Susan Senator

I declare, whenever I wear a new bonnet, all numbers go flying out of my head.
–Scarlett

There is something about spring dresses. They just lift your spirit, as the skirt lifts with the pleasant breezes. I got a new sundress last week, more like a party dress I wore when I was 7. It’s creamy white, with kind of goldish appliques. The waist is normal, not Empire, and the skirt is full and ruffly. All it lacks is a big golden sash. I wore it today because. Ned took me out for a picnic, just an hour-long, and I felt as happy as Scarlett with her new bonnet. I think it was a little bit magical for me today, too.

I wore the dress to the Baby Bellies class, and they all wanted to know why. I told them that I went on a picnic with my sweetheart. They got very giggly. Then it was onto show and tell, a new feature of Baby Bellydance class. Each girl shouts out something new they want me to know about: Elize’s new big scratch; Hannah’s first plane ride; Eva’s aunt moving to town. They eat their snacks — today it was little glazed Popems — and then we get started. Lately all I’ve been playing is “Habibi Ya Eini,” by Nourhanne, which is what we are using for the recital.

This recital is going to be a little different from the previous ones. This time they are all doing duets, and the best part is, they have done all the choreography themselves! I watch and coach. Sophie and Julia made up a movement where both of their heads are covered under two veils, so they look like a large fuschia bumpy thing. They each grab a veil off their heads and then spin with them. Then they walk away and towards each other. It is lovely.

Hannah and Elize first do a separate, then a duet act. Hannah is completely en pointe, truly amazing to watch, a wispy spinning spritely thing. Elize does her camel walk and does some turns, and then they fall into each other’s arms.

I have them all practice their routines for the half-hour class. Each week I show them a new move that may help inspire them for their act. Today I could not dance a whole lot because of my “flairy dress” (this is what my sister and I called them growing up. We also have a tape recording of us when we were toddlers, and one of the biggest sentences I utter is, “I wear a DESS!” Dressing up, apparently, was always inspirational and magical for me) . I showed them the strut with the veil that I learned last night in my class with Hannan. In this move, you walk like a queen, leg extended and toe touching gently but also sassily in front of you, swaying your hips just a little, and arms held high with the veil floating behind you. The trick is to walk with enough fullness and sass to make the veil fly as high and full as possible.

They loved the veil strut and Eva and Kaisa mastered it quickly. This pleased me enormously because Eva is new at it and often gets discouraged. And bubbly Kaisa is a little distracted; she is usually just being a bride or a fairy with the veils; not much actual bellydancing. She gets deep into her fantasies with the veils. I can totally relate. Anyway, today something clicked for them. Eva and Kaisa discovered each other, and they discovered their bellydance metier: veil work. Each one had no partner, so they paired up and with a little encouragement from me (“Try using the veil walk, and then do some veil spins”) they worked out a duet!! They used a green and a blue veil, which they felt looked like the ocean, and after a few permutations, (Butterflies; Butterflies of the Ocean; Ocean Butterflies) they settled on the troupe name “Ocean Fairies.”

Kaisa’s mom asked me about next year, because “this is her absolute favorite thing, so I’m going to schedule all her other activities around your class.” It is funny to hear the moms’ points of view because it is not always evident that the girls are actually getting something out of bellydance and my teaching. But today, with my three pairs of dance troupes, I felt this must be true. Something about floating veils and flairy dresses and spring sunshine, I guess.