Belly dancing for fitness

Jan. 6, 2008

As a fairly uncoordinated person, I was never much attracted to belly dancing. But on the spur of the moment last summer, I picked up the class schedule of the Beledi (pronounced to sound like “melody”) Dance and Boutique in Traverse City, and it intrigued me.
There is much more here than belly dancing—a hoopercise class (with padded hula hoops), a music class with preschoolers, a date night couples dance class on Fridays, and Indian hip-hop. Even better, the half-hour lunchtime classes were right in my budget—a mere $5.
I called Penny Morris, the owner, and she suggested that as part of the article, I try out a belly dancing class, just to get the feel of it. So I showed up at the Front Street store/studio with my gym clothes, which were fine. As it turns out, the heat went out unexpectedly and no one was showing their tummies anyway.
The class—bellyrobics—was just right for the day after Christmas. Not too intense, but enough to break a sweat. The four students tied on these pretty jingle scarves and grabbed a veil. Not a whole lot of ego in the room as we just stayed in our jeans and sweaters to fend off the chilly air. Kathy Deshashier said she likes to go a couple of times a week.
“I go back to work happy,” she said.

BELLYDANCING BENEFITS
Much of the class focuses on isolating shoulders, hips, and, of course, the stomach. It felt like doing crunches standing up, without any back or neck strain.
One of the students, Maryanne Bisler, told me her chiropractor had been showing her some moves to ease her lower back pain. “I told him, ‘Hey, that’s exactly like the pelvic crunches I do in class,’” said Bisler, who added the pain has ebbed away.
I learned a thing or two—like how to hold my two inside fingers together and move my hands. I also learned it’s very rude to show the audience your palms while dancing. (Probably taking pictures of belly dancing students would be considered rude, as well, but no one said so.)
Afterward I sat down with Morris, who taught the class. She has beautiful green eyes, red hair, and a voluptuous hourglass figure. She is not thin, her stomach is not hollow, and it matters not a whit to her.
She didn’t always feel that way. About 12 years ago, she injured her back lifting patients in an area nursing home. Afraid that any movement would cause more injury, she spent about a year on her back. Her weight climbed to nearly 300 pounds. The more she worried about her weight, the more she ate, and the more she smoked.
She realized that if she didn’t do something, she’d hit the point of no return. She got up her nerve one day and went to Curves. The owner almost immediately decided to hire her as an assistant trainer.
“The thought was if I could lose weight with Curves, then I could serve as an inspiration to the entire gym,” said Morris, who speaks with a soft Arkansas drawl.
Morris did lose weight, stopped smoking, and became a regular at the after-hours belly dancing class.The dance appealed to her because it was good exercise and also seemed to give her the freedom to love herself. With belly dancing, big bosoms are good, sensuality is good, the music is intoxicating. Morris suddenly liked what she saw in the mirror, not because her figure was turning more into an hourglass, but because she had simply chosen to.
“Everyone has a goddess inside of them. It’s a matter of finding her. You need to give yourself permission to feel sensual, to feel good about yourself, no matter what your size and age. If you do, you can free that goddess who has been languishing inside of you.”
The dancing also freed her to move sensually—and she sees the change in her students when they suddenly drop their lifelong inhibitions. Suddenly their hips are flowing, their shoulders shaking; they have tripped into a world of sensual movement—and a smile flashes on their faces when the light goes on, she said.

