The Belly Dance Agenda
The Feminine Symbol

For most dancers walking into a dance studio is refreshing, enlightening and therapeutic. Since women today have so much on their plates, it is important to find something for themselves so they can find their own identity besides the mother, wife, and co-worker identities. In todays society we need to make sure that we keep our sanity.
There are many reasons why women dance and there are even more reasons why women want to express life and its meaning through dance. With the history of dance and what it represents for so many there can be no denying that a woman dancing in ways where she is undulating forward and back like a snake or moving her hips side to side is a powerful feminine symbol.

Is there not a question that is under the breath of each admirer or fellow dancer which is, “Does the dancer know what she represents?” Do we represent that which is most important to us or do we represent what people want to see in our dance. Is it even possible to separate the two since for most performers our job is to entertain the masses and this means being that which is in the eyes of the beholder? This is why belly dancing is so magical for so many, we become the symbol for each and every admirers imagined heroine.
Whether we be the temptress, virtuous dancer or wanton woman there is no other dance that signifies all three together.

There can be the chance that we become “idols of perversity” only because women have been misunderstood for so long. And having so many students come to me in class made me aware that even we are not sure how to see ourselves as women.
Isn’t it amazing that we have created such a history that would be nothing without us. And yet if you talk to young women today they don’t know much about women of the past such as Hatshepsut, Empress Theodora, Elizabeth 1 of England just to name a few. And what is heart breaking is much of the records kept on many influential women through out history is incomplete because women were not thought worthy of mention. What of the women of dance who we don’t know because of the times in which they lived.

When we dance at any given time we must look at what happens to our state of being in the moment of each move, step and turn. Learning dance is one thing but than you must take it into you and create your own voice through your movements. This is how each dancer stands out because she voices her dance from how she lives her life which comes through in her movements. Even still perhaps this is why we have been apart of history for so long because women can create a voice that not only is heard but captures the attention of all who are watching her. Today we are noted and we have taken a stand to be appreciated within our time and to be written into history.

This dance itself can be a huge part in your history and how you have lived your life. Look at the women of today who have paved the way for us to be able to learn this ancient dance form. This means look at your teachers and appreciate what they are passing on to you. Remember that this dance is passed down from generation to generation and think of which generation you are apart of. The belly dance symbol includes how each generation treats each other, how we remember our past and what kind of future we are creating for our new generations. The belly dance agenda is the same for all of us. We all must keep the fires burning so that history shows what we really symbolize.
And this symbol is different for every woman so think about what you want to symbolize in this dance and what you stand for. In a way you will be creating your own history that is worth remembering.