Thursday, April 13, 2006
Benefits supervisor relaxes with oriental dance, or "belly dance"
 Some people garden. Others do yoga. Michelle Davis, benefits supervisor in Human Resources, performs with Lubaaba, an oriental – or belly – dance troupe.“It’s like my golf. It’s a way to relax,” she said. Davis travels to workshops several times a year and to Lexington, Kentucky, once a month to study tribal fusion, a style of dance she teaches on Saturdays at Mermaid Dance Studio in downtown Evansville. She said she had always been interested in it, and then she saw Leah Robling, owner of Mermaid Dance Studio, perform at a restaurant in Newburgh. “I loved the exotic music and different rhythms,” she said. Now, she's been dancing for more than three years. She enjoys learning the dances along with other women. “When you’re trying to learn a new move, you look so awkward, and then one day, you just get it,” she said. “I like to dance, and it’s a new, challenging form of dance.” Tribal fusion style is “an American concoction” that originated on the west coast and emphasizes improvisation over choreography. “It takes all the other styles of dance and combined them. It doesn’t represent one ethnicity,” she said. Lubaaba has performed for many community events and hosts a public Hafla, with dance performances and a potluck, twice a year. The troupe is set to perform at the Urban Sisterhood’s Earth Day Garden Party at noon on Saturday, April 22, in the Haynie’s Corner area downtown. The festival will continue until 9 p.m. “The dance is a very grounded style,” Davis said. “It’s very earthy, and it’s used a lot with celebration. It fits with the Earth Day theme because the energy of it is so grounded and earth-related. We dance barefoot.” Urban Sisterhood is a one-year-old organization founded to promote organic gardening, nutrition, and environmental awareness in the inner city. In addition to Lubaaba, there will be entertainment by Randy Pease, instructor in English, and friends; Reggae band The Question; and rock/jam band Namasté. There also will be children’s activities and informational booths, including one sponsored by the USI Vegetarian Club. Admission is free, but donations to the Urban Sisterhood will be accepted. |
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