Belly dance as therapy

[shiradotnet]

It seems like there are a lot of people drawn to belly dance wanting to use it as a sort of "therapy" to work through their psychological issues.

Some women see belly dancing as a tool for helping them come to terms with their insecurities about their appearance and sexiness.

Some see it as helping them heal from sexual abuse that occurred in their past.

Some see it as reawakening their creativity which has been trampled by their jobs, their family situations, etc.

Some find it empowering, particularly if their lives make them feel powerless in other ways.

Some are needy about wanting to be the center of attention, and find belly dance attractive because it's commonly presented as a solo dance.

And there are many other ways in which people find that it helps...



I think it's great that belly dance can play an important role in people's lives such as the above examples.

But it troubles me when I see belly dance teachers marketing their classes with promises that it will deliver the above benefits. I think teachers should provide an emotionally-safe instructional environment, but should focus their classroom language on dance instruction, and leave the "empowerment" speech at home. Let the students decide for themselves where the dance fits with the rest of their psyche.

What do others think?

Have you had teachers who did try to treat their classes as group therapy? If so, what did they do, and how did you feel about it?

 

[Shanazel]

Unless the teacher has some fairly substantial background in psychology, he or she is treading on thin ice making any claims of this nature. I have occasionally taught classes for abused women, but I did so at the invitation of a professional trained in group therapy who was present during the class. During class, I taught dance- I did not talk to them about empowerment or overcoming the effects of the abuse they'd suffered. The closest I come to helping students deal with insecurities, etc. is to tell my dancers that they are beautiful, that a particular interpretation is inspired, that they are showing improvement with each class, things teachers do on a regular basis for all students.

I briefly had a teacher many years ago who combined a sort of new age feel-good therapy with her classes and talked a lot about empowerment and chakra and getting in touch with one's inner goddess. I have no objection to anyone finding comfort in fairie card readings and spirit guides, but all I wanted was learn more about the Egyptian style she professed to teach. There was too much talk, not enough action, so I moved on.

Shira, I'd give you rep for some really great new topics, but I have to spread it around first. Consider yourself repped in spirit.

 

[Maya]

I think the therapy one finds in belly dance is more of an unspoken, personal thing, and it's different for every individual. So I think a lot of people might be put off by a teacher who does that, especially if they came to class just for the love of learning the art form.

On the other hand, there's definitely a market for dance-therapy and such teachers are setting themselves apart from the many teachers out there and finding their own little niche!

 

[lizaj]

I think we all get something special from this dance or we wouldn't continue to love it. It has transformed my life and that was important as a gal of a certain age ,going through the menopause and finding something that felt me so glad to be on my feet.
However as a belly dance teacher,it scares the hell out of me that someone may take may classes as some sort of PATH TO HEALING !!!!!
I do have a student who is recovering from ME but she is an intelligent girl who is pacing herself and goes along with medical advice.
Also I am not paid enough to be a therapist!
I do have training as a counsellor as I was a school tutor but that isn't my role nowadays.It is simply to teach safely the fndamentals of Egyptian belly dance to adults.
Of course we have a teacher near to me who on her websites claims to cure all sorts of ailments.

 

[Kharmine]

If anyone remembers the American advice columnist Ann Landers, she used to routinely advice troubled and lonely people to take up square dancing. I vividly remember a square dancer finally writing her in exasperation, telling Ms. Landers to lay off. Something along the lines of "We're not a therapy group!"

Yes, dance can be therapy. But people really need to take it on terms of enjoyment, not salvation.

 

[adiemus]

Puhleeeeeaz
Dance is far too intense for it to be therapy! It feels just as bad thinking about this as when I think of the earthmothergoddessdancer thing that gets hurled at bellydance.

 

[Caroline_afifi]

All exercise is good for the mind... including a walk through the park.

I dont think people should focus on one particular art form believing it is a 'cure' for something.

Music and art therapies are used for some issues, but they are used as a specific tool by professionals who know what they are doing.

'The arts' are only good if you enjoy it, if you enjoy it you feel better.

That is as far as it goes for me.

 

[maria_harlequin]

I personally find it therapeutic to dance and it's helped me A LOT in terms of dealing with emotional problems. Perhaps not an intense drilling session but when I'm just improvising...it's incredible. I actually do feel closer to God.

But then again, I also find cantering on a horse across a wide open field and listening to my favorite music in a car therapeutic. But I certainly wouldn't find other activities therapeutic even though they may be labeled as such.

Anyway, what's the deal with belly dancing = therapy and empowerment anyway? You don't see this going on with other dance forms...or am I missing out on something? I've never heard anyone call flamenco or hip - hop "empowering".

