Belly Dancing and Henna Classes

Not much of a dancer, and seriously lacking in the rhythm department, I was initially reluctant to sign up for belly dancing classes at the Sharjah Ladies' Club. Hearing how much fun it was, however, gave me the push that I needed to go ahead and give it a shot. Although I find many of the moves difficult to execute, I am having fun (and amusing my fellow classmates) trying. The music has a fantastic beat, is great to dance to, and the instructor - who moves so gracefully, and effortlessly - is fun to try and emulate. "What's the matter with you?" she jokingly chides me. "You're black! You're supposed to be born with natural rhythm." I jokingly reply, "I went to the restroom when God was handing out rhythm, and missed the beat."

With that said, what is a belly dancer without beautiful henna designs to adorn her graceful body as she swirls and sways to the pulsating Arabic beat?? Henna design is a tradition in both Arabic and Indian cultures. Both Indian and Arabic women have their bodies painted with elaborate and exotic designs prior to their wedding nights. I love the way that my young female students have their fingers, hands, arms, toes, feet, and legs covered in various henna decorations. They look soooo adorable! Although I am not the best at drawing henna designs, I have been improving bit by bit, and feel relatively comfortable applying simple henna decorations to females who are brave enough to let me experiment on them.


The picture of this flower is my very first attempt a creating a henna design on an actual person. The picture below is my second attempt. This time, the instructor had us draw our designs on our hands. My hand is the one on the left with the palm facing upwards.



Who knows, perhaps with practice, I'll become good enough to set up a small booth, and bring in a little extra income applying henna tattoos along the Venice Beach strip back home in sunny Southern California!