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Belly Dance

            Rachel Boyd wears a satin bra with sleeves and a split skirt that reveals the entire length of her leg as she lunges on the ground. Her eyes are swept in dark makeup and on her lips sits a seductive smile. The Rachel during the day is decidedly non-exotic wearing glasses a sweatshirt and two layers of workout pants. She scowls when a young man accidentally walks in to the just ending belly dance class. "I don't like to have men in here at all- she says. This statement spoken from a woman who spends her evenings shaking her hips at restaurant patrons.
             Although she doesn't like men ogling her classes Rachel does not shy away from the sensual aspects of her dance. In fact that's what attracted her to belly dancing as a teenager. "I really liked the sensuality of the dance and even the blatant sexuality- she says. She had been taking traditional dance classes in Los Angeles in hopes of becoming a performer but thought belly dance seemed more interesting than the styles she was learning. She finally switched to belly dance after injuring herself in a ballet class. The accident convinced her that ballet is unnatural: "It distorts the body and torments it. That is still my feeling on ballet-it's horrible."" She started belly dancing right after the injury delighted to find a dance she could perform without hurting herself.
             Now thirty-three Rachel still finds belly dance an "earthy natural dance- that celebrates and nurtures the female body. "It fits into any lifestyle and any body shape-fat skinny whatever."" Describing some performers she saw at a showcase she says "These women were really large. But they could still dance. They were beautiful."" Many women belly dance even while pregnant with the help of special classes and videos. Overweight or pregnant dancers may seem incompatible with such a seductive sensual dance. But while the dance is closely linked to sexuality it is not necessarily seductive.


Essays Related to Belly Dance

1. Concert Evaluation - Menara Moroccan Dance

... bodies in natural, curvy snake-like movements to help them to delivered the baby in more easy way. It was not for the entertainment, but for childbirth. However, Slowly the belly dance became more of an entertainment related performance. When I first walk into the restaurant (Menara Moroccan), I felt an exotic atmosphere around the restaurant by lots of Morocco style's decorations. The inside ... and the dancer came out from the other side of the diner. She was a White/Caucasian lady around 40 years old with long brown hair, wearing the professional costume for belly dance. The costume ...

  • Word Count: 636
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Origins Of Dance

Name of Dance: Belly Dance Origin: Cadiz? Date: 500's AD Creator/choreographer: n/a Correct term :"Raks Sharki". Belly Dancing by definition is a Middle Eastern dance in which the dancer makes sensuous movements of the hips and abdomen. After researching the dance I've read that the dance does not only include movement of the "belly", it is actually involves more parts of the body. Belly dancing is usually done as a solo dance, with ... undulating hips and a body that gyrates shakes and rolls, all the while the feet can be syncopating and moving about. Stamping of the feet and jumping can be ...

  • Word Count: 2175
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Dead Can Dance

... information and historical facts, as well as explanations of what their music has meant to me personally. The band is called Dead Can Dance, and two of its members are multi-instrumentalist Brendan Perry and classically trained singer Lisa Gerrard. Along the way there have been other musicians ... squeaky door hinge. Born in Ireland, she met up with Brendan Perry in 1981 in Melbourne, Australia a year after his formation of Dead Can Dance. The group subsequently moved to London and began what has been a very successful collaboration, using instruments such as the hurdy gurdy, uillean pip...

  • Word Count: 1448
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Dance

... also have different meaning and purposes other than expression of feelings. For example, in the Indian culture dance has a specific purpose one is when there is a drought they perform a dance called the "rain dance" this is believed to bring rain. Dance is also a big part of culture and tradition, which passed down from generation to generation, such as in my case. If I had a million ... dollars to become a dancer I would be a traditional Persian dancer with knowledge and experience in belly (oriental) dancing. The biggest reason why I want ... to be a traditional Persian dancer is bec...

  • Word Count: 472
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Witchcraft in Africa- the !Kung

... societies and secondly to analyse a wonderful activity which is particular to the Ju. The activity could be likened to some form of shamanism and comes in the form of a healing dance in which !Kia (trance) state is achieved. The san language is characterised by unusual sounds called "clicks". These sounds are represented by the following symbols: / Dental click. One can hear ... on the moral and camaraderie of the tribe. In turn the social health of a community is very effectual to the general health of its members so in this way the dance is definitely beneficial. But what of the direc...

  • Word Count: 2669
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Greek vases

... object. A number of vase painters have been successful in arranging their compositions to suit the available space. Some black figure artists include, Exekias: kylix, Exekias: belly amphora and Lydos vase. A number of red figure artists have also been successful, including: Euthymides, The Kleophrades Painter: pointed amphora, The Berlin Painter: volute krater ... figures with either full-frontal or partly frontal features. Lydos has used the available space very successfully. He has decorated the bottom of the belly of the vase with stylised rays and the slip of the vase in a stylised p...

  • Word Count: 2963
  • Approx Pages: 12
  • Grade Level: High School

7. The Rise of Lady Gaga

... great songs, it is a culture of its own with many genres which represent sub cultures in music. In this paper will explore the genre of dance pop or electro pop as a subculture that also transforms itself into a counter culture with involvement of the unique musician "Lady Gaga" History ... of music she pursued. So there's nothing more provocative than taking a genre that everybody who's cool hates - and then making it cool.(Gaga) "Dance pop" and " electropop" are subcultures of music. Both these genres use Strong electronic beats as well as the use of instruments to create ... DJs cr...

  • Word Count: 1675
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Females and Body Image

... overweight I had always been a normal weight. But I never had those toned legs or toned abs. When I was nine years old I had to wear a belly shirt for my dance recital. When I had put on the belly shirt, the girls in my dance class told me my fat rolls were showing. After that I started to become very self-conscious about my physical appearance. As I got older ... ...

  • Word Count: 788
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Indian Theatre on Modern Stages

... of the Hindu caste. Play scripts emanated from epic literature, historical (or semi-historical) legends, rural life and urban dramas. All these plays integrated recitation, song, music and dance, acting and aesthetics in the pursuit of a complete and total theatrical experience. Though it is difficult to trace the exact historical roots of Indian theatre, Indian literature posits that dramatic ... together to present an entire picture. For The Little Clay Cart, a play told with an erotic sentiment, directors may wish to train their actors in sensual dance, in the modern vein of belly danc...

  • Word Count: 1812
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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