Naveling

Dearest,
So, belly dancing.  I am noticing that I tend to lose my poise when it is most expected of me, mostly because the idea of poise becomes ridiculously fragile in those moments, and must be called out for the shame of controlled facial expressions that it is.  Back the the belly dancing.  I really really [...]

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Razzles and Dazzles

Dearest M.,
As you rifle for belly-dancing materials, I thought it would be of interest that sequins are the great-great grandchildren of the belly dance.  It seems a perfect ancestry.   Originally, at least according to my brief Internet research, coins were sewn into clothing to make them glint and jingle during the dance.  I’m sure this [...]

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Welcome to the Dollhouse

Dearest Carla Fran,
That was Doris Lessing! I read The Fifth Child standing up in a aisle of Tower Books in downtown Sacramento a bunch of years ago. Two interior decorating details are still with me: one was a long, long wooden dining table the couple had bought, the other is a strong impression of scary [...]

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Mad Men

Dearest Millicent,
I envy your belly-dancing.  I have tried the art twice, both times lapsing into a gawky “isn’t this hilarious” stance in order to avert all eyes from my lack of rhythm or failed attempts at sensuality.  Once was at a belly dance class at the YMCA where the teacher didn’t seem to understand that [...]

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In Which Girls Shimmy and Heathers use a Different Kind of Toilet

Dear Carla Fran,
I am a belly-dancer. I may gyrate twitchily, my Arab wave might evoke a traffic cop at a busy intersection, and my knees are a mess by the end of it all, but by gum, I’m owning it. Our mutual friend had extolled the womanly virtues of the dance, and she wasn’t kidding. [...]

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