A little bit of jingle...

For the past few years I have dabbled in belly dancing off and on. Lately I have been trying to take it a bit more seriously because it is such a beautiful art form. Currently I have been trying to learn Oriental style which is quite different than the Egyptian style I tried to learn in the past. It is far more feminine. And far more difficult.

For me, it is like learning a new language. When I learned basic ASL, or American Sign Language, while in university, I remember attending a local lecture and watching the interpreter. Her signs were unfamiliar to me; I could not understand her as easily as I could my own sign language teacher. This was because for the first time I was seeing a different sign language- that of SEE sign, or “Signing Exact English”. It had a more staccato look and seemed harsh. ASL is beautiful. It flows and looks like music to my eyes. The new sign language I was seeing somehow jarred my visual sense, and surprisingly, it touched me at a more visceral level. I never knew it could be like this. But there is was before my very eyes. I had learned there were different languages and different dialects even, but to experience it took me to a place of understanding that went beyond the weekly lessons.

And so it is with dance. My body loves to move in rhythm to music. Truth be told, I am not a strong dancer by any stretch of the imagination. I can only do one thing, one move at a time. But nevertheless, I so love to dance. So learning this new style of Oriental belly dancing has been a great challenge. I am aware of what my body feels it wants to do, but in order to stay true to the style, I must do other things that feel a bit awkward. But slowly, with time and patience, I am retraining the large and small muscles of my body to move in a new fashion. I love this new language, that lets me speak with my body. And if you are ever thinking of trying this form of dance, splurge and get yourself a coin scarf! They are fun to wear and even when you move a little bit, they make a sweet jingling sound that encourages you to keep on trying. Plus, as you move to work both sides of your body, they give good auditory and kinaesthetic feedback to ensure your movements are developing symmetrically.