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On any given weeknight – in the farthest corner of an unsuspecting strip mall on East State Boulevard – you will find a roomful of happy women. Hips shaking, scarves twirling, all dancing to the Egyptian and Indian melodies that seem to mingle with the smell of incense and flutter outside toward the adjacent Starbucks.
Last August, World Fusion Dance Studio – which specializes in belly dance – moved into the neighborhood and transformed an otherwise nondescript office building into a Middle Eastern hub of creativity.
Slate blue walls were painted red, gold and orange. Office chairs were replaced by an array of brightly colored floor cushions, spread along a wall underneath photos of local and national belly dancers. And the gray industrial carpet was scrapped, replaced by a wooden dance floor, a slew of oriental rugs and a wall of mirrors.
“If you worked in this building before,” owner Lisa Young says, “you wouldn’t recognize it now.”
A year ago, Young – better known to local belly dancers as Jordana bint Zweena – was teaching belly dance at The Dance Collective. Anyone who has tried to attend one of these classes knows they are a hot commodity, quickly filling to capacity, Young says.
“The classes kept growing,” she says. “People wanted to know when I was going to open my own studio.”
So, last summer, she finally did.
World Fusion Dance Studio, 3903-A E. State Blvd., offers beginning, continuing and intermediate classes as well as a belly dance conditioning class. But before and after classes, students spend time socializing at the studio, chatting among the pillows in the lobby.
“It’s a getaway,” Young says. “It’s a ‘take time for yourself’ atmosphere. We’ve become a really close-knit community. When I started dancing in Fort Wayne, there was a really small group of us. Now, there are three troupes in town, and a lot of really talented women.”
Young is preparing for the studio’s spring show, “Wrong Song Hafla,” where students and members of Young’s dance group Troupe Taleeba will belly dance to music by Digital Underground, the Fat Boyz, Maroon 5 and other pop artists.
“Our Christmas show was very traditional,” she says. “We played traditional Middle Eastern music. But, now it’s spring. We’re ready to do something fun.”
Young is also preparing for her first child. She’s five months pregnant.
“Belly dance is great for pregnancy,” she says. “But I’m beginning to take it easy on myself. I’m starting to see my balance go. I’m not exactly used to my new body. I feel better knowing I’m moving. And I like to think I’m keeping up with my flexibility.”
Classes for beginners at World Fusion cost $75 for seven weeks. But people can also catch a lesson on the first Wednesday of every month at the Neon Armadillo, 6040 Lima Road. The evening features a performance and instruction on how to perform at debke, a Middle Eastern line dance of sorts.
“All the classes are come as you are – an opportunity to just take time for yourself,” Young says. “We want everyone to feel comfortable. So just wear whatever you’d wear to the gym. But wearing a hip scarf never hurts, either.”
edowns@jg.net
