At age 10, Siobhan was enrolled by her mother in tap, ballet, jazz, and baton classes at Kehl’s School of Dance, where she learned routines and performed in recitals.  In college, Siobhan began to explore modern dance as a dance major at the University of Montana.  She enjoyed the challenge of assisting instruction in a children’s creative movement class with lesson plans she designed.

Siobhan always seeks a balanced interplay between intuition/arts and intellect/science in deepening an awareness of the body and spirit.  Her extensive education and over eight years of experience as a Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Yoga Instructor allows her to integrate the science of the body with the kinetic art of dance.  Practicing yoga since 1991 and teaching regular Hatha and Kundalini yoga classes has also enhanced her flexibility, body awareness, and coordination.

Exploring the magic of bellydance began at age 24 while attending East-West College of Healing Arts in Portland, Oregon, she became enamoured by the beauty of the ancient dance form.  Since then, Siobhan has self-studied with videos and intermittent classes and attended a bellydance teacher training program in New York City in March 2006 with Master Teacher Keti Sharif, originally from Perth, Australia, and now living in Egypt.

Performing professionally and as a part of seasonal special events and community fundraisers, Siobhan's favorite venues include Saqra's Annual Bellydance Showcase in Hillsboro, OR, Oregon State University's Asian Cultural Affairs Department Bellydance Showcase, and the Majestic Theatre.  A member of the Corvallis Bellydance Performance Guild, Siobhan also enjoys performing at the family-friendly Old World Deli in Corvallis, OR.

In March 2006 she opened up a new studio, Galactress, inside Stoker's VitaWorld in Corvallis, where she regularly teaches eight-week sessions in Beginner's Bellydance Level I and II.  Siobhan's teaching style is encouraging, fun, and supportive.  Her aim is to inspire creativity in students while emphasizing health in the body/mind/spirit paradigm.

  Beautific Bounty of Belly Dance

By Siobhan VanLanen, LMT/CYI   

 A kinesthetic story of culture and history, belly dance is an enlivening, sensual, and fluid dance form.  In its archaic practice, generations of women have passed it down to one another, sharing this lovely language of the body.  The emphasis of movements are from the core/center of our bodies and are more non-linear in nature.  These movements can be slow, fast, sharp, soft, staccato and circular, rhythmic and smooth.  Through this sacred dance we increase our body awareness, develop gracefulness, and strengthen muscles in a playful, fun, creative way.

Raqs Sharqi (belly dance) means “the dance of the east.”  This style of dance has endless variations because its geographic origins scan from the Middle East, Northern Africa, Turkey, and Greece.  It is also considered to be the oldest form of dance extending back thousands of years

Traditionally it was known that belly dance was exercised by women for women.  It was a way for women to celebrate the different aspects and stages of womanhood through life’s passages.  In fact, experts say women danced to help prepare their bodies for childbirth.  During a woman’s labor, her woman friends /family would undulate their hips/torso while synchronizing their breaths with the mother in labor as a gesture of supporting her.  Women would also dance as a part of divination ceremonies and rituals.

Erroneous misconceptions about the purpose of belly dancing are waning.  The early 1900s Hollywood media image portrayed the burlesque woman in scantily dress dancing for the entertainment of men.  Fortunately, the aim and philosophy of bellydance expands beyond short lived icons into a practice of joyful movements and a salutation of the feminine mystique.  Men also belly dance!!  Through this dance we can feel alive in our senses and in the present.  Dance is a part of every culture and the way we move our bodies tells many stories about our lives.

With such a diverse range of styles such as; Arabic, Egyptian, Turkish cabaret, ethnic and folkloric, American tribal, and fusion, it’s fascinating to explore the uniqueness and variance of costume.  For example, the traditional Turkish cabaret costume has a two piece bra and belt set that reveals the abdomen.  The Turkish style incorporates many hip lifts into their dancing. It tends to be more light and quick.  On the other hand, most traditional Egyptian costumes did not display the abdomen.  Instead they would wear a form fitting ‘kaftan’ covering their whole bodies, and a hip belt around their waist.  The costume was then elaborated with large pieces of stone and metal jewelry and a coin head piece.  Egyptian style is filled with solid, grounding hip drops.  Many now also enjoy throwing a bit of originality into their costumes and movements.  Costume-making is an incredible art form unto itself.

What distinguishes Middle Eastern belly dance with western dance is its approach.  In the west, dance is more often coordinated as a sequence of detailed choreographed movements set to recorded music.  Belly dance has the potential to be more about the spontaneous, free-form creative process.   Developing the ability to improvise the movements in the moment to moment awareness and dance in rhythm to the music is right hemispheric.  Traditional belly dance was performed to live music and involved the community.  The dancers and the musicians have an intuitive interplay between the instrumental musical rhythms and the kinetic instrument the body becomes in revealing the rhythms.  Nowadays, modern belly dance performances are both choreographed and improvised.

Contemporary bellydancing carries on the feminine lineage by honoring women of all ages, shapes, and sizes.  A form of creative expression and health maintenance, it enlivens us in many ways!

For more info on classes, please contact Siobhan:

siobhandance@comcast.net