DANCE AS IF NO ONE IS WATCHING
PREGNANCY AND BELLY DANCE

by PAM ENGLAND

Ancient peoples danced to sanctify life, to celebrate rites of passage such as marriage. They danced and drummed in soulful preparation for physical ordeals, such as hunting or war, and, we might imagine, birth. Not so long ago, before families became isolated in television-addicted nuclear units, it was part of life for couples to dance often in communal festivities: barn dances, street dances, weddings, and waltzes. I think the joy and exercise of dancing must have had a positive impact on health in pregnancy and birth.

Reflect on the historical meeting of two worlds in the late 1800's: when "lady-like" American women bound in corsets that deformed their bodies beheld the sensuous and unselfconscious Middle Eastern dancers who arrived in New York and introduced Oriental dance, more commonly known now as Belly Dancing. For me this disparity mirrors birthing women today: most western women are bound in labor by technological "corsets" that often change the course of their labor. In addition, western women are restrained psychologically by abiding with a tacit agreement to "act like a lady," "keep your legs together" and "be quiet, don't make a scene."

What keeps most of us from dancing are the same assumptions and judgments that make us refrain from painting or writing poetry (or perhaps even laboring in our own way). In this way, we stay in step with the cultural tendency to defer creativity to the professionals. If you are a dance-avoider or a closet-dancer, notice if, instead of just moving freely in rhythm with the music you hear, you try to imitate professional dancers. In so doing, you probably are carefully, rigidly choreographing graceful movements while trying desperately to avoid making any funny-looking ones.

Dance your truth. It might begin with small, slow movements unfolding into free turns and jumps. When you dance with self-awareness, you experience the ecstasy of true awareness in your body. This is essential preparation for childbirth.

During pregnancy, the joints loosen a little and the hips widen; the legs must carry extra weight. The deep, rhythmical movements of Oriental, African or Ecstatic dance strengthen and tone abdominal, back and leg muscles. Bending your knees you become flexible in mind; you might spring into a new idea! Taking up space in a wide twirl, claim your right to be here; feel Joy. Dance your feet; Feel the earth. Breath blessed life-giving energy into your body from the earth. Some time ago Nicholee Froese, a doula, wrote me a letter describing the power of music and movement she witnessed during a labor she attended last spring:

"I had been giving the mother therapeutic massage since the end of her first trimester and was honored to be present as she labored and gave birth. Four people supported her through labor. She wanted to be touched, preferably By about six hands at a time, through each contraction. Although she was working hard, labor was progressing slowly. A doula suggested a change in the music-from a calm, relaxing melody-to something more upbeat. We put on a CD of African drumming and chanting." African women bring to birth the tremendous strength they acquire from years of night-long even week long spirit dances. They dance to the lively beat of drums, big drums that sounded out the entrancing pulse of the universal heartbeat. It's no surprise that the rhythm of drumming, dancing and contractions are interrelated.

Nicholee described how they then "coaxed the mother out of her safe position in bed, and with one person on each side of her, we all began dancing to the beat of the drums. We put our hands on her hips and helped her move them to the rhythm. We all danced that baby out. It was a poignant experience."

When Dr. Michel Odent was medical director of the maternity clinic in Pithivier, France, the weekly Sing-a-Long with "our dear 72-year old Granny, Marie-Louise" was one weekly event he "wouldn't skip for the world . . . When she sits down at the piano, notes drop like pearls. Her voice rings out like pearls. Her voice rings out, singing for all the unborn babies and [their] mothers. . . She adjusts her glasses on her nose, and she's off again, into the celestial spheres of nursery rhymes and lullabies." As the evening progresses, "Marie-Louis steps up the rhythm. The melodies move faster and faster. . . In a flash, she is asking us to dance, to clear away the chairs, to float freely in the melodies of her guitar. And soon we are all dancing." When expectant mothers sing, they exercise their diaphragm muscles and learn to completely breathe out; they also learn unselfconsciousness and get in touch with their emotions. When everyone sings and everyone dances, it breaks down the hierarchy between professionals and parents. We share a community (excerpted from Birth Reborn by Michel Odent, pages 27-28; New York: Pantheon Books, 1984).

Article printed with permission Birthing From Within Inc. Copyright 2001. www.birthingfromwithin.com

Articles on Dancing during pregnancy

Move That Belly! - Bellydancing During Pregnancy : By Carma Haley Shoemaker

Yoga: An Ancient Practice for Pregnancy in the Modern World - By Diana Erbio

Jamila Salimpour The Great Mother

Yoga: An Ancient Practice for Pregnancy in the Modern World - By Diana Erbio

For Mums To Be - by Marie Burrows (of Birthing Rites Australia) font>

Can I Belly Dance While Pregnant? - by Shira

The Art of Prenatal Massage - by Kelly Lott, RMT

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Acknowledgements

Printed with permission. This is a letter from Pam Engand.

Birthing From Within Inc. Copyright 2001. www.birthingfromwithin.com