Belly-dancing toward a dream

Regular Southern girl' finds self-expression in foreign-born art form
VANESSA WILLIS : Everything about Yasmine seems exotic, from her eye makeup to the way she describes how she feels when she performs. So how did a self-described "regular Southern girl" who grew up in ballet slippers and tap shoes end up traveling the world to dance in hip scarves and jingles?

It started with a Christmas gift nine years ago -- a gift certificate for a beginner's bellydance class at the Jewish Community Center. She connected to the dance form immediately during the first lesson. "I loved the movement and the music, and the self-expression it allowed," she says. "The individuality of it, being able to make it your own, spoke to me."

She continued taking lessons, and soon started traveling to attend workshops across the country. Word spread about her talent locally, and she started getting invitations to perform at restaurants including Sofram Turkish Cuisine at the Tower Place shopping center and Kebab Grill on East Boulevard. "I never would've thought I'd do this, but now I can't imagine doing anything else," she says.

Bellydance has exploded in popularity in the last decade. Pop star Shakira became known for her shimmying as she rose to fame. Instructional DVDs promoted through television infomercials tout the health benefits of the dance form, and classes offer instruction in it throughout the Charlotte region. Yasmine eventually formed Magic Hips Dancers, a troupe that performs with her at the restaurants and special events including weddings and family parties. They've also performed at the Carolina Renaissance Festival for seven years as the Jewels of the Caravan, along with her student troupe, The Beledi Beat Dancers.

In 2003, she was invited to guest star in the Bellydance Superstars performance in Charlotte. A couple of weeks later, the company called back to invite her to join them on the next tour. She spent nine weeks in 2004 performing with them in 58 American cities and Canada. They also spent six weeks in Barcelona. She is featured in the "Belly-Dance-O-Rama 3" instructional video produced by The International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance, based in California.

In 2005, she opened Mid-East Dance, fulfilling a life-long dream of owning her own dance studio. Her current students are as young as 9 years old and as old as... "Well, she won't tell me how old she is!" she says, laughing. Yasmine, who goes by her stage name for safety reasons, says she wishes more people knew the history of bellydance.

Contrary to popular belief, it was not created for the entertainment of men, but rather as a way for women to bond as a community and celebrate milestones or fertility. In ancient times, men weren't allowed to watch performances. "It's not hoochy coochie," Yasmine says, laughing. "This is an ancient dance form and an art. Bellydance tells a story. The older I get, the more I have to dance about."

She says the students wear the same clothing they'd use for a yoga class and add layers such as hip scarves to play with while they dance. "Most of us are more clothed than you'd be at a typical aerobics class," Yasmine says. "We don't hand you a bra and belt set in the first class." She initially fell in love with how exotic the movement felt, and then began learning about the rich cultural history behind bellydance. There are many forms of it, with each version having emerged from individual cultures the same way separate language dialects form.

She especially enjoys performing at weddings and family parties because it brings her closer to the Middle Eastern and Asian cultures that bellydance came from. "It's been wonderful how open these people are to me when I dance at events," she says. "Everyone's been accepting. I love that people push tables out of the way and dance with me." Most of her students at the studio are women in their late 20s to their mid 40s. "It's a really positive atmosphere and it's OK no matter what your background is or what size you are," she says.

She says she's watched many students become freed from negative body issues and emerge with better self-confidence. "Some of the students pick a dance name so they can leave `Judy' at the door and step out as this new identity that frees them to dance," she says. "So they're no longer `Suzy's mom' or `John's wife.' They can focus on doing something for themselves." VOICES

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