Explore Belly Dance with Rosa

Workshop for Total Beginners
Root Wild Kombucha, Portland, ME

September 9, 2024 - Monday, 6:30 PM

  • 6:30 PM Workshop

  • 7:30 PM Social Time

  • Includes a seasonal kombucha pour!

  • $20/each or $30/pair - Bring a friend for 50% off!

Root Wild Kombucha
135 Washington Avenue, Portland, ME 04101

  • Learn movements, rhythms, and cultural context

  • Shift your mood and indulge in joyful movement

  • A special in-person event for community and shared space

  • People of all genders, all body types, and all stages of life are welcomed and affirmed.

  • This venue is for folks who are age 21+.

What is belly dance?

Joyful social dance from Egypt!

“Belly dance” an umbrella term that includes a variety of social and performance dance styles that originated throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In Arabic, the word for dance is “raqs.”

People dance together for fun at home, and at gatherings. Professional dancers are engaged for any number of joyful occasions, like weddings, henna parties, baby naming celebrations, and much more.

This workshop will focus on Egyptian social dance movements—circular movements, accents, and shimmies, in combination with popular Arabic rhythms to help ground you in the music.

You don’t need any dance experience. This is a workshop for total beginners!

Adults (21+) of all genders, all body types, and all stages of life are welcomed and affirmed.

What is included?

6:30 PM - One-Hour Belly Dance Workshop

✅ Learn foundation movements of belly dance
✅ Alignment for healthy dancing in your body
✅ Cultural context of Egyptian dance
✅ Popular Arabic rhythms for musical understanding
✅ Want to learn more? Apply the cost of the workshop to Rosa’s 10-week fall class!

7:30 PM - Private Social Time

✅ One kombucha pour included — before of after the class!
✅ Get to know your fellow dancers
✅ Try seasonal flavors made from roots and fruits that are locally grown and foraged
✅ Enjoy the community space. Root Wild loves to encourage artists of all stripes to pursue their passions and creativity.

What do I wear?

Active wear or streetwear that you can move in is perfect.

You’ll want to be able to move around, maybe break a light sweat, sit in a chair, and stand back up.

Comfortable flat shoes or sneakers are perfect for this workshop. (No bare feet at this venue.)

Rosa is bringing Egyptian hip scarves (jingles available!) for you to wear during the workshop.

The most important thing is that you are comfortable!

Let’s dance!

You don’t need to lose or gain weight.
You don’t need to be flexible, or have rhythm.

You just need to be ready to have fun and learn something new in a warm and supportive class with Rosa. 

Space is limited. Reserve your spot!

 Movement makes all the difference.

Movement can change my mood, my ability to process setbacks, the way the news of the world affects me.

When I don’t move, everything seems much more challenging–both physically and emotionally.

Bringing dance, music, and genuine human connection into my life on a regular basis… this makes all the difference in my quality of life.

Hi, I’m Rosa!

I love to share dance with adults of all ages and stages of life.

My goal is to offer an hour of affirming and uplifting movement that leaves you feeling better than when you started.

Feeling sluggish? Having a rough day? Need some inspiration?

Let’s dance!

And these classes are about even more than the movements. We delve into the cultural context and rhythms of Egyptian dance, for deeper understanding.

I’m based in Portland, Maine, where I have been teaching dance for over 15 years. While I had danced seriously as a teenager, belly dance changed everything about how I relate to my body when I took my first class as an adult.

Now, many years later, it is a joy to see faces light up when a movement clicks, when a beat becomes familiar, when connections are made.