I had a very good time at Shimmy for a Cure. Quite a number of bellydancers put on a benefit performance for the John Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation. They were mostly local/regional performers, but there was a troupe from Toronto (which included a male dancer) and a performer from California who was fantastic.
I knew a fair number of the local performers. Unsurprisingly, many of them were Pagan. Just as there aren't a whole lot of straight male church organists, the odds tend to favor that if a woman is a belly dancer, she is probably not a fundamentalist Christian. (Not to say that is a guarantee in either case, of course.) I remarked to a few friends that it was interesting attending a bellydance event where people from my faith tradition weren't the majority. However, it was all cool.
Kamille, the California, did a finale where she placed a belt on her waist with rods extending that were then set on fire at the end: very dramatic! My first thought was that it would be a really bad time to get an itchy knee. ;) She also held conjoined rods in her hands that looked like big fingers that had flames after she got out of the belt.
All in all, I think everyone had a great time, and money was raised for terrific cause, so I consider it an evening very well spent.
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