Salomé brings her worldly brand of belly dancing back to Corvallis in hopes of moving others

By Mary Ann Albright
The Entertainer

After traveling the world, performing everywhere from India to Tunisia to Japan, local belly dancer Salomé is back in town, heating up the Corvallis performance scene and teaching others to embrace this ancient, feminine art form.

Belly dance has exerted a powerful influence on Salomé since before she was born. Her mother, Cyndee Hylton, started taking belly dancing lessons in Alpine while she was pregnant with Salomé. She wanted a homebirth, and heard that belly dancing was a good way to strengthen the abdominal muscles used in labor.

Salomé grew up in the belly dance community. When her family moved to Corvallis, they joined up with Kameal’s Troupe Nejmah.

Salomé, 28, started studying formally at age 12. She knew early on she wanted to be a professional dancer, so she left Crescent Valley High School, got her GED, found an agent and started accepting international contracts.

The Middle Eastern music accompanying belly dancers — which prominently features instruments such as the zills (Turkish finger cymbals), oud (short-necked lute), kanun (lap harp) and nay (flute) — is one of Salomé’s favorite aspects of the craft.

“I think that there is a lot of room for a person’s emotions to be expressed,” according to Salomé. “You physically, literally express what the music is doing and the dancer’s personal, emotional reaction to it.”

Salomé also enjoys the natural, organic characteristics of the dance, and how its circular, graceful movements seem innately feminine.

Feminine, but not seductive,

Salomé is quick to add.

One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding the dance is that it evolved as a way for women to entertain lecherous men, she said.

Belly dance arose from Raks Baladi, an Arabic folk dance. It was a family-friendly activity, practiced for centuries at festivals and in the home, according to Salomé’s Web site.

In 1930s Cairo, the dance shifted from a private experience to a performance art, and became known as Raks Sharki.

European expansion into the Middle East in the late 1960s brought Oriental dance to the western world. Middle Eastern cabarets popped up in New York and California, and the American style of belly dance was born.

Salomé practices and teaches this style, a fusion of dances from Armenia, Egypt, Turkey and other countries.

Salomé wears glitzy two-piece costumes (called bedlahs) and uses the standard veil props.

She also has some less cliché tricks up her gossamer sleeve. Salomé can dance with a candelabra on her head and perform atop upturned wine glasses. She’s also been known to move with swords balanced on her head.

Some belly dancers do choreographed routines, but Salomé prefers to improvise.

“You have really strong technique, you know your music really well. Manifesting the music and feeling the emotions just happens in the moment,” she said.

Salomé met her husband, Anatoliy Rozhok, 39, in Taiwan in 2003, after he booked her to perform at a rural cultural park.

It was love at first sight, they said. Rozhok now manages Salomé and travels with her for gigs. He’s also set up her Web site, Orientaldancer.net, which provides contact information for more than 2,000 belly dance instructors around the world. Additionally, it includes a forum for belly dance discussion, news items, interviews with notable dancers and photo galleries.

Salomé and Rozhok have made his native Ukraine their home base for the past several years. Now they’re back in the Corvallis area. Salomé plans to focus on teaching and performing locally. She’d also like to produce a belly dance video.

While she enjoys travel, Salomé’s ready to nest for a bit.

“Part of me is looking forward to not living out of a suitcase,” she said.

Mary Ann Albright can be reached at maryann.albright@lee.net or 758-9518.

If You Dance

What: American-style belly dance lessons

Who: Taught by Alpine native and performance dancer Salomé

When: Salomé offers eight-week sessions beginning next week. The fundamentals class starts Monday, Sept. 18. It runs from 7:45 to 9:15 p.m. The beginning-intermediate class starts Tuesday, Sept. 19. It runs from 7:45 to 9:15 p.m. The performance class for more advanced students starts Thursday, Sept. 21. It runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Where: Odd Fellows Hall, 223 S.W. Second St.,

Corvallis

For more information, contact Salomé at salome@orientaldancer.net or 541-424-3001. She also has a Web site, www.orientaldancer.net.