to me it's the freedom to follow inspiration, even if it comes from uncharted territory.

it's the combination of tradition, archetype, and my own personal take on them.

it's dancing with others and learning from them.

i have to agree that this tribe is an island of sanity, and that there are an awful lot of women who seem to be dancing with eyes closed to what's really inside them and why they are dancing at all. they are drawn to bellydance as a beacon of healing, but they have so internalized society's macho attitudes that they haven't got enough intuition to truly know why this is the dance for them.

that's all well and good (everyone is on their own journey after all), until they start acting like the tradition/morality/reason police and lashing out at fellow dancers. i'm seeing a lot of this lately--voices that say, "you can combine those moves and still call yourself bellydance. you must always worry more about how your audience might perceive you than what you feel inside as an artist."

those of us who know better must continue to speak up when the Tradition Police start to take over our conversations. Delilah does, Palika does, and I know there are more too... I am so grateful for that!

Hi, welcome Deliah. I have never written here, but your post touched something in me, so I will peek in and respond...

A quick answer to your post, is that I am so thankful to be involved in a Belly Dance community where dancing this dance is part of a spiritual path of embodiment, empowerment and waking up.

For me a huge part of empowerment is choice. Conscious choice about how I want to live my life, interact with others and the world, how I live in and move my body, how I honor and care for myself, choosing to honor and care for others. Choosing to not just sleep my way through each day.

Somatically, belly dance really is empowering for me simply in the way it physically connects me with the core of my body, as well as every limb, every finger tip, every toe. Dancing I feel alive and present in my body. And on top of that, it is a dance which so beautifully complements and celebrates the Goddessy curves of women.

Belly dance is taking so many fabulous creative twists and turns, and I love the artistry of it.

But what keeps me connected to the dance and all who dance it, is the richness of the sacred ancient movements. When I dance this dance with other women, I feel alive and grounded in my body, close to those I dance with, and thankful that I have been presented this dance in such a sacred empowering way.

I am thankful to be included in the timeless spiral of goddesses who dance to honor the life flowing through their veins...

I think its fear that is instigating responses like "I don't need empowerment", but like you I recieve emails regularly from women all over the world who are finding sensitive and aware teachers and dance classes of Belly Dance to be their "church of feel good". Women from Czekloslovakia just wrote me, inspired by the Heavy Hips website and some of my writings and also last week a woman from Brazil who is coming here to study Belly Dance.

There is no doubt in my mind that the practice of mindfulness, awareness. living the sacred life, gratitude and uncovering our illusory covered upness is alive and well, working through the vehicle of this sacred dance and that womyn from all over the world in different class, race, religious and sexual orientation identities still need the support and vision and practice of "empowerment". The purpose of Heavy Hips Tribal Belly Dance has always been "Empowerment, Strength and Community for Women". And I try to practice what I preach. I attempt to be a vehicle for Goddess, Spirit, Earth - Creative Intelligence (whatever is your preference to call the Sacred Life) in my teaching and in my classes. We create circles of support, exploration and acceptance.

So what is empowerment for me? Its the service and the flowering from that service. I'm committed to the service of human transformation and Life, and awakening in all its flavors, textures and realms. I love what happens in our classroom. It is absolutely a living phenomenon - full of creativity and some kind of divine intervention. I've witnessed women finding their voice, their home within themselves and in relation to the greater circle of local community. I watched woman completely wake up and change their relationship to the Earth in terms of consumption and production - moving towards stewardship. I've witnessed an awakening of concern for social justice, and I've witnessed woman finally understanding that the foods they put in their body, the chemicals they put on their body, the substances they use or don't use are all ingredients that mix up who they are and how they feel about themselves and their existence. I've witnessed the slow balmy healing from sexual and emotional abuse in a dance circle of women only space, and the courageous path of self love as food abuse drops away. I've witnessed women finding soul mate sisters in the circle of dance and sisters of motherhood - basically I've seen communities spin off the dance community. I found women discovering for the first time that quiet reflection and a step back from constant reacting is not soo scary, I get to take part in my own awakening through difficult challenges witnessed by them as a teacher, and experience the healing salve of humility and vulnerability. I've witnessed all of us - my students and myself, understand more and more that the ground constantly moves, that change is imminent and natural - and we will be okay regardless, that its possible to be peaceful in all feeling states and that compassion, kindness and service are what makes us feel good.

I've been blessed to serve and witness and experience all these spacious openings myself and have been blessed and molded and changed hundreds of times over by the students who have serpentined their way through the Heavy Hips door. My growth has been unbound through this service and the kindness and enthusiasm and open heartedness of these women of all ages, body types, backgrounds and reasons for coming to dance. But I can think of no other word accept empowerment and the unfolding of authentic being for describing what possibility is there through our dance practice.

I try to have compassion for those who scoff at the foundation of mindfulness and what I call a spiritual foundation for the undergirding of the Heavy Hips community and practice or the idea of empowerment for themselves or others. I myself have wasted countless hours and minutes and years of my life in judgement, resentment and fear, pushing away and sabotaging the very seeds and medicine that could heal my wounds. WE all come to where we need to be in time or not and that's real too. But in the end I try to remember that we are all ONE being and ONE Body in Gaia and none of us are completely liberated or authenticall joyful until all of us are liberated and authentically joyful. That my freedom from suffering will not be complete until all are free from suffering. Its a lofty place to come from and I hardly reside there all the time, but I've had inklings of the liberation and freedom that comes from the understanding of oness and ultimate loving kindness for all beings and like humility, service, honesty, transparency, mindfulness and surrender - their practice and remembrance are the path I try to choose again and again.

Good topic Delilah, thankyou.
Blessings, p.

I don't think you are a dying breed, Delilah. We're out here, it's just that there's SO MUCH bellydance out there right now, we're harder to find. I am glad to have found this tribe, too, and hope I can meet these ladies in person some day. As for my definition of empowerment... hmmmmm..... I have to think about that one for awhile.