STRENGTH IN MEMORIES
One evening, her 16-year-old daughter, Adrian, caught her mom belly dancing in the living room, and said. “Wow, that’s really disturbing. Can I take a class, too?”
Adrian was a natural and soon joined a dance troupe. She was hooked and it showed in the way she walked taller and more confidently.
“Teens are seriously challenged when it comes to self esteem, and Adrian was a little like me. She was not a tiny girl. She had curves like her mom. As her confidence grew, she went from wearing baggy jeans and t-shirts to wearing cute girl stuff and being proud of her body. She told me, whatever I do in life, whatever business I open, there’s going to be belly dancing in the title—belly dancing teacher, belly dancing forensic artist, belly dancing musician, whatever.”
But Adrian never got that chance. She tragically died in a car accident with another girl in the summer of 2004 while on their lunch break for band camp (see sidebar regarding a fundraiser in her memory).
“I thought I was going to give up dance when she died. I couldn’t fathom walking into class without her. But belly dancing is all about women supporting women. And you wouldn’t believe how the other women hugged me and told me that going on was the right thing to do. They said, Adrian will be with us when we dance.”
Morris said she began teaching belly dancing classes in memory of Adrian at Beledi on Woodmere, and then decided to take the plunge and bought the business in February of 2006, nearly two years ago. Morris said she owes her confidence and energy to the fact that she was no longer bullying herself about her weight—“Beating yourself up day after day takes a lot of energy,” said Morris.
Morris pointed to the wooden floor that bridges the retail area to a large airy studio in the back.
“That was the floor of the original school,” she said. “That’s how much we’ve grown.”
Classes have grown by 60% and are held in a room with a full floor to ceiling mirror. Veils are in one basket, hip scarves are in another. The retail side of the store is filled with beautiful skirts and scarves and jangles.
Morris said she wanted to offer an eclectic range of classes from all over the world. Beledi means “of the country.”
“Traverse City talks about diversity, but you don’t see a lot of it. I wanted to bring it in through the dance of several different cultures.”

Here’s a rundown of some of the classes:

Indian hip-hop (Bhangra aerobics): A joyful, bouncy, moderate, impact aerobic workout.
Clogging: From the Appalachian American tradition, it’s similar to tap.
Music together: For moms with preschoolers, this is a chance to teach music appreciation through simple instruments and fun music.
Hoopercise: An innovative class with a special comfort fitness hula hoop. A low impact aerobic workout that’s a lot of fun.
Bellyrobics: You’ll learn a combination of high intensity belly dancing moves in a 30-minute work-out.
Bellydance Goddess (beginning): You’ll work up to a light sweat, and learn the basic moves for belly dancing. This class includes traveling steps, veils and zills (finger cymbals), as well.
Bellydance Bootcamp: This moderate-impact belly dance class focuses primarily on your fitness goals.
Salsa for Lunch: Learn the basic moves of mambo and cha-cha-cha to create a light half-hour workout.
Friday Date night!: Couples learn how to dance to all kinds of music—Latin, blues, swing and waltzes. Partners learn the basic moves together and how to communicate their next move.

For a schedule of classes go to belediglobaldancecenter.com.




Jazz band performs to help scholarship fund


By Anne Stanton

Robert DeGabriele had long thought how he could honor two Traverse City girls who were killed in a car accident during their lunch hour of band camp in the summer of 2004.

The girls, Adrian Morris and Christian DeWitt, were both members of the West Senior High School marching band, said DeGabriele, who is on the music boosters’ board. The girls’ families set up a memorial endowment for each girl with the hopes of funding annual scholarships for band camp and private lessons.

They’re close to their goal of $10,000, having raised $7,500 for each fund, DeGabriele said.

DeGabriele is inviting the public to a special performance by the Michigan Tech University Jazz Lab on January 8, at the Traverse City Opera House. The band will play a “big band” program. All the proceeds will go to the memorial funds.

Band, orchestra, and choral students at Central and West high schools and both TCAPS junior high schools are eligible for scholarships, he said.

DeGabriele said the Michigan Tech University Jazz Lab Band visits Traverse City every other year to help recruit college students, and this is the second time he organizing a benefit performance at the Opera House. He hopes to make it a biennial event. DeGabriele’s son, Aaron, is first tenor sax for the band. “Since the scholarships were established, 75 percent of the funds have been raised toward this goal and we hope this special concert can push them over the top,” DeGabriele said.

DeGabriele is inviting the public to a special performance by the Michigan Tech University Jazz Lab on January 8, 7:30 p.m., at the Traverse City Opera House.