BELLY DANCER MEANS THE PARTY STARTED

image via Gillaspie Studios

The right belly dancer makes all the difference. There is no wrong belly dancer, is there?

Watching a classically trained belly dancer is confusing at best.

They’re so good with so much going on it makes you dizzy.

The scarves, the finger cymbals, the harem clothes all work together. It’s too much, which makes it just enough.

Once you’ve seen a pro on the job you have to tell others.

I did and got some unexpected feedback.

As a sixty-something man I like to think I’ve heard it all, or at least degrees of it all.

I don’t think that after telling some older guys about the best belly dancer I’ve ever seen.

First Guy:

She couldn’t be the best belly dancer. I’ve seen the best and it was in the 70’s.

Every Thursday I met with friends at a Greek restaurant. Thursday was dance night.

One night I got up and danced with her. Just me.

We went from room to room dancing together.

Someone put a dollar in my pocket. Then another.

By the end of the night I’d made $37, a great haul in the 70’s.

I told the restaurant owner and he asked me to come back next Thursday. So I did.

A couple of times a month I was a male belly dancer. It was fun and I was good.

While the man told me his story he busted a move, hands in the air. I gave him a dollar.

Second Man:

On my 75th birthday we had a family party.

In the middle of it my wife brought out a boom box. I didn’t know we had a boom box.

She played music I’d never heard. I wondered what was going on.

Then a dancer came out of the hallway. She flew around before settling down in front of me.

My whole family watched while she danced for me. It was an incredible birthday.

Turns out the dancer was more than belly dancer when she dropped her top.

How memorable would that be at 75? He said it was the best party he’d ever had.

Man #3.

We used to go to lunch at a lingerie bar where they had a lottery.

If you won the lottery you got the lingerie of the day.

I won three or four times and gave the lingerie to my girlfriend.

She said it was the most thoughtful thing. She never knew it was from winning.

Would it matter if she knew?

Classic belly dancers convey a mood, and that mood transcends time and space. It’s bigger than a facebook post or craigslist review.

With the right music you are transported to an ancient time of pyramids and tents.

Call it possessed. What would you call it?