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The Dance of Birth
By Anita-Cristina
Calcaterra. 1992.
It
is important for women to reclaim birth as a natural and powerful process.
For too long in our modern times, fear, uncertainty and unconsciousness have
surrounded birth. Our bodies, from the beginning, have given birth.
Much wisdom, both herbal and physical, has been lost since the systemization of
medicine. It is a struggle to relearn these things, but it is an important
struggle and one that will lead to great healing for many people.
The connection
between belly dancing and birth is not a new one. Work has been done, noticed
and unnoticed to bring the dance to the attention of birth educators. The link
was forged as early as 1965 by Carolina Varga-Dinicu known as Morocco. She
compared childbirth education taught at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and
major books like Natural Childbirth by Dr. Frederick W. Goodrich to her
dance movements as she performed them.
In 1976, Gigi Groth
Devitt, a member of Birth Day in Boston, collaborated with the dancer Barbara
Brandt and demonstrated among other things, that Lamaze and this dance are based
on the same method of muscle isolation. Around that same time, Edith Maxwell
stressed the importance of movement during labor and showed how the movements of
this dance help in “moving the baby down” the birth canal.
In 1983, Wendy Buonaventura published a book, Belly Dancing, where she outlined the role
of the dance throughout history in many cultures. She showed that the dance has
always been a part of the birth process. The most exact comparative work was
done by Morgana, in 1981. She compared specific movements of the dance to the
phases of birth and the motion of the emergence of the baby. She has shown that
the dance movements exercise all the birth muscles and the rhythms, in fact,
match the birth process. Her work leaves the impression that the dance could be
none other than a birth dance.
The circle is a
Sacred Shape and is the very foundation of the dance. Moving the heart in a
circle strengthens and flexes the upper abdominals. Moving the hips in a circle
massages the internal organs, including the pelvic floor, and also conditions
the lower abdominals. Tension is released by moving the wrists, shoulders and
ankles in circles, and by rotating the spine in small circles.
Accents introduce a
faster rhythm and they are the power of the dance because they provide an outlet
for inner impulses. Hip thrusting teaches control and builds concentration for
focusing on one body part while the rest relaxes.
Shimmies, all the
different varieties, are the endurance of the dance. They require intense
concentration and control of deep inner muscles. They loosen the back and hips
and allow the focus to shift from pain to movement.
Body undulations are
the flexibility of the dance. The movements mirror how a woman’s body stretches
to allow a baby to grow, and at the same time prepares the birth muscles for the
task. Undulations also require concentration and focus, mainly because the
muscles that need to be activated are unfamiliar to most people.
All of these
qualities - relaxation, focus, endurance, and flexibility are needed in the birth
process. Belly dance can be done standing, kneeling, lying down or
walking. Lastly, belly dancing while giving birth means movement in general is
encouraged while trying to give birth. It gives the power back to the process
and allows women to find their way through the pain and fear of giving birth.
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