Discovery and expression; The appeal of belly dancing
by Katie Geha

Four seniors at Ames High attend a dance class at the Octagon Center for the Arts. This isn't your ordinary dance class; you won't find any pirouettes or funky jazz steps. Instead, they are taught different gyrations of the hips in the ancient Middle Eastern art form of belly dancing.

Emily Peck, Symantha Miller, Audra Slocum and J. C. Elbert belly dance every Wednesday night from 7 to 8:30.

Teaching the class is Majeska, who prefers to use her stage name. Majeska has been teaching belly dancing in Ames and Ankeny for five years. "Belly dancing gives a person not only grace and a good workout, but also a great deal of confidence," Majeska said. Majeska is part of a group which dances at Cafe Northwest the first Friday of every month.

The students are taught a various amount of dances each week set to Middle Eastern music. "At first it was sort of hard to take the class seriously, but now it's a lot of fun and unusual," Slocum said.

Peck agrees. "I just started and I think it's a really great alternative to your normal everyday exercise," she said.

According to Elbert, "belly dancing gives you a chance to expose yourself in a decent way that people wouldn't expect."

No matter how someone views belly dancing, it definitely goes beyond the average after school activity.