Typical weekend revelry was replaced by tribal belly dancing at the Heorot Saturday night when a group of dancers from around the state held a "hafla," or dance party with music, on the building's second floor. This coincided with a tribal belly-dancing workshop being held by Muncie resident Diana Eckart, also known as Carenza bint Asya, leader of the Carenza's Caravan troupe, and Susan Wenger, also known as Jaleela Saleem, a touring dancer and belly dance instructor from Fishers, Indiana at the Muncie Y.W.C.A. on Saturday.
The hafla, which began shortly after 8 p.m., featured tarot card readers, 10 dancers, three percussionists and involved audience participation. The show included solo, group dancing and sword balancing to a mixture of live and prerecorded music.
Muncie resident Christine Schlegel participated in public for the third time during the evening's events. Schlegel has taken lessons from Eckart since August 2004 and participated in Saturday's workshop at the Muncie Y.W.C.A. Though she has kept dancing, Schlegel says that she had not originally planned to get into belly dancing for the dance.
"I got into this for the low-impact exercise," Schlegel said. "It's good for the knees, for the back ... I lost some weight, it's fun, and I love the outfits. I like the music, I like the beat. We're always doing percussion stuff, and that's really neat."
Though she admits she hasn't had much experience performing in public, Schlegel says there is a noticeable difference in the atmosphere and the audience when performing at a bar.
"I like this better than the street festival types of things," Schlegel said. "It's darker, you're more comfortable here."
Amanda Conley, a senior elementary education major, said that it was a different experience than she expected.
"I guess I didn't think it took so much talent," Conley said. "We just sort of came. It's something new, different."
Miles North, a senior religious studies major, said that he had been exposed to belly dancing prior to the event by his sister, a belly dance instructor.
"As far as Muncie goes, the belly dancing is great," North said. "But I think what's going on has been very westernized when it needs to be authentic to its original form."
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