When dance instructor Rachel Kay Brookmire asks her new students to say a word they associate with belly dance, sensual is the overwhelming choice. Characterized by haunting music, vibrant costumes and often the aromas of a restaurant, belly dance is truly sensual in the most literal meaning of the word.  But sensuality is only one reason why the art form is enjoying popularity in the Washington, DC area and around the country.

“I don’t think there are a lot of places in our culture, especially in DC, where women can just enjoy being women and being girly and being fun,” explains Brookmire, founder and director of Sahara Dance. “I also think it’s really popular because it’s accessible to a lot of people, unlike other dance forms. I’ve seen women with no dance background become phenomenal dancers.”

Belly dance traces its lineage to folk dances of the Middle East. With its colorful and often revealing costumes, belly dance can often seem to westerners like a contradiction in its native culture where modesty is extolled and femininity protected.
“It’s a love hate relationship,” explains Brookmire. “Everyone dances…It‘s not a wedding without a belly dancer, but they never would want their daughter to be a belly dancer and their son can’t marry a belly dancer.”

However, Brookmire adds that it is this tension which makes the art form so powerful.

“[It’s] the understated coquettishness that’s part of the dance,” Brookmire says. “Like ‘yes I want to show you my hip,’ but then no I don’t. I’m a shy good girl.’”

Understanding these cultural subtleties and contradictions is key to understanding belly dance as a whole.
“I think it gets really disconnected from its roots in the Arab world,” says Brookmire. “It’s kind of heartbreaking when you dance for Arabs and they understand and love belly dance and when they see people dance it and not understand it or the meaning of the songs.”

Belly dance began to gain popularity outside of the Arab world around the late 19th century. Many credit its introduction to the 1893 World’s Fair for its initial popularity, however it was not until the 1960s that belly dancing in America entered the mainstream. The belly dancing taught and performed in the United States can be one of, or a combination of, many different styles—Lebanese, Turkish, North African. However, America also has its unique style of belly dance, known as the American Tribal Movement, which originated in San Francisco and is a fusion of many Middle Eastern styles along with western influence.

“I think that the women who started it had some Indian dance influence and some middle eastern influence,” says Brookmire. “They really took on the moves and totally reshaped it and reinterpreted the movements to different styles of music. They did a great thing for belly dance.”

At Sahara Dance, students learn a blend of Modern Egyptian, Lebanese and American style belly dance. Brookmire travels to Egypt often to keep up with the latest trends.

“They have festivals and master classes and that’s where you go to get it all in your system.”

While she now studies belly dance with Egyptian masters, Brookmire’s introduction to belly dance happened in a less authentic place.

“I went to a gym and I saw them there with the finger symbols and the coin belts,” Brookmire explains. “It was an Iranian woman teaching and the music was just really haunting. It just pulled me in and I went in and I danced. Things didn’t look right on me right away, but it planted a seed. It made me feel like it was something I could do really well.”

A life-long dancer, Brookmire says that belly dance connects with her unlike any other dance form.

“When I went to college I took a lot of dance. A lot of modern and West African,” Brookmire said. “I loved the modern but it never connected with me on an emotional level. And I loved the West African but I never felt natural doing it. In college I came across belly dance and fell in love with it. Fell in love with the music; fell in love with the way the movements looked.”
From that first encounter in a gym, Brookmire danced in New York and then came to DC where she opened up Sahara Dance three years ago. A sought-after performer, Brookmire focuses much of her attention to bringing belly dance to the theater.

“I stopped doing restaurant work about a year and a half ago,” Brookmire says. “I liked it, but I really wanted us to focus on elevating the art form and bringing it more to the stage.”

While Brookmire explains that the intimate setting of a restaurant is a very traditional one for belly dance, the setting of the theater can elevate the art form.

“I think people tend to give it more respect and we have more creative freedom and people understand it as an art form more when they see it in a theater.”

Sahara Dance brings belly dance to the theatrical setting in many different forms.

“We do three annual shows. One for fusion, all experimental belly dance, one for students and then one that’s just for Egyptian style.”

Students like belly dance not only because it’s a great work out, but because it expands the mind.
“When you ask your body to do things it has never done before your mind also has to do something it’s never done before,” explains student Ardelia Hayward.

Sahara student Renee Hines likes belly dancing because “it’s accommodating to all body types.”
Hines explains that unlike ballet or other dance forms, “some moves look good on smaller women, some moves look good on bigger women.”

While much of belly dancing is a celebration of femininity, men who want to learn belly dancing do have a place.

“There’s a tradition of belly dancing,” says Brookmire. “There was a time of men being very active as belly dancers because they outlawed women as belly dancers.”

However, belly dancing is considerably more popular with women.

“I’ve had three men come through the studio out of all of the years I’ve done it,” Brookmire says with a laugh.

Luckily for men and women who want to learn how to shake, shimmy and undulate like a pro, D.C. has abundant opportunities.

“There is a huge community of belly dancers in the D.C. area,” says Brookmire. “There are lots of schools, lots of teachers. There are lots of belly dance performers.”

With practice, people of all ages, sizes and abilities can learn to belly dance. But it does take practice.

“That it’s easy is a big misconception. That it doesn’t take years of practice,” says Brookmire. “I think the hardest moves to do are the ones that layer. Where you take a shimmy on top of a pelvic undulation. So it’s like three things going on and you still have to look relaxed.”

However, Brookmire and the teachers at Sahara break it down so students are dancing and enjoying themselves at every level.

“We try to limit the movement vocabulary so people can feel like they’re moving their first class.”

WHERE TO LEARN TO BELLY DANCE IN AND AROUND DC

Belly Dance For Life
Offers classes and has performances.
www.bellydanceforlife.com.

Born 2 Dance Studio
Are you born to be a dancer? Offers beginner belly dancing.
www.born2dancestudio.com.

The Dance Place
Offers different types of dance, including belly dancing.
www.danceplace.org.

Joy of Motion
Offers classes for various levels and styles of belly dance at its Atlas Performing Center and Bethesda, Dupont Circle and Friendship Heights locations. Visit the website for more info.
www.joyofmotion.org.

Sahara Dance
Want to be part of an artful approach to belly dance? Sahara Dance offers classes at six locations throughout the region. Visit the website for the one closest to you.
www.saharadance.com.

Sport & Health
Has been known to offer Belly Dance classes. Various locations. Contact for details.
www.sportandhealthy.com.

The Washington Area Middle Eastern Dance Association
Offers a comprehensive list of dance studios and teachers in DC, Virginia and Maryland.
www.wameda.org.

A number of restaurants have belly dance entertainment. These include:

Casablanca: 1504 King St., Alexandria, VA; 703-549-6464; www.moroccanrestaurant.com.

Marrakesh: 617 New York Ave NW, DC; 202-393-9393; www.marrakesh.us.

Meze: 2437 18th St., NW, DC; 202-797-0017; www.mezedc.com. Free bellydancing lesson every Sunday at 10 p.m.

Piratz Tavern: 8402 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD; 301-588-9001; www.piratztavern.com. Belly dancers two nights a week.

The Prince Cafe: Wisconsin Ave and K St, Georgetown, DC; 202-625-6400; www.cafeprince.com. Live Arabic music, 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Dancer usually around 11:30 p.m.