Belly dancing

What has belly dancing got to do with knitting? I shall enlighten you. I went to Jersey on Friday for a belly dance weekend in St Helier. It was tremendous fun (including the shopping that my friend Heather and I skived out of classes for). I knew a lot of the women who attended - from other dance events I've been to around the country and from the class I used to go to in Preston.

The link with knitting comes as a result of costume preferences. When I took up the dance, about eight years ago, it was Oriental dance - all sequins and shiny things. Over the last four or five years, there's been a schism! :-) What is described as Tribal dance has become incredibly popular. It's an American development on the dance form. I don't see anything wrong with the dance developing and growing - if it doesn't it's dead.

The difference between the two styles of dance is most noticeable in the costume. Oriental involves lots of slinky dresses - not necessarily two pieces - and Tribal focuses on face paint, head dresses and lots of material. Both types can look magnificent. "Rowan 39" picked up on the Tribal look with their feature on tribal styles of costume .

With the exceptions of my pals Denise and Alison who looked amazing at the weekend, many Tribal dancers can only aspire to this look - usually making 'do' with knitted pom-poms and curtain tassels. It's not great. A few years ago, I saw a Tribal troupe who graduated from the pom-poms and curtain tassels to leather basques and long embroidered handkerchiefs...result: the 'S&M Morris Dancer' look.

And to balance up the score here, the Oriental/Sequins Brigade can go a bit magpie for shiny things with the end result looking (as my friend Maggie so memorably described one night as): 'Fantasy Night at the Women's Institute'.

At the end of the day it's all fun and the variety of costumes and the creativity of the women who make them is truly astounding.