Dance Class!

The Dance Center of Le Marais offered a Baroque dance class (court dancing of the 17th century) and I wanted to check it out. I watched as they rehearsed for their show and decided which historically-accurate costumes they would be wearing. Baroque dance is the predecessor to ballet and, from what I've learned, is not widely practiced outside of France (though there is also an Italian version and a troupe in New York). Even though no one explicitly said this, I think that Baroque dance has stayed central to France because it is part of their dance heritage.


I took 3 dances at the Centre Momboye- Guinean dance, Congolese dance, and "Oriental" dance (belly-dancing). The Congolese was by far my favorite. The teacher, Wanuke, was young and exuberant with rainbow-colored braids. Her class was a mixture of Congolese dance, gumboots, salsa, and a few other styles thrown in there. Lamine's Guinean dance was also a lot of fun, though it felt much more like an aerobics class (the average age was probably 40). Amir's belly-dancing class was a little more difficult to follow (even though she was the only teacher who spoke English to me). I thought it was very interesting that in each class she had an "improvisation section"...in which she would improvise and we would all follow along. Over all, I had a great time trying new dance styles at the Centre Momboye!

A mural near the Centre Momboye:

I also observed an Indian dance class (held oddly enough in a Sunday school). I was very surprised when I showed up and the teacher wasn't Indian at all! She was a French woman who was teaching Bharata Natyam, a dance that was born in Hindu temples. The dancers will be performing on Thursday and I'm planning on going to their show. From all of the students I talked to, the students in this class seemed the most interested in the cultural aspects. They were using dance as a window into the culture, whereas most other students I've spoken to seem to be taking class so that they can learn only the dance.