Middle Eastern Music and Dance Club
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The Middle Eastern Music and Dance Club is one of the most popular clubs here at City College. It seems as if every other day a student comes to The Finley Student Center asking after the "Bellydancers" as they are affectionately known. The students in search of the Bellydancers often come with the same questions that students in search of say the Economics Club would ask; where are they located? When do they meet? And of course they always want to know how to contact them.
So it should come as no surprise that our featured club for this edition of the Finley Weekly is The Middle Eastern Music and Dance Club or as they will be referred to for the remainder of this piece, the Bellydancers.
Started in the Fall of 2004 by professional belly dancer and then CCNY student Lorna, Bellydancers has become one of those clubs that everyone hears about and that initial whispering, more often than not, quickly turns into a curiosity that must be satisfied. The itch of interest turns into a fever for so many students that they are often driven, truly infected, to the NAC Ballroom in search of the movements that will become the antibiotic their body needs to regain a complete state of health. What many find when they happen unto the Bellydancers is that rhythm, as in music, is part of the core of belly dancing.
According to current club president, Jazmin Toro, the rhythms are varied. "We use songs that we like, it could be just instrumental or a mix of genres, we belly dance to hip hop as well," Toro said with a smile adding "It depends on the choreography."
To look at Toro one might want to actually see her belly dancing to believe she can do it. She is not flamboyant. She speaks softly, so soft in fact that you have to listen, really listen to hear what she has to say but don't let her long skirts and mild manner deceive you because there is also evidence of her passion. She looks you directly in the eye without flinching, without nervousness and when she speaks about the club, her speech though soft is fluent, and her hands are involved, often pointing inward before reaching out again, as if to say, this is coming from my heart.
Toro has been with the club for two and a half years and is currently in her second semester as president and loving every moment of it. She says that belly dancing has a lot to offer students that extends beyond learning a new way to move.
"It's a workout but you learn to enjoy it. It helps with your self esteem because you learn to love your body because with belly dance you need a belly and a lot of students come up to me and they are like 'do I need to be skinny' and I am like no it doesn't't matter what body type you are."
What does matter is a commitment to learn, a desire to join in the fun.
"We tell people when they come for the first time that everybody must join in and sometimes they stand to the back thinking that the instructor won't see them but eventually they just have to take part, they start to move and see that it is a lot of fun," Toro said.
Don't however, let those words fool you, like anything on this earth it is not merely a matter of a hop skip and instant belly dancing perfection. It takes years of practice and training before you can master the art of belly dancing and even then the desire to challenge yourself and come up with new ways of telling a story through dance requires practice and dedication. The Bellydancers have a core troupe of 10 dancers, who meet outside of the school for practice in addition to their weekly meeting in the NAC Ballroom.
Over the years that dedication has paid off and last year the group were invited to perform at the annual Mermaid Parade in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Toro described the experience as being one that was both "fun" and "cool". "We were in the papers," she said with a little laugh as if she still can't believe it.
That shouldn't come as a surprise though because the CCNY Bellydancers are that good and this dance form has an unclear history but one that would inspire the most complacent of persons to strive for perfection.
The history of belly dancing is one that is often mired in speculation. What is generally agreed upon is that it is Arabic in origin but as to the exact date, place, or group that started it, that still remains a matter of debate. Today the Bellydancers at CCNY offer students a chance to learn both Tribal and Cabaret belly dancing.
According to Toro, Cabaret is the faster of the two disciplines; dancers often wear bright colors and a belt of coins around their waist. It is the easier of the two to perfect. Tribal belly dancing is much slower and the dancer has to contract their muscles more, which means, "it hurts" and the dancers usually wear more somber colors, such as black or brown and rarely would use the belt of coins. And with both types of dances the dancer can use veils or even a sword as part of the dance.
If this sounds like the activity that might get you out and about meeting new people and expanding your college experience then sign up to be a part of the Bellydancers today. They usually meet on Tuesdays in the NAC Ballroom. You never know joining them could lead to an audition for their end of semester Hafla, which means party in Arabic. The Hafla is the one event the Bellydancers club has each semester, where they entertain the college with a showcase of their best and bravest.
To contact this club email them at: bellydancers@ccny.cuny.edu
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