Belly Dancing

Dancer Agelika Nemeth knows it is an uphill battle to persuade Americans to take Middle Eastern dance seriously. "In the (United States), this dance has become connected with pure sex," Nemeth said in a recent interview. "It has a lot of hootchy-kootchy connotations. "But there's so much more to it than sex. I'm glad I have this forum to educate people about this dance form." Nemeth's forum is a program of Middle Eastern dance at 8 p.m. Saturday and at 2 p.m.

Hailed as the "Riverdance" of the belly-dancing world (who knew?), Bellydance Superstars presents the premiere of "Bombay Bellywood," featuring a global blend of belly-dance styles, 19 professionally trained dancers and thrilling live percussion. Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. 8 p.m. $21-$45. (323) 512-4080, http://www.bellydancesuperstars.com .

For two hours every Monday night, the old gymnasium at Valley College is transformed into a rocking casbah. Primal rhythms of haunting Egyptian melodies fill the air, and women of every size, shape and age don colorful hip scarves of purple, magenta and violet embroidered with shimmering coins and jangling beads. We are here to learn how to belly dance.

The largest showdown of its kind, the 20th Annual Belly Dancer of the Universe Competition offers something for everyone: dance classes, competitions at every age, world-renowned belly dancers in different styles and an evening performance featuring international stars Suhaila Salimpour, Sadie and Atlantis. Long Beach Convention Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. $15-$30. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (562) 433-6615. www.bellydancerofthe universe.

Free speech advocates planned to protest the cancellation of a belly dancing class at a public library, saying it amounted to censorship. The American Civil Liberties Union and Friends of the Library said they will present a petition with about 1,000 signatures to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. County Chief Executive Rick Robinson said the class did not fit with the library's mission.

Fifi Abdu's spacious Cairo duplex is lavishly furnished, with an oval bar, several color television sets and enough opulently padded sectional seating to convene a special session of the U.N. General Assembly. As one of Egypt's most popular belly dancers, Miss Fifi, as she is called, can afford such luxury. But others in her line of work are not so well-off. Belly dancing has had its ups and downs over the centuries, but rarely have times been as tough as they are now.

La Verne's only Mediterranean restaurant has danced its way over complaints from senior citizens in nearby mobile homes, receiving City Council approval to have belly dancers perform on its patio for a three-month trial period, beginning this weekend. More than two dozen people from La Verne Mobile Country Club and Fountains Mobile Home Park showed up at a City Council meeting last month to hear Grapevine Restaurant's belly dancing plans, said 84-year-old Helen Thompson.

Eva Garnet, 77, stands in front of her dance class looking like a character out of "The Arabian Nights." Three sets of necklaces complement the Egyptian bracelets wrapped tightly around her arms. The chains on her belt drip with coins and other baubles. Suddenly, tantalizing strains of Middle Eastern music strike up from a cassette player. Garnet, a former Broadway dancer, slithers to the rhythm, her hands in perfect sync with the subtle swivels of her hip.

IT'S a digital world, that's for sure. At Phoenicia, a new Lebanese restaurant in Glendale, the twentysomethings at the big table in front of me were not just taking a few snapshots. They were producing an entire movie of themselves eating, flirting, laughing, mugging for the hand-held video camera. I wouldn't be surprised if relatives and friends in the Middle East were watching the footage by the next day.

In a shop that looks and feels like the inside of a vaudeville trunk, Ahmed Diaa Eddin sits amid beads and sequins bargaining hard with a woman from Saudi Arabia over satin and chiffon. "200." "The price is 400." "200." He won't budge. Neither will she. There's a stare-down, but Diaa Eddin hasn't spent 40 years designing belly dance costumes to let his wares go cheap. He knows the contours of a woman's body and the intricacies of her mind. He waits.

