Quotations

«It's not a dance for men, which most people don't understand. It's for women, with women. It's like a rite of childbirth. The basic movement of the woman is the swaying of the hips. It was built around the natural movement of the woman.»

«It started in the Middle East. It was born from all the Middle Eastern countries, with input from the Gypsies. It's a very old dance form, but not specifically from one place.»

«It's a form of self-expression. It's not really a dance of the stomach. It has to do with every part of the body. Very feminine. Very sensual. This is a way of feeling very womanly.»

«This is a great class. I am a widow; many are widows who have gone through cancer. It restores confidence in your body. It's more than a dance. It's a way, for senior women particularly, to regain a lot of the feeling of womanhood they have lost. Women become invisible after a certain age. We say that to each other. There is an age after menopause -- you just become invisible. And this is a way of feeling very womanly and a way of breaking free of the stereotype of the older woman. I like to call it sensual, not sexual. What you see onstage is vaudeville. We are not talking about sex. There is a way to do it tastefully and a way to do it not tastefully.»