Belly dancing teacher Heather Azhar is encouraging men and women to take up the ancient art form, in a bid to challenge modern perceptions of the Eastern dance.
Ms Azhar, who teaches Egyptian belly dancing in Calne, said the west has misrepresented belly dancing as a sexual courtship but it is traditionally a social dance.
"Many eastern people would be insulted by the way it is referred to in the west. In the Middle East it is a social dance. Women get together and dance because they are restricted from doing many other things. It is not women dancing for a man to seduce them as it is portrayed in the west," she said.
Bikini-style tops associated with belly dancing were an invention of television and film in the 1940s. Traditionally women cover their navel and in Egypt it is illegal to show the navel. Ms Azhar teaches Egyptian belly dancing, which is slightly different from other forms such as Greek, Arabic and Turkish.
Ms Azhar runs her class every Tuesday at St Dunstan Infants' School hall from 7.30pm. For more information contact (01249) 822630.
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