When in doubt, shimmy

Brittany Currier and Karen Symes (Photo by Tina Shute)

Karen Symes (Photo by Tina Shute)

Karen Symes behind a veil (Photo by Tina Shute)

Unity College professor Emma Creaser and her Introduction to Middle Eastern Dance class orchestrated the show. Creaser invited students from the University of Maine at Machias dance class to participate, as well as independent dancers from Belfast and Bangor.

Dancing Diva Kessi Marengo-Smith does a flamenco-fusion dance with fans. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Dancing divas from University of Maine at Machias (Photo by Tina Shute)

Creaser invited the audience to abandon traditional applause, whistles and cheers and use forms of gratitude commonly associated with belly dancing. She demonstrated different yells and hollers called ululations and yallahs for women and hissing for men. The audience complied enthusiastically.

'Anatofian Traditional,' a breath of warm air, the beginning of spring. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Bellyfest, Belfast belly dancers during 'Anatofian Traditional,' a breath of warm air, the beginning of spring. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Kahz Sinnauer of Bangor performs a Turkish/Irish punk/pirate fusion song from Shane McGowan, "Turkish Song of the Damned." (Photo by Tina Shute)

Belly dancing is a long-lived art from the Middle East. It varies dramatically from Greece to Egypt, and everywhere else the dance is popular. Due to the rise of more-conservative attitudes in the Middle East, there are reportedly now more belly dancers in the United States than in the countries where belly dancing originated.

Unity College students Kim Scantlebury, Dana Marks, Jess Robertson and Nicki Nageotte. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Unity College professor and event organizer Emma Creaser (Photo by Tina Shute)

Candela of Ellsworth during a sword dance. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Saturday night's performance demonstrated that in the U.S. many different styles of music and dance become fused. Even the costumes worn by dancers were Americanized. The clothing worn by the dancers is designed to accentuate the moves of the stomach during the dance, but the extravagant beads and coins courtesy of Hollywood and Las Vegas, not tradition.

UMaine Machias students do a cane dance. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Brittany Currier makes an 'Entrance of the Stars.' (Photo by Tina Shute)

Amara Ayperi does a Lebanese dance. (Photo by Tina Shute)