Springs Oasis Belly Dance with Zafia
Colorado Springs, CO

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About Belly Dance

Belly Dance is:  

• Fun and creative – Belly dance students learn to develop graceful, fluid movement and spirited hip and torso isolations.
  
  

• A great workout - Belly dance is a gentle, low-impact exercise that is a great workout and especially good for lower back health. 
  
  

• Self-affirming – Belly dance is for all ages, body types, and talent levels and those with the desire to develop a freedom of movement infused with feeling.
  
  

• A wonderful cultural art form – perhaps the earliest documented dance form, belly dance is rooted in a rich cultural history accompanied by captivating musical traditions from the Middle East.

“Because belly dancing is so forgiving, it can be learned and accomplished at a later age and with a more natural body type than most forms of traditional western dance”  - Sabrina Tarulli

Belly dance (Oriental Dance, Middle Eastern Dance) refers to a collection of dance styles from a variety of countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Among the most common forms is Egyptian Raqs Sharqi (translated as Oriental Dance, also known as Middle Eastern Dance or MED)  that is most often presented as a women’s solo dance form many believe evolved from Egypt’s beledi, or country, folk dances. Similar and related dance forms are found throughout the Arabic-speaking Middle East including Turkey, Lebanon and across North Africa to Morocco. (See links page for more in-depth historical and cultural background, including A Primer on Middle Eastern Dance Styles and Raqs Sharqi; A Brief History)

American Tribal Style (ATS) Belly Dance was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s on the West Coast. It combines dance and costuming elements from the Middle East, North Africa, India (and South Asia), and Spain (Flamenco). It is primarily a group improvisational dance form where the dancers take turns leading the group through improvised combinations of movements using learned cues and movements. (See links page for more in-depth information including History of American Tribal Style and Sharon Moore's TribalBellyDance.org)

Check out this great article The Myth of Bellydance.