CRESTVIEW — Each Wednesday, women can gather in Spanish Trail Park to socialize and exercise while performing American Tribal Style Bellydance.
Group leader Valorie Rossi said American Tribal bellydance — a fusion of traditional gypsy, Indian and Middle Eastern folkloric female dance that originated in California in the 1970s — is not the sensuous cabaret style of dancing often performed by a lone female dancer in an “I Dream of Jeannie” style outfit. Still, it is “beautiful, mysterious, evocative and powerful.”
Rossi— co-director of Sweet Magnolia Tribal, a professional dance troupe, and Fat Chance Belly Dance Sister Studio — is a licensed massage therapist with expertise in anatomy and safe movement. She said participants find benefits including increased strength, improved fitness and grace and companionship with other women through the activity.
“We really need to have our girlfriends to survive in the world,” she said. “We’re all body types, all ages. We celebrate that here, because we all have different abilities and different appearances.”
Nobody knows what to expect from each two- to four-woman group, Rossi said. “One girl is the leader, and then the rest follow and, by certain non-verbal cues, everybody knows what moves we’re going to do next,” she said. “The dance is never the same twice.”
Nearly 100 moves can be combined in any number or order, she said, and each move has a cue. “If I drop my hand down, everybody knows we’re going to bring the other hand down and we’re going to be spinning," she said.
Tribal bellydancers create flowing costumes accented by jewelry, scarves and ruffled dresses. Bare midriffs are common but not required, Rossi said, depending on the woman’s comfort level. For weekly practice, some women prefer leggings or capris.
As women embrace the program — “Once you start it, it can be addictive,” Rossi said — they can create their own costume. The ruffled dress may cost between $40 and $90, she said. And a woman may make a “choli,” a tight halter top, by altering a thrift shop T-shirt, Rossi said.
Above all, she said, tribal bellydancing is an opportunity to exercise while dressing up and having a fun evening out with the girls.
“It’s the fun of dancing with other women,” she said.
WANT TO GO?
WHAT:American Tribal Style Bellydancing
WHEN:6 p.m. Wednesdays
WHERE:Spanish Trail Park Senior Activities Center, Industrial Drive, Crestview
COST:$50 per month; $15 drop-in lessons
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bellydancing for fun, exercise and bonding comes to Crestview