Why I Dance

This month has had a theme for me...time and time again I find myself addressing the question of Why I Dance, so it seems right to do so here, too.

When I first found bellydance I was looking for a tool - something I could add to my doula bag of tricks.  I wasn't looking for something to change my life or fix anything or a vehicle for change in the world, but that's what I found.

Changed My Life

8 Elements = Family

Going from one class a week, to two classes a week, to teaching 6-week workshops, to developing a weekly class,  to choreographing with a partner, to directing a student troupe, to developing additional classes, to opening the studio, to pursuing 8 Elements certification, to choreographing on my own, to developing the 100Days project - Bellydance has become a central part of my everyday life.  With that transition has come a greater understanding of myself as a physical being, and the realization that I am (and forever will be) an artist.  

Fixed Things

Zahara Fusion at Streets Alive
image by Maike's Marvels

Through bellydance I have found my way to accepting and seeing beauty in the physical form regardless of what form that takes.  Seeing women of all shapes and sizes dancing is so powerful.  I am proud to say that I am the closest I have ever been to accepting my own body without apology.  Bellydance has also been a big part in my recovery process, both physically and psychologically, over the past decade.  I would not be who I am today without it.

Changing the World

image by Karen Kring

When I taught a group of brand new dancers this week I shared part of why I dance bare-bellied.  I told them that we, as a society, are so unused to seeing things that are real.  When I get on stage showing my belly - flesh, fat, stretch marks, and all - I am embodying the motto of my student troupe: Real Women, Dancing for Joy.  Through being myself and teaching women and girls of all ages and backgrounds I'm participating in a mini-revolution.  And that just might change the world.





I hope you all find your bellydance, whatever it may be, and discover the thing that will change your life, fix what ails you, and helps you change the world.