DreamStar StudiosWeb, Graphic, & Identity Design Studio (Delaware) | Photoshop, CSS, xHTML, & Web Design Blog

If this is your first time stopping by, I probably don’t need to be prophetic to guess a certain question which is likely on your mind.  It goes something like this… “Bellydance?  Why Bellydance?!” Allow me to explain.

First of all, as a designer, I have always had a weakness for all things sparkly, shiny, glowing, etc.  I share this weakness with most of the bellydancers I know, so we get along well.  Also, my wife has been bellydancing for a few years now and it was the exposure I got to  photography, web design, graphic art and similar visual arts mediums through helping bellydancers that ultimately helped me decide to make a living at this stuff.  That’s the history of how my path originally intersected with the whole bellydance scene.

My relationship with bellydance has evolved over time and I am more intentional these days as I continue to involve myself in the “scene”.  As an artist, I celebrate and cherish all art, but to me Middle-Eastern dance is an exceptionally awesome art form.  I think it’s obvious that we’ve lived in a culture that, for quite some time, has devalued and torn down women.  To me, bellydance is a beautiful and expressive art form that celebrates womanhood and femininity in a way that emphasizes women as unique and special in a way that men are not.

To me, American society is at this place where everyone wants to be everything.  I see women suffering from this as society tends to put them into one of two categories. A) Domineering. over-ambitious, manipulative, control-freak  or B) Submissive, passive-aggressive, disadvantaged, weakling.  Bellydance puts women in a category that is wholly outside of those two vague categories.  Bellydance is strongly feminine and beautiful in a way that for me is all about joy and celebration.  There is something incredibly powerful and joyous about being able to carry and ultimately bring new human life into the world.  To me, there is just something special about bellydance that reflects beauty, power, and elegance… graces that are beautiful and feminine and worthy of celebration.