Shimmy, Shimmy, Shimmy!

I went to a belly dancing class yesterday and had a great experience. I had no expectations of the class at all. I knew I was going to learn how to shimmy and do the belly roll...and have fun while I was at it. But the unique class helped me feel...well, sexy and comfortable in my skin! The teacher's focus was more on the enjoyment of it all. She encouraged the women to "expand their feminine beauty and creativity." What a wonderful form of release!

I came a little late (my darn TomTom gave me the wrong directions) but my friend, Robin, said it was no biggie. The class had already begun and there were about a dozen ladies in the dance studio. I went straight to the back and kicked off my shoes.

"You need to grab one of these," Robin said pointing to her costume and then led me to a pile of different colored scarves at one end of the room. I picked up a white chiffon material, fringed with coin-like embellishments, and wrapped it around my hips. The coins jiggled with my movements as I followed Robin to our spot in the back row of students.

The ladies all around me were wearing hip scarves themselves and had just learned to slide their heads left and right while their hands were over their heads, palms together. The dance instructor demonstrated other fun steps like the shoulder shimmy, while stepping forward and then back. Or the hip toss, alternating left and right, while circling wrists gracefully. Then we came to the tummy roll. Ummm...I missed the earlier instruction on how to do that correctly.

Goldie, the instructor, must have noticed how I was desperately trying get it right. She gestured for me to stand next to her while she showed me step by step the proper way to do it. She asked me to push out my behind while extending my chest forward. Then in a slow serpentine manner, lift my chest...lean back...and contract (as though someone had pushed down on my chest)... and then do it all over again. It felt really great once I got the hang of it!

My favorite step was the hip roll. You stand with one foot forward (on ball of foot). Arms up above your head, back of hands almost touching, fingers relaxed. Then you slowly push out your hip and make a wide circular motion with it. It's like the Tom Jones' grind. Then you repeat with the other hip. Oh yeah! It was so much fun!

The finale: Each of us had to dance free form underneath a blanket size scarf that is being held up by the other ladies. One by one, we took our turns doing our own belly dance moves underneath this chiffon cloud. To show support, we had to cheer each other on by yelling "Yella Yella Habibi!" which means "Come on" or "Let's go baby!" It's like the Middle Eastern version of limbo rock.