Every Belly Tells a Story: Middle Eastern Dance with Jasmin Jahal

“I think it is important for people to open their hearts and their minds to the dance as something rich and fulfilling,” says Jasmin Jahal, founder and artistic director of the Jasmin Jahal School of Dance in Chicago. Now in her 25th year as an educator, choreographer, and performer, Ms. Jahal strives to promote Middle Eastern Dance as a sensual art form rooted in tradition and disciplined study. As a teacher, she takes great care to introduce her students not only to the physical elements of the dance, but also to its history and the subtleties behind the music and the costuming.

Reflecting Ms. Jahal’s background as a trained ballet dancer, all classes begin with a thorough warm-up that incorporates isolations of the pelvis, torso, and shoulders. Throw in some graceful arm undulations and an exhilarating series of hip articulations (called “shimmies”), and it is easy to see the physical and emotional benefits belly dance has in store for women. As Ms. Jahal points out, whether a woman turns to belly dance for fitness, fun, or seeking to explore her femininity, regardless of her age or shape “she can enjoy who she is, and there are not many dance forms that allow that.”

Classes at the Jasmin Jahal School of Dance are offered in 7-week series. Beginners are introduced to the use of finger cymbals and the veil, and students are encouraged to wear a hip scarf to accentuate the all-important work of the lower body. In addition to its belly dance curriculum, the school offers Ballet for Belly Dancers and a low-impact workout called Belly Aerobics. The Fall schedule will feature additional beginner levels, and a new offering for girls 7 years of age and older. Pre-registration is recommended, as class size is limited to 20 students.

Winner of Zaghareet Magazine’s Golden Belly Award as 2002 Instructor of the Year, Ms. Jahal is a patient, encouraging teacher who brings expertise, tastefulness, and a refreshing sense of humor to her classes. She is passionate about her responsibility in challenging the stereotype of belly dance as little more than provocative entertainment. “If you carry respect for yourself and for the art form, then it is going to demand automatically respect from others,” she notes. “We need educated audiences. The more educated, the better for us as an individual dancer and for the whole dance in itself.”

Jasmin Jahal has deep appreciation for the longevity Middle Eastern dance affords women seeking to pursue its study. “This is a dance form that allows you to evolve,” she says. “The best belly dancers are over 40. The more famous ones are 40, 50, 60 years old.” Of her own long-standing commitment to the dance form, she eloquently remarks, “the more I got involved with it, the more it seemed to love me back.”

The Jasmin Jahal School of Dance is located at 4037 North Milwaukee Avenue, 1/2 block northwest of Irving Park and Cicero. They can be reached at 773.777.4037 or on the web at www.jasminjahal.com.

This article originally appeared in the Fall 2003 issue of Chicago Learning Guide Magazine.