This year belly dance camp delivered in a big way. It was hotter than a coon skin cap in the jungle. I sweat non-stop, even when I was standing still. The workshops were intense and required using muscles I’ve never met. I was a in a constant state of pain. And there were bugs that wanted to kill me, personally. It was the best time ever.

Morning Yoga

Attendance was down from last year, which made it a bit more intimate and easier to get to know everyone a bit better. Here are a few of the characters I got to spend some time with:

• Kasima is a geek freak and the craziest monkey who fell in love with her husband because of his great hugs. She makes amazing tie-dye goods, like not just the kind hippies find attractive, but really beautiful and unique patterns.
• Deedy studied poi in Hawaii and can swing those poi in ways that make your head spin. She has no fear of being pummeled and her bag of tricks is extensive.
• Giselle’s daughter draws anime’ and performed for the first time. At 14 years old level of accomplishment was amazing.
• Indigo, the amazing woman who puts on this shin-dig, calls her new daughter Bibers (short for Habibi). Sweet little Bibbers is a big fan of shinning things and the game “Near” and “Far”.
• Janet was the mommy monkey that introduced this game, inspired by Grover. (Oh yeah, I remember that!) She celebrated her birthday at camp by sleeping in past 9 am for the first time since her son was born a year and a half ago.
• Katherine knows some awesome river cheers from her days as a river guide. I can’t recall them all, but I know one had something to do with King Tut having a big butt.
• Cindy is a seamstress with wicked good style. She’s got a graceful attitude and is a really good dancer.
• Dagmar looks like she is 20 years old but has a son who is 21 and just started college. She said she had a hard time seeing him off. Dagmar is a German name, but the Dagmar in question is a feisty Hispanic who really know how to accessorize with feathers.

Katherine, Bibers and Indigo

The workshops were killer. Jen of Zephyr helped us work our bodacious bellies, and set the mood for the weekend as it was all about the core, or the walnut. More on that in a bit. Jen picks hella groovy music and I was sweating buckets in the first 5 minutes. She really inspired me to work more on my isolation capabilities.

Jen and Trisha show us how it’s done.

As I said, I really did meet muscles I’ve never meet before. One of them was in the “walnut” region of the lower abdomen. It was during Magidah’s class, I lengthened my spin, soften my knees and engaged my walnut (draw a circle around the inside of your pelvis collapse it in, lift it like sucking a straw and envision a walnut in the center of your lower abdomen). There it was! I felt it, a single muscle that contracted and released. Hello belly undulations. Magidah also showed us some techniques for the “blubblublblub” shimmy and it has revolutionized the way I do that move. I use so much less energy now I can shake it for twice as long.

Magidah Sa’id and Pearl

I also got to really know my butt muscles in Aubre Hill’s class. Like whoa, she is amazing. Just check out some of her YouTube videos and you’ll see what I mean. In her fosse fusion class, I over did my pirouettes and had to take a break but I really enjoyed getting to re-explore my jazz class moves.

Aubre keeps us spell bound with her famous moves.

Elisa Gamal helped round out the weekend with a breath of fresh air. Her class was perfect for a melodramatic cancer like me. It was all about listening to the music and breathing through your movements. She talked about visualizing while you are dancing to give your movement authentic emotion. After all the hard core, intense workshops, it was a nice pace to end the weekend with a bit of feeling and emotion.

Elisa Gamal thinking about cookies warm from the oven.

The desert is so peaceful. No matter how hectic camp gets with getting to know new friends, or new muscles, you can just stop and look around to find your center. The epic cliffs and rock-faces surrounding you stand sentinel to the passage of time beyond human years. Deep Lake offers cool waters to wash away the layers of sweat and grime. Corridors of brown, sepia and copper-colored cliffs contrasting with the blue-green water are a reminder of the beauty and blessing of our time on Earth. This belly dance retreat is about more than sequins and shimmies. It’s about reconnecting with the core, the walnut if you will, and remembering that there is a reason to dance.

Epic rock-faces stand sentinel to the passage of time.