The dancers:
Maria Trogolo, USA
Shantell Powell, Canada
Maria Martins, Thailand


Photo provided by Maria Trogolo.

Maria Trogolo, U.S.A.

Maria is a student at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She hails from Lakeland, Florida and studies Linguistics and Middle Eastern Studies. She works as a freelance Spanish-English interpreter and document translator and as a resident assistant at her college.

What style do you do?
"The style of belly dance I do is eclectic. It is decidedly not tribal or tribal fusion- tribal dancers are quite talented and have amazing control, but the aesthetic just does not appeal to me. More specifically, what I do is a blend of the Turkish and Egyptian styles, with a bit of Spanish influence."
How did you get involved?
"I started taking belly dance classes when I saw that they were offered at a local recreation center. The moves are so natural and beautiful, I fell in love."
In what ways are you involved with belly dance?
"I am a belly dance student and performer. I study at Janna's International Dance Studio, and I perform at parties, usually for Middle Eastern audiences."
Tell me about the state of belly dance in the U.S.
"In recent years, there has been an increase in belly dance exercising videos, and the tribal style has exploded in popularity. While belly dance is a wonderful form of exercise, and tribal is legitimate artistic expression, I feel that these developments are rather orientalist. Americans have become eager to embrace belly dance without knowing or understanding it and its original dancers. At its heart, belly dance is Middle Eastern, and while many American dancers appreciate the exoticism this heritage brings, they miss an opportunity to genuinely learn about one of the world's most culturally rich civilizations. Furthermore, I see the commercialization of exercise videos as yet another microcosm of how the West economically exploits the Middle East without regard to or respect for their way of life. I do think that exercise videos and exoticized styles do have value, but that in the United States, they superficially supplant true understanding of Middle Eastern dance."

Shantell Powell, Canada

Shantell Powell lives in Kitchener, Ontario and is a dance instructor, costumer, performer, and writer.

What style do you do?
"I do my own style of belly dance, which draws on my martial arts training, with elements from other dance/movements styles. I do this particular style as it is a natural synthesis of the various movement arts I've studied (yoga, butoh, Martha Graham modern, hip hop, jazz lyrical, ballet, fire dance, etc.). I'm still struggling to find a good name for what I do. In the meantime, I call it by the unimaginative name of world fusion dance."
What are the most popular styles of belly dance?
"This is a trick question, because the answer will vary wildly according to geographical location. Right now, I live in southern Ontario, which is heavily dominated by classical Egyptian raqs sharqi. There are a few tribal fusion dancers, and even fewer American Tribal Style (ATS) dancers in the area. I've seen little to no Turkish, Lebanese, Greek, or American nightclub dancers in the area."
When I lived in the Maritimes, the dance community was more diverse. American nightclub style was the most popular style, followed by ATS and Egyptian raqs sharqi. There were also few Turkish, Lebanese, and tribal fusion dancers."
How did you get involved with belly dance?
"I always wanted to be a dancer, but had bad knees and thought it would never happen. Then I went to a nightclub where a beautiful Lebanese-style dancer performed, and fell completely in love. I knew this is exactly what I wanted to do. I spoke with her after her performance and found out she taught classes. I started taking classes with her the very next week, and have been dancing ever since. I keep dancing because it is a complete compulsion. I want to understand how movement is generated, and to gain mastery over my own body mechanics."
Tell me about your involvement and experiences with belly dance.
"I am a belly dance teacher, student, and performer. I teach dance technique, improvisation, and floorwork. I am also a student, as I am constantly taking classes to increase my knowledge. I am a performer, too, and dance primarily at dance shows, multicultural festivals, and arthouse cabarets. I no longer do birthday parties and bellygrams (except for personal friends), as I feel it cheapens the art."
What is the state of belly dancing in Canada?
"Belly dance in Canada has been steadily gaining in popularity. I believe it started off primarily as American nightclub style. On the world class level, American nightclub style is represented in Canada by Aziza. As the years have progressed, more and more "pure" styles have been entering the mix. Now Egyptian is huge in Canada, with some world-class instructors: Hadia, Yasmina Ramzy, Jalilah, etc. I think ATS picked up steam first in Manitoba and Nova Scotia, and is slowly spreading throughout the rest of the country. Tribal fusion has also been gaining in popularity, and if I remember correctly, one or two of the Belly Dance Superstars are originally from Canada."

Maria Martins, Thailand

Maria is a university student studying communication arts. She is an artist, photographer, writer and dancer.

What style do you do?
"I’m currently learning cabaret style with heavy modern Egyptian elements. I would love to expand to Tribal at the end of this year and start working with props, but I believe that before you fuse, you need to have a strong background in the traditional Middle Eastern form just to give this ancient art the respect it deserves. Not that I have anything against anyone jumping straight to fusion, but I think building up from a strong traditional foundation will give your fusion the beauty and power to make it look even more mesmerizing."
How did you get involved?
"I’ve always had a passion for anything related to ancient history and when I discovered how old belly dancing was, I started researching and reading as much as I can about this mystical art form. The thought of taking classes didn’t really come to mind as I was sure you couldn’t find classes in Bangkok. Bangkok had plenty of dance classes to offer from ballet to salsa but not a single belly dance class – at least, not when I started researching. But in my second year at university, I was rapidly losing weight and muscle mass due to a very high stress level from work and school combined as well as emotional issues from a long-distance relationship. I was very physically active during my high school years but I completely stopped working out when I went to college. I was tired all the time and with my mother’s urging, I decided to look into a sport. I did a search for belly dancing in Thailand and found that there was a small, private studio called Rumpuree (www.rumpuree.com) that offered belly dance classes."
What has kept you involved with belly dance?
"When I danced, I felt like I could leave all of my troubles behind and just focus on nothing but dancing. I was performing a dance as old as the earth itself, a dance for women, and it was an experience I’ve never felt before. There was so much peace and joy involved and I can’t believe how comfortable I am with my body now. Most of my friends would complain daily about their flaws, whether it was big arms, big thighs, small chest…some have even talked about going through medical procedures to get rid of their "flaws". I’d be sitting in the middle of the group thinking, I love my body. I may not have a 23 inch waist or bony arms. I don’t have a body of a model, but I’m healthy, I’m finding joy in my body, and it looks great when I dance! I think ever woman should take on this dance since it does such wonders for how you look at yourself and how you feel. You’ll learn to love yourself more and more everyday."
Tell me about your experiences as a belly dance student.
"I’ve experienced failure, hardship, and disappointment and yet through it all, it’s been an incredible journey to where I am today. There’s nothing as rewarding as being a student when after struggling with something for so long and one day being able to do it – the feeling’s just euphoric. I would love to teach someday in the future but I’ll never stop being a student."
What is the status of belly dancing in Thailand?
" Belly dancing is still incredibly young in Thailand. It hasn’t caught on like it has in other Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, and China. I would love to see this dance grow since so many Thai women have a body image problem and are constantly pressured by society that they have to be thinner and have lighter skin to be beautiful and I believe that belly dancing can really make a change. The women I dance with have curves, some are dark, but they aren’t afraid to put on a sparkly bedlah and dance with joy.
"Belly dancing is still considered by many as part of the "Sultan’s Harem" myth. There was recently a music video released by a local pop girl band that had a harem scene in it with women "belly dancing" sensually around a sultan. But that’s not the only tale they believe. Many women shy away as they think you "need a belly" and no one thin would ever consider belly dancing because that would just mean saying that they have excess fat! And the larger women want to take it up so they can "lose their belly". Other people think that it’s a sleazy art and no "good woman" would ever pick it up. In my view, it’s not so different from the States if you ask someone about it who’s totally ignorant on the subject. I want Thai women to start taking up this dance so that they can come to accept who they are and to feel completely comfortable about their body – not picking it up just so they can lose weight.
"It’s hard to say what direction belly dancing will go in Thailand. Thais love following trends and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a belly dancing boom coming up, but I’d expect it to die out in six months or less. Most level one classes are filled to the brim during the first few weeks but when the course is over, only a few dancers remain for the more advance classes and half of these are foreigners and expatriates, having studied belly dance in their own country before they came here. At least we know the ones remaining are the serious ones! In a few years, we might be able to form a troupe and spread this magical dance across the country."