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For
the Joy of Dancing
The women saw me watching them from the opposite side
of the gym. We acknowledged each other with smiles. "Jah-baan?", one of them came
towards me and asked.
"No, Malaysia."
She shouted across the room. The other woman shouted back.
"English"?
"Yes."
"Come." She gently took hold of my arm and guided me towards
the group. "Sit." An older woman invited me to the empty bench space beside
her.
"See." Another woman pointed to the center of the floor.
Someone turned on a cassette deck and dissonant flute
music filled the room. A striking woman in a red swimsuit walked to the center. She stood
motionless for a moment. The women on the wooden benches watched her intensely.
As the music picked up, she began to caress the air with
gentle strokes of her long, fair arms. Her body tilted back slowly along a straight
plane and her face pointed upwards in an elegant, feminine deportment. Her lustrous black hair
cascaded freely down her back, adding a fluid dimension to her posture.
The tempo of the flute music accelerated and her entire
body undulated gracefully. She spun within the confines of the surrounding benches, her eyes
closed, as if guided by a magical force. The air vibrated in time with the mesmerizing
blur of ebony hair, crimson cloth, and fair skin. The tempo retarded, and the sound of the flute tapered softly.
When the music finally stopped, she opened her eyes and they
were green. "Love," the woman beside me said as she pointed to her heart.
Another woman walked to the center as the sound of string
instruments and drums came on. She wore a pair of sport shorts and a T-shirt. Her
brown hair was braided into a thick ponytail, and beads of sweat were oozing from her forehead. She
must have just come out from the workout room.
She said something to the rest of the women and started to snap
her fingers rhythmically. The snaps were clear and crisp. Her feet sashayed swiftly
as her shoulders moved effortlessly with the music. The other women joined her dance by snapping
their fingers with the beat. "Spring song," the woman beside me said. She showed me how to snap my fingers.
When the music quickened, a plump, older woman went up to
join the dancer. She snapped her fingers in a beat just slightly off the dancer's,
forming a complex polyrhythmic. Together they danced to and fro, circling each other, sashaying
side by side, and complementing each other's movements.
Other women joined the two dancers as the music continued.
Some sang, some clapped and others snapped their fingers. All were spontaneous
responses to the music and expressions of appreciation for each other. There were laughter, giggles
and smiles.
Some women left the group for a sauna in the room nearby while
others came out and joined us. Women came and went from other parts of the
health club, wrapped in towels, cotton cloth, sports clothes and swim wear.
The music continued and the floor was empty.
"You," a woman clad in a big bath towel beckoned me towards
the floor.
"No," I said quickly. "Cannot!"
"Yes, go now." she insisted. The woman beside me stood up and
pulled me to my feet. "Dance now," she explained. "Now happy."
Before I knew it, a blonde woman in a black swimsuit took both
my hands and swayed her hips in front of me. "Dance. Now." The older woman
too swayed her hips beside me. She smiled into my eyes. I was conscious of all the eyes upon me. "Go, go, go," several
voices chimed in.
I awkwardly moved my hands and my body with the encouragement
of "Yes, yes!" from around me. More women joined the dance. There was long
hair and short hair flowing and bouncing all around me. Soon I was caught up in the excitement, the emotion,
the joy. I felt an unusual sense of ease and boldness -- expressing my feelings unashamedly through the movements of
my body in the company of other women.
Until then, I had never felt what it meant to move without
restraint and dance for the sheer joy of dancing. I had never before expressed myself so
freely, so unhindered by my concerns of what others may be thinking, so unbound by the norms of
even the most liberal societies.
I hummed the exotic melodies as I showered. I pulled my black
mantoh over my blue jeans and T-shirt and tied a black scarf around my head. I
looked into the mirror to ensure that all of my hair was tucked away properly before I left the women's
health club in the Iranian capital, Tehran. |
Malaysian
Voices 