In the belly of the Nokia Theatre a week ago Saturday, the hours were ticking down toward the American Music Awards telecast amid the usual frenzy of sound checks and lighting cues. Harried technicians scampered to and fro while VIPs in color-coded wristbands sat sipping bottled water on the sidelines. Everyone was waiting for the petite woman with the pre-Raphaelite blond curls to emerge with her entourage. And from the moment Shakira stepped onstage in stiletto boots, skin-tight pants and jacket and a long gray muffler, it was clear who was running the show.

CAIRO -- Farid Mesbaah, male belly dancer, hopped on a car in Cairo's Shobra district and strutted his stuff. He clanged metal castanets, magically converted his hips into pistons and twirled his head around like a centrifuge. The crowd at tables lining a dirt alley clapped rhythmically. Young men in jeans jumped up to wiggle along.

In a shop that looks and feels like the inside of a vaudeville trunk, Ahmed Diaa Eddin sits amid beads and sequins bargaining hard with a woman from Saudi Arabia over satin and chiffon. "200." "The price is 400." "200." He won't budge. Neither will she. There's a stare-down, but Diaa Eddin hasn't spent 40 years designing belly dance costumes to let his wares go cheap. He knows the contours of a woman's body and the intricacies of her mind. He waits.

IT'S a digital world, that's for sure. At Phoenicia, a new Lebanese restaurant in Glendale, the twentysomethings at the big table in front of me were not just taking a few snapshots. They were producing an entire movie of themselves eating, flirting, laughing, mugging for the hand-held video camera. I wouldn't be surprised if relatives and friends in the Middle East were watching the footage by the next day.

As you fill your belly, watch a curvy pro do fabulous things with hers at these spots for belly dancing. Moun of Tunis Pleasant Gehman, a.k.a. Princess Farhana, has been the featured dancer at this cozy Moroccan boite for 15 years. Catch her Wednesday through Sunday nights. And on the third Thursday of every month, she heads up a belly dancing showcase at the restaurant. * Prix-fixe dinner menus, $16 to $28 per person. Monthly showcase and dinner, $22 per person.

Free speech advocates planned to protest the cancellation of a belly dancing class at a public library, saying it amounted to censorship. The American Civil Liberties Union and Friends of the Library said they will present a petition with about 1,000 signatures to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. County Chief Executive Rick Robinson said the class did not fit with the library's mission.

Out of the darkness, we entered the patio through a tiny bamboo grove. Shards of light filtered through the intricate carvings of an Oriental screen. Women of all ages, we had come to a private dance studio on an anonymous suburban street on the Westside to learn the art of the belly dance. I had belly danced before. Now I was nearly seven months pregnant.

It doesn't take long for Miles Copeland to get to conversion stories: tales of the doubters at the concert in Philadelphia, or on the wind-swept Catalonian hill, who didn't believe they were about to have a life-changing experience. "I said, 'This isn't like something you've ever seen before,' " recalls Copeland, speaking louder than necessary on the patio of a Hollywood restaurant. " 'It's something you're gonna enjoy. Believe me, I enjoy it every night.' They were, 'Yeah, yeah. Sure, buddy.'

La Verne's only Mediterranean restaurant has danced its way over complaints from senior citizens in nearby mobile homes, receiving City Council approval to have belly dancers perform on its patio for a three-month trial period, beginning this weekend. More than two dozen people from La Verne Mobile Country Club and Fountains Mobile Home Park showed up at a City Council meeting last month to hear Grapevine Restaurant's belly dancing plans, said 84-year-old Helen Thompson.

It doesn't take long for Miles Copeland to get to conversion stories: tales of the doubters at the concert in Philadelphia, or on the wind-swept Catalonian hill, who didn't believe they were about to have a life-changing experience. "I said, 'This isn't like something you've ever seen before,' " recalls Copeland, speaking louder than necessary on the patio of a Hollywood restaurant. " 'It's something you're gonna enjoy. Believe me, I enjoy it every night.' They were, 'Yeah, yeah. Sure, buddy.'