Bonfires, doumbeks and the wild sense of abandonment in dance, this was what first drew me into a the Society of Creative Anachronism. With the drums pounding and inviting, I sat mesmerized, watching the beautiful belly dancers twirling in exotic clothing, their very movements musical with jingling belts, anklets and bracelets, and I wanted to be one of them.

The year was1990 and I was a young, single mother, unsure of what life was going to throw at me at me next and while my children had their weekend visit with their father, a girlfriend of mine took me to a weekend event where people reenacted the middle ages.

I found myself standing to my feet, walking to the fire, my arms raised, my body moving to the hypnotic drums. I've always loved to dance and I let the music take me.

One of the dancers shimmied over to me. Her face held a welcoming smile and her words were full of encouragement. I received my very first basic crash course on some hip isolations, arm guestures, and shimmies right there on the damp June grass by a crackling fire. This lovely woman showed me the move and I'd copy it.

Later in the evening, I danced by the drummers and they smiled tempering their beats to my movements. I eventually danced for the stars and the moon above me and I felt whole. The months of accumulated stress of raising children on my own and the struggle to attain total self reliance during my separation from my soon to be ex-husband fell away. It was a beautiful night.

Belly Dancing may not be a cure-all for everything but if you love to dance, I highly recommend it.

These are three things it gave me.

1. Spiritual release by way of creative expression both in the dance and creating the costumes for the dance.

2. Physical release. It's an awesome workout!

3. Emotional release by way of shared community with other dancers, drummers, and those interested in its history.

I suppose the first is to dismiss some misconceptions.

1. The first thing is to realize that bellydancers come in many shapes and sizes and the same goes for the customing. Not all bellydancers have their bellies hanging out dressed in coined bras and circle skirts.

2. Bellydancing is not about lapdancing, stripping, or dirty dancing. It is an ancient art form with a rich history that extends through several cultures from ancient Egypt, the Middle East, the Mediterrean and Africa.

3. Belly dancing isn't about moving only the belly and bellydancing isn't only for women.

Personal recommendations and a couple of basic moves

What I recommend to new dancers is to assume the horse stance. The stance is your most basic pose which you return to during the dance. Feet are shoulder width apart. Your knees are bent. Your tailbone is tucked under. I recommend (barring any medical conditions) to wash dishes in this stance, get ready in the morning in this stance, and/or watch television in this stance.

Basically, the stronger your legs are in this stance, the greater your stamina will be and the longer you can dance plus many of your moves comes from this stance.

You can isolate your hips so you can do "hip-ups"

(think your hands are full of groceries and you need to shut the car door)

"hip downs", and shimmies.

One of the shimmies starts in the horse stance. Keep the balls of your feet on the floor and rotate the backs of your heels up and down quickly, like you're riding an imaginery bicycle really really fast. It makes your hips look like there are going left and right impossibly quick. After you master this shimmy, you can actually walk with it and/or do other things. A hint that a former teacher gave me: "If your backside feels like wobbling jello, you're probably doing it right."

Resources

There are many different tapes and/or DvDs you could buy. There are classes at various community colleges, etc. You could do what I did and look for your closest SCA event and see if there are any scheduled bellydancing in the evening or any bellydancing classes during the day.

For more information regarding the Society of Creative Anachronism, please see their link below.