As the new dancers swayed, their lengthy skirts jingled when the elements of their decorated hip scarves happily clashed during the routine. Their midriff bare, the Longwood Company of Belly Dance wore sports bras, common practice regalia to save their "costume bras" for performances.
The sports bras, while revealing, could be considered tame in comparison to the full costumes worn during shows. For veteran dancer, Sophia Razavi's five years as a student and time as a member of the Longwood Company of Belly Dance has run concurrently.
“(Bellydance is) a sensual dance form but not exactly a sexual one and I don’t think people understand that difference,” she said. Rasavi carefully paused before each of her statements, cautious about how she portrayed herself and the club to the public.
Razavi believes some perceptions of the club are grounded in the sexual stigma belly dance inherited when it was introduced to western culture.
“(It) goes all the way back to the early days of cinema where belly dancers were characterized as sexually provocative temptresses and exotic dangerous women. It was something that was foreign and so was bastardized and taken advantage of by western media,” said Razavi, now the vice president of the company.
While wearing their customized “costume bras," those inside the company view the outfit as another tradition of belly dance. From the outside, however, the clothing can seem risqué.
“People who don’t know... may think ‘this person is dancing around in just a bra, so they must be a stripper,'” said senior Maggie Galleher.
Dr. Melissa Kravetz, the co-director of women's and gender studies at Longwood University, said while the sexual stigma the dace company faces is unfortunate, it isn't uncommon.
"I think in general women's bodies are very stigmatized, " said Kravetz, adding she hoped "one of these days we (get) to a point where we move away from the sexualization of women's bodies."
Galleher, a four-year member of the company and current beginner coordinator, said she struggled to communicate the difference to her own family.
“My mom was very iffy about it when I told her I was doing it,” Galleher said. “My grandparents still see it in a different way … they don’t see it culturally. They see (us) as strippers, actually.”
Galleher said she didn’t have a good understanding of the culture and traditions of belly dance before she joined the company. Like this semester’s beginners, she learned to see belly dance as a path to body confidence and cultural appreciation through the company’s ethics parents.
“(They) teach the culture, the makeup, the costumes, the do’s, the don’ts,” Galleher said.
Having strict ethics and rules is a major part of the company. Many of these rules are in place to maintain respect for belly dance culture, such as restrictions against dancers showing their palms or the bottoms of their feet during dances. The company maintains these restrictions, prohibiting disrespect of the cultures tied to the art form.
Razavi said “being a dance company in an academic setting” also affects the rules enforced by the club to maintain validity and dignity in the organization.
For example, dancers are prohibited from wearing parts of belly dance costumes outside of practices, performances or specific belly dance-sanctioned events.
No belly dance bras are allowed at parties. "That’s a totally different setting than what we’re doing here," said Razavi.
Beyond Longwood's social life, Razavi said the organization works to optimize its reputation within the greater Farmville community to avoid its stereotypical sexualization. Razavi believed “context and understanding” are key to their efforts.
“It’s important to be conscious of the area you’re in and tailor an image to that," she said. "We are in a school on the Bible Belt, in southern Virginia."
Kravitz, like Razavi and Gallaher, viewed belly dance as a creative outlet more than a sexual act.
"To me, belly dance is a form of artistic expression," Kravitz said. "It's no different than painting, acting of some sort, singing or playing an instrument."
Razavi and Galleher said they're working to teach new members how the art is more than just the costume.
"(They) can use belly dance as an outlet for exercise, for confidence building, for camaraderie building. Belly dance is generally a really great support system," said Razavi. "(For people) who are not as body confident as they’d like to be or not as social as they’d like to be."
The vice president said she hoped to foster “not only an environment where (company members) can improve their artistry as dancers but where they can feel they have a community where they can do something that’s a little bit scary because everyone’s in it together.”
Megan Gary is an active member of The Longwood Company of Belly Dance.
