Egypt, Jordan, Oregon?

It turns out that Oregon is nationally (internationally?) renowned for producing top-level dancers. This is what I learned at my first Portland belly dance class on Tuesday night. I knew Aziza was from Portland, but didn't know the city had a reputation for belly dance. I wonder where that comes from. Looking for some shimmying to warm you up during the long winter nights?

The class, held at Cedar Hills Recreation Center, was quite different from the Palo Alto belly dance classes I've taken. To begin with, there were at least 30 students there, plus 4 or 5 teacher assistants. I've worked with three teachers before, all of whom danced in the Egyptian Cabaret style and two of whom were young (30ish). This teacher, Karla, has been teaching for more than 30 years. Her style seems to be a bit more folkloric and traditional, but it's hard to tell just yet. The class was fun and a workout. We started with some stretches and warm-ups, and then jammed through a bunch of basic steps. The one thing I learned was to be sure to strike a nice pose at the end of a series of moves. "One Grecian urn!"