To learn more about Shimmy Mob, visit its website.
A "Shimmy Mob" danced throughout downtown Muncie on May 14, ending at Cornerstone Center for the Arts for its annual fundraiser for A Better Way Women’s Shelter. The event fell on the celebration of World Belly Dance Day.
Shimmy Mob is a worldwide movement that aims to inform the public about belly dancing while giving back to charities that benefit abused women and children's shelters around the world, according to the movement's website.
The event is worldwide and currently runs in 202 different cities. This was Muncie's fourth annual Shimmy Mob.
This year's event hosted 12 belly dance performances and an open session for anyone in the audience who wanted to dance.
While its purpose was to raise money for the shelter, many attendees enjoyed the event because of the dancing.
Jenny Smithson, a belly dance instructor at Cornerstone Center of the Arts and the team leader for Muncie’s Shimmy Mob, said anyone can enjoy themselves at the event.
“[Belly dancing is for] any size, any shape and any body type,” Smithson said. “It’s little known that in the Middle East belly dance is kind of like what moms pass down to their children, and they do it at parties and weddings and all of that kind of stuff. It’s not just for restaurants or Hollywood.”
Karen Dohner, a Shimmy Mob belly dance performer, said belly dancing has changed her life for the better.
“I have been belly dancing for about two years," Dohner said. "I started it as part of a physical therapy program to help strengthen my back, and I needed something to get me out of the house to get me doing something. I discovered the world of belly dancing and fell in love with it.”
The appeal of belly dancing to Dohner isn’t just the dancing — it’s the sisterhood aspect of the whole performance.
“[I enjoy] the community of women — the empowered women — that I get to work with," Dohner said. "I have always been a creative person, so this ties right into my creativity, and it has kind of helped me find a new spark within myself, get a new heartbeat. It’s just been good for me all the way around physically and mentally. It’s a whole package kind of thing.”
Dohner said she also believes most people don't see belly dancing for what it really is.
“I think it is really important to raise awareness of what belly dancing is. We’re not out there hoochie dancing or things like that," she said. "There are rules to it and there are standards. If you ever want to be around a group of very strong, fantastic women, go to a belly dance show.”
Members of the belly dancing group Indy Tribal came from Indianapolis to join in on the Shimmy Mob fundraiser.
Maria Spratford, a belly dance performer from Indy Tribal, said her group focused on American tribal-style belly dancing, which is a modern form that originated in the 1980s.
Spratford likes the American tribal-style belly dance because she can dance with someone from across the world and they will know the same dance because they will follow the same cues.
“I love the community aspect," Spratford said. "We are all together and we work together to form one dance out of many people."
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