Elgan speaks
...and her words thunder across the land

Shimmying and stardust

Sunday, Jun. 10, 2007
7:58 p.m.
I feel a little guilty about the brevity of yesterday’s entry. I was really exhausted and didn’t say much about the show itself, and there were some rather interesting stories to relate.

For instance, the woman with the trousseau of makeup was a very large woman. There were lots of large women among the dancers, and I am actually being nice here. Shall we say, there were some downright obese bodies clad in harem costumes that left most of their midriffs open for the inspection of the paying public. Don’t think for a moment that these ladies can’t dance. There is something very sensuous about seeing that amount of flesh undulating. However, I have been called a “fattist” in the past, and I have not changed. I myself could not expose myself in such a manner if I were not happy with my shape, one of the reasons I insisted that we not have belly-baring costumes for our dance because I have a rather nasty caesarian scar which I am uncomfortable about airing. All the excess I witnessed yesterday has made me rethink that position somewhat.

Anyway, the dresses that we ladies wore for our dance were made from some stretchy material which clung to our curves, and luckily for the most part we did them justice. This rather large woman, the one with the makeup, commented as we were getting dressed that she would love to wear a costume like ours, except that she didn’t have the figure for it. I am not making this up. Yet, she was hanging over her pants for all to see.

This is not to say that there were not some exceptionally beautiful bodies among the students and instructors. One girl, who must be 18 tops and has only been dancing for two years but who is incredibly talented and partook in several numbers which were labeled “advanced”, had a lovely figure and she looked fantastic in the various costumes she donned throughout. Another girl with incredible hair (think mine but curlier and longer) wore the most amazing outfit, a silver sequined number that looked fantastic on her and she danced a solo dance with a water-filled jug on her head which I unfortunately never actually got to see.

One woman who teaches for the school and has the most gorgeous figure, a tall, willowy brunette who really looks like a ballerina, danced a solo number with two veils, a red and a white, which was so beautiful. Many of the costumes the advanced dancers wore were amazing as well, sequined and beaded affairs with slits and peek-a-boo holes, with arm bands that were neither sleeves nor gloves but somehow seemed like both.

Most of the costumes on the lesser advanced mortals were not so fancy. I think our group probably had the nicest of the bunch, and purely by accident. There was one ensemble of about eight girls who wore alternating beige and orange satin numbers which they made themselves: haltar bras and hip-hugging skirts with sequins in strategic places. There was even a pregnant lady dancing with the next generation on full display. She actually had a very nice tummy, no stretch marks and even a dusting of sparkly stuff.

So, anyway, it’s over. We have one class left tomorrow night, and then I don’t have to think about hip locks or shimmying or undulations until September, although I really ought to practise that stuff in between so I’m not totally out of shape when we meet again.

|

<~~~ * ~~~>