Belly Dancing Holds Long Interest

Eileen Swanstrom’s McDonald’s cup sits on the boom box playing a reedy Indian song.

A dozen women in leotards and with scarves wrapped around their waists struggle to hear above the squealing barks of sneakers and irregular booms from a basketball game being played downstairs.

“If you are looking in the mirror and think, ‘Hmmm, this looks a little shady,’ change it,” said Swanstrom.

This is not your ordinary dance class. It is belly dancing, a dance that “either speaks to your soul, or you move on to watercolor,” said Swanstrom.

Belly dancing spoke to her immediately when she tried it in the 1970s, when it was in vogue. Swanstrom says she is drawn by the complexity and mystery of the dance.

“It’s an escape from the daily life,” said Swanstrom.

Daily life for Swanstrom, 50, includes a family at home in Seven Mile and a job at a jewelry shop. She has two grandchildren. She wears a tailored suit to work.

After several years of learning the basics, she decided to start performing.

First, she needed a richly spiced, exotic performing name.

She settled on Azura because she lived on Azure Street at the time.

“Not too much mystery there,” said Swanstrom.

Next comes the costume of beads and silks and intricate patterns. She said she could not estimate the cost or time she spent putting it together.

She is still learning the dance and goes to conferences in Seattle regularly.

There is a tight network of dancers, and Swanstrom knows dozens from around the country.

The dance is one of the world’s oldest, draped in exotic history. Some say it was a birthing ritual, with women dancing around a pregnant woman to distract her or bring a good birth.

“It was done when men and women separate, when men are off smoking or whatever,” Swanstrom said.

It continues to be a woman’s dance, and that creates an expectation in some men. When Swanstrom performs at restaurants, retirement centers and banquets, she is careful to direct her dances at both men and women.

“I try to drill that into the men’s heads - that it’s not a come-on dance,” said Swanstrom.

She also drilled that into the heads of her students at Monday night’s introductory class at Shadle Park High School offered through Spokane Community College.

She admonished her students - the dozen women in leotards and scarves - to keep their legs together as they thrust their hips to the reaches of their sockets.

“Arms up, arms up - you get heavy elbows in belly dancing,” said Swanstrom.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo