VietNamNet Bridge -In search of exercise away from actual exercise machines and gyms, Nhat Ha checks out Hanoi’s first ever Vietnamese-run belly dancing classes.

Inside the sports hall of Bach Khoa University in Hanoi, a group of young women and a couple of boys are entranced by a dance performance. Jaws open then drop as the two lithe and amorous dancers showcase the bewitching movements of belly dancing.

Phuong Lien and Huyen Trang from the ISIS dancing group are performing a belly dance routine of their own creation. The small audience is made up of students, secretaries, business executives and government officials around Hanoi. This is their first class and everyone is most impressed.

“People of all ages come to belly dance classes to let their bodies swing with the music,” says Phuong Lien, who originally danced salsa before taking up belly dancing. “Trang and I started to learn belly dancing from a South Korean dancer, Ara Hwang at Nutz Bar in Hanoi,” says Lien. “But the Turkish dancer Berral Yaddek is the person who transmitted the whole feeling and spirit of belly dancing to us.

Then I went to Philippine to study more…” For the last two years, both Lien and Trang have been performing professionally and teaching classes six days a week in Hanoi. They have also opened a belly dance club and organise a Hafla festival every month for belly dance groups and students.

Huyen Trang still juggles all this with her job at Language Link while Do Phuong Lien, who previously worked as a secretary for a Korean oil company, has now committed herself to belly dancing fulltime. Belly dancing consists of several basic moves: hip shimmies, hip rotations, serpentine arms, snake-like head movements, and abdominal undulations.

While it is a fun activity, the health benefits of belly dancing are also well documented. It builds arm strength, shoulders and the general upper-body area as well as improves all round flexibility. It also has significant mental health benefits as it boosts well-being and self-esteem.

“The movements of belly dancing are both simple and complicated. It’s easy to practice a single action but very difficult to combine them all,” says Diep Anh, a student of Vietnam National University Hanoi. “But I like it a lot. I feel comfortable during practice and it helps slim the body.” “After a few weeks, I felt my body getting thinner, lighter and more lithesome,” says Thanh Lan, an executive of BIM company.

Trang and Lien work immensely hard all day, teaching or performing, but they will still find time to practice as well. “It’s very tiring but we feel very happy to do what we love,” says Trang. “Belly dance is spiritual, sensual and feminine!” says Phuong Lien. “But the dance is one of universal appeal, for men as well as women, as it is great exercise and even better fun. And it’s not just for beautiful-bodied dancers.

It’s for everybody, both men and women.” Lien’s classes have also attracted men. “All you need is to have passion in your belly!” she says. But not everybody is ready to bare their stomach and move to the rhythm of the music. “It’s very hard to convince some Vietnamese people about the dance,” says Lien.

Some people who don’t understand the culture of belly dancing think that it is overtly sexual or that it is only performed by scantily clad women in nightclubs. The bare-bellied costume is simply too much for more conservative members of society.

“I always have to explain to Vietnamese people, especially the old, that a belly dancer is not a stripper, who removes her clothes as some people might think. It is a dance of Middle Eastern culture,” stresses Lien. “In Korea, belly dancing is also used as a form of exercise for pregnant women, who are instructed to do soft belly dance movements, so that they can feel healthy and have a more easy delivery,” adds Lien.

“Why can we not practice it as a sport dance here?” The ISIS belly dance group of Lien and Trang’s has helped pioneer performing and teaching belly dancing in Hanoi and the bug is sure to spread. “Our trainees not only live in Hanoi, but many of them come from Haiphong, Danang and southern cities,” says Lien. “Trainees can perform in our monthly Hafla right after three months studying.

But of course, if you want to be a professional dancer, it takes a lot of time and effort. You need to have improvisational ability for various melodies. After learning the movements and music, the belly dancers can create their own dances.”

Through their club Lien and Trang have invited famous foreign belly dancers from around the world to come to Vietnam so members can learn a variety of techniques and expand their knowledge of belly dancing. “All people are welcome free of charge to our Belly Dance Club for now,” says Lien. “They will be able to learn make-up for free, attend the monthly Hafla and study with foreign dancers, and more.

” What started out as a hobby for Trang and Lien has become a way of life. Brimming with happiness, enthusiasm and creativity, they are walking, or rather, dancing adverts for belly dancing. After joining in the class, however, I must admit my not so nimble body is left feeling its age.

(Source: Timeout)