I took Shimmy Shakedown at Saffron in the fall, which contrary to the name, did not involve a shimmy or a shakedown on my part, but it was fun. Shimmy Shakedown was described as "ideal for the aspiring belly dancer." That is not me by any stretch of the imagination, but the class still sounded interesting.My friends were all conveniently busy that night. Not like when they are too busy for cycling, and it sounds legitimate. More like, I already fell on the stripper-pole workout for you Kelly (thanks again, Liz and Nicole), so I am definitely not taking some iteration of belly dancing. Fair.
I show up to Shimmy Shakedown, and I check into the class. "Oh, you're the only one in the class," the girl at the front desk announces cheerily. I hear that phrase way too often. Fantastic.
I have time to kill, so I decide to explore. Like most workout studios, there is a shop in the studio, but this shop sold a variety of things that I have never seen in a workout studio. Most notably, stuffed camels. Outside of a zoo, I can't imagine an appropriate venue where I would expect to find stuffed camels, but there they sat all shelved and plush right in front of me.
I have provided pictures of the items in the studio, so you can really soak in the studio ambience. Although the camels were the most prominent (my nice way of say oddest) item, one could not overlook the homemade jewelry and inspirational pillows. #Fitness
I moved past the stuffed camels and other weird accessories. After a few minutes, a number of what I assume were experienced belly dancers walked out into the main sitting area. Their belly dancing outfits (hence my Nancy Drew conclusion that they were experienced) were very pretty, and they jingled, so right off the bat I could see why the workout was inviting.It was finally game time. The instructor directed me into the dance studio that we would be using. Pretty small and barebones. There were a few yoga mats and free weights...and the always included full-wall mirror. Thankfully, another girl walked in. She was, of course, in the belly dancing garb, so not new, but at least I had another soul with me. Turns out, she was just another instructor killing time. Great. I lack rhythm, I don't know what a shimmy entails, and it is obvious from the under armour that I am wearing that I missed the memo on the jingle jangles. Now it was just me and two belly dancing instructors. I was getting more skeptical by the second.
Luckily, both of the instructors turned out to be incredibly kind and patient.
The workout was really fun. The shimmy involves a lot of gyrating of the hips, and "looking sexy." I do not have an aptitude in either of those areas, but the instructors were sweet and just told me to "move around." There was also so movements with the arms, which were supposed to sync up with the hip movements, but again, just moving around was fine. You can get a fantastic workout just moving around and laughing. Essentially, it is the same tactic I take in Zumba. The music was a nice change. You don't hear a lot of cool middle-eastern music on Today Show radio or 90s on 9, which are embarrassingly my go-to stations (thanks, Sirius). It is always fun to hear something new and different.
The instructor that was just taking the class for fun had to leave the class early, and the remaining instructor decided to wind down the class shortly after her exit. And remember, by class, I mean awkward private dance lesson for a girl with no shimmying or dancing skills.
We spent the remainder of the class talking about how she got into belly dancing. She danced in college, and when she moved to the area got into Saffron. Most of the regulars at the studio perform, which promotes a lot of camaraderie in the studio. Here is the link in case you want to go check them out http://saffrondance.com/. Actually, you should check it the link in general because there appears to be a four week immersion class in learning Lebanese, and based on the picture, you will learn the language while you dance. That is either a very misleading picture, or a very interesting way to learn a language.
Shockingly, the studio continues to grow and has multiple locations. I don't say shockingly because there was anything wrong with the class at all. Belly dancing just seems like a niche market in an area with numerous exercise facilities. Will I go again? Probably not. Not because I have anything against the class, but generally I don't steer towards dance classes. That said, it is worth checking out. I think they have a very nice mantra, which is essentially encouragement and support for any women who want to explore dance. Obviously, that was too much to fit on the pillow, so just Keep Calm and Shimmy On.
