Susan Senator

One of my sinful secrets is that I love the movie Gigi, with the beautiful dancer Leslie Caron. It is pure fluff, but so much fun. The Fin de Siecle, Hollywood-style costumes alone are worth the rental. I love the way Gigi just grows up overnight, and the dashing Louis Jourdan falls for her.

So, at the risk of sounding like Maurice Chevalier, I have to talk about little girls. I just finished my first class of Session Two Baby Bellies, my after-school bellydance class at our elementary school, and I am on La Nuage Neuvieme. There are now seven girls in my class, all first and second grade, and I am just in love. I think that sometimes when God gave me– well, not lemons; let’s say crisp tart apples — I have made apple pie, let alone apple juice! But you also really appreciate summertime peaches sometimes. Am I making sense, or do I sound like fruitcake?

They are so up front, no-bullshit, about how they feel. They are also all over the place, rambunctious, chatty. One of the girls sat down next to me and said, “I get to sit next to you!” Another, at the end of class, said, “I want YOU to teach me how to bellydance!” And the same old questions, from the new girls: “Is that you ? (It was Ansuya, God bless them! See below)” And “Why do they wear that?” (Because it’s pretty!) “Do you always have to be skinny like that?” (No, that’s why it’s the best! I’m not skinny like that!)

I got through very little material. They did learn two isolations and some veil work, and a basic Egyptian shimmy, however. But I had to turn off the music because there was just such noise!

I find I have to be firm about what we’re doing, the rules, the goals, and such, “Okay, you guys, now get in a circle. Everyone, try raising your arms like this. This is called…” And so forth. They loved the little hip scarves I had bought and the veils, just their size. They wanted to keep them, and I had to tell them that they cost money! “Why?” a few of them asked. Why indeed.