belly dancing anyone?

japanese taking belly dancing lessons. picture taken from japantoday.

move over, aerobic! or line dancing! here comes belly dancing!

belly dancing is making ripples among asians!

belly dancing is a good cardiovascular exercise, good for your waist and achieving nice curves so said sherlyn koh, the woman who teaches belly dancing (she seems to be the only one?) in a dance studio in KL.

one of her students said that belly dancing is much better than a work-out in a gym and and that it is good for the right parts of your body as it tones your tummy, hips and breasts.

actually belly dancing is a century-old form of dancing, especially popular in middle east countries like eygpt. but since it is not popular here and belly dancing kind of involve sensual movements, coupled with the sexy costume that reveal the navel, many people (narrow minded people) tend to look to belly dancing as something sexual and frown on it.

will it get populuar in our country? i don’t think so, no, not in malaysia where islam is the official religion, and when we heard so much about covering the ‘aurat’. and belly dancing reveal the aurat.

belly dancing reminds me of the hula dance done by the hawaians. come to think of it, they are alike, are they? sherlyn koh, the belly dancing teacher says that belly dancing is for all women. i don’t think so. well, at least not for this woman here – me! i’m short and fat and have a tummy, i just can’t imagine myself swaying and gyrating my belly. oh and i would be extremely shy to expose my navel. can’t we wear tights, like in aerobic, for belly dancing?

i remember many years back when i was in school, we used to play this hola-hoop game, where you place the hook over your body and try to swing your hip (sway and gyrate lah) to make the hoop stay on. i can’t even get it to stay on for 1 minute! there! proof belly dancing is not for me at all!

now, where do i sign up for line dancing?