Dareen, the dazzling dancing dame

Suharshi Perera

She caresses her copper brown hair that flows down her shoulders. It reminds one the neatly combed mane of a horse. Her stature is attractive, graceful and tall. The red long dress flashes her beauty all around.

“Call me Dareen,” her hazel eyes danced as she smiled and spoke. The picture was indeed mesmerizing.

Dareen, the belly dancer who had arrived in Colombo from Dubai for a Moroccan Festival at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel last week had a blend of the East and the West about her. Her performance had captivated many around the world and it was all set to lure the Sri Lankans into a tantalizing oriental experience.

“They seem to admire the dance very much,” remarks Dareen adding that the exotic and ancient dance form gaining popularity world over day by day. The reason being it is totally a feminine dance. Womanly grace is the fully encapsulated in belly dance.

“It is not only the particular part of the body but the feelings and moods are very important in this oriental choreography,” the light-eyed beauty explained the basics of the Arabian dance.

Though she passionately talks and practises oriental choreography Dareen was not born or brought up in the sandy lands of pyramids or has not breathed the sultry Mediterranean breeze.

She is from Mogilev, a small regional city in the Republic of Belarus in the Easter Europe. She traces her family lineage from Greece where her grandparents lived. Her parents later migrated to Belarus. However, her dream traversed all the way in search of her and she became an oriental dancer as she was destined to become one.

“It fascinated me,” she recalls. Since a little girl she was brimming with energy which made her very active at home and school. There was no proper way to channel her energies though she had been performing in school dramas, singing and playing the piano.

“Stage gave me life. But at the sometime I felt that something is missing,” she noted. She her true self and what she wanted in life at a small restaurant in Minsk when she come across belly dance performance at her cousin’s wedding. “It was hypnotizing. The dancer was moving like a snake,” she thought. Dareen fell in love with the magnetic dance at the first instance.

After that it was absolutely certain that she wanted to become a belly dancer. She moved out of her home town to Minsk, the capital city where some oriental dance institutions were located, to learn the dance. Those days oriental choreography was not very popular there. Only Minsk had some good schools, she said.

Gradual learning made a good dancer out of Dareen. Her slender body and the tall physique well suited the feminine dance. Soon she earned popularity in her country and abroad which led her to Dubai to perform.

Having spent five months in Dubai, Dareen was offered to work and live in Moscow. That time the best belly dance schools were in Egypt and Moscow. She went to Moscow to sharpen her talents under the guidance of the best teachers in town. While she was receiving training she went to Egypt to take part in the spectacular oriental dance festival ‘the Nile Group’ where she met the most professionals in the field.

She won many titles in many dance competitions in Dubai and Moscow. Most importantly the dance helped concentrate her energies to what she did, to be more quiet and confident, Darren recalled.

“Belly dance activates energy that lies deep within you. Health wise too it is good for women as in this dance form your get the muscles of the belly to work which otherwise are not used in other exercises. It will later help during pregnancy as the muscles of the belly become more flexible,” she remarked.

For two years Dareen has been residing in Dubai. It opens new opportunities and avenues, she says. She has performed in many countries and important occasions. Now the dance has become part of her life, she said.

“Oriental dance is not my hobby or job, it is a style of my life, part of my soul and implementation of my dream. I believe woman is a goddess and this dance helps her feel it, to trust herself, to be powerful and self-confident.”

Dareen has centered her studies on oriental choreography when she was at the university too. She prepared her diploma on the history of belly dance. The board of examiners was puzzled at this topic, she said. “Why did you select this topic? Oriental dance does not have any relevance here, they said but I explained how the oriental choreography gaining popularity in the world. By today it has become a craze in my country,” Dareen added.

She does not stick to a particular diet to maintain her body. Her favourite is grilled chicken wings, she says. “I eat what I prefer but I avoid starchy foods like bread,” she says. However she cannot resist potatoes. “It’s our main food in Belarus. I can eat anything potato,” she says excitedly.

Picture by Ruwan de Silva