Try flexing one glute muscle at a time. That's right, each individual butt muscle: Left. Right. Left. Right. Now pick it up: left, right, left, right. And faster still, left-right-left-right. Shimmy.

St. Louis? The class begins simply enough, with a head roll, first to the left, then to the right. Then, to warm up the shoulders, you roll those, too. Next, you move the arms, then the chest, then ...

If you're thinking that belly dancing is too hoochie-coochie, you're not thinking about the kind of belly dancing Carolyn Weinand teaches. Weinand's belly dancing is based on Egyptian-style belly ...

Out of the darkness, we entered the patio through a tiny bamboo grove. Shards of light filtered through the intricate carvings of an Oriental screen. Women of all ages, we had come to a private dance ...

Belly dancing originated in the Middle East as an exercise to prepare women for childbirth. While most of the attendees in the Oct. 8 night’s belly dancing short course weren’t preparing for ...

Continuing their warm-up routine, the women sit squarely on top of large exercise balls, alternately stretching their backs by holding colorful scarves taut above their heads and moving their hips in ...

Every Monday morning I eagerly take myself to a Minneapolis dance studio. I am dedicated to the art of belly dance. Have been for almost two decades. Unbeknownst to many, Minneapolis is the Midwestern ...

Sciatica drove Bettye Ames to belly dancing. Beset with back problems, and at the behest of a friend, the Dayton resident took up the ancient art 10 years ago to strengthen her abdominal muscles. The ...