Sharifa Asmar speaks with her entire body – literally.

From her greeting, arms spread wide with one hand gently gesturing one to enter, to the passion she displays in speaking of her profession, Asmar (her stage name) moves with the grace of a dancer. A Rockingham resident, she has danced for decades, from New Mexico to New York and today teaches area women the art of Middle Eastern Dance.

“’Belly dancing’ just seems so condescending,” Asmar says in the comfort of her recently renovated studio. “Hollywood objectified the dance and we don’t have ‘head dancers’ or ‘feet dancers,’” she laughed.

Dressed all in black, her legs hanging from her kitchen stool, swinging back and forth, as if hearing the music’s rhythm in her head. Large gold-hooped earrings frame her face as she leans in to emphasize what dance means to her.

She specializes in Raqs Sharqi, otherwise known as the “Dance of the East.” The dance is both a communal and individual dance, and dates back to the world’s oldest communities. It’s primarily practiced in the eastern Mediterranean region and through North Africa, and it’s origins are shrouded in antiquity.

Some liken the dance to American’s two-step or square dancing. But outside the Middle East it has evolved into an often singular performer that incorporates ancient, timeless movements dating back nearly 5,000 years.

For Asmar, the dance itself has little ancient meaning but symbolizes a dancer’s connection with the music. “Dancers need to reflect the music that they hear – they are the music made visible,” she said.

Other dancers, such as Yara Sultan, from the Fayetteville area, in attendance to celebrate the opening of Asmar’s new studio, say the dance is a connection between the dancer and the audience.

“It reflects pure joy,” Sultan said. A dancer for more than 15 years, Sultan was teaching another student the art of makeup for the performance. “People may come to a performance and have a preconception,” Sultan said. “They see me dance and their minds are changed.”

For, Asmar, her passion for the dance was sparked while a student at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM.

“A college friend came to a Halloween party at my house,” Asmar recalled, “and she was dressed in costume. I wanted to learn and she went out to her car and brought in some music and began to dance. I needed to know how… I get goosebumps even now thinking about it. It’s a passion.”

Asmar took lessons, practiced at home, attended graduate school and got a post-graduate degree in history and political science at Rutgers University in New Jersey. There, she began dancing professionally at weddings, private parties, events and clubs.

“It was a different time, before 9-11,” Asmar said. “We would dance at an event and then an after-hours club. That’s all changed now,” she lamented, referring to the ongoing political situation in the Middle East.

She met her husband, Robert Grajales, while she was in New Mexico and the pair traveled across the country until he settled into a management position at Leggs and then Haines.

She was employed at Richmond Community College as an adjunct professor while teaching Mediterranean Dance for the past several years in Southern Pines, Chapel Hill, Durham, Sanford, Fayetteville and Rockingham.

Her typical student is not typical. They range from 17 to 60, but share the vision of “a bigger world,” she says.

“(Dance) is a holistic thing,” Asmar said. “It clears out what’s between your ears and you gain control of parts of your body you didn’t know existed.

“It’s difficult,” she continued. “I only have about a four percent retention rate with probably one in 25 staying beyond the initial eight weeks.”

Sharifa Asmar, Irish by birth, said, “I think I have some Lebanese blood in me,” attempting to explaining her affinity for the Middle Eastern dance and culture. “The music speaks to me and dancing speaks to the audience. Music made visible.”

For more information on Middle Eastern Dance, or learn about her upcoming class offerings, you can find Sharifa Asmar on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SharifaAsmar.

Sharifa Asmar
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/web1_Belly-Dancer2-2-.jpgSharifa Asmar

By Brian Bloom

Regional Publisher