The Secret Language of Belly Dancing

Bellydance is incredibly popular today, but many prejudices remain about this art because it is not understood deeply enough. In the Secret Language of Bellydance, the author Maria Strova, renown dancer and master teacher, reveals the inner meaning of this dance, far beyond the taboos of the body and the imaginary images of the harem - where the dance is erroneously considered to have originated. This confusion has influenced, not always in a positive way, the image of bellydance even today. But where did bellydance originate? What inspired its gestures, what is the meaning of the veil, the jewel on the navel or the serpentine movements? "Everything in bellydance is secretly intentional and its movements hide an eternal language," affirms the author. From this concept, she takes the reader on a fascinating journey into its prehistoric roots in the Neolithic Age. Imbued with a sacred character, the dance was part of ancient conception and birth rites and sought to explore the cyclic and cosmic processes of life. To illustrate this "original image," Maria Strova utilizes the symbols of the dance: belly, omphalos or navel, waist, breasts, hands, eyes, hair, veil, spiral, serpent, and the elements earth, air, fire and water. All of the images are used as a key to reveal the poetic language of bellydance and its collection of myths, verse, secrets and personal experiences. In the actual practice of bellydance, this symbolic approach playfully calls on the imagination to reconnect us, through movement, with the instinctive, sensual and sacred wisdom of the body. Dance becomes a powerful instrument which reveals the profound life of the belly.
About the Author: Maria Strova was born in Colombia, where she began to study classic Russian dance at the age of 12. At 17, Maria moved to States, where she studied a variety of modern dance styles (Graham, Ailey, Cunningham). She also worked with Ellen Burstyn, director of the Actors Studio, Michael Douglas (The Jewel of the Nile), Danny De Vito and Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs). One day, as she was walking down the street in New York, she happened to hear the sound of a drum, a darbouka, and thus discovered Belly Dancing. At that moment, the long journey of study and research began which would ultimately lead Maria to present her own work in many countries: Japan, Mexico, Egypt, Colombia, France and Tunisia. Interested in the theme of motherhood, she recognized in that discipline an effective compendium of Belly Dancing - particularly with respect to breathing techniques - and became the first teacher in Italy to teach a fusion of the two as preparation for childbirth. She has produced a variety of teaching DVDs, and wrote and directed Searching for Scheherazade, the first documentary in Italy on the art of belly dancing and the daily efforts to keep the dance alive. She currently teaches at the IALS in Rome and has the Omphalos Cultural Center and the Breath Theatre, based in Fiano Romano (Rome), where she develops new talent, in collaboration with other teachers, through the search for a Belly Dance adapted to theatre and choreographic experimentation.