The following provides general information about bellydancing

Dance historians believe that bellydance began as a childbirth ritual in ancient times.  Women would practice movements that strengthened and toned the muscles that would make childbirth easier. 

The term bellydance comes from the Arabic word Beledi meaning "of the people".  Since its origins bellydance has always been a dance of feminine expression, performed most often among women, out of the sight of men.

Beledi evolved inot a multicultural art form known today as "oriental dance" during the Ottoman Empire, when women from many countries lived together in the harems of Turkish sultans.  The women had plenty of time on their hands and would dance for each other.  Of course, some sultans were entertained by dancers, but the women were usually only seen as shadows undulating behind a latticework screen.  The eroticism of bellydance comes from the fact that it was mysterious, forbidden and unseen.

In 1893 American Promoter Sol Bloom brought a troupe of North American folk dancers to the Chicago World;s Fair and coined the term "Bellydance".  Bellydancers became a central part of vaudeville and burlesque stage shows and the dance abandoned its Middle Eastern roots to become confused with striptease.

Today, women around the world have reclaimed belly dance and transformed it into something much closer to its original roots. Some study for exercise, while others love the music or the mystique of Middle Eastern culture. 

This dance is about mystery - the mystery of ancient culture, foreign to most of us, deep and complex.  The mystery of muscle control; the mystery of our own bodies.  The mystery of music that has different rythms, instruments and tones than Western music.  The mysterious movements when you are one with the music.  The mystery of your own energy and of how the melding of energies becomes MAGIC!