For some, belly dancing has the connotation of scantily clad women moving their bodies in sexually suggestive ways.
For Kathleen "Kassia" Boldt, however, it is a pure, artistic means of expression - one that has become a part of her daily life.
Eleven years ago while living in Toronto, Kassia and a friend took a belly dancing class, curious to see what it would be like. After a few classes Kassia was hooked.
"I just felt better. I felt open," she said. "I wanted more."
Kassia enjoyed belly dancing so much that she decided to quit her job as a graphic designer creating lottery tickets and wine labels for something more fulfilling. She started belly dancing professionally, apprenticing with the Arabesque Dance Company.
Five years into her new career Kassia started her business Hip Circle Dance Productions, teaching belly dancing in Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, St. Catherine, Pelham and the Buffalo area. She is often hired for corporate and private parties.
Through the Organization of Arab Students, Kassia was hired at UB last year to teach a free, female only belly dancing class on Tuesday evenings. Eight of the girls who attended regularly performed at the spring Arab Night Show in colorful, velveteen full piece dresses.
Excitement about the belly dance is evident in the creases of Kassia's big blue eyes as she sits over a cup of chai tea, jumping up once in a while to demonstrate proper posture or certain arm movements, her long blonde hair extending down the back of her red top.
This semester Kassia hopes to have more girls in attendance. Each class consists of warm-up, drills, technique and choreography for the show, but those who attend aren't required to perform if they don't want to.
The Egyptian song they will be dancing to this year, "Princess of Cairo" is what Kassia calls "classic belly dance," it is from the mid 19th century and contains middle eastern instruments.
She says belly dancing is great for those looking to begin an exercise regimen, as well as a nice complement to an existing program. Appropriate for all ages it has low impact and is easy on the joints.
"There's a sense of empowerment, we tend to get stuck in the head," Kassia said, whose motto is "give it a shake."
Students should show up to class in clothes they would wear to the gym. Some dancers choose to wear a decorative hip belt and flat ballet or dance slippers. Otherwise they dance barefoot.
Kassia's goal is to show people that belly dancing is a beautiful, creative art form, unlike that "other" dance. She says there are still performances where male members of the audience will shout at her to take her clothes off.
The Canadian native who is originally from Niagara-on-the-Lake now resides in Buffalo with her husband, a musician and member of the local Celtic band, Stone Row.
Changing careers wasn't unprecedented for Kassia, who has a bachelor's degree in music specializing in the accordion from Queens University in Kingston. She then switched gears and earned a bachelor's degree in education and taught for a while as a kindergarten teacher before attending the Ontario College of Art and Design and earning a four-year degree in graphic design.
When she became a belly dancer full time, she lived the life of a real artist, supplementing her income as an extra on movie sets in Toronto, baby-sitting and doing freelance graphic design projects.
"It was just sort of this natural progression, following my heart," Kassia said. "I never thought I would be doing this now, it's a process of self-discovery."
Her favorite part of belly dancing is expressing herself, feeling the music run through her veins.
"The music is your dance partner," she said. "You mature in the dance."
Aliberth Valdez, a sophomore civil engineering major, is of Dominican descent and has been surrounded by dance her entire life. She has been interested in learning the belly dance and took a class in New York City, but didn't find it nearly as helpful as Kassia's class at UB.
"She explains everything step by step and she makes it easy to learn," Valdez said. "The dance that she is teaching is very fun and energetic."
Teaching women how to belly dance, Kassia is able to observe them grow not only as dancers, but also as individuals. Adult women often come to learn the belly dance to get away from duties of motherhood or the responsibilities of their jobs, but they leave with more than just fit abdomens.
The camaraderie developed with other women and the opportunity to let loose without the prying eyes of men have a way of easing their souls and increasing confidence in themselves. After a performance or the mastery of a particular form of belly dance, the women feel a sense of accomplishment.
After last year's Arab Night Show, Kassia said the UB students left the stage squealing in delight, ecstatic at the culmination of a year's hard work.
"You can see they feel beautiful about themselves," Kassia said. "In that moment I feel like I accomplished something."
Kassia's class, free to all female UB students, runs every Tuesday night from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. This Tuesday's class will be held in room 220 in the Student Union.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
