Finding Femininity Through Dance
by Felicia Hodges
W
alking into one of Sarah
Bell’s belly dancing classes
is like preparing for a night out
with the girls—with a bit of a
twist. In addition to laughter and
chatter about family, the sounds of
jingling metal coins, tambourines
and middle-eastern music fill the
room as hip-wraps are tied over
VERS & SHAKERS
sweatpants and shoes get kicked
into the corner.
Women of all ages, shapes,
MO
sizes and abilities come to Sarah’s
classes—held six days a week
in either Fishkill, Kingston,
Middletown, Newburgh, New
Paltz, Poughkeepsie, Warwick or
Yorktown. The goal may be a little
exercise or trying something new,
but the smiles and sweat that appear
on the dancers’ faces within minutes
of starting to move seem to say that
everyone has a good time.
What the class isn’t: a room full
of svelte 20-year-olds prancing
around with their belly buttons
exposed—although that image
is one that is what is usually
associated with the dance. It is also
one of the reasons many won’t try
the class in the first place.
“Some women may think they
won’t feel comfortable due to pre-
conceived notions about what belly
dancing is. They think they’ll have
a 25-year-old with flat abs leading
the class, which isn’t the case,” Sarah
says. “Belly dancing is really about
being full-figured and I explain that
to the ladies right up front.”
Sarah began study in ballet and
jazz dancing at 18, but she loved
Barbara Eden in the television
18 I Tri-County Woman July/August 2009
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