BuikdansFitness

BELLY-DANCE-FITNESS:
ELEGANT EMPOWERMENT FOR WOMEN
Interview with Galina.

Galina, what is the secret of belly dance, that more and more women want to learn it?

Women enjoy to experience their femininty. Through centuries they benefit from ancient secrets of belly dance, which never lost its value for them. Belly dance made them more elegant and gracious, helped to keep a good female health thanks to training hidden inner muscles. It always was the best way to shape the body in feminine way, giving it very beautiful curves on the right places. Every experienced bellydancer knows that bellydance makes the body more and more perfect, inspite of aging process. Bellydance is involving you with its magic. When women discover all these effects, bellydance becomes their passion.

You give also Belly-Dance - Fitness courses. What is it?

In order to perform belly dance properly, one needs first to build up a good condition. It is an art which looks more simple than it is. Therefore there is bellydance-fitness as a form inbetween. During the course of 10 lessons you learn basic movements without worrying about choreography or steps. We train first of all muscles which are hardly used in other sports, belly, ribcage, inner muscles and weist. Changes in the body usually become noticeable after 5-8 lessons. It helps a lot to loose extra weight. And if you want to continue to the next level and learn choreography, you have already very good technique and muscle controle.

Fitness usually is assotiated with hard boring muscle work. What makes bellydance-fitness so attractive?

Muscles indeed are working very hard, but these feminine kind of movements by itself load you with energy and happiness. You forget your worries, problems start to loose their value. I know women who came out of depression by learning bellydance. Students often say: "It's really fun!" Because you move as if you make the music with your body. Oriental rithms and melodies are made for it.

You said that bellydance has a healing effect. Do you have any examaples?

One of my first students was physiotherapist: she discovered that bellydance movements can correct problems in the spine and stimulate healing during rehabilitation process. One of her patients took my lessons during couple of months and got rid of 2 jears old pain after spine trauma. Another example is Walida, the first belly dancer of Russia, she was one of my teachers. Although doctors did not advice her to have children, she so much improved her condition with belly dance, that at the age of 27 she got a healthy, strong baby. She is the legende with the name "Wonder Woman" becasue of her life story, which was going all around belly dance healing.

Is bellydance-fitness suitable for women of all ages?

In bellydance it does not matter how old you are or how you look. Movements are suitable for every body type. Bellydance is natural for the body. You don't need to be shy of your belly or of being too thin. The same about age: For mature women belly dance is very suitable thanks to soft, natural movements. That make a big difference between bellydance and other kinds of dancing. During the lessons you celebrate your being a woman, sharing it with other ladies.

Women have an inner experience of belly dance: pleasure of self expression, flow of the dance which comes throug being in touch with her deep feminine nature. Inner harmony gives woman her natural power. Bellydance exsists so long not for nothing!

Interview made by Marion Tanis