Shaken and stirred by belly dancing

Time to shimmy and shake, for it’s World Belly Dance Day today! This dance form is no longer restricted to cabarets, as retro Bollywood had us believe; it’s creating waves with its growing popularity worldwide and how! Belly dance classes are springing up throughout the country as something new and exciting to try, a great new workout and a whole lot of fun.

“Women are becoming rebellious and want to try something they would not have attempted before,” says Meher Malik, a well-known dance instructor from Delhi. Trained in belly dance across the globe, Meher hopes that more girls recognise the opportunities and take up belly dancing as a serious profession.

In Arabic, it is known as raqs sharqi, literally “Eastern dance,” which originates from Egypt. The term belly dance is a misnomer and doesn’t do justice to this highly precise dance form. “It takes the longest time to learn the technique and using the mind to dance with the music,” explains Meher.

Reetu Jain, an internationally acclaimed tribal belly dancer, says a deeper understanding of the dance reveals a great awareness of the mind and the body. She is currently taking classes in Mumbai to promote belly dancing as an art form.

“Tribal belly dance incorporates the influences of gypsy, Indian folk, Middle Eastern and Spanish dance, which make this different from Egyptian belly dance,” she says. As a dance it is finding relevance in the diversity of India and developing its own unique style.

“For a long time exotic dances were considered taboo and a medium of personal entertainment,” says Vineet Bangera who runs a dance company with his partner of four years, Sahiba Sawhney.

“With the world getting educated about the dance community, it is wonderful to see that belly dance — a creative and extremely skilled dance — is getting the appreciation and the respect that it deserves, even in India,” he says.

As it continues to become hep and happening world over, Bollywood is nurturing a renewed interest for belly dance. Shakira popularised the dance taking it to the global platform; hints of Reetu’s tribal belly dance can be seen in the song Badmast from Chaalis Chauraasi.

In recent times, actor Mallika Sherawat also shimmied to belly dance. And even as Bollywood’s leading ladies seem keen to learn this up and coming Middle Eastern dance form, expect to see full-fledged glimpse of it in the coming months.