Belly dancing class helps seniors find their inner Shakira

For seniors in Chatham-Kent, there's a place for them to get some exercise — to feel empowered. 

The Blenheim & Community Seniors' Group hosts a weekly belly-dancing class to help women channel parts of the themselves they'd never tapped into before.

"When I saw that they had belly dancing, I thought, 'Oh, I've got to try that.'" said Lois Button, who joined the seniors' centre after moving back to Blenheim a couple of years ago. 

"Growing up, you didn't want to move your hips, you didn't want to move your breasts, but suddenly, you're welcome to do it! And after a certain age — who cares?"

Everybody's got a Shakira trying to get out.- Deb Hudson

Instructor Kim Nethery said in addition to the physical benefits of belly dancing, she sees the women gaining confidence in her classes. 

"Belly dance is supposed to be really inclusive, it shouldn't matter what body type or size you have, whether you're petite, and really small, or larger, more voluptuous... we can celebrate our bodies no matter what shape they are," she said.

"What grandma gets to go out and have fun and shake their booty with their friends?"

Deb Hudson started taking the class in the fall in an effort to get active in the community and try something different — plus she says it's a chance to move different parts of her body.

"Everybody's got a Shakira trying to get out," she said, with a big smile. 

'Not an entertainment for men'

Norma Wood said the dance class is good exercise for her body and for her memory. She added she has arthritis — but it hasn't stopped her.

"It's really fun when somebody asks you what you're doing down at that centre, and you say, 'I'm doing belly dancing!' And they look — I mean, it's such a surprise."

As for why folks tend to react in that way, she said, "I think they're thinking of the dance of the seven veils, you know? But it's not an entertainment for men. It's always women who do it together."

Nethery said as women tend to feel more self-conscious in society, belly dancing helps them let go of that. 

"It's pretty fun to tell your grand kids that you're belly dancing."