photo by WILLIAM MEIJER

Meagan Browne, right, also known as Mayada, leads The Weekender's Roula Meditskos through a belly dance lesson at Flow Fitness Studio

Ten minutes into my first belly-dancing lesson I've already broken a sweat, and I don't sweat easily. I'm in a beginner belly dance class at Flow Fitness Studio at 219 St. Clair Ave. W near Avenue Road. Instructor and studio owner Mayada, an established belly dancer who frequents many of Toronto's Middle Eastern restaurants, demonstrates the first move to a group of four women. We start with the shimmy, a series of quick, alternating hip shakes. The beads on everyone's hip scarves make a nifty rattling noise. "Nice" Mayada says as she comes around to see how I'm doing. That gives my confidence a boost. Still, as I do this, I realize there's a lot more jiggling going on than I would like (note to self: work harder at the gym!). Mayada later reassures me that jiggling is part of the experience.  "A lot of women are concerned about that, but I think it looks nice when everything's kind of shaking around out in the open," she says. That's easy for her to say - it doesn't look like anything's jiggling on her toned body.  As a personal trainer, dancer, choreographer, writer and fitness competitor, Mayada, otherwise known as Meagan Browne, is no stranger to fitness. She has been belly dancing for 10 years. I, on the other hand, am a stranger to the world of belly dancing. Although I've wanted to try it for years, I never worked up the courage to take a class. Apparently, that's common, she says. "Some people think they have to have a nice stomach or something, but that's not true. It really does look feminine on any body type... it encompasses all body types. It makes people feel great about their body," she says.  Looking at my fellow classmates, I realize that's true. One girl is young and curvy, probably in her 20s, and two others are older, in their late 30s or early 40s and with fuller figures.  We do such things as chest slides (imagine being pulled side to the side by a string without moving below the waist), undulations (rippling body waves) and accents (stamping on an imaginary cigarette butt but with a slight hip swing).  "You'll feel it tomorrow," says the woman beside me as we practise our accents. She doesn't seem to have a problem. In fact, she's very graceful and mentions she gives amateur performances.  Then comes my favourite move: the figure eight. With the sound of lovely Arabic music in the background, we move our hips side to side in a slow, controlled figure-eight movement. Mayada tells us not to move our shoulders and to keep our knees bent slightly, but soft.  My outer thighs begin to burn. It's this point in the class where I realize just how much of a workout belly dancing is. What I always assumed was a simple hip sway is actually a very precise, isolated movement. My T-shirt is soaked with sweat. Others wipe the sweat beads off their foreheads too.

ORIGINS OF THE DANCE

Looking at the origins of belly dancing, it's no wonder women need to be physically resilient when performing the sensual moves. Originally known as Raks Sharki, (Arabic for Dance of the Orient), belly dancing was actually performed as a birthing technique in the ancient Middle East and Mediterranean.  Women giving birth were guided by their sisters into undulating and rolling their bodies in natural, curvy snake-like movements to help with the delivery of the baby. Today, it's seen as a sexy celebration of the female body. Characterized by its intricate hip movements, belly dancing incorporates techniques from many different countries.

While Egyptian and Lebanese belly dance techniques are described by Mayada as inward, subtle, refined and classy, Turkish and Greek belly dancing is more flamboyant, outward and party style, using folk steps and finger cymbals.  Coming from a Greek background, I find it relatively easy to pick up the Egyptian style Mayada is teaching; I've danced the tsifteteli -the Greek belly dance - for years at weddings, bars and social functions. It also probably helps that I have cursed Hellenic hips to swing around. 

After Mayada demonstrates a few more steps, we put them all together and perform a mini-routine to the music. We're nowhere near perfect, but from the smiles on everyone's face, it's evident we are all having fun. As I sway my hips around, I actually feel pretty confident and sexy. I can't help but be hypnotized by the music, which seems to encourage the flow of moves flow out of my body. I am definitely having a good time. I can't believe I'm being paid to have this much fun. After repeating the routine three times, we stretch our sore arms and legs. It's 8:45 p.m. and the one-hour lesson is over. There are sighs of regret all around. I'm actually sad to see this day end. It's OK though, I've made a promise to myself to return next week.