Belly dance is an evolving and sensuous art form that can be a tremendous source of power – directly accessible to any woman.
While I respects all traditions, I focus primarily on fusion- style. This is partly because of my own background but also because many influences have shaped the ancient art of dance, and belly dance as a particular form is no exception.
While we should honor the historical and cultural roots of belly dance, we must be cognizant of the fact that movements we think of as codified, or being ‘proper form’, have evolved from various sources across a huge span of time.
All art forms are continual reinterpretations, so I’m not interested in any imaginings of ‘authenticity’ here. There’s different kinds of shimmies for example, but what’s at the base of it?
At the fundamental level, a shimmy’s a shimmy. At the fundamental level, dancing is speaking music through the body. At the fundamental level, belly dance is recognizable by rhythmic muscular contractions centered in the core.
Our cores shimmy, shake, undulate, roll and sway. Much else on top of that, costuming, props, regional instruments, emotional expression, body postures or hand gestures and the like, they’re the various flavors of icing on the cake.
But they’re not the cake.
For me, a twenty first century Western woman, myth and metaphor help articulate what I intuit to be an archetypal expression; belly dance as primal, a physical manifestation of feminine mystique.
In belly dance I feel the visceral connectedness our bodies have with the sensual world, I embody a shamanic communion with muse as she speaks music through me. I revel in the power to enchant my audience; I seek to captivate, seduce, inspire, and stir emotions and senses.
I have lived the empowerment that comes from connecting with that muse and sharing that connection with an audience. I want every woman to know the power of really owning and sharing her physical self in that way.
So my belly dance is not safe or tame or unduly restricted by the whim of social convention. In dance I yield as well as dominate, there is healing as well as play, and the pleasure in dance is sacred and ephemeral, but it’s also profoundly carnal and sexual.
Here at The Goddess Dances you’ll find links for a cornucopia of all things fusion-style belly dance; intelligent articles, links to the best on the web, thoughtful examination of trend setting dancers, inspiring video clips, reviews of DVDs and music, and costuming ideas.
Delve deeply and cultivate your inner goddess – be the Goddess Dance Diva that you are!