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

belly dance as therapy

I think all the empowerment (sp?) is self earned and worked out. the dance class as in any class is a place apart from the world where one has the problems. it is a place of intensity... but the problems there are not life threatening or earth-shattering.they are problems that one can work out -be guided in the way and then when accomplished feel good about. but any good class with good teachers can do that. now about physical therapy... i have to say yes yes yes. many long years ago it was an orthopeditic doctor who recommended belly dance or pt but belly dance would be more fun - just find a reputable teacher and explain the situation... as he said you now have to learn where your muscles are and how to use them ... this was after a few months in a cervical collar... when the collar was off i could barely keep my head up. i restarted belly dance after healing from let see for got the name but it was an inflammation of my ribcage cartilage. after i got better started to have the same pain when the weather changed. this time reg dr said it might be start of arthritis...but with excercise could hold it at bay... guess what how do you excercise your rib cage... belly dance. okay so that's my way more than 2 cents in Shira.(if it's too much your fuzz balls can email me hairballs) Creaks
p.s. but the art, music, culture and beauty of the dance is by itself more than enough. and that is where the joy comes from

 

[adiemus]

Anyway, what's the deal with belly dancing = therapy and empowerment anyway? You don't see this going on with other dance forms...or am I missing out on something? I've never heard anyone call flamenco or hip - hop "empowering".

I think this might be some of the baggage from the 1970's - 'women for women' as well as
- that many classes are full of women
- that for many women, the fact you can be curvaceous and still dance is the first time they've been able to accept their body as it is
- many women are older than those who go to hiphop or ballet, and maybe have 'issues' to deal with, or are moving through 'healing' or growth just as part of life
- some of the myths about 'earth mother' and 'fertility' makes the whole idea of bellydance appealing for women to claim it also as a 'healing' space

 

[Emma_Williams]

I did not ever intend on belly dancing sorting my head out as I have always danced and i simply wanted to dance again. However, since belly dancing I have become calmer, more of a decent person as I now dont have as many hang ups with women as i used to. I have always be a ladette in many ways (not the arse showing, burping type i may add) and i had zero body confidence. Now I find myself in situations with only women of all shapes and sizes who are getting up there and dancing beautifully and everyone accepts each other. I now take this into my every day life. I am more happy and body confident and my husband loves it that I have such passion for an art.
Bellydance has changed my life...sappy i know but its true.

 

[Maria_Aya]

But it troubles me when I see belly dance teachers marketing their classes with promises that it will deliver the above benefits. I think teachers should provide an emotionally-safe instructional environment, but should focus their classroom language on dance instruction, and leave the "empowerment" speech at home. Let the students decide for themselves where the dance fits with the rest of their psyche.

What do others think?

I agree !!!

 

[Amanda (was Aziyade)]

There's belly dance in the DANCE setting and belly dance in the CLINICAL setting.

I HATED belly dance DANCE classes that were organized as some kind of wymmin's therapy, or promoted as releasing your inner goddess. I just wanted to learn to dance, and I don't need to "get in touch with myself" or my inner anything. I found classes that revolved around this psychology VERY annoying.

BUT, now that I'm working on a class for cancer patients, I'm seeing how belly dance is much more appealing an activity than ballet or maybe even yoga. I'm stressing the point that this class is more about feeling good than really drilling technique, as the ladies who were in my test-market class seemed to prefer that. Using dance as part of the healing process (physically or psychologically) is a WONDERFUL idea, but I think that needs to be kept as a separate concept, and out of the regular "dance" class. Just my $.02.

 

[maria_harlequin]

I think this might be some of the baggage from the 1970's - 'women for women' as well as
- that many classes are full of women
- that for many women, the fact you can be curvaceous and still dance is the first time they've been able to accept their body as it is
- many women are older than those who go to hiphop or ballet, and maybe have 'issues' to deal with, or are moving through 'healing' or growth just as part of life
- some of the myths about 'earth mother' and 'fertility' makes the whole idea of bellydance appealing for women to claim it also as a 'healing' space

Very good points - I can't believe I didn't think about that! D'oh!

 

[Aniseteph]

I want to learn to dance; all the psychological benefits are a very nice side effect!

Let the students decide for themselves where the dance fits with the rest of their psyche.

:clap:

Using dance as part of the healing process (physically or psychologically) is a WONDERFUL idea, but I think that needs to be kept as a separate concept, and out of the regular "dance" class.

Yes. :clap: And by a teacher who knows the difference and doesn't put misleading labels on things.

I don't like belly dance being sold primarily as a path to healing/ enlightenment/ empowerment etc. I'm not keen on a lot of things that are sold that way actually, but when they bring some sort of "belly dance" into it...

 

[Amanda (was Aziyade)]

nothing -- keep going!

 

[cathy]

It seems like there are a lot of people drawn to belly dance wanting to use it as a sort of "therapy" to work through their psychological issues.

Some women see belly dancing as a tool for helping them come to terms with their insecurities about their appearance and sexiness.

Some see it as helping them heal from sexual abuse that occurred in their past.

Some see it as reawakening their creativity which has been trampled by their jobs, their family situations, etc.

Some find it empowering, particularly if their lives make them feel powerless in other ways.

Some are needy about wanting to be the center of attention, and find belly dance attractive because it's commonly presented as a solo dance.

And there are many other ways in which people find that it helps...



I think it's great that belly dance can play an important role in people's lives such as the above examples.

But it troubles me when I see belly dance teachers marketing their classes with promises that it will deliver the above benefits. I think teachers should provide an emotionally-safe instructional environment, but should focus their classroom language on dance instruction, and leave the "empowerment" speech at home. Let the students decide for themselves where the dance fits with the rest of their psyche.

What do others think?

Have you had teachers who did try to treat their classes as group therapy? If so, what did they do, and how did you feel about it?

Any new hobby, skill, activity, can be stimulating in many ways--mentally, physically, psychologically, spiritually. But I agree with many others here that the best approach to an art form is to study it AS an art form, and whatever other benefits follow depend on the person.

I am not quite sure why this dance in particular seems to draw people for psychological-therapeutic reasons, though I think some of the "halfway" status issues we have discussed on other threads might have something to do with it. Raks doesn't have the whole institutionalized system that ballet does. It has the "sexy" thing associated with it.

But I do know what you are talking about, Shira. Luckily I've never had a teacher like this, but I know there are teachers out there who actually push this on students who aren't looking for therapy. I heard about one new student, in her late 50s, who was recovering from surgery, who was looking to lose weight with low-stress exercise. This teacher was convinced the student "really" wanted to dress up, look pretty, forget her troubles and lose herself in girlish fantasy or some such, but couldn't admit it.

So I have to conclude that some teachers actually use this dance and/or their students to get their therapy-type needs met! Maybe they were also students of the same bent in their day.

I was going to go into why more narcissists find their place in the spotlight in this dance form than other performing arts, but it sounded harsh so I'll stop now.

 

[lizaj]

Any new hobby, skill, activity, can be stimulating in many ways--mentally, physically, psychologically, spiritually. But I agree with many others here that the best approach to an art form is to study it AS an art form, and whatever other benefits follow depend on the person.

I am not quite sure why this dance in particular seems to draw people for psychological-therapeutic reasons, though I think some of the "halfway" status issues we have discussed on other threads might have something to do with it. Raks doesn't have the whole institutionalized system that ballet does. It has the "sexy" thing associated with it.

But I do know what you are talking about, Shira. Luckily I've never had a teacher like this, but I know there are teachers out there who actually push this on students who aren't looking for therapy. I heard about one new student, in her late 50s, who was recovering from surgery, who was looking to lose weight with low-stress exercise. This teacher was convinced the student "really" wanted to dress up, look pretty, forget her troubles and lose herself in girlish fantasy or some such, but couldn't admit it.

So I have to conclude that some teachers actually use this dance and/or their students to get their therapy-type needs met! Maybe they were also students of the same bent in their day.

I was going to go into why more narcissists find their place in the spotlight in this dance form than other performing arts, but it sounded harsh so I'll stop now.

I could of course link this up with that dreadful (but very rib-tickling) book i just bought.
Yes I agree dance of all kinds, exercise of all kinds can be rewarding,liberating,inspiring as well as having health benefits but that dreadful tome I kept thinking..this woman has purloined ME as some sort of crazy sex therapy.
Too many women use belly dance to get back into the dressing-up box. There's nothing wrong in dressing up appropriately when peforming or to show off your moves in class but it's the propensity to slide in pantomine that degrades the dance also. Too many dancers will turn up dressed in chiffon sequins at the opening of an envelope and present a comic image to the media.
I suppose the leggings T shirt clad exerciser at least presents a less offensive picture. But it can still be making use of this facet of another culture without nodding alleigence .

 

[cathy]

As compared to say, Flamenco

I was wondering about whether any of the same phenomenon is seen in other dance forms studied outside their own culture today. I have never taken Flamenco classes, or visited Flamenco web chat groups, but I've been to several professional Flamenco performances and it strikes me as very powerful and often very hot (as in sexy) in a powerful way (as compared to in a debased way). And yet, I suspect there aren't as many "self help" types drawn to studying it, or bizarre myths (goddess--childbirth ritual--harem enticement etc) associated with Flamenco, as compared to Raks.

I am tempted to speculate that this has to do with the greater degree to which colonizers looked down upon and tried to reformulate ME culture(s) according to their own preferences, as compared to Andalusian Spanish culture (assuming I have it right that this is where Flamenco originated)

Or possibly because the study of Flamenco has grown in another way. More rigorous? More tied to the originating culture? Not sure. But I doubt there are any Flamenco students who don't know what culture it comes from (unlike BD)

Anyone out there who has also studied Flamenco and can comment here? If my theory is correct, Why is this?

 

[cathy]

Yoga

Yoga is a discipline that teachers present, and students seek out, for many many different reasons (at least in the West, in my experience). I took classes in Hatha and Iyengar yoga on and off for about 14 years before I started MED classes. Even within the Iyengar tradition, in which all instructors (at that time anyway) were certified by Iyengar himself, there were differences in the amount of spiritual/ psychological/ meditative instruction or commentary that I experienced in different classes, and Iyengar was one of the more "it's all about the asanas" physical traditions--no music, no chanting, no incense, just intense concentration on the poses. But I knew about other yoga teachers who were much more heavily into the psychological aspects, energy flow, chakras, and so on. Some who would encourage students to think about certain poses unlocking certain emotions, helping them come to terms with their unresolved feelings from the past, and so forth.