most neglected areas in everyday life (the torso and core muscles) means it has the potential to help heal injuries.
So many students say that since they have started belly dancing their backs don't get as sore as usual or at all. This is because they are starting to engage their stomach muscles allowing their back to rest and not carry them through the day. Their posture improves so they stop slouching. They are also stretching the back gently, releasing tension that has been built up over years.
My back has definitely improved since I started belly dance. Even though I did ballet for 11 years my core was not strong enough to stabilise the flexibility require of me. This resulted in a sore lower back. The soreness decreased when I began belly dancing as I didn't have to fling my leg up as high as possible or try to force myself into the splits (I'm not a naturally flexible person).
One day I was performing at a 60th birthday party and I slipped on a bit of draping that hadn't been tucked under. I kept going as you are taught to do. At the end of the set I thought I had pulled my gluteus medius. I continued to do the second set.
In the following week, I massaged and used various gels but it just got worse to the point that I couldn't walk without excruciating pain. I went to all sorts of practitioners: GP, physiotherapist, biokineticist, neurosurgeon and chiropractor. The latter was the only one who stuck with me. The rest were either rude or dismissive of the pain. Turned out the slip had caused my sacroiliac to jolt out of position pulling on my sacral joints in my lower back (remember: too much forced flexibility and not enough support from the muscles). It took weeks of going to the chiropractor every week (he started charging me half his rate because he was more interested in helping me than bleeding my resources dry) and doing all the exercises I was given to get some relief. After about 2 months I said, "This is ridiculous. I'm going back to dancing" but continued with the chiropractor. My pain went away in a few weeks. Sure, every once in awhile it flares up, but then I know I'm neglecting my core. I correct and I'm fine again.
There are many stories about how injuries have healed or pain has been alleviated. I could go through many more but I don't want my readers to get bored.
The psychological healing that takes place can be a little harder to see. It takes longer for some to heal their psychological and emotional pain than their physical, and it's not as "in your face" as the physical.
We have so many stories just from our studio. Women who are going through a divorce who come to dancing for something different and end up feeling better about themselves, more confident, more empowered and not so scared to face the world as a divorcee. Women who have mental illness find respite their mood lifted, and body and self-image boosted. Women who have experience trauma, come to love their bodies again and find strength in the friendships they have formed. It's beautiful watching someone with low self-esteem become more confident and open up, releasing their genuine self out to the world.
One of our students told me that even when she is so low that she feels she can't get out of bed, she comes to dancing because she knows she'll feel invigorated and happy after an hour of class. This is what dance is about for me. It's not just entertainment and exercise. It's something far more complex than that. It releases our inner being to help heal ourselves and work out our pain.
To sum up:
Belly dance provides a fantastic, inclusionary community that can both shelter and expose each dancer as they need it. The environment it creates allows for friendship, healing and exploration of the self.
There are more things that belly dance provides other than what I've spoken in this post, but I feel these to elements are the most pronounced in every woman's dance journey. The more I experience belly dance and all it has to offer, the more astounded I become at the complexity and interconnectedness of every element in a person that is brought forward through something as simple as a dance class.
Image: This picture was taken earlier this year when we travelled to George to visit our sister schools located on the Garden Route. Please note I was not driving and taking a selfie with my students taking a selfie. Mel was driving. Don't drive and selfie.