Every other week, Monitor staff writes about a feature article exploring wellness in the Capital Region. We’d like to thank our Community Partner Concord Hospital. Our Community Partners do not ...

The bellies were bulging and wrinkled, fat and firm. Rippled, dimpled, pierced, protruding, sloped, rolled and toned. But however they looked, all were shimmying. Mesmera, a belly dancer from Silver ...

Terri Allred, director of community engagement at the Women’s Shelter and Support Center, has a confession to make: She’s a belly dancer. She’s also the featured speaker at the upcoming UMR Connects ...

“Maybe it was Jeannie’s outfit on 'I Dream of Jeannie' back then, but I really can’t explain what I liked about it,” Bell said about the popular TV sitcom starring Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old ...

Not a size two? Have a few wrinkles? That’s OK. You can still be a belly dancer. The women of local group WOW Belly Dance don’t fit the normal stereotype, they say. Most are in their 40s and 50s.

Nestled in the heart of historic downtown Perry, a small dance studio has been a gathering spot for women of all shapes, sizes and ages to learn the art of belly dancing for the past 14 years. The ...

Sciatica drove Bettye Ames to belly dancing. Beset with back problems, and at the behest of a friend, the Dayton resident took up the ancient art 10 years ago to strengthen her abdominal muscles. The ...

A flyer and a simple “Do you like good music?” from a promoter led to an obsession. At the time, Rebecca Williams was 17 or 18 and went to a concert for a band she had never heard of, Beats Antique.

With belly chains jingling across the waists of gyrating dancers, and vendors selling exotic jewelry, music and clothing from the far corners of the Mideast, belly dance aficionados didn’t have to ...

Chapel Hill Bellydance Studio has been offering belly dancing and samba courses since spring 2023 to the Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Durham area. The studio holds beginner, intermediate and advanced